BRIEFS crested butte council

by Mark Reaman

Late Night Taxi funding

Council approved the allocation of funds in 2023 and 2024 to facilitate the Mountain Express operations of the Late Night Taxi service that is run by Alpine Express. A total of $116,000, or $6,105 per month, will be budgeted for the service. That is a 21% increase over 2022.

Outdoor dining parklets to be set up next week

The summer Elk Avenue parklets will start going up Wednesday, June 14. The parklets will allow for two-way traffic on Elk and outdoor dining for various restaurants.

More Center parking on Seventh Street

Town is installing 13 perpendicular parking spaces on the west side of Seventh Street near the Center for the Arts. A sidewalk is also being installed.

BOLT funding changes?

Council is looking at how to possibly adjust the BOLT (Business and Occupational License Tax) collections. Understanding it as more a business license fee than a tax, most of the BOLT revenue is earmarked to go to the Visitor’s Center at the Four-Way Stop. Council was leaning toward not making any major changes to the $100 fee and where the money is funneled, but will have future discussion on whether that money is the right amount and the right avenue for helping to fund the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center.

File your sales tax digitally

Council gave the thumbs up to the town finance department to pursue changes to some elements of the town code to make finance organization clearer and more streamlined. Among the changes will be a requirement for businesses to digitally file sales tax forms and payments. Council will also consider changing how it allows businesses and vendors to retain 1.5% of their sales tax if they remit the tax in a timely manner. Council hedged on eliminating the retention totally but will consider capping the amount a business can keep at either $100 or $200 per month. The vendor fee retention amounted to approximately $111,000 in 2022.

Drinking water is safe

A routine drinking water inspection conducted by the state on June 21, 2022 identified some minor violations in the Crested Butte water. The inspection noted issues with the town monitoring of turbidity and chlorine calibration issues. The issues were corrected, and the town said there is no health risk with the town drinking water.

Irwin project price spikes into millions

The project to update the town’s outtake system from Lake Irwin has turned into an extremely complicated project. The state has decided to classify part of the project as a dam which imposes a whole new array of regulation. The project that was originally estimated to cost about $1.3 million has now ballooned to almost $8 million. Staff is researching funding opportunities as well as other options for other water supply sources. “We are looking at a number of different paths to pursue given this situation,” said town manager Dara MacDonald. “Stay tuned.”

Stuff

—GCEA District 1 candidate Frank Stern formally introduced himself to the town council.

—The council meeting scheduled for Monday, July 3 is cancelled due to the holiday. The Juneteenth (June 19) and Colorado Day (August 7) holidays will shift the Monday meetings to the following Tuesdays.