Mine and parks are top priorities for CB Council

“A good discussion to have…”

The Crested Butte Town Council held a retreat in mid-January to discuss definitive priorities they see for the town and the staff. Chief among those priorities are protecting the watershed and keeping a close eye on anything related to the potential Red Lady mine issue.

Town manager Todd Crossett said the council used some of the values that came out of the recent community meetings as guidelines, along with a long list of “wants” compiled by the council a year ago.
“The council listed several priorities and action items,” said Crossett. “Number one was the VCUP being proposed by U.S. Energy at the old Keystone mine site. That could impact the wastewater treatment plant. Number two was resolving the issue of funding parks and recreation in the town. A subset of that goal was to work with the Parks and Rec master plan that was done a few years ago. But of course a lot of that plan is contingent upon funding. Those areas were the two big ones.”
“The US Energy/Mt. Emmons issue is appropriately at the top of this list,” said Mayor Aaron Huckstep. “Many citizens question whether a mine on Mt. Emmons is a realistic possibility and thus, question whether the town should devote any resources to this issue. On the one hand, the market price of molybdenum makes a project such as Mt. Emmons look like a losing proposition from a purely economic perspective. On the other, your elected officials should not ignore the opportunity to resolve what has been a 35-year controversy.”
Huckstep says the Parks and Recreation issue is a more money-centric problem.
“Figuring out a way to ensure appropriate funding for Parks and Recreation will help all of our citizens,” he said. “If you want to see a swimming pool or recreation center in the town’s future, you should pay close attention to this discussion. As we have seen with the tennis court renovations, important projects cannot come to fruition—or be maintained—without appropriate funding.”
Other areas on the council’s minds are improving the public bathrooms at the Four-way Stop and in the Old Town Hall, and  “to continue working with the county to update and formally approve the Three-mile Plan,” Crossett said. “In that vein, working collaboratively with the other government areas was a priority.”
For Huckstep, the big picture is finding ways to keep the specialness of Crested Butte, saying, “As the town continues to see record-breaking sales tax figures driven from tourism, we must find a way to maintain the safety and charm of our town streets,” he said. “I want to ride my townie well into the future. I’m sure most citizens do, too. If we don’t begin planning now, we may begin losing those little community charms that we all appreciate and enjoy.”
“What we need now is the strategic process and details,” said Crossett. “Overall it was really helpful to have the discussion. The staff will now work to lay out a strategy to accomplish each priority.”