Briefs Crested Butte

Parks and Rec…new signs and locker rooms…someday
Crested Butte parks and recreation director Jake Jones reported to the council that local stakeholders are collaborating on new and improved trail signage for the area. A meeting is set for this week that involves the town, the county, the U.S. Forest Service, Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association and other interested parties. “The new trail signage hasn’t gone as fast as we’d like but it hasn’t gone away,” he reported.

In response to a question from councilperson Glenn Michel, Jones said there would be no improvement this year to the Big Mine Ice Arena locker situation. “We want to do a comprehensive study,” he said. “We didn’t get the planning grant we were hoping for but we’ll try again. We know the Warming House over there is bursting at the seams but nothing will be happening this year.”

Retreat!
The council will hold yet another retreat to talk about communication and priorities amongst themselves. This one is slated for January 13.

The wheels on the bus go round and …
Council Mountain Express and RTA representative Roland Mason told the council people are riding the buses. December is seeing 21 percent more passengers this year over last. “Snow means ridership,” he said. “We might have to look at upgrading and expanding the fleets. The recent increases in sales taxes would help.”

TA upgrading online offerings
Tourism Association director Pamela Loughman gave a report to the council. She said many of the new things being tried at the TA are successful. One thing on the horizon for 2014 is a plan to implement some topic-specific online guides. The first four key areas that will be the focus of the new guides are weddings, family and kid-friendly events, a sportsmen guide for hunting and fishing and an arts and culture guide. She anticipates this will have a big impact for those shopping for the area.

Spend or save?
While Mayor Aaron Huckstep wanted to spend the last $2,000 in council discretionary funds budgeted for 2013 on some marketing for Western State Colorado University and the Crested Butte Nordic program, the rest of the council thought the precedent of donating money without even being asked was not a good move. Huckstep wanted to be a good neighbor to WSCU and has been super-impressed with the Nordic’s new homologated racecourse. “That course will be a huge community benefit,’ he said.
The majority of the council thought it more prudent to carry over the money and look at some of the financial shortcomings within the town budget.