Still not sure of everything so questions yet to be answered

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

While not knowing exactly what the end result will be, the Crested Butte town council agreed at its September 19 meeting to purchase a 1991 mobile home located on Teocalli Avenue for $570,000. The ownership would include the land as well as the mobile home. In a memo to the council, town housing director Erin Ganser proposed putting a deed restriction on the unit and then reselling it for $250,000.

“Town is actively pursuing opportunities to apply deed restrictions to existing entry level housing either through the Good Deed Program or through property buydowns,” she wrote in a memo to council. “The potential purchase of (the property) provides an immediate opportunity to secure a permanent workforce housing unit that would be made available for sale via lottery with GVRHA (Gunnison Valley Rural Housing Authority).”

Ganser said because it is a manufactured home, comparable selling prices were difficult to come up with and a loan for a new buyer would have to be done through a local lender. The interest rate on a loan would land in the 7% or higher range, making for high monthly payments. Thus, the idea to resell it for a heavily discounted $250,000. The proposed deed restriction would mandate, among other things, that whether rented or owner-occupied, the occupant must work at least 1,500 hours annually in Gunnison County or be a retired or disabled person who has been a full-time employee in the county for at least four years. It would not include an income restriction.

Town manager Dara MacDonald said the council was not being asked to approve a deed restriction at the September 19 meeting since details would still be worked out. 

Councilmember Gabi Prochaska asked about the typical lifespan of a mobile home and Ganser said typically it was anywhere between 35 and 50 years. The Teocalli unit is 31 years old. Ganser said the new mobile homes purchased for the Paul Redden Workforce Housing project cost about $150,000 each. 

“If a new manufactured home becomes necessary soon, who covers that replacement cost?” asked mayor Ian Billick.

“We would need to look at it but presumably the owner,” said Ganser. 

“That would make this purchase a lot less affordable,” said councilmember Mallika Magner.

“We can’t predict who would be responsible. It would be a policy decision down the road,” replied Ganser.

“That presents uncertainty down the road,” said Magner.

“I’m not comfortable with just putting a $250,000 resale price on the home and reselling it to whomever,” said Billick.

“I agree,” said Magner. “The town needs to provide a subsidy for an appropriate purchase.”

Billick made clear that the council decision at the meeting was only on whether to pursue the purchase of the mobile home. Further details would still be worked out and the council would need to approve the process and the details. Council voted 5-0 to proceed with the transaction. Councilmembers Anna Fenerty and Jason MacMillan were not at the meeting.

There is a lot going on these days. Some of it is good, some of it questionable. What happened to offseason?! It is what it is…but Lord knows it makes for “interesting times” up here in the high mountains. Given that, it is perhaps good practice to view it all through a perspective of light and love. 

Standing in line to get a package at the post office? Maybe it’s a chance to slow down and see some friends doing the same thing? 

Every government planner anywhere near here is working on all sorts of master plans. It will be interesting to see the direction that comes from them all and what intersections their roadmaps agree on.

Short-term rentals and their impact on individuals and the broader community are being discussed at all ends of the valley but particularly in Crested Butte. It is a more complex issue than people want to admit but at its simplest level, it seems if they are going to be allowed, you reward the good ones and penalize the bad ones. So, the radical idea to allow vacation rental licenses for five years and then mandating a two-year cooling off period doesn’t make practical sense.

It is not easy for workers to find a place to live that is affordable and close to where they work. There is no entitlement to have such a place, but that housing scarcity chips away at deep community. Keeping a diversity of people of all income levels in CB for example, makes for a better town. 

For those that worked or lucked into a North Valley home over the last several years or decades, it is getting more expensive to live in it. Being financially solid on paper sounds good but you can’t eat equity soup.

Bond issues are being proposed this November for the school district and local recreationists just as property valuations are going up. Expect noticeable increases in your property taxes no matter the outcome. The newbies with deep pockets can afford it all but the mid-timers will be stretched. Not to say the proposals aren’t good and needed, but any bond issue will be under scrutiny and the arguments to raise taxes better be good. There’s nothing wrong with that.

