Briefs Mt. Crested Butte

by Alissa Johnson

Staff to look at construction of cold storage maintenance facility
At its June 2 meeting, the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council gave staff the go-ahead to continue researching the construction of a cold storage maintenance facility. Town manager Joe Fitzpatrick explained that storing more equipment indoors would keep the equipment in better shape and eliminate the need to store some equipment in Grand Junction over the winter.
“Looking at the long range view… we came to the conclusion that we have too much equipment stored outdoors and it’s shortening its life,” Fitzpatrick said. He and community development coordinator Todd Carroll said they thought the easiest and cheapest way to solve the problem would be the construction of a cold storage building.
Public Works supervisor Bobby Block explained that after researching the cost of new equipment, he estimates, “The cost of this building is going to come in somewhere around 15 to 20 percent of what the cost of upgrading equipment would be.”
The council okayed the research, asking that staff consider all aspects of the building including size and durability, to make sure it was the right building.

Vacant position on Town Council
The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council is looking to fill a vacated seat left open by the resignation of council member Chris Morgan. The council is seeking applicants and intends to address the matter at its June 16 meeting.

Extension of Time Warner franchise agreement
The council received a letter from Time Warner Cable indicating that an agreement between Time Warner Cable Inc. and Comcast Corporation to merge has been terminated by Comcast. The letter also notified the council that Time Warner will continue to operate as the cable system in the Mt. Crested Butte community.
At the council’s June 2 meeting, the council approved an extension of the existing Time Warner franchise agreement in order to give the town time to work out the details of a renewal.
“Progress wasn’t as fast as we had hoped and that was partially because of the Time Warner/Comcast stuff going on,” said town manager Joe Fitzpatrick. He asked that the council extend the current agreement through September 30. While he expects the new franchise to be wrapped up in the next six weeks or so, he wanted to leave a cushion so the council would not have to renew the current agreement again.

Building codes updated
The Town Council adopted the 2012 International Building codes with one exception. Single-family homes will not be required to have automatic sprinkler systems, but at the direction of the council, the Community Development Department is spreading the word that such a requirement will likely be in place sooner than later—perhaps as early as a year from now.