Briefs Gunnison County

 by Olivia Lueckemeyer

Vacation of alley in Irwin and lot cluster granted by county 

At a Board of County Commissioners meeting in January, a petition filed by property owner David Gottorff to vacate the alley on block 21 in the town of Irwin and a request to consolidate the lots on either side of the alley were approved. Marlene Crosby, deputy county manager, said she believed the vacation of the alley was consistent with what the board has done in the past to cluster lots. However, Crosby was not supportive of Gottorff’s request to also vacate the portions of Avenue F and 9th Street, as both have the potential for future public use.

Gottorff had hoped to designate both parcels as conservation easements, which chairperson Swenson commended; however, she agreed with Crosby that the proposed action was not “the best public use right now.” Subsequently, the petition to vacate portions of both streets was denied, a motion that the board carried unanimously.

Digitized county record books will help preserve history 

Efforts are underway to completely digitize and index records from the county clerk and recorder’s office located in the Gunnison Blackstock Government Center. During a tour of the office in January, clerk and recorder Kathy Simillion demonstrated the historical value of the office to the Board of County Commissioners by displaying its wealth of record books, which include grant transfers, marriage licenses and county meeting minutes, and date back to when the county was incorporated in 1877.

Within the next five years, the office plans to scan, place online and make searchable all of the documents. The goal being that, with the records digitized, the county will be better equipped to preserve the physical copies.

“The less we have people going through the books, the longer they’ll last,” Simillion said. The clerks are also eager to digitize the documents in case of a fire, as the office lacks a sprinkler system. The office hopes the county will invest further in preserving its history by funding more protection for the record books.