The fire district looks like it has found a new place for its new fire hall – right next to the old place intended for its new fire hall. We’ll see how the district and town of CB work together for the logical step to partner on water and sewer stuff.

Mt. Crested Butte is not only looking at the Village at Mt. Crested Butte (boring rebrand from North Village BTW) but a revised and major Prospect subdivision proposal is stirring. That is no shortage of potential development on the north edge of the town.

Empty businesses bring uncertainty to Elk Avenue and property there is held by fewer and fewer people. We can assume those people will act relatively soon to get those places hopping. But who really knows?

There are speeders in CB South.

Going electric is the new CB way.

The CB marshals are driving Teslas.

It’s time to lock in your Epic ski passes. Winter is closer than you think.

How ‘bout that new Broncos coaching staff? Nothing but football confidence there.

Oh, there’s an election happening for the North Valley representative to the county commissioner board. 

The demographics of our summer tourists are changing as people who normally drive here are getting priced out of the market while more affluent visitors are lining up almost on waiting lists for the boutique flights that sound lovely and easy from Dallas (and soon Austin?).

The county is looking at a stop order on what appears to be a major road being put in on land just south of Crested Butte South. Construction of roads and agricultural structures are exempt from access and building permits in Gunnison County when it comes to agricultural operations, but it’s been explained to me that excavation of more than 350 yards of construction materials for the roads is not exempt and requires a land use change permit. The county community development department tells us they are working on issuing a stop work order/notice of violation for that issue on that property that is owned by the Hunter Family Real Estate Ltd. We’ll dig into that more in the next few weeks.

Toxic algae is growing in Blue Mesa. Meanwhile the reservoir remains pretty darn low.

Crested Butte is spending $570K for a 31-year-old mobile home that will ultimately be used for workforce housing. The RTA meanwhile lucked into paying just $30K more than that for a really nice condominium in town owned by a longtime local with heartfelt community intent. Maybe there are more people out there with good community intent?

It will be years before new, major workforce housing numbers pop up. The Valley Housing Fund however is getting three new manufactured homes up and running before the ski season and that will provide some local workers with a needed roof over their heads. 

While the town balance sheets are flush, the CB waterworks systems are being stretched to the limit and could drain some of the extra money in the CB bank accounts. But hey, working water and sewer are kind of a top priority for a real town. I smiled that the Public Works department performed the town Community Compass exercise of imposing the “authentic, accountable and connected values” to the situation. The feel-good value assessment isn’t probably necessary in every situation and a cold, hard look at how to literally dispose of the crap and keep drinking water flowing to homes and businesses is probably all that’s needed. At least it was admitted that the CB value of “being bold” wasn’t needed to keep meeting regulations and paying for needed capital projects. Keeping baseline municipal services running doesn’t seem to really require a Compass analysis. But it did make me smile, so thank you.

I heard someone tried to start the Vinotok Grump fire late Monday night. That’s not how the community celebration works. The firebug should take a walk along Peanut Road and visit the altars so he or she can perhaps evaluate their soul and intentions.

On top of it all, this past week we lost another longtime member of the village to soon who was struggling with long haul COVID. It is again sad and leaves a hole in our collective whether you knew her well or not. Her crossing puts all the things that are happening, good and bad, in a different perspective. Before getting all amped about STRs and master plans, post office lines and tax hikes, take the breath. Slow down. Look in on your neighbor. Connect first with people and then with issues. 

Spread love. 

Bring light. 

It is okay to raise questions, be cynical (me) and push for your interests and beliefs. But put people first and keep these “interesting times” in perspective.

—Mark Reaman

Revisions possibly up for approval next week 

[  By Katherine Nettles  ]

Gunnison County commissioners continue to look at increasing building fees. They are currently discussing a staff proposal that could triple or quadruple fees for land use change applications, building and onsite wastewater treatment systems.

Following a conversation from earlier this month with commissioners in which the county’s planning department proposed a major price hike on building application fees, community development staff came back to commissioners in a second work session this week with some more specific cost increase suggestions and staff increase proposals. Commissioners expressed their support for catching up with the true costs and for helping the planning department staff up to keep pace with increasing demands. The schedule of fees will be considered for formal approval at an upcoming commissioners meeting.

Minor impact land use changes, major impact land use changes and public works fees would go up drastically to cover costs in the latest proposal, which included the current fees, the estimated cost to the county and the proposed new fees. In most cases, the actual cost far exceeds current fees and the proposal finds a compromise to minimize the gap between the two. Yet, in many cases that still triples and in some cases quadruples or more the fees that would be passed on to building applicants.  

Cathie Pagano, assistant county manager for community and economic development, presented examples of current projects and their costs to commissioners on Tuesday, April 26. A current minor impact project showed a current fee for the various associated costs to the county via the attorney’s office, planning commission, environmental health official and several other services totaling $1,365, while the actual costs for the process total $6,916. Based on this example, the new proposed fee would increase to $6,359. Similarly, in a current major land use change project (preliminary phase) the county estimated actual costs at $10,803 to process the application. The current fee for this service is $2,245 and the county staff’s proposed fee is $8,896.  

“We’re trying to really align those costs and those fees,” said Pagano. She reiterated that the county is currently subsidizing those shortfalls from its general fund using taxpayer money and it totals an average of $237,000 per year. 

These fees would also fund more staff. Community development proposes hiring an additional inspector/plans examiner in 2022 with an additional fleet vehicle to accommodate the position and an additional planner as well. There has also been an unfilled planning manager position in the department since August 2021. 

Commissioner Roland Mason expressed concern for the residents of Gunnison County who are trying to build a modest home for themselves and might soon be facing major added costs to the already record-high costs of the construction process. He asked if it would be possible to use a lower cost modifier or scaled approach to address the impacts to working locals and the housing crisis. 

“For the average working person’s potential to get a home [built], building fees impact their decision to be able to do that,” he pointed out. Commissioner chairperson Jonathan Houck said the board had reached out to the building community regarding these proposals, and he asked the county’s legal team about a question he was hearing from the community: could the county apply higher building fees to non-residents? The initial answer was very likely not, but commissioners did discuss their ability to at least notify applicants of the coming fee increases. Mason said that associated fee estimates are required in a project estimate for any home larger than 5,000 square feet, but maybe those need to be included in estimates for smaller homes as well. 

Houck also reviewed the commissioners’ ability to subsidize those fees for affordable or deed restricted housing as they see fit.

Commissioners will vote on the proposed changes, as well as whether to use a regional cost modifier to aid in updating home valuations for fee purposes, in an upcoming meeting.   

Could a roundabout with a specific school exit help?

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

While acknowledging the immediate need for significantly more classroom space at the Crested Butte Community School, residents living near the school said it was also imperative to address the overall town traffic issues associated with the entry intersection and streets near the school at Sixth Street and Red Lady Avenue in any expansion plan.

Gunnison Watershed School District superintendent Leslie Nichols presented an overview of a potential property tax increase to pay for a district facilities expansion on Thursday, March 17 at the Crested Butte school library. The top priority of the district is adding classroom space at the CBCS since the current facility is overtaxed and six modular classrooms are being used this year. Expanding the current campus to its maximum potential would accommodate 1,000 students from the current 750-student capacity. This year, CBCS is teaching 755 students which for the first time in many years is significantly fewer than the previous year. Other priorities with a new district-wide facilities upgrade include making schools safer and more environmentally sustainable.

Nichols said asking for a property tax increase is basically like asking voters to approve a mortgage for making improvements to district facilities. She said the school board is seeking public feedback on how best to move forward and questions on whether to expand on the current CBCS campus or build elsewhere, what to include, and how to best partner with the town of Crested Butte all need to be considered.

“The student growth over the last 20 years in Crested Butte has been phenomenal. This is the first year (in many years) we have seen a decline in student numbers,” said Nichols explaining that the 2021-22 student population decreased by 38 from 793 to 755 from the 2020-21 school year. “We are projecting next year to be flat but we expect growth at some level to continue but maybe not at the rate we’ve seen.”

Nichols said the ongoing maintenance needs to be considered in any expansion as well and pointed out the CBCS roof is nearing the end of its expected life.

“That will not be a cheap fix and we have a grant pending to pay for about 30% of the cost of the approximately $2 million project. Our capital reserve funds will cover our portion of the project. Though it’s a very competitive grant cycle, I’m optimistic about receiving a BEST grant for this roof project. Maintenance needs to be proactive. That costs a lot less than emergency maintenance,” Nichols said. “All our inspections indicate we are in pretty good shape, but we have to stay on top of it.” 

Nichols explained that school administrators and architectural consultants have trimmed down the expansion project from what was being considered a year ago. Still, with inflationary pressures, the costs have gone up and the two recent options being floated will still cost more than $75 million. “We are doing what we can to reduce the project and make it as feasible as possible,” she said. She anticipated that if a bond issue is approved by voters this November construction would go into the fall of 2024.

“We understand the issues that come from living near the school and that’s all fine. Our concern is more long-term with the community impacts of increased numbers,” said Missy Ochs. “All the vehicles coming down the hill at the start of the work day that is the same time as the start of the school day. And the year-and-a-half projected construction timeline is in reality probably closer to two-and-a-half or three years so it would be 2025-26 when it is really dialed in. The multifamily units being planned all over the North Valley will certainly impact the school.”

“There is no question there are huge unknowns with potential housing projects like the North Village in Mt. Crested Butte and the Whetstone project south of town,” said school board president Tyler Martineau. “That would add a lot of kids. Is the proposed expansion adequate is a question. The cost of building a new high school off the current campus was estimated to be incredible. Two years ago we decided to expand to full capacity on the current campus but we need to keep questioning that assumption.”

“I believe there is so much potential here at the current campus,” said secondary school principal Stephanie Niemi. “And we have to do what is affordable. People have been through a lot over the last two years and we need to be kind to our community.”

“We need a thorough study of possible impacts and to think about unintended consequences,” said Bill Wolfson. “I support the larger expansion right now but we should look at the broad impacts that come with it. We should be looking hard at the traffic studies for example.”

“I agree we should be looking carefully at the traffic and parking data we have,” said Jennifer Hartman who suggested the studies be posted on the school and town websites.

Jimmy Faust advocated for another look at a potential traffic roundabout at the Sixth and Red Lady intersection. “They actually work well in other places,” he noted.

“That’s a possible solution,” said Nichols.

“We are looking at traffic holistically within town for the next year-and-a-half,” added Crested Butte town manager Dara MacDonald. “In the case of a roundabout we have to consider the entire Sixth Street corridor. What happens at Sixth and Red Lady impacts the whole Sixth Street corridor.”

“We agree that it’s not just a school traffic issue but a big thing for the whole town,” said Krista Hildebrandt.

“The traffic issue is so in our face and impacts both locals and tourists,” said Ochs. “In our mind the school should have its own entrance which would be possible with a roundabout exit. Any expansion needs to look at the whole entrance to town. If the town is looking at traffic for the next year-and-a-half why push a $98 million bond this year?”

“Lots of simultaneous work is being done,” said Nichols. “We can’t wait for everything to be done before doing something.”

“It got to the point last year that we were starting to panic about if we would have enough space for all the students,” said Niemi.

“We definitely need more space,” said CB elementary school assistant principal Kathryn Long. “It gets old with having kids sitting in the hallways as part of their school day.”

“We don’t know where we would put kids if we get 60 to 70 new students,” said Martineau. “Every year we wait, the potential crisis of where to put students gets worse. Traffic is a serious issue. We understand that. So is hiring bus drivers and substitute teachers. The fact is what choice do we have if kids show up at the door. We will teach them. There are a lot of problems but we feel there is no choice but to move forward with an expansion.”

“I think you could get more buy-in for a bond issue by addressing the broader issues,” said Ochs. “If people see better improvements at the Sixth and Red Lady intersection they would be more supportive.”

“Everyone’s chief complaint is that intersection,” agreed Faust. “There are solutions to make it better. I’m not sure you can get broad support for the bond approval if that is left out.”

Wolfson suggested considering out-of-the-box ideas like making some streets one-way during the extremely busy and congested times or having the local marshals actually direct traffic and implement traffic control measures during the start and end of the school day. “To pass a tight vote we need to look at the short and long-term solutions.”

“Maybe having a long-term plan and sharing progress that will be forthcoming would be useful,” suggested Ron Weber.

“So, we have a challenge,” concluded Martineau. “We know we need a cooperative partnership with the town.”

“No one is saying to not move ahead,” emphasized Wolfson. “We all want it to be successful.”

“It will be a huge lift,” admitted Nichols. “To do it right is why we are having the discussion. This has been incredibly valuable feedback.”

The goal is to further discuss and vet the various expansion options between now and the end of summer. The school board is then expected to take a vote on whether to pursue a November bond issue vote at its August meeting. 

[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

An east coaster originally, Carrie Wallace has been in the Gunnison Valley for six years and made a name for herself as a movie buff and cultural heavyweight, creating a popular new non-profit, a film festival, a KBUT DJ presence and taking the reins of the performing arts aspect at the CB Center for the Arts. And she says she’s just getting started.

 “It’s a pretty boring place,” says Wallace of her hometown of Manchester, Connecticut, essentially the insurance capital of the U.S. right outside Hartford. “It’s between suburbia and farms,” she tells. “There’s not much going on.” 

As the youngest of three girls, Carrie played a lot of sports and the family often took ski trips, mostly to Vermont resorts since since her parents were avid skiers and members of non-competitive ski clubs. “By the time I was 10 I really loved skiing,” she notes. Summers brought Carrie to their other home in Cape Cod and to day camps, where she’d spend all day enjoying the outdoors. 

Carrie’s parents ultimately enrolled her in a parochial high school. “They were very education oriented and wanted us to have the best prospects for college. It was one of the best schools around. High school was actually harder than college and definitely prepared me. My hometown was really diverse, so it was weird switching into a predominately white school.” 

She graduated in 2011 and enrolled at George Washington University, choosing that school because she wanted to dive into politics, influenced by having been a founding member of the Manchester Youth Commission. “We were a group of high school students who were the youth representatives to all facets of town government, from the planning board to town council, we all sat on different committees as youth representatives. We helped plan a new youth center, the town’s master plan and voiced what we thought the youth in town would want. It was cool to have adults take you seriously and have a seat at the table.”

However, after one college class, Carrie was decidedly put off. “This was not for me, going from local government to a class full of people who wanted to be president.” She switched her studies to human service and social justice. She spent a semester as a volunteer preparing homeless kids to help them assimilate them into the Washington, D.C. school systems, “Some of them couldn’t form sentences at five years old.” 

Yet another semester, she volunteered at an elderly care home, “Where I met a 92-year-old woman who spent a lot of time in the Peace Corps in Thailand.” And that influenced Carrie to spend a semester abroad there. Later, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to spend a year teaching English in a small coal mining town north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2015. 

“I really wanted to work in non-profits and I was really passionate about anti human trafficking, specifically child trafficking. Studying abroad I worked with several non-profits for prevention of child trafficking, identifying kids at risk. I realized I needed to be stronger if I wanted to do that work,” she says. 

When she returned to Manchester from Thailand in November of 2016, Carrie had already decided she was moving to Crested Butte. “I had never heard of CB but my friend Jack Mangan’s car broke down in CB on a road trip, and he just stayed here,” she laughs. “I always saw him posting (on social media) about Crested Butte and thought, this looks like a cool place.” She moved into one of the Almont cabins for the winter of