The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Future could bring changes
By Mark Reaman
Big Air on Elk will definitely not happen this winter. The town maintains the event organizer did not get all the required documents to the town staff in time as directed by the Town Council at a February meeting.
While Big Air was scheduled to take place this Saturday, March 5, event organizer Corey Tibjlas did not get a certificate of insurance to the town by the Tuesday, February 23, 5 p.m. deadline. Tibjlas maintains he showed town staff proof that he had insurance for the event but the certificate did not get delivered until Wednesday morning.
“I provided proof of insurance before the deadline,” Tibjlas said unequivocally. “I provided the confirmation letter and binder agreement from the insurance company the week before the deadline and thought that was more than sufficient. The certificate of insurance isn’t a document that definitively shows we have insurance, while the binder agreement is. So I was surprised and am disappointed in how this unraveled.”
Town staff said they were bound to the motion made by the council at the February 16 meeting.
“A number of requirements must be met in order for a special event to gain approval. At the time of the council’s last meeting before the event, two requirements were still outstanding,” explained town manager Todd Crossett.
“The council made a clear motion that conditioned approval on both items being turned in to the town by close of business last Tuesday,” continued Crossett. “As of Tuesday evening, the event had not provided an executed certificate of insurance. So, unfortunately, the council’s approval became void. Events are important to our community and economy, and town staff works hard to support our town’s special events and to assist organizers. But in the end, the ultimate responsibility for completing requirements in time lies on the organizers for the event.”
Tibjlas said there is no way the event will happen in 2016 and his company, Two Plank Productions, will take a financial blow as a result.
“As for the future, we are looking at different options on how to continue Big Air and make it even bigger and better,” Tibjlas concluded.
