County Briefs

Interest in valley tourism up
The Gunnison Crested Butte Tourism Association set a modest goal for the year: a 3 percent increase in collection of the local marketing tax.
“We’re trying to be realistic… With this economy and with what we see in average daily rates, folks are having to lower rates to be competitive,” TA executive director Jane Chaney told the county commissioners on June 12.
Year-to-date LMD revenue for March is down 8 percent overall, but Chaney said the good news is that May website traffic is up 5 percent year-to-date and phone call volume is up 30 percent year-to-date.
Board president Wanda Berth added that the vacation planner has been so popular, the TA has already gone through 75 percent of the budget set aside for fulfilling requests for it.

Preparing for drought
A representative from the Colorado Water Conservation Board briefed the County Commissioners and local water leaders on statewide resources for local drought and water conservation planning this spring.
Veva Deheza, section chief for the Office of Water Conservation and Drought Planning, told the commissioners that the region is currently in a drought.
“A little over half of the state is a combination of… short- and long-term drought, short-term for ag and grass lands, long-term for hydrology and ecology,” Deheza said. She also said that a significant portion of the state is seeing average temperatures five to 12 degrees above normal. As of May 7, the drought task force sent a recommendation to the governor’s office that several basins, including the Gunnison Basin, be bumped up on the drought scale.
When it comes to planning for drought, Deheza said, “Now is a great time to have that conversation because it’s on the radar of most of your citizens.”
The two main plans that can be developed are a drought response plan—temporary measures put in place for crisis management—and longer term conservation plans. The Colorado Water Conservation Board has implementation tools and funding available for municipal water providers and local governments to implement drought plans.
The commissioners and local water leaders discussed the possibility of a work session on developing a drought plan in July, when Deheza will be available for further consultation.

Homeowner’s assistance
Gunnison County residents could gain access to financial assistance for down payments on home purchases or loans for home improvements, including energy efficiency projects. The Delta Housing Authority (DHA) has funds left over from a regional housing authority that dissolved in recent years. DHA’s Todd Wicklund asked the Gunnison County Commissioners to help him make those funds available on a more region-wide basis by signing an IGA that would make them available to Gunnison County residents. He also asked for $500 to help cover administrative costs and show support of the program.
The commissioners agreed both forms of assistance would be good resources for county residents, but said the current reorganization of the Gunnison County Housing Authority might delay implementation of an IGA.
“I think we need to keep this in the forefront of things we want to do… These are two things that have been on my plate for a long time to get back into the mix in our housing authority, so I’m thrilled,” said commissioner Paula Swenson.
“Me, too,” agreed commissioner Hap Channell. “ I think we’re poised to move, but if you don’t hear from us right away it’s because we’ve got these other things going on. I can see that when we get a new director this would be near the top of the pile.”