The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Fund balance goals cause the most debate
The idea of a new policy reviewing all open space funding requests to the town of Crested Butte got mired in numbers at a Town Council meeting on Tuesday, August 6. The draft policy was cobbled together from similar land trust-type organizations and was meant to streamline and define the town’s view of how and why to fund open space.
“This tries to put a framework to the open space requests,” explained Mayor Aaron Huckstep. There is no formal policy to review open space requests at this time.
Included in the draft from town staff was a recommendation to have a line item for stewardship that included a fund balance of $200,000. A second fund balance line item for $50,000 for property maintenance was suggested.
“I think the $200,000 for stewardship is too much,” said Councilman Jim Schmidt.
That money would be used for, among other things, defending conservation easements held by the town in case a dispute should arise. Such disputes could involve legal fees, which are rarely cheap.
After a half hour of discussion, Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT) board member Skip Berkshire told the council, “This is a really good start but the numbers don’t seem based in fact. Put some science and rationale behind the numbers. You have time to do it. The town has only hit home runs with open space. Nothing is broken. Maybe take time for more collaboration with people who know this stuff. It seems like right now you are just sort of picking numbers out of thin air, which is hard this time of night after a long meeting.”
“This is the first time we’ve seen this policy,” responded Huckstep. “It’s a first discussion but it’s a discussion we need to have.”
CBLT executive director Ann Johnston indicated she felt setting aside that much money might prohibit some spending on needed open space acquisitions.
“We’ve always said that acquisition opportunities come up when they come up and you have to act when you have the chance,” Johnston told the council.
“The $50,000 in maintenance is a suggestion,” said parks and recreation director Jake Jones. “The town in the past has spent under $10,000 a year on property maintenance for the open space parcels. But [former town planner] John Hess performed a lot of that work for free and he isn’t doing that now. We also have some need for fencing and deferred maintenance.”
“It seems high to me,” said Councilperson Shaun Matusewicz. “I don’t want to take money away from purchasing open space.”
“Fifty thousand dollars in a maintenance fund won’t preclude preservation of open space forever,” responded Jones. “We tend to budget conservatively and it has served us well in the past.”
“Hess did a lot of work that we might have to pay for now,” reiterated Owen, “and fencing will cost money.”
“We all want to acquire open space,” said Councilperson Glenn Michel. “Having a stewardship and maintenance fund says we are setting aside money to protect and maintain that land. That seems responsible. There is a real cost to maintain that land.”
“I agree, but my point is the amount we set aside,” said Matusewicz.
“It’s the same issue we have with the parks in town,” added Councilperson John Wirsing. “They keep growing but we can’t pay for maintaining them.”
“This is a policy and not a mandate,” reminded Huckstep. “We can dip into the overall funds if we see the need.”
The council agreed to drop the stewardship fund balance goal to $150,000. The maintenance fund balance goal will be set at $50,000. An expected request from the CBLT for the town to hold an easement will be run through the draft policy as a test.
