Brush Creek facilitation meeting postponed for more council time

Focus on the town discussion

By Mark Reaman

The meeting between stakeholders in The Corner at Brush Creek affordable housing proposal that was being facilitated through the Gunnison County attorney’s office was postponed. The gathering was scheduled for Friday, October 19.

Gunnison County attorney David Baumgarten said the rationale for rescheduling the meeting was “to have the benefits of the continuing discussions among parties—including the towns.” Baumgarten said he checked with parties regarding the rescheduling and the rationale and heard only support to do so.

“After talking to David Baumgarten, we felt that given the progress being made with the two town councils over the potential issues, we should focus on that,” said Mt. Crested Butte mayor Todd Barnes. “We will continue to use David as a facilitator but the focus now is on the discussion between Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte and also reaching out to the developer for his thoughts.”

“It was decided that progress was being made in the joint meetings of the councils so the idea was to give that more time,” said Crested Butte mayor Jim Schmidt.

“We agreed with the postponement,” said The Corner at Brush Creek developer Gary Gates. “I had another obligation arise that made the timing of the meeting less than ideal. Additionally, with the two town councils holding multiple separate and joint work sessions over the last couple of months, it was the consensus of the group that a facilitated conversation was not necessary at this time. While recent conversation between the towns has been bilateral, we are hopeful that we will be given the opportunity to share our perspective on the topics of recent conversation in the near future.”