Briefs Mt. Crested Butte

A grant for Mt. Crested Butte
The Colorado Department of Agriculture awarded the town of Mt. Crested Butte a $5,000 grant for noxious weed management. The grant was secured by community development director Carlos Velado and has a one-to-one match requirement.

Board appointment
Councilmember Todd Barnes was appointed to the Center for the Arts board of directors.

Supporting trails in Gunnison
In February, the Town Council voted in favor of pledging financial support to the city of Gunnison for a “Paths to Parks” Great Outdoors Colorado trails grant application. The city made it through the first round of applications for funding to complete three trail segments: the Gunnison River Access Trail, the Signal Peak/Tenderfoot Mountain Trail, and the Gunnison-Tomichi Ditch Trail. Its council asked Gunnison Valley municipalities, organizations and businesses to support the application.
“They believe it will give them a lot of strength in the next round,” Fitzpatrick said.
Councilmember David O’Reilly initially was hesitant about giving money to another municipality because the Mt. Crested Butte council had never asked for financial contributions along with letters of support. “I think it’s a wonderful project. I’m certainly a proponent of rec paths and trails,” he said. “But it’s really hard for me to think we would support another community with financing a program like this.”
 “As somebody who lives up here but rides bikes up and down valley, I’m totally supportive of this,” said councilmember John Sale, suggesting it was an action that supported the Gunnison Valley as one community overall.
In the end, O’Reilly agreed, and the council voted in favor of writing a letter of support and pledging $1,000 in matching funds should Gunnison receive the grant.