Briefs Crested Butte

MMJ issue takes some by surprise—so discussion delayed
The Crested Butte Council meeting started with a bang on Monday, March 7. The normally mundane process of approving the meeting’s agenda got testy when councilperson Jim Schmidt protested the revised agenda that included a discussion of medical marijuana.

The added item was listed as “Reconsideration of Council Directive to Amend the Town’s Medical Marijuana Ordinance to Open Application Process for Medical Marijuana Dispensary Permits at This Time.”
“I don’t see why this is a time-sensitive issue,” said Schmidt. “It was not in the published agendas in the newspaper. If we are going to talk about this again, it should be in the paper and the citizens should know it is on the agenda. One of the four people (councilperson Roland Mason) who wanted to amend the ordinance isn’t here today. This shouldn’t be on this agenda; it should be on the agenda in two weeks.”
“I made the decision after talking to John [Wirsing],” explained mayor Leah Williams. “The only urgency I see was putting staff time into this when the state apparently won’t be issuing new permits until 2012.”
“I can’t remember other than an emergency, an agenda item coming out like this,” said Schmidt.
“I thought it was abrupt as well,” added councilperson Dan Escalante. “I am fine with instructing the staff to not spend time on this right now, but we should give it a fair posting.”
The council agreed to move the item to the March 21 meeting and in the meantime, the staff won’t spend its efforts on the MMJ issue.

Ranchers and Sportsmen Together for the Hungry update
Local hunter Alan Moores gave the council an update on his new “Ranchers and Sportsmen Together for the Hungry” project. The council had contributed to the new project last fall. The project took extra meat from game shot during the 2010 hunting seasons and processed the meat before donating it to local families in need.
“We took three elk, two deer, one moose and half a cow,” informed Moores. “That meat went to 446 households and 604 people in the valley. One hundred and eighty households in Crested Butte received some of the meat.”
Moores explained the moose was shot illegally and a rancher donated the half a cow.
“Hopefully we’ll make an even bigger splash and start earlier this season,” he said.

Town closes on 110 acres of Kochevar property
The town closed on the purchase of phase II of the Kochevar open space parcel north of town. The transaction for the 110 acres took place Thursday, March 3 with the town buying the property from the Trust for Public Lands. Phase II is located north of Nicholson Lake on Smith Hill. The northeast corner touches Meridian Lake.
A group of local trail enthusiasts have been meeting regularly to figure out an ambitious trail building project for the upcoming summer on the property. A public work session with the council is planned for April 4.

Steel costing roof $
The town is putting out bids for steel for the Big Mine Ice Rink roof. According to Gillie, the price of steel is climbing fast and so the town wants to lock in a price as quickly as possible. “We would like to see the project happen this summer,” he told the council.

C-zone change
The council will consider revising an ordinance that will allow more residential units to be built and occupied in the town’s Commercial District. The issue came after a request from property owner Jeff Neumann. With certain qualifications, people will be able to add additional residential space in the C-zone with restrictions.

Attorney reviewing Quiznos agreement
Town attorney John Belkin chimed in by long distance conference call to tell the council he is reviewing the proposed agreement between the town and the Quizno’s Pro Challenge race organizers. He said he would send a draft to the organizers this week and hopefully have a response for the council to consider by its next meeting. “Indemnity and insurance is a concern,” he said. “A lot of the other participating communities vetted this first and took the lead.”

Dan and William’s Excellent Adventure—at Trackers
Councilperson Dan Escalante said he had met with Mt. Crested Butte mayor William Buck on a fireworks peace-making mission. “One thing he kept saying was, ‘Who are you guys?’’ I walked away and thought it might be worth coming up with a one-paragraph statement about who we are as a town and what we’re about. Make it clear what the town stands for. I see value in coming up with such a statement.”
Mayor Leah Williams asked that each councilperson give her such a statement in writing before the next meeting and she and Escalante would meld the statements into a vision statement.
“I told William not to give up on us and we wouldn’t give up on them,” Escalante told the council. “But I have to say they are still deeply scarred by Snodgrass.”
“Did you tell him the Forest Service turned down Snodgrass and that we didn’t have any authority over that?”
Escalante said he hadn’t and he added that he hoped some future fireworks compromise could be worked out where the towns shared the cost and location of the Fourth of July celebration every other year.

Late-night bus support
The town will likely allocate $3,000 for Mountain Express out of the transportation fund to help with additional service throughout the year. That usually means late-night rides during special events like New Year’s Eve or Mardi Gras. Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte Mountain Resort are also contributing $3,000 to the effort.