Briefs Mt. Crested Butte

Work continues at Town Hall
While work on the recreation path around the Mt. Crested Butte Town Hall continues at “full speed ahead,” according to Town Manager Joe Fitzpatrick, traffic along Gothic Road earlier this month was not, after the excavation required to tap a sewer line closed the town’s main thoroughfare most of the day on Tuesday, October 4.

“The sewer line was on the far side of the road so we had to dig up the whole road down about seven or eight feet,” Fitzpatrick said. “There will be other interesting things going on around the town hall. I don’t think we’ll close Gothic Road too much but once we get going in earnest on the [retaining] wall, we’ll have to move traffic up around because of the excavation that will have to be done.”
The town’s contractor, United Companies, is working to relocate a gas line, part of the sewer line and the electric lines servicing Town Hall. With the gas and electric lines on the same side of the road as the building, traffic on Gothic Road shouldn’t be interrupted too often between now and when the project is completed next spring.

GCSAPP defends drug free ski program
Brooke Harless, director of the Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Project (GCSAPP), went to the council to talk about a new program the group is reviving with Crested Butte Mountain Resort this winter to trade kids cheap ski passes for a guarantee they’ll stay sober.
Harless explained that the latest drug-free ski program is modeled after a similar offering from CBMR—the Drug Free Ski Pass Program—that was available to kids between the mid-1990s and 2005, “when the Muellers bought the ski area,” she said.
“The premise of the program was that high school kids could get a discounted ski pass by signing a pledge to remain drug-free throughout the ski season,” Harless explained. “They had random drug testing that was administered through the school.”
When the ski area sold, Harless said, concerns were raised over the program’s ability to determine if kids were actually abstaining from drug use and the offer was discontinued. But a new plan, with more accountability, was unveiled this year.
Harless said she had heard from the parents who were happy to see the program coming back, since it gave kids an excuse not to partake of any illicit substances while at a party, and get a discounted ski pass at the same time. She also added that she had heard of Gunnison kids who hadn’t been skiing because they felt it was inaccessible because of the cost.
To get those kids on skis, CBMR and GCSAPP are offering scholarships to anyone who wants to participate in the program but can’t afford the discounted ski pass. Harless also pointed out that the drug tests would be done with a quick swab of the mouth instead of with a urine test.
“It’s the only way we can gauge use and know if we’re making progress,” Harless said of the testing.

Admissions tax
The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council considered four more requests for admissions tax funds Tuesday, October 18, which the town distributes to groups marketing events that will bring people to town, then tacked on a fifth the following week. The latest rounds of requests rolled in after the application deadline for the winter distribution, but the council cut the applicants some slack, and a check.
“We had two applications for requests within the timeframe for the winter money, which was August 15, 2011. We distributed that money [in early] September,” councilman David Clayton said, October 11. “I’d like to find a way it continues and is amplified so people know of the cycle and we get money in. I’d hate to have that good project not get funded because we’ve already allocated the money. That’s one of the reasons we’re looking at these projects tonight.”
When the council considered admissions tax requests from Crested Butte Mountain Resort and Crested Butte Lodging in early September, they granted almost $300,000 and put $65,000 in a reserve fund. For the latest round of grants the town is temporarily taking some of that back.
The proposals that came in after the deadline were from the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce for the holiday Butte Bucks Program, from Yoga For the Peaceful to help spread the word about its inaugural winter yoga festival coming up this February, from Colorado FreeSkier for a ski-film festival and from Noah Wight of CBTV who offered his video production services to help market the town.
After hearing the requests, the council decided to work out a plan with more detail with Noah White for an improved video presence for the town. Colorado FreeSkier-owner Gabe Martin was granted $900 to cover the cost of Mountaineer Square during the film festival. Monica Mason and Yoga for the Peaceful got the full $3,000 they had asked for and the Chamber of Commerce got $2,500 for the Butte Bucks program this winter.
Then last week, October 18, the council agreed to grant another last minute $6,000 request from CBMR, which is teaming with Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI) to revive a songwriter’s festival that once operated in the north end of the valley this January.