Briefs: Crested Butte

By Mark Reaman

Council wants to address Clark’s lack of transparency in liquor license renewal

The council will consider summoning representatives of Clark’s Market to come before them and explain why during its recent liquor license renewal process it declined to tell the town of a May violation. Town attorney Karl Hanlon said the violation occurred about the same time the license renewal was being applied for, but there were several times in the process Clark’s could have and should have made the violation known to the town, but didn’t. While the state liquor authorities have dealt with the actual violation, councilmembers expressed concern at the town being “deceived” and want to address the situation with Clark’s and may issue a so-called “show-cause order” to address the situation.

Questioning some community grants awards

Council reviewed the recommendations for the spring community grants and a discussion took place about how various applications and rewards fit into the town’s criteria. Councilmember Anna Fenerty had asked for the discussion when recommendations were first made in June, and she said she had “flagged” six of the recommendations as not meeting the standards. Upon further conversations with members of the grant committee that included councilmembers Gabi Prochaska and Kent Cowherd, she said her concerns were allayed with five of the six issues. 

But at the July 7 meeting she adamantly questioned a $2,000 award to help pay for two soccer goals on the new turf field at the Crested Butte Community School. She said a better place for those funds would be the Crested Butte Farmers Market free food box program or the development of a carbon emissions model from GVC3 (Gunnison Valley Climate Crisis Coalition).

After lengthy discussion, council broached the idea of going back and reviewing all the spring grants again, but agreed to move forward. Fenerty and councilmember Beth Goldstone voted against the recommended grant allocations.

Parking regs are back on! Know where you (and your vehicle) are…

In a report to the council, the CB Marshals department informed the council that Interstate parking management that started for the summer is going well. While the first day of enforcement had several violations, “the word must have spread after the first day of enforcement, as there was a significant drop in violations the second day.”

Open Space $ approved for Cement Creek Ranch

Council approved a $400,000 request to help fund the Cement Creek Ranch open space conservation easement being coordinated by the Crested Butte Land Trust. The money comes out of the town’s open space fund that is primarily funded through Real Estate Transfer Taxes. More than $2 million is currently in that fund. CB open space and trails supervisor Joey Carpenter told the council that staff is working on developing a more specific town policy on how those RETT funds are spent.