Council makes changes to town snowcat regulations

No more 6 a.m. starts

Snowcats will get a later start prowling streets in town as a result of changes to the Crested Butte traffic code regulating the snow machines. The changes come as a result of a compromise between the only commercial snowcat operator in town, C.S. Irwin, and local residents who wanted some modifications to the town ordinance.

At the Crested Butte council meeting Monday, October 18, the Town Council listened to the concerns of several people, led by Whiterock Avenue resident Cathy Sporcich. A petition with more than 100 names was submitted.
“Maybe snowcats shouldn’t be allowed at all,” said Sporcich. “The snowmobile people may think they should be allowed to use the streets as well.”
Last winter C.S. Irwin ran the snowcat between the Kebler Pass Road trailhead just west of town to the old key-card fuel pumps at Fifth and Belleview. This year, they asked that the route be extended to allow them to get to the True Value gas pumps.
Town manager Susan Parker had recommended a route that included parts of Whiterock, the parking area by Big Mine Park, Belleview Avenue, and the alley between Belleview and Whiterock on Fifth Street. Sporcich appreciated that the suggested route no longer went by her house.
“I won’t vote for the route change if it goes through the alley,” said councilperson and Alpine Express driver Jim Schmidt. “We drop passengers off in there at the Crystal Creek condos and it is tight. The machine is also 13-and-a-half feet tall, which means it is going by the second floor windows, not the first floor. To me there is no reason to go down that alley.”
Resident Rose Reyes said the new route could affect local students waiting on the school bus at Second and Whiterock.
“The kids get picked up about 8 a.m. every day at the corner,” Reyes said. “The kids are out there anywhere from 7:45 until 8:10, which is the same time as that cat. We want to make sure that large machine doesn’t endanger the kids waiting to get picked up.”
C.S. Irwin administrative director Kyra Martin said the company was open to doing whatever the community asked. “We were going with the suggested route,” she said. “We’ll do whatever the community wants.”
Martin laid out a few facts about the snowcat and the upcoming plans of operation. “The cat is eight-feet-three inches wide and it is 13 feet tall,” she explained. “So it is about as wide as a bus but not as long. The Nordic Center cat has metal tracks and this has rubber tracks so it is easier on the roads. It weighs about as much as a dump truck. It is street legal and has a diesel engine like a large contractor truck. It won’t go over 15 miles per hour. It can go in reverse but has a camera in the back. The trips to True Value will be minimal because we will be fueling up at Irwin. Passengers will be picked up at the 330 Belleview building. The company is a contributor to town. I wonder if it is a community issue or a personal issue.”
Mayor Leah Williams suggested that no matter the outcome, an annual public hearing concerning the issue of snowcats in town be conducted.
“It sounds great that they’ll be fueling at Irwin but that’s not approved yet,” said Sporcich. “It’s great they’ll start at Belleview and pick up passengers there but they aren’t in that building yet.”
Martin said the company anticipated being in the new building by December.
Local attorney Peter Bogardus, who has an office by the alley on the suggested route, raised some concerns. “I ask that idling not be allowed,” he said. “We don’t need the pollution and we don’t need the noise. It’s the right, environmentally correct thing to do. I’d ask that if it isn’t going anywhere, it not be allowed to be running. And I’d ask that there be a public hearing every year so the public can voice their concerns.”
Attorney David Leinsdorf represented C.S. Irwin. “We have no objection to an annual review,” he said. “We realize it is a sensitive issue. If idling is prohibited that’s fine but we think it should apply to all vehicles and not just this particular cat.”
Town public works director Rodney Due explained that large diesel vehicles like the town snow removal equipment and Mountain Express buses all need at least a five-minute warm up and cool-down time in order to not harm the engine.
The snowcat’s driver, Caroline Czenkusch, reassured the public that it is a safe vehicle. “I live on Whiterock and I’m sensitive to Whiterock,” she said. “I want to assure everyone that we don’t hurry through town. I look out for kids and dogs and I’m very careful.”
Resident Jeff Neumann suggested that representatives of the fire protection and EMS district review the ordinance and sign off on the safety aspects. Parker said she would touch base with district manager Mike Miller.
Schmidt noted that while only one permit has been issued for a snowcat to drive through town, the ordinance allows for up to five. “I’d like to see that reduced to three at the most,” he said.
Councilperson Dan Escalante didn’t like the idea of using an alley. “It is part of the culture here,” he said. “The alleys are special places. The buses don’t drive down the alleys. It is appropriate to keep it on the street.”
Councilperson Roland Mason said he thought it best to bring the cat straight down Whiterock. “I live on that street and it just seems safer to me,” he said. “We just spent a meeting talking about how to keep buses off of Belleview.”
“The buses didn’t work on Belleview because the street was filled with industrial stuff,” said councilperson John Wirsing. “This thing kind of fits there and it gets it off Whiterock. I agree it doesn’t belong in the alley. The noise issue in town is bigger than one snowcat coming through town once or twice a day. We have trucks and loaders running all over the place.
“But it concerns me to see this amount of people have signed a petition,” he continued. “I would recommend Irwin do some public outreach to the rest of the community. Have a ‘meet the snowcat’ party. This thing is amazing and little Billy from Chicago will be blown away when he sees it, especially on a street. We have a limited ski area up here and we need to support Nordic Skiing and snowcat skiing. I think this thing could be an attraction in itself. I think we still need to find a way to address the concerns of the people who signed the petition.”
Sporcich read the tea leaves, and asked that the hours of operation be reduced to between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Martin said that was tight and suggested 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
“That sounds like a good compromise,” said Martin.
“Thank you,” said Sporcich.
So the council will change the route to include Whiterock Avenue from the west end of town to Sixth Street with a spur to the 330 Belleview building. The hours will be more limited and a maximum of three permits will be issued. There will also be an annual review of the ordinance to give the public a chance to comment.
The revised ordinance will have a public hearing at the next meeting on November 1.