MetRec spreads the grant wealth across 26 entities in the valley

Looking ahead to future planning

By Mark Reaman

The Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District (MetRec) awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to 27 recipients over both ends of the valley this summer. While 30 grant applications were received, three were rejected after being determined they were ineligible. Of the remaining 27 requests, 26 received their full ask. Of the $531,524 budgeted for grants, MetRec awarded $472,541 from requests totaling $522,541.

Grants ranged from a high of $75,000 for the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association to bolster its CB Conservation Corps summer trail and conservation efforts, to $1,913 for the Crested Butte Community School that will be used to support swim lessons for kindergartners. Recipients included regional municipalities and nonprofit organizations along with special districts like the RE1J (see sidebar on page 17 for list of grant requests and awards).

MetRec has two pools of money for such grants. There is a 1-mill revenue source for general operations that includes money that can be used for recreational purposes in both the north and south ends of the valley. Two additional mills were approved by voters in the North Valley for recreational purposes, and that tax funding must be spent only in the North Subdistrict that starts at about Round Mountain.

“There was some concern expressed during the grant cycle about how MetRec would divvy up recreation money from the District-wide fund (1.0 mill for the whole district) and the North Subdistrict (2.0 mills),” said MetRec district manager Derrick Nehrenberg. “At the end of the day, we made some excellent budgeting guesses and luckily saved ourselves a lot of brain damage because the requested amounts almost matched the budgeted amounts exactly or were less. The community can rest assured that North Subdistrict money was awarded only to North Subdistrict organizations.”

Nehrenberg said that $326,524 was budgeted for 6B funding in the North Valley and $342,134 was awarded. That was out of $855,080 in expected tax revenue with the balance going into recreation capital reserves. The requests from Gunnison and the South Valley then came from the money in the general 1-mill grant pool of money. $205,000 was budgeted from that 1-mill pool of money and $130,407 was awarded.

“The capital construction budget for 6B represents 60% of the total recreation budget for the North Valley and will go into reserves because we need a master plan in place before we start spending taxpayer money,” Nehrenberg said. “Nonprofit support represents 30% of the budget and must be spent annually. The third line has since been renamed ‘Community Collaboration’ and represents 10% of the budget, which can also go into reserves. This year, we awarded most of it, because we wanted to get that money out the door in the hands of organizations who will make the most of it.”

Nehrenberg said that he feels 6B represents a key turning point for MetRec, and its revamped grant funding programs represent the first major opportunity to deliver on the will of the voters. “If we continue working together, we can create a cool recreation future,” he noted.

Looking down the road, MetRec will use information gathered from its recent recreation survey to guide how and where future tax funds are spent. “We also completed the draft report of our rec survey, which we’ll use to guide recreation funding and regional recreation master planning,” he said. “We’ll be issuing a final report within the next month or so. In it, you’ll find significant support for regional recreation master planning, which we currently aim to begin in 2024 and complete by the first quarter of 2025.

“We’ve got broad support for regional recreation master planning,” Nehrenberg continued. “It will take a village to create a plan; if we do it right, I think the voters will want to see our community act on the plan. There’s some planning fatigue going on out there, but there’s no better time to strike than when the iron is hot. Better to sync up all the plans now, rather than after they are set.”

2023 MetRec Recreation Subcommittee Funding Recommendation

Type               Organization                                                                              Requested   Funded

Capital     City of Gunnison Parks and Recreation                                       $25,000              $25,000

Operations Gunnison Trails                                                                            $25,000               $25,000 

Operations Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory                                    $28,132               $28,132 

Operations Gunnison Valley OHV Alliance of Trailriders                          $18,066             $18,066 

Operations West Elk Soccer Association                                                       $17,250             $17,250 

Operations Trailhead Children’s Museum                                                    $20,625             $20,625 

Operations Crested Butte Wildflower Festival                                             $17,690             $17,690 

Operations Crested Butte School of Dance                                                   $16,979             $16,979 

Operations The GO Initiative                                                                           $12,000             $12,000 

Collaboration Crested Butte Community School Enrichment Program    $5,000             $5,000 

Collaboration Gunnison Arts Center                                                                $8,714             $8,714 

Collaboration Crested Butte Land Trust                                                          $4,000             $4,000

Collaboration Crested Butte South Property Owners Association               $10,000             $10,000 

Collaboration Crested Butte Community School                                            $1,913.10           $1,913.10 

Collaboration Town of Mt. Crested Butte                                                         $10,000            $10,000 

Collaboration Center for the Arts                                                                        $7,500             $7,500 

Collaboration Gunnison Watershed School District (GHS Soccer)                 $4,700            $4,700 

Collaboration Crested Butte Botanic Gardens                                                  $3,045             $3,045 

Collaboration Crested Butte Mountain Theatre                                                $10,000           $10,000 

Multi-Year Operations Crested Butte Nordic                                                      $50,000          $50,000 

Multi-Year Operations Crested Butte Avalanche Center                                   $40,000          $40,000 

Multi-Year Operations Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association                  $75,000           $75,000 

Multi-Year Operations West Elk Hockey Association                                         $20,000          $20,000

Multi-Year Collaboration Gunnison Senior Center                                            $9,962.2          $9,962.2 

Multi-Year Collaboration Adaptive Sports Center                                                $25,000          $25,000 

Multi-Year Collaboration Gunnison Nordic                                                           $6,965             $6,965

                                                                                                                                   $472,541.33   $472,541.33 

2023  Recreation Budget	District-wide	North  Subdistrict	Totals
Capital	$100,000	$0	$100,000
Operations	$75,000	$256,524	$331,524
Collaboration	$30,000	$70,000	$100,000
Totals	$205,000	$326,524	$531,524

 

2023  Recreation Funding	South Subdistrict	North  Subdistrict	Totals
Capital	$25,000	$0	$25,000
Operations	$75,066	$265,676	$340,742
Collaboration	$30,341	$76,458	$106,799
Totals	$130,407	$342,134	$472,541