Town will join Housing Authority

“We have to pay to play…”

The Crested Butte Town Council is moving ahead with helping fund a Gunnison County Housing Authority. Council instructed staff to work with the other area governmental entities and draft an intergovernmental agreement that binds the county, Mt. Crested Butte, the city of Gunnison and the town of Crested Butte into a countywide housing authority. They agreed to fund the authority at its current level, which amounts to approximately $27,000 a year.

“Do our goals for the town meet the goals of a countywide authority?” asked Councilperson Jim Schmidt.
“Each entity would create types of projects to fit that specific community,” explained Crested Butte Town Planner John Hess.
“I’m excited to see a staff change,” said Councilperson John Wirsing. “To see that money leave the town every year didn’t please me. If there is a change in attitude and philosophies, maybe this is a good thing. I can support this.”
In a memo, County Manager Matthew Birnie pointed out that the mission of the housing authority was to provide affordable housing and support and advocate service to low and moderate-income residents “so they can live in safe, quality and energy-efficient affordable housing.”
Birnie’s memo said that under the county housing authority, the housing authority group would be able to receive loans, grants and other contributions from other sources. He said a housing authority was also necessary to participate in federal and state housing programs.
Councilperson David Owen said he had communicated with County Commissioner Paula Swenson, who reminded him there was a $500,000 county fund generated from linkage fees that could be used for housing. He said that money might be able to be tapped to help provide infrastructure to some town-owned lots. “You need to pay to play,” he said.
The council felt that was appropriate and agreed to have staff pursue an intergovernmental agreement with the other area governmental entities.