Mayors, wetlands, Walter and listening

First off, congratulations to Ian Billick for being elected to a third term as Crested Butte mayor. As noted last week, he has the skill set to continue the high profile job and is a good representative to have at the table when it comes to things like negotiating impact fees from developments happening in the county. And congrats to all of us really as he and challenger Anna Fenerty ran a civil and polite campaign. Also as noted last week, I hope Anna seriously considers applying for the vacant town council seat. For someone with her political potential, I think it is an opportunity to go to the next level.

I feel like I’m on my own little wetland island. There’s an undercurrent of consternation but no real public outcry that the Slate River wetlands by the Brush Creek Road turn from Highway 135 was torn up pretty significantly the last few weeks. 

The community shoulder shrug is a bit weird to me but perhaps it’s part of the new growing North Valley. Perhaps it’s a case of the ends justifying the means since the damage is being done to lay utilities from the town of CB to the Whetstone community housing project. Perhaps people are in a state of acceptance that the North Valley corridor is turning into a big city, urban avenue with dense apartment buildings, roundabouts, solar farms, turf fields, a never-ending low-income housing construction project and a shiny, new big fire station that also dipped into wetlands.

It seemed to me as a construction layman, the impacted footprint to lay some pipe is over the top. It’s not just a couple trenches to put some pipes in the ground, and while it is starting took better as it gets buttoned up before winter, it seems a bomb went off in places to get those pipes in the ground. As someone said to me last week, if the Mount Emmons Mining Company had done something like this, there would be an uproar from the town council, from HCCA, from the local enviros. 

I asked the county for the whys of the situation and assistant county manager for operations and sustainability John Cattles said some disturbance was expected but he acknowledged what’s out there is more than anticipated. He said the county will do whatever remediation work is necessary to restore those wetlands and he doesn’t think it will take that long. I for one hope that’s the case but the visual right now to me is a bit of a gut punch.

North Valley commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels patted the communal “us” on the head and reminded us that, “We know change is hard. Even if we’re excited about the change—the way we’re excited to provide stable, quality housing with Whetstone—there is still a transition, and sometimes that transition is messy… We may not all like all of the projects, but they are happening in the hopes of providing lasting benefit to the community. That doesn’t resolve our feelings of loss or anxiety about the change; that doesn’t make everyone psyched about it; but I think it’s important to acknowledge that we didn’t get here willy-nilly. The county is aware of how Whetstone’s construction creates hurdles in the short-term, but we believe in the long-term benefits and we can’t wait to see folks living there and raising families there!”

Change is not always hard, and focused efforts to be more transparent might make it less hard. Just because the county reps went through the proper permitting process, doesn’t mean that’s transparent to the general community. I do appreciate that when questioned, the county explained their position and even apologized about destroying a long-term water gauge in the Slate River, and they are not wrong that Whetstone should be a community benefit for many years to come. Still… it looks pretty heinous out there in a sensitive wetland but maybe I’m the only one feeling that gut punch.

If Mark Walter ever deemed it important enough to call the local paper and share with the community his vision for CB and Elk Avenue which he controls a big stake in, I wouldn’t first ask about the super high-end Forest Queen idea that may or may not be ready next summer. No, I would ask what it was like being there for those last innings of game seven of the World Series between his LA Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Wow. I’m not vested in either team, but I was on the edge of my seat Saturday as the Dodgers came from behind to take their second World Series in a row. Congrats to Walter and his team on an exciting series. And if he ever changes his mind and wants to share his vision for our little community, my number is still 970-349-0500 extension 109.

Kudos to the town of Crested Butte for organizing listening sessions over deed restrictions for people living in local affordable housing. From my conversations with those impacted, the recent compliance effort has been more than a bit forceful and actually scary to some living in their deed-restricted homes. It certainly could have been done better, and this new initiative to at least have a conversation with those impacted to get their perspective is a good move.

Where did the three times a week Hotel California fix go? The Kave appears to have disappeared and construction sites all over the valley are in a state of confusion.

Like many of you we heard about the horrendous head-on crash that occurred Wednesday morning near the fish hatchery. We asked local emergency personnel for details but given newspaper deadlines, we weren’t able to gather information before we went to press. I’ve been here long enough to know that this crash was worse than most, and it will be a very difficult time for the community tribe over the next few days. So take a breath, share your good energy and hold your friends and family close.

—Mark Reaman