Briefs Mt. Crested Butte

Funds for fireworks
After what proved to be a hit around town, mayor William Buck told the Town Council he is still trying to collect nearly $4,000 that was pledged by local businesses for this year’s fireworks display.

“I expect by the time we’re finished [fund raising], we’ll get over $4,000,” he said. “So we’re good.”
Town manager Joe Fitzpatrick said the town hadn’t gone into the budget far enough to start planning for the 2012 July 4 celebration, but he had no doubt fireworks would be somewhere in the budget.
In his report to the council, town manager Joe Fitzpatrick wrote, “…this year our concert and fireworks realized a substantial increase in attendance over 2010. We believe this growth will continue in 2012 and we are already planning for an excellent concert at the base of the Red Lady Lift and another exciting fireworks display on the mountain.”

Showing Lance some love
Still glowing from his chance encounter last weekend with Lance Armstrong, mayor Buck said, “With the benefit of hindsight, we had the benefit of Lance Armstrong attending the Leadville Qualifier. He was a great addition to an already extraordinary event. So we’re all excited about that.”

Seeing more cycling stars
Mayor Buck also said current Tour de France champion and former mountain biking pro Cadel Evans will be attending the finish of Stage 1 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge finish in Mt. Crested Butte on Tuesday, August 23.

Summer success
In his report to the council, Fitzpatrick had a long list of activities and events that saw success in Mt. Crested Butte through the summer.
“The summer of 2011 is proving to be one of the busiest summers in our history,” Fitzpatrick wrote in his report, mentioning each of the eight sizeable events that had already brought many new faces and returning visitors to the town this year, and looking ahead to the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (USAPCC) stage finish on the mountain.
“August 23, 2011 will be the major event of the summer with Mt. Crested Butte serving as the Stage 1 finish of this multiple-stage bike race for the new USAPCC bicycle race. This is an international bicycle event…with live television coverage around the world,” he said.
The town will also be hosting another round of the Fall Festival of Beers and Chili Cook-off on Saturday, September 10. While it’s still too early to call the summer a complete success until the sales tax numbers for July, August and September are in, Fitzpatrick notes optimistically, “the base area seems busy.”

Work getting under way at Nevada Ridge
After cashing in a $170,000 letter of credit, the town of Mt. Crested Butte is mobilizing a team to get the grounds of the Nevada Ridge subdivision back in order.
Town manager Joe Fitzpatrick told the council that Gary Hartman of Sunlit Architecture had begun collecting bids for the landscaping and other work that is set to start “as soon as we can get those contracts signed.”
He said crews would be put to work fixing some minor problems with a retaining wall on the property as well as on the roads and ditches.
Fitzpatrick told the council the subdivision’s developer, Don Perrotta of Telluride-based Perdon Development, had been working with the town to get the improvements “completed and completed correctly” and wants to continue building on Nevada Ridge, but not until the economy rebounds.
“[Perrotta] is still looking to continue the project. But there’s just no market right now,” he said. “He’s not interested in building for spec just yet and that could change. He’s wants to feel good about the project and he wants other people to feel good about it, too.
“I think we’ll get things fixed up. It’s a very positive relationship,” he said.

Town saves forest
Waste Management representative Aaron Diaz also made his rounds in Mt. Crested Butte on Tuesday, August 2, telling the council the company collected 274 tons of trash and 110 tons of recycling from the town in both May and June.
Altogether, according to a handout at the meeting, the natural resources saved were equivalent to 1,800 trees, enough electricity to power 30 homes for a year, 50,000 gallons of oil, enough gasoline to get a Suburban from Houston to Crested Butte and back 20 times, and 770,000 gallons, or more than two acre-feet, of water.