The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
It’s Master Plan time
The Crested Butte Parks and Recreation Department hopes to have a comprehensive master plan in place by early next year. The idea is to have that plan guide the town for the next decade.
The master planning process began Monday, August 3 when Brian Trusty of Pros Consulting met with town parks and rec director Jake Jones and toured the town facilities. Trusty, who is based in Dallas, told the Town Council Tuesday evening that the company has prepared 700 of these master plans.
Trusty gave the council an overview of the master plan development process, noting it would have four major components.
“The first component would be a comprehensive assessment of the Crested Butte system,” he said. “That’s what we started this week. We will look at your assets and services and the conditions they are in.”
The public makes up the second component of the plan. Trusty said there would be at least two public meetings. “The public element is pivotal to the project,” he said. “Stakeholder leadership interviews will also be conducted, focus groups will be held and we will conduct a household survey that encompasses people both living in town and outside of Crested Butte. We want to get a good feel for what the public wants.”
Trusty said a needs assessment will be compiled with comparisons to national and state data. “That is where we try to figure out how to get to where you want to be,” he said.
The final component is the master plan itself. “We want the ideas and thoughts of the town,” he explained. “We understand there are a lot of issues on the horizon like the potential annexation and the ice rink issue. It’s not a lifestyle plan but we also want to take into consideration things like the arts community and put parks and recreation in context.”
Jones told the council the ice rink issue was still being investigated and figures being compiled. “While it is front and center, I don’t want the ice rink to dominate this master plan,” he emphasized.
Trusty promised that the master plan would include operational costs of any project recommendation and not just the capital costs.
The $60,000 master plan cost is being partially funded with a $40,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado.
