Briefs Crested Butte

Atmos franchise agreement
After combing through the Atmos Energy Franchise Agreement with a fine-toothed comb, the town agreed to adopt the agreement. A first reading of the ordinance will take place at the next council meeting on December 6.

Town attorney John Belkin cited concerns he had with the agreement, including some sort of bond or surety to cover Atmos and its contractors, language regarding indemnification of the town, and the amount of insurance carried by Atmos.
Gunnison recently approved the version of the franchise agreement that was before the council. After listening to Belkin’s concerns, Atmos spokesman Brian Martens assured the council that, while Atmos could not address all Belkin’s concerns within the agreement because of the legal implications, the town can be assured of a high level of service.
There was also discussion between town staff, Atmos and the council about raising the Atmos franchise fee from 3 percent to 5 percent, which would be reflected as an increase on customers’ bills. The council was against raising the fee and agreed to stay at 3 percent.

Council considers hosting ordinance
Chief marshal Tom Martin presented to the council a request from the Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Program. Martin explained that he’d been contacted by GCSAPP asking if the town would consider adopting a Social Hosting ordinance similar to the one adopted by the city of Gunnison. It’s essentially a means of holding the “hosts” responsible for hosting underage drinkers, and includes the ability to implement a fine.
The council held a preliminary discussion on the topic and in a straw poll four council members indicated support for the ordinance and three council members indicated they did not support the ordinance. The formal ordinance will be introduced on January 17, 2011 followed by a public hearing.

Town budget approved
During its November 15 meeting, the town held a series of public hearings on its budget and fees for 2011, and then adopted them via a series of resolutions and ordinances. In addition to adopting Resolution 11, which adopts the 2011 budget, the council approved the 2011 general fund mil levy of 1.960 mils. The street and alley mil levy is set at 6.435 and is set to bring in the same amount of revenue for the town as 2010.
Resolution 11 was amended to include a $20,000 allocation to support the Quiznos Pro Challenge bike race. The council also passed Ordinance 34, which raises water and sewer monthly service fees from $50 to $53; raises water and sewer availability charges from $15 to $16; raises water and sewer tap-in fees from $16,000 to $17,000; and raises the incremental water usage fees by $.25 for each tier of usage over the base allotment.

Snow plan shored up
A town-wide snow removal plan is in place for this winter and spring, but services could be cut by spring if revenues don’t flow in as planned.
Town manager Susan Parker explained, “If the real estate transfer tax doesn’t recover sooner than later we could be looking at some service cuts by spring. But I could be wrong—I’m thinking it’s going to be flat.”
Lois Rozman, town finance director, concurred. “We’ve gone through the budget for 2011—you’ve approved the budget based on the current snow plan and set of services. We are warning you: If our revenues do not come in where they need to be, we will make cuts to the services. We are being proactive. This is something internally we will be watching very closely. We’re giving you plenty of warning: ‘Here’s what may be coming down the pipe.’”
Councilman Roland Mason asked, “Are you looking at alternative funding sources if the real estate transfer tax doesn’t come back?”
Rozman responded, “We’re looking at the unfortunate, nasty word ‘taxes.’ Most everything we come up with will need a vote.”