Briefs County

by Adam Broderick

Birnie advising Moffett County commissioners

Gunnison County manager Matthew Birnie visited Moffat County on Tuesday, September 8. Moffat County commissioners invited Birnie to their work session because they are exploring the idea of adding a county manager position in their own county.

“Their commissioners are asking for some help so I think I should go do that,” Birnie told Gunnison County commissioners at the September 1 board meeting.

RV storage in Gunnison

After a busy summer season, talks have arisen regarding street-side RV storage. RVs are parked where they shouldn’t be, and the county wants many of them either relocated or properly disposed of.

Marlene Crosby, director of Public Works for Gunnison County, addressed county commissioners at a September 1 meeting. “How do you get rid of them and prevent them from just becoming storage facilities?”

Crosby says she is trying to find grants available to individuals, or maybe a grant package to help properly dispose of ten or so RVs at a time.

“I’ve looked at disposal of mobile homes for years,” Crosby said. “If someone wants to get rid of an old mobile home, the original asbestos inspection is $5,000 to $7,000. The total to remove the asbestos is between $1,600 and $1,900, then you need to spend another $1,375 on clean air…so you’re looking at a $10,000 cost before you even start trying to landfill it or scrap the steel. I think it’s important to think about the fact that when people can’t get rid of them, there’s a reason for that.”

Since so many RVs are being improperly stored within city limits, commissioner Paula Swenson told Crosby the issue might be something to hash out with the city of Gunnison. Crosby said her department will continue to pursue that suggestion; she thinks a part of the process will include a demolition permit.

Commissioner Houck to put Gunnison on the (trail) map

Jonathan Houck, county commissioner, applied for a spot to represent Colorado Counties on a new trail-mapping project being conducted by the State of Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources. The project is essentially an idea to put all of Colorado’s trail systems in a one-stop shop, Houck explained. “Governor John Hickenlooper recently kicked off a bunch of new initiatives. One is connecting more kids to outdoor spaces and another is a statewide mapping project. The idea is to map all the motorized and non-motorized trails across the state and compile them so individuals as well as mapping project developers and community agencies can have that kind of information available. Some counties have no mapping database, so this statewide mapping project is a way to make sure they have the best opportunity. I’m going to bring all the skills I can to the table,” he told the Crested Butte News.

The project task force wanted to have a commissioner represent the state’s 64 counties, and Houck said, “I got the call and was told I was the chosen one.”

CNG fueling station in Gunnison

There is now a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Montrose and one in Cañon City, and having one in Gunnison soon is looking promising. County manager Matthew Birnie told the Board of County Commissioners in August that a lot of pieces are falling into place in the effort to transition county fleet vehicles to CNG. The county has committed to having a detailed plan to convert its vehicle fleet to CNG by the end of 2015.

There is good chance the fueling station would go along Hwy. 50, possibly an addition to the current Conoco station, and Birnie said the state seems interested in supplying some grant money toward the effort. Commissioner Paula Swenson, who is also chairperson of the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority (RTA), said the RTA also committed to at least one CNG bus and that they used to use grant dollars to buy the bus.

“We ordered a CNG bus and a diesel bus, so that as we’re cautiously moving forward with CNG, if everything works, future buses will be all CNG,” said Swenson. She added that one of those buses is funded by a grant and the other is funded by reserves of the RTA.

“It’s a state priority and we’re looking to be positioned well,” Birnie said. “Our goal is to get a station in so a market could be created. Once there’s a station, there should be a lot of interest. And once the station is in place, our role is pretty much done. It all looks encouraging.”