Briefs Crested Butte

Boom!
The town of Crested Butte spent $10,000 on July 3 fireworks. The council solicited about $1,800 in donations so the rest will have to be paid out of the service grant line item in the budget.
“The question is whether we think we should spend money on [fireworks] or not,” said councilperson Roland Mason. “Should we start putting it in the budget or not?”
“If it goes in, something else probably comes out. We have a limited pot of money,” said mayor Leah Williams.
“It’s July 5. We have a whole year to try and chat and work something out with our friends to the north,” said councilperson Reed Betz.
“I have to say the parks and every open space in town were packed,” said Escalante. “It was awesome.”

Steel is coming and Skate Park will be closed
Big Mine Arena is progressing. Concrete is scheduled to be poured later this week. The skate park, which is located right next to the construction project, will be closed during part of the building process.
“We’ll have to close it when we are slinging steel,” said town building official Bob Gillie.
“The skaters all are supposed to wear helmets. It should be good,” said councilperson Dan Escalante.

Watershed ordinance revisions on tap?
Town planner John Hess said the town staff has met with environmental legal consultant Barbara Green over how best to tweak and improve the town watershed ordinance.

Sidewalk seating expands
Sidewalk seating was approved for both Maxwell’s and Tequila’s restaurants. The town will be watching the sidewalk dining experiment and determining how to make it better. Some council members expressed concern over crowded sidewalks as a result of tables and chairs in the right-of-way.
“Some congestion in the business district isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” commented resident David Leinsdorf.

Fannie gets a bye on RETT?
Town attorney John Belkin said he was looking into whether foreclosed homes in Crested Butte that are owned by lending companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are subject to the real estate transfer tax when sold. He feels they are but will be digging deeper into the issue. He also said he is working with the group running the USA Pro Cycling Challenge bike race, scheduled to come through Crested Butte in August. He said there are some indemnity and insurance sticking points in the contract with Medalist, the group running the event.

Sales tax inching up
The May sales tax figures are in and are higher than last year. May of 2011 raked in $85,107 in sales tax for Crested Butte, which is 2.8 percent more than in 2010. For the year, the town has collected 4.4 percent more than last year. Given the number of people in town for the Fourth of July weekend, the trend looks to continue. Town manager Susan Parker told the council that 18 yards of trash was hauled off Elk Avenue over the holiday weekend.

Land Use Plan amended
The council approved ordinances amending the town’s Land Use Plan and Area Plan.