Mt. CB adds summer and fall grant cycle

Applications due July 10

By Kendra Walker

With many organizations having to cancel or revamp their events planned for this summer due to COVID-19, the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council has added a supplemental summer/fall grant request cycle to help with marketing events in the community.

Council had already awarded funds to applicants for the spring/summer cycle back in March, but many organizations were unable to hold their specific event due to COVID-19 health orders. Because the grant requirements don’t allow the grantees to reallocate the funds elsewhere for their organization, most of the money was returned to town.

In an effort to help those marketing for a rescheduled or new event planned later this summer under county health orders, council decided to have the returned funds available go toward a special grant cycle. According to town clerk Tiffany O’Connell, there will be between $45,000 and $55,000 available; so far $44,500 has been returned to town.

“The reason we’re bringing this up is of course the overarching issue we’re all dealing with—people have had to reallocate and change,” said council member Nicholas Kempin, who also serves on the Admissions Tax Grant committee. “It seems like the best way to do this is just sort of reset, let people redo, come with new ideas and just essentially take another crack, given all the changes that have had to be made because of the virus.”

“This is another opportunity for people to come up with a new idea in our new reality,” added council member and grant committee member Roman Kolodziej.

In order to reallocate the grant funds as soon as possible, Mt. Crested Butte is looking into a condensed submission timeline for applicants as well as an abbreviated committee review process. Council also discussed the need for a shortened application from what is typically expected from applicants, then the process would go back to the normal grant cycle requirements and expectations come winter.

“For most of these folks it should be a pretty short and sweet process,” said Kempin. “Most of these applications would essentially be redos of the previous application. We would use all that supporting information from their previous application.”

“I think it’s definitely worth a try to do it,” said mayor Janet Farmer.

Applications are due on July 10 at 5 p.m.