The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
A half-dozen topics from VRBOs to the mine to special events
Based on a review of stated priorities, the Crested Butte Town Council has about a half dozen primary goals for 2015: shore up the town’s special event permitting process; develop affordable housing strategies; see how things such as short-term rentals like VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) fit into the town mix; decide whether to try again for a sales tax increase earmarked for parks funding; decide whether or not to reach out to U.S. Energy concerning the proposed molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons; develop an open space strategy; and develop overall integral strategic planning.
Town manager Todd Crossett led a work session on January 20 dealing with priorities that had been noted at a Town Council retreat. “Some of these are multi-month projects and others could be quicker,” he said.
Did Whatever spur the discussion about closing Elk Avenue?
The council wants to review Elk Avenue closures and address concerns about the impacts of closing the town’s main street. Local artist Shaun Horne has said he’s concerned about such closures since last September’s Whatever USA event. Crossett said part of the solution might be to eventually hire a special event organizer.
“I’d hope we can analyze the economic impact of individual special events,” said councilmember Chris Ladoulis. “Maybe get a breakout of sales tax on the weeks that events are held. We could use a better understanding of how special events shape our economy. That would need to be part of the job if we hire such a position.”
“Some would argue that our October sales tax increase was due in part to September’s Whatever event,” said councilman Jim Schmidt. “We have to be careful to consider everything.”
“A key outcome would be to have a rational method to judge the event,” said mayor Aaron Huckstep.
“In some respects the town is a business, but not in every respect,” said councilperson Skip Berkshire. “We can’t ignore the intangible benefits of an event. Special events are more than just a balance sheet.”
“I’m afraid we’ll get caught up in paralysis by analysis,” said Schmidt.
“The issue of sharing and closing Elk Avenue could be a work session by itself,” said Crossett.
“That issue has a lot of hair all over it,” agreed Ladoulis. “Some will argue to never close Elk, while others will say close it more. It could be a lengthy conversation.”
“Is there a level of concern in the community from individual user groups? Is it a widespread problem?” asked Crossett.
“We could get lost in the weeds over that one,” said Huckstep.
“Take Whatever out of the picture and would we even be talking about this?” asked Berkshire.
“Whatever showed us the stress lines,” said Ladoulis. “But it was all building up to the discussion. Especially in July.”
Are VRBOs eliminating affordable housing in town?
Crossett said a big concern in most mountain towns was the VRBO and short-term rental issue taking away affordable housing.
“There is discussion at the Colorado Association of Ski Towns [CAST] about the methods and mechanisms of how to regulate it,’ said Huckstep. “Todd and I will be attending a CAST meeting soon. There is a lot to be learned there. We could perhaps have our affordable housing consultant Melanie Rees look at the Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte situation.” The council will touch on the issue at a work session this Monday.
Try the “parks” tax again?
Crossett asked the council if they wanted to try proposing a sales tax increase next fall to solidify parks funding in town. “We vetted the options to address the issue and the funding options last year,” said Crossett. “Do you want to put it on the ballot again or start over and go back to the drawing board?”
“This is my number-one priority to get going again,” said Schmidt. “Having a citizen’s committee advocate for it is critical and that fell through last time.”
“We have heard of some people expressing an interest in that in part because they may have a pet project they want to see—the campground development, for instance,” said Crossett.
“I don’t think the public fully understood what was trying to be accomplished last year,” said councilman Roland Mason. “The RTA is using a consultant to do some groundwork for a possible tax. Would the council be willing to spend some dollars for something like that?”
“If we truly believe it belongs on the ballot, then perhaps,” said Ladoulis.
“My request would be for the elected officials to get out there and advocate for the issue,” said Huckstep. “I know not everyone on the council supports the tax idea but the fact is we all took our eye off this ball after Whatever. We were tired.”
“I think we should look at some non-profits like the Trust for Public Land that has this type of expertise and advice,” said Schmidt. “And secondly, the people with the pet projects need to know that nothing gets done without additional funding.”
“Eventually something will get cut that people don’t want cut if something doesn’t change,” said Crossett.
Reengaging U.S. Energy
“Is the timing right, given the oil and gas situation, to reopen a possible deal with U.S. Energy?” asked Crossett. “We have a good relationship with the Red Lady Coalition [RLC] and the High Country Conservation Advocates [HCCA].”
“I think the priority is to have a strategy,” said Ladoulis. “There are lots of potential outcomes but I feel we need a strategy.”
“Should the first step be a work session with the RLC and HCCA to find out their opinions?” asked Schmidt. “It might take five minutes if everyone says ‘Don’t do anything.’”
“I’d like the council to consider the spectrum of opportunities first,” said Huckstep. “There’s the do nothing option or the throw a lot of money at it. There’s a range of options available to the town.”
“I’d rather do it the other way around and get more input from everyone first,” countered Schmidt.
“I’d like the council to make an independent decision,” said Huckstep. “We as a town might have very different interests. The council should first discuss how to work with the other guys.”
“I realize we won’t always walk in lockstep with everyone,” said Schmidt. “I agree that we as a town have some different priorities. But I’d rather re-engage the community for input.”
“We’ll certainly be relying on all the stakeholders if we do something big,” said Crossett.
Town attorney John Belkin told the council that there were “some things going on now in the background. The oil and gas prices are impacting U.S. Energy. The water treatment plant needs to renew its permit. All are part and parcel of the conversation.”
Integrated strategic plan—maybe later
Crossett said that while creating an overall strategic plan is a priority, it might not get checked off this year. “This helps in the mid- to long-term but it will eat up some time. I’m not sure it is reasonable with everything else to knock this off this year.
“I’d hate to do this and not do it well,” he continued. “A bad strategic plan is not a helpful thing.”
Open space strategy
The council wants a more formal policy for how it makes decisions about how to spend open space monies. In the past, the council has been reactive to whoever asks.
Crossett said one priority in that realm would be to sit down and “enhance” the relationship with the Crested Butte Land Trust.
“Ideally, we want to be ahead of the curve and not just react,” said Ladoulis.
“It is an opportunity to sit down with the land trust,” said Huckstep. “Nothing is necessarily wrong but they are open to that as well.”
Timing
“When it comes to special events, we are heading into summer pretty quickly,” said Ladoulis. “Let’s look at that issue early. Maybe in February.”
“We don’t want these things to fall into the fog machine,” agreed Huckstep.
Ladoulis suggested it would be good for the council to have an idea of when the issues would be addressed over the next 11 months.
“What’s the approach to peeling the onion on this?” asked Berkshire. “How are we going to solve these things?”
“We may not solve all these priority issues but we should make some progress on all six,” said Ladoulis.
Crossett said he would begin addressing the special event issue and the sales tax citizen’s committee idea first. “Those have to happen pretty fast,” he said. “I’ll meet with the staff and come back to the council with some recommendations.”
