The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Lots of participation from the community
Christmas may have ended last month, but the Crested Butte Town Council got a look at another wish list Monday, in the form of the community’s parks and recreation desires.
The Crested Butte Parks and Recreation Master Plan is starting to take shape. The council received a preliminary peek at some of the data compiled by Pros Consulting since last August. Initial findings from the firm writing the plan show facilities such as a swimming pool and indoor recreation facility consistently top the list of area residents’ desires.
Emphasizing that the information shared with the council at the meeting on January 4 was a compilation of needs (and wants) and not recommendations, consultant Brian Trusty showed that people living within 20 miles of Crested Butte really want things like a swimming pool, an indoor recreation facility, an improved ice rink, new and better trails and even an outdoor amphitheater.
“We’ll take the needs people are indicating and shape the recommendations down the road,” Trusty explained. “We’ll look at the context and make recommendations, but right now we are very pleased with the participation by the public.”
Trusty hopes to hold another public meeting on the issue this month, and have a draft master plan by early February. He is shooting for a final plan to be approved by the council in early March.
More than 400 surveys were returned as part of the master plan data-gathering process—double what was expected by the consultants. That, plus public meetings and local interviews, have indicated an active community that utilizes parks and recreational facilities more than many communities.
It is obvious to the consultants that the Crested Butte Parks and Rec Department serves the majority of the Upper East River Valley. “A lot of people are using the parks frequently,” Trusty said the data indicated. “There is nearly 100 percent participation for people using your park facilities and that is huge. The good news is that the folks outside of town are supportive of a regional funding initiative to help pay for improvements. A majority agree that a regional approach is best to finance recreation so it doesn’t fall just on the town.”
Using a PowerPoint presentation to review dozens of slides with various statistics, Trusty said the information gathered so far indicates people are generally satisfied with the current facilities. They would like to see new facilities added to the mix but don’t want to see the current facilities diminished.
“Big Mine Ice Rink has a lot of character and people love it, but there are functional issues,” Trusty stated as an example. “Thirty-six percent of those responding to the survey wanted to see improvements to the rink. That is a big number in such a survey.”
Ideally, Trusty said, the consulting firm wants to finish the master plan by March 1. It is hoped it will stand for 10 years. The council members indicated they want to observe the last steps of the planning process and hope a public hearing will provide some feedback to developing recommendations.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” said Town Parks and Recreation Manager Jake Jones. “In the future, where the ice rink goes determines where a lot of other facilities end up. Does ice stay in Big Mine Park or does it get moved to the school campus and we then perhaps move something else there?”
Trusty said Crested Butte was unique in the sense that its population was “incredibly active. It is geographically tight but you have a lot of parks and amenities.
“You are a town of 1,671 but over a year the area has an influx of visitors of close to a million people,” Trusty continued. “That provides an opportunity to do some of the big-ticket items like a swimming pool. You need traffic in those facilities to support operating costs. Visitors can help provide that. Getting visitors through the doors can be harder than you think, but you have the opportunity to tap into that.”
Town Building and Zoning Director Bob Gillie reminded the council that reality had to be part of the equation when looking at the plan. “The town has limited funds,” he said. “Keep in mind this is a Parks and Rec Master Plan. Don’t forget things like affordable housing and transportation. The town has limited funds. Your decisions always get more difficult when you have to consider everything.”
A hearing later this month will give the public a chance to mull over the preliminary recommendations. The council will then look over a draft copy of the plan and hope to approve a final master plan in March. From there, it will be up to the council which wishes are granted.
