The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
By Katherine Nettles
Issuing debt for Whetstone postponed
Gunnison County commissioners had planned to authorize issuing up to $125 million in general revenue bonds to the county housing authority for the Whetstone housing project at their December 17 meeting, but postponed that agenda item to attend to some lingering details. “We were getting jammed up against the holidays to get some things sorted, so we just wanted to take a step back and make sure that gets put together the way we want,” said county manager Matthew Birnie. He said the funds will not be needed for the housing project until February.
Whetstone receives $1.5M grant for high-efficiency HVAC
The Colorado Energy Office awarded Gunnison County a $1.5 million grant this month to be used in 2025 and 2026 for heating and cooling systems at the Whetstone housing project. The funding comes through the state office High Efficiency Electric Heating and Appliances (HEEHA) program and considers $2.6 million in tax credits for the county using geothermal technology to be local matching funds over the course of the next five years.
Funding virtual fences
Commissioners also unanimously approved granting $6,000 from discretionary funds to support a virtual fencing pilot project with the Gunnison County CSU Extension Office. The funds will be used to purchase a second virtual fencing base station/tower for cattle producers to try out the new technology. Hannah Cranor-Kersting, the extension office director, said they just finished their third summer of virtual fencing trials, and adding a second tower would open the technology up to more producers and more land which has been a major barrier so far. CSU Extension would contribute another $4,000 to the tower. Commissioner Liz Smith said despite some growing pains with ranchers being able to try or adopt the technology, “It does seem to be rapidly becoming part of the future of rural agriculture in Colorado.”
New appointees for hospital board
Commissioners appointed Bruce Alpern and Emily McMahill to the two vacancies for the Gunnison Valley Health board of trustees. There were 10 applicants for the vacancies, all of whom were interviewed the week prior.
