Briefs: Crested Butte

by Mark Reaman

Short-term rental committee appointed

The council appointed a new committee to begin pondering the best way to address the short-term rental issue in town. The town had advertised for two citizens-at-large and two property managers to join the staff and a couple of council members (Jim Schmidt and Laura Mitchell) to come up with recommendations on how to proceed. Two property managers, Kat Hassebroek and Steve Ryan, submitted applications and were appointed. The council received a whopping 10 applications from general citizens. They took a vote and appointed Mary Cooper Ellis, Dan Escalante and Alex Fenlon to the board.

Avalanche Park campground investigation

While still at least a couple of years out, the town agreed to hire the JVA Consulting firm to study details needed to move toward a campground at Avalanche Park south of Crested Butte. The property is owned by the town and is next to the county shops on Highway 135. It is expected that a Colorado Department of Transportation study would be needed to determine if acceleration/deceleration lanes would be required at a new entrance. The $15,000 consulting fee will help solidify numbers for actual campground development costs. Councilman Jim Schmidt said the council also needed to determine if the campground would be used primarily for summer visitors or for summer workers.

Mt. Emmons deal still moving ahead

Town attorney John Belkin told the council that meetings concerning the Mt. Emmons mine situation are continuing with the county, state and global mining giant Freeport McMoRan, whose subsidiary now controls the project. Final documents concerning the escrow fund related to the water treatment facility are being completed. Maps are being drawn up showing real estate holdings in the mine area. Belkin said Freeport executives are waiting for the snow to melt to come up and look at the facility.

Mountain Express dealing with potential RMBL funding pull-out

Crested Butte council representative to the Mountain Express board Roland Mason reported to the council that the bus system is dealing with a kink in funding the summer Gothic bus. Mason said the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory has indicated it will eventually stop contributing to the cost of the buses that bring kids up for their science programs and people in general to Gothic. “We are looking into it more so we tabled the discussion at our last meeting,” Mason said. “I may be coming to the council here asking how you feel about service out there. They have kicked in about $7,000 a year and it is an ongoing discussion.”

Mason said there were only three board members at the last meeting and RMBL executive director Ian Billick was also out of town so there is more information to gather.

Mayor Glenn Michel said it appeared the county was stepping up and doing road improvements to make Gothic Road more bus-friendly. And given recent backcountry crowding issues in the drainage he said it wouldn’t send a great message to stop running buses in the summer to Gothic.

“It’s an unfortunate situation and we are struggling with this. It might be better to pay for buses to get more people out and back as opposed to focusing on the kids going to the RMBL programs. That could result in a shift of the times the buses run. We don’t know yet. I’ll keep you updated,” Mason promised the council.

A discussion about funding and scheduling is tentatively set for a Mountain Express board meeting on June 2.

Chrome, sidewalk seating and vending machines

—Council approved several applications from Elk Avenue restaurants ready to provide sidewalk seating this summer. Sidewalk seating season begins Memorial Day weekend.

—A new chrome horse will soon be situated on the old “Academy lot” across from the Center for the Arts. The horse was donated to the Center and will move to that location once a new building is built.

—Councilwoman Erika Vohman suggested the town look into providing candy vending machines in Town Hall to help raise funds for a better holiday party for town staff. The idea of so many kids utilizing Town Hall clicked as a fundraising opportunity for Vohman. Kids and candy equals cash. The staff investigated the concept and found the cash was pretty lean so don’t expect a wave of vending machines around Town Hall.