The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
by Kendra Walker
Council election update
Council officially canceled the April election and declared the five candidates elected during the February 18 meeting. Council member Roman Kolodziej volunteered to take the two-year term, and the remaining council members Michael Bacani, Dwayne Lehnertz, Nicholas Kempin and Janet Farmer will take the four-year terms.
“Thank you Roman for making this easy,” said mayor Farmer.
2020 Census
Mac Gray with the 2020 census spoke at council’s February 18 meeting to share information about what to expect with the upcoming 2020 Census.
This will be the first time folks can fill it out online. Survey information is being mailed to PO Boxes starting March 12, which will come with an online code that coordinates to each resident’s address. However, Gray noted, the code is not necessary in order to go online and complete the survey.
“This shapes our voting district and it shapes our legislative representation,” he said. The census counts all persons living in the U.S. required by the U.S. Constitution and is used to determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives, how federal and state legislative districts are redrawn and the appropriation of federally funded programs.
Gray stressed that all data is confidential, and the census counts are used in distributing over $13.1 billion in federal funds in Colorado per year, helping fund health and human services programs, Title 1 grants to educational agencies, emergency food and shelter, transportation and Women, Infants and Children (WIC). “The more people we get counted, the more money we’ll get for families in need,” he concluded.
Census Day is April 1, and data collection continues through July.
Nordic Inn moves forward
Council approved the second reading of the Nordic Inn Planned Unit Development major alteration application. This first reading was approved on January 21, which includes a five-year vesting period and there have been no changes since. The application will now go before the Planning Commission for design review.
