Briefs: Crested Butte

By Mark Reaman

Parklet and flower box removal

The operational signs of summer ending are starting to come into focus. The planter boxes on town streets will begin to be removed the first week of October. It could take an extra week depending on traffic volumes and weather conditions. The Elk Avenue seating parklets are also scheduled to be removed on Tuesday, October 1.

Covered seating on Elk Ave?

Council is open to considering an idea from local businesses to allow retractable awnings over outdoor seating and perhaps even tents in the Elk Avenue parklets. A letter from restaurant owner Kyleena Falzone representing more than a dozen businesses with 832 outdoor seats on private and public property made the request to council. The letter said weather is a primary factor in people not using the outdoor seating and that could lead to a reduction in town sales tax. 

Council requested more information be provided before any further discussion is held and a decision made.

Center for the Arts focused on old building

Crested Butte Center for 

the Arts executive director Jillian Liebl informed the Crested Butte council at the September 16 meeting that the organization will not be asking the town to help pay down its remaining debt from its new building as part of the 2025 budget. “But we would appreciate support for Phase 2 of the Center campus to renovate the old Center building and make it useable again. We are looking at creative ideas and will be coming back to council,” she said.

Audit update a good one

In a report from the town’s financial auditing firm, council heard things are running smoothly. “Kathy’s (Ridgeway) team is doing a great job and overall, there has been a lot of improvement this year,” Lillian Marcione of McMahan and Associates informed the council. 

“When one of the big things brought up is how we deal with tennis revenues, that indicates it’s pretty tight,” noted councilmember Jason MacMillan.