Briefs gunnison county

Keepin’ it simple
One member of the public attended a hearing on Tuesday, June 21, regarding the redrawing of county commissioners’ districts. The adjustment is allowed every 10 years following the federal census, in order to make the districts as equal in population as possible.
In order to balance out population growth in District 3, which includes Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte South, the Gunnison Board of County Commissioners is proposing moving the southern boundary of District 3 from County Road 10 north to the WAPA powerline that runs between Ohio Creek Road and Jack’s Cabin. The adjustment would result in 5,118 people in District 1, 5,101 in District 2 and 5,105 in District 3.
“These are census numbers, which are wrong the day after they’re created and might not have been right to begin with, so this is a best approximation,” said county geographic information services manager Mike Pelletier, who helped map the changes.
According to statutory requirements, commissioners must wait 30 days before formally adopting the change.

Monarch makes case to County
Monarch ski resort and the Salida Ranger District of the Forest Service paid a courtesy visit to the Gunnison County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, June 28, to share the resort’s draft master plan for expansion. Plans include the addition of 344 acres to the roughly 800-acre ski resort. The addition would add 56 acres of ski runs with a vertical drop of about 960 feet in No Name Basin, which lies in Gunnison County.
According to Bill Schuckert, Salida district ranger, his district obtained a “delegation of authority for management of approximately 3,000 acres on the Gunnison side of divide.” His office would manage any expansion into No Name Basin, but would do so in accordance with the Gunnison County forest management plan.
The new terrain would also be subject to Gunnison County permitting, and Commissioner Hap Channell questioned whether or not Gunnison County would receive any of the sales taxes from transactions made in Chaffee County for skiing that took place in Gunnison County. Monarch CEO Rich Moorhead admitted to not knowing that answer just yet.
Moorhead emphasized that for now, the 10-year master plan is conceptual. If accepted by the Forest Service, Monarch would still need to submit site-specific proposals that would be subject to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review process. The Forest Service expects to make a decision on the master plan this fall.

2012 budget planning in sight
In anticipation of the 2012 budgeting, County Commissioners reviewed a draft of the 2012-2016 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). According to county manager Matthew Birnie, the document is intended as a tool to prioritize projects and spending.
“It’s a real help as we go into budgeting because we’ve done push back and explanation and “prove it” exercises,” he said.
The main priority discussed at a June 28 work session was reprioritizing vehicle maintenance and purchasing, like road maintenance and snow removal equipment, and the purchase of a fire truck for the airport for $721,00. Now that the new Public Works Facility and the new jail have been funded, vehicle maintenance has surfaced at the top of the priorities list.
“We need to get that back on track, or we’re going to get behind,” said Commissioner Paula Swenson.

Wilder on the Taylor
A proposed access road to the southern portion of the Wilder on the Taylor got the nod from the commissioners on June 21 for a road waiver. The decision allows for a step-down from a 22-foot-wide bridge to 16-foot-wide bridge and a grade waiver.
According to engineer Jerry Burgess, Wilder on the Taylor initially designed the road “to county standards, but when we preliminarily showed it to public works director Marlene Crosby one day, the reaction was, ‘There’s some pretty big switchbacks—what can we do to reduce the impacts of the footprints?’”
The changes allowed by the waiver will reduce the road’s footprint by about four acres, and the new bridge will be about a foot taller than the old bridge, bringing it above the 100-year flood mark.

Cement Creek safety study
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has selected the intersection at Cement Creek Road and Highway 135 for inclusion in an Intersection Analysis and Prioritization Study. Cement Creek was one of three intersections submitted for consideration by Gunnison County, but only one was selected for analysis. Results are expected in July.

Planning Commission conduct
The county commissioners went on the record regarding their expectations for the conduct of Gunnison Planning Commission members. The public conversation came in response to the premature departure of the commission’s board chair from a public hearing with gas and oil companies on May 20. The commissioners stated that they had already addressed the situation with the board chair directly, but wanted the public to understand their direction to the commission: Even if members disagree with the process or vote taking place, they should state their concern on the record and stay and vote their conscience.

Stallion Park agreement is real deal
Gunnison County and Dr. Richard Landy, developer of Stallion Park Condominiums, have nearly reached an agreement that would free most of the units at Stallion Park for sale on the free market—without deed restrictions.

One detail that remained after a June 21 meeting between the Board of County Commissioners and Landy was some sort of guarantee that homeowners in the deed-restricted unit would not be subject to homeowners’ dues so high that the units become unaffordable over time. In a compromise between the county and Landy, who believed such a stipulation would place an unfair burden on the free-market homeowners, the agreement on the table limits that annual increase for dues to 5 percent for the affordable housing units and 10 percent for the open market units.
“I think this is very close to what we agreed to our last meeting, and I think 5 percent is a reasonable not to exceed amount,” said KT Gazunis, Housing Authority executive director.
The commissioners did receive a letter from the neighboring Buckhorn Ranch property indicating that its board did not agree to the lifting of the deed restrictions. According to commissioner Hap Channell, the letter indicated that “some things have transpired with the applicant which has resulted in the board withdrawing its agreement with the proposal before the board.”
Landy alleged that the named dispute dealt with another matter, and the commissioners decided to move forward. Both parties indicated their intent to approve the deal when final paperwork is assembled for the next regular meeting on July 19.

Appointments
The commissioners appointed local mountain bike guru and technical director for the Leadville 100 qualifying series Dave Wiens to a new recreation seat on the Gunnison Sage-grouse Strategic Committee. Gunnison resident Terry Bonney was appointed to the Gunnison Valley Health board of trustees.