Gunnison County public works talks budget, roads and recycling

County working toward potential ballot measure for 2023 or 2024

By Katherine Nettles

In a recent performance review with county department heads, county commissioners got updates from Gunnison County public works director Martin Schmidt regarding road and bridge budget shortfalls and the robust snow accumulation that meant more plowing this spring and possibly a smaller budget for road maintenance this summer and fall. He reviewed his department’s road maintenance and recycling activities and future goals based on the county’s strategic plan. This includes a major priority to find another source of funding for public works to make it more financially viable, such as a ballot issue in the future.

“We all know that public works is struggling through just the Highway Users tax fund (HUTF) and just the small additional funding sources that we have,” said Schmidt. “To continue improving our infrastructure, I think we do a really good job of squeezing every dollar to maintain what we have in the best way possible. But when we get requests for building new roads or intersections or any additional services for the public, it really is not tenable with our budget.”

State statute prohibits counties from appropriating general fund money for roads and bridges or transferring general fund money to the county road and bridge fund. Several attempts to change this through state-wide legislation have failed in recent years, and the county has openly considered a ballot question to fund the road and bridge fund in recent years. However, the county has chosen not to pursue it as other entities also have had ballot initiatives to raise taxes for things like school improvements, recreational programming and a new fire station.  

Schmidt said he is working on a plan for another try at a ballot measure that he would bring to commissioners soon.

“I’ve got an agreement with an engineering group that has actually had successful ballot measures in the past, and what we’re trying to do right now is tell our story,” he said. Telling the story would include information about the county’s limited budget “and the services we can’t provide but could provide at different levels of funding.” 

One example is that the county cannot afford to buy vehicles outright and must pay interest or do leasing options. Another example is doing repair work to roads that has to be repeated every year or two, compared with new pavement that doesn’t need to be maintained with a chip seal for about five to seven years. 

Prices continue to go up for materials, such as magnesium chloride, said Schmidt, which now costs $5,200 per mile of application. 

“Full reconstruction of a road, which is where we are with quite a few of our roads, is $400,000 to $600,000 per mile, which is not in our budget.”

County manager Matthew Birnie said he has been working with Schmidt on these issues, and the firm they are using recommends a two-year plan to build the narrative before putting a ballot measure in place. He said the final deadline for deciding to put something on the fall ballot is in July.  

Another strategic priority is road repair ratings. 

Schmidt reported that plowing has cost the county a lot this year and will consume much of the year’s budget, meaning that road maintenance funds will be smaller going into spring.

“We are going to have to curtail some of our gravel and asphalt applications,” he said. 

Commissioner Liz Smith asked if the cumulative effect of maintaining roads and patching them adds up to more than repaving. 

“It certainly can sometimes,” responded Schmidt. “We don’t have a savings account in road and bridge; we’re using the funds allocated by the board for that year.”

Birnie said that repaving would be preferred to repairing in many areas, “but you need to have the capital to begin with.”

Another priority is maintaining trails and paths, and Schmidt said the department intends to reapply gravel to county trails such as the Deli Trail, the one alongside the Whitewater Park near Gunnison and the Wagon Trail along Kebler Road.  

Another strategic priority is considering and balancing the environmental impacts of various maintenance methods, whether using heavy equipment to regrade or applying mag chloride to a road, versus leaving a road soft that might not hold up or create excessive dust.

Recycling update

Finally, the public works department also maintains the landfill and strives to extend its life and minimize environmental impacts. A new trash compactor and newer, better dump trucks for collections have made a difference this year, said Schmidt. The recycling center is diverting landfill waste and accepts all city of Gunnison recycling in addition to the county jurisdiction 

“We sell every product from the recycling center directly to a buyer,” he said. That doesn’t achieve a break-even for operations, but Schmidt did explain that it offsets costs and offers peace of mind that recycling is being used as it should rather than dumped in a landfill.

Schmidt noted that the higher number plastics used for dairy products, including yogurt containers, are not recyclable in this area. “We can’t find a buyer,” he said, which is due partly to the county’s rural location.

Birnie noted that the issue is not recycling, but “it’s how we package things.”

Schmidt said pizza boxes are perfectly usable and acceptable to the current recycling buyer, as long as they aren’t too terribly greasy.