The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Heather Leonard selected as new E.D.
By Kendra Walker
The Mt. Crested Butte town council reviewed a funding request from the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce to run the visitor centers at the Mountaineer Square Transit Center and the Four-Way Stop during a December 19 work session. The council will review a drafted contract for consideration at their January 2 meeting.
The Chamber has requested $87,214 from the town of Mt. Crested Butte, which includes direct labor, management allocation and operating expenses. Chamber board president Josh Futterman told the council that the Chamber’s visitor centers’ visitation numbers have hit pre-COVID numbers, with the Mt. CB’s location projected to hit 12,665 visits for 2023. He said the Chamber’s priorities for 2024 include improving visibility of the visitor center’s location and offerings with a mobile information table/kiosk and maintaining a 239-day operating schedule that is aligned with CBMR’s operation and fall foliage visits.
In November, the Crested Butte town council agreed to contribute 75% of the town’s 2024 business license fee revenue, or about $47,000, to have the Chamber run the visitor center at the Four-Way stop through the end of next September. However, due to frustrations regarding the Chamber’s lack of accountability and financial transparency, the town is also requiring the Chamber to come back to them by April 1 with a new business plan for visitor center operations and, if the council buys into the proposal, the remaining 25% of the business license fees will be contributed to the Chamber. If not, the town will take action to see if any other entity is interested in running a visitor center at the Four-Way Stop.
The Mt. Crested Butte town council is interested in following a similar condition for their funding. “The funding requests to both towns are sort of together,” mayor Nicholas Kempin told Futterman. “If Crested Butte drops out, we can’t fund all of it and vice versa. Do you see any problem with us sticking to the same timeline?”
“If you want to follow up with the town council meeting in April, that’s fair,” said Futterman. “It’s on the Chamber to step up and make sure we’re reporting on our deadlines and are fully transparent. I’m optimistic and confident that we can meet these needs.”
“It’s not that we’re trying to just do what Crested Butte does, but we’re both contributing to this. We all have to be on the same page,” said Kempin.
Futterman said the Chamber is also seeking additional funding sources to help with costs. He also shared that the Chamber has hired Heather Leonard to replace executive director Scott Clarkson, who announced his resignation earlier this month. Leonard begins her role as executive director on January 8.
The council agreed to review a contract with the Chamber on their January 2 meeting agenda and determine a funding agreement.
