Crested Butte Briefs

Executive sessions
The council held a couple of long executive sessions on Wednesday, May 7 to discuss two items. The first dealt with a potential special event permit and the possibility of negotiating with a national company about shooting a major commercial in Crested Butte in the fall. The second session related to the ongoing U.S. Energy discussions over the proposed Voluntary Clean Up Process for the old Keystone mine and a longer-term discussion over a permanent solution to proposed molybdenum mining on Mt. Emmons.

Sales tax not going down
Sales tax for the month of March was…up! As of the last count, it was up 3.1 percent over last year, but more than a half dozen “significant filers” were missing, so Lois Rozman, town finance director, estimated March might actually be up more than 10 percent for the month. For the year, the reported sales tax has the town up 7.5 percent over last year.

Cops catching up
Chief Marshal Tom Martin informed the council that new hires were joining the force, assistant chief marshal Ted Conner would be leaving in June, and all the cops were juggling vacations and continuing education classes. In other words, the cops are catching up in the offseason.

Building news: It’s busy
Bob Gillie, the town building and zoning director, said the new building inspector started work this week. He said it is shaping up to be a busy summer with both big projects and small. He also said he felt the town has reached a “design accommodation” with Alpine Lumber on its proposed lumber shed that was not approved by BOZAR. Gillie expects the appeal request that was to come in front of the council to be pulled.

Bridges of the Butte back on
The council approved the summer Bridges of the Butte 24-hour Townie Tour that benefits the Adaptive Sports Center. Councilperson Shaun Matusewicz voted against the motion for approval, stating that he thought the council should discuss the issues brought to the council from some Elk Avenue businesses. He made it clear he was in favor of the event but wanted a more thorough discussion.

Spending all the money…
Councilperson and county Land Preservation Board representative Jim Schmidt said the board spent all its remaining money last week. He said three projects drained the fund, including a $225,000 contribution to the Snodgrass sale project, $53,000 to buy a plot of land known as the old Hotchkiss parcel on the other side of Kebler Pass, and $56,000 for some land on the Gunnison-Delta County border near Crawford.

Other stuff
* Council is prioritizing work session topics. Floating to the top are Parks and Recreation Department funding, the upcoming summer transportation study, area trail signage, and private tavern licenses in town.
* Crystal Edmunds was appointed as an alternate to the Land Preservation Board. But given Schmidt’s report, she may not have a meeting to go to anytime soon.
* The council approved a lease with Gravity Groms to use the Nordic Center for its summer operations.
* The council agreed to sell the land beneath a mobile home in Red Lady Estates for $24,133.
*Pinnacle Construction was awarded the bid for a new roof on Town Hall.