Briefs Crested Butte

Big Mine Arena fees
Now that large events with 300 to 499 people have the green light at Big Mine Ice Arena, rental fees for large groups are rising accordingly. The fee for a one-day event with 300 to 499 people is $500 plus a $250 refundable deposit. The fee for three-day events is $1,200 plus a $600 refundable deposit.
Fees for smaller events with fewer than 300 people will not change: $300 for a one-day event and $750 for a three-day event.

Grease fees
The Crested Butte public works department is looking at adding a new wastewater pre-treatment fee for businesses that discharge exceptionally greasy water into the sewer system. Matt Peacock, wastewater system manager, told the Town Council that the public works department spent $5,800 over the last 12 months to clean grease build-up in pipes and to remove grease build-up at the plant.
The cleaning program has proven essential to a smooth-running sewer system. Since it was implemented two years ago, the town hasn’t had any issues with overflowing. Peacock explained that the new fee would be “a surcharge for covering the costs that have come about because we have been spending this money on handling the grease.”
New restaurants have been installing grease interceptors, but existing businesses would be able to pay the fee instead. Depending on the amount of water being discharged, a business the size of Camp 4 Coffee would pay about $14.35 per month and a business the size of Maxwells would pay $60.77.
Rodney Due, director of the public works department, said meetings will be held with business owners prior to implementation on January 1, 2014. But the way he sees it, it’s a necessary step.
“This program isn’t new—for small towns like Crested Butte, yes—but we had overflows a couple of times a year prior to 2011, and we stepped up the program in the cleaning and bought the equipment and that’s why we haven’t seen any overflows lately,” Due said. “But it comes at a cost, and right now that’s absorbed in monthly fees for every resident in town. Is that fair?”

Spring plowing snafu
Town plowing was off the back when a spring snowstorm hit on Sunday, April 14 took everyone by surprise. As public works director Rodney Due explained, night plowing crews stop as of April 1, and the transition got a little lost in the shuffle.
“There was a glitch in communication between us and the Marshal’s Office, so we apologize to anyone who got delayed Sunday morning,” he said. “We got our plows here on Sunday and by noon everything pretty much opened up again.”
Due added that the crews are ready and waiting for any other storms headed our way.

Fourth-grade fun
Fourth graders at the Crested Butte Community School have been treated to some extra lessons (and fun) of late. Building department staff treated the kids to tours around town as part of a unit on historic preservation, and kids will soon be taking home pine saplings as part of a forestry unit with the parks and recreation department.

New tourism website
Pamela Loughman, executive director of the Gunnison Crested Butte Tourism Association, told the Town Council that its new website will launch this month. Chamber members will be able to update their own content, and the timing is great, given that overall website traffic is on the rise. Website traffic during the first quarter was up 15 percent over last year, and Facebook followers have grown from approximately 3,000 to 9,000 in just one year. Loughman said that reflects a change in the way travelers are looking for information.