The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Town council votes to cover solar PV and HRV systems costs
[ By Kendra Walker ]
In an effort to help ensure affordable housing homeowners have the lowest energy costs, the Mt. Crested Butte town council voted 6-1 on Tuesday, May 18 to install solar PV and Heat Recover Ventilation (HRV) systems in all 22 Homestead affordable housing units under construction. The cost is $191,664, which will be paid out of the town’s affordable housing fund.
Council member Michael Bacani voted against the action, using the logic that the town should only be covering the systems for the two town-owned units and not all 22 units. “If you install it for all 22 units, then if I owned a deed restricted unit in the town of Mt. Crested Butte I would turn around and ask where’s mine? If I was a deed restricted homeowner that’s not in Homestead I would probably want to be next up to get this,” he said.
Town manager Isa Reeb explained that the situation couldn’t be compared apples to apples with other deed restricted units already established in town. “This is a very unique opportunity here because of the way the builder is working with us on the tax credits,” she said.
“We’ve already donated the land. We’ve been part of making this project more affordable and less expensive,” said council member Roman Kolodziej. “We’re already committed to making this a cheaper project for people to live in and this investment is aligned with the values that we’re starting to put forth with renewable energy and responsible energy.”
“I do think this aligns with our goals we’ve identified through our strategic plan,” said council member Lauren Koelliker.
“I like Michael’s aggressive approach here in offering this to everybody,” said council member Steve Morris. “I think it’s worth looking into how we could offer this to everybody. I wouldn’t be opposed to extending that, let’s look at the costs. I’d love to look into this for a future discussion.”
In addition to the 22 Homestead units, there are approximately 75 deed restricted units in Mt. Crested Butte.
The solar and HRV systems will be installed during construction, which is currently underway.
According to community development director Carlos Velado, there have been some delays with supply availability and some concerns with rising costs in the Homestead project, but the developer is working to get through those. Velado says the project still remains on schedule at this time, with the project scheduled for completion by the end of the year.
