Briefs Crested Butte

Making room for rum
The Town Council is moving to change its regulations to allow micro-distilleries in the B-1 and B-2 zoning districts. The Hoskins family, which owns and operates Montanya Distillers currently of Silverton, are relocating the rum distillery to the old Powerhouse Building on Elk Avenue. Given that the operation will have a “tasting room,” the town needed to amend its municipal code. The town will monitor impacts of the operation but agreed to allow the new business at the proposed Elk Avenue location.
While the Hoskins currently produce about 10,000 bottles a year, the hope is that they will be able to produce five times that. The town rule changes caps the production at 20,400 bottles but that figure can be increased after a review of the impacts.
“This is very exciting,” said mayor Leah Williams. “The space seems perfect for this.”
A public hearing on the code change will be held May 2.

The money is there to extend the path but…
The town received word last week that it will receive a grant from the Colorado State Parks for $175, 872 to be used for an extension of the recreation path around Tommy V baseball field to the Deli trail. While the money is there, the time may not be, to get the trail extension done this summer. Town staff will evaluate the best timing to perform the work.

Sidewalk seats will be back
The council approved licenses for two local restaurants to allow outdoor seating this summer. The Teocalli Tamale and the Bacchanale will both be allowed to serve food and drink outside the restaurants on public sidewalks. Both establishments did it last year when the town allowed the practice for the first time. The town is currently accepting applications for the outdoor seating licenses.

Open up the vaults
The council will get an update on proposed changes to the county ISDS regulations May 2. The county is considering allowing vaults that can be pumped. Those are currently prohibited in the county. The council is looking at it with an eye toward a proposal for a barn on the old Peanut Mine site. The owners of the barn would like a toilet and the vault could be the way to go in the future. The council will ask a county representative to come and update them on the proposed revisions.

Fireworks $$

Town manager Susan Parker will be looking for council approval at the May 2 meeting to allocate money for July 4—I mean the July 3, fireworks show. While the council has indicated it wants to have a show on Sunday, July 3, no money has been earmarked. Parker said a contract is waiting in the wings for a $10,000 show but $3,000 in earnest money needs to accompany the contract. The council will consider the expenditure at the May 2 meeting.

Lacy gets the bid… after the fireworks
Lacy Construction was awarded the Whiterock water main replacement job for this summer. The bid was awarded for $105,000. Work will not start until July 6 to avoid conflicting with the town’s busiest weekend. Work has to be completed before the August USA Pro Cycling Challenge bike race, so a completion date of August 19 is expected.