Briefs: Mt. Crested Butte

By Kendra Walker

Winter ad tax grants awarded

The Mt. Crested Butte town council awarded a total of $145,950 to local organizations and businesses for marketing their upcoming winter events and initiatives. The town received seven applications, and the council supported funding everyone’s full requests through the town’s admissions tax. The winter 25/26 grant funding included the following:

A Bar Above: $23,400 for local live music programming.

Adaptive Sports Center: $20,000 for marketing winter programming.

Coffee Lab: $5,900 for marketing during the winter season.

Crested Butte Museum: $26,300 for a winter lecture series in January and March.

CB Nordic: $16,000 for its Winter Grand Traverse event in March.

Elevation Hotel: $28,350 for its Jose March Meltdown party on March 28, and $26,000 for live music at Jose and billy barr throughout the winter season.

Reducing outdoor energy use

The council approved the first reading of an ordinance for adopting the town’s Exterior Energy Offset Program (EEOP). The council has worked on the parameters of the EEOP over multiple work sessions throughout the year, with the goal of reducing and mitigating energy used in exterior systems, including snowmelt systems, outdoor hot tubs, pools and spas, plumbed gas fireplaces and outdoor appliances and heat tape. 

The EEOP requires new construction and major renovations of existing exterior energy systems to offset the energy use of these exterior systems. If the energy used by these systems is not offset through on-site renewable energy, the homeowner or developer must pay a fee in lieu of mitigation, which allows the town to fund energy reduction programs.

The council will approve the second reading of the ordinance, and the EEOP Calculator Tool containing the specific system tiers and percentage offset requirements, at an upcoming meeting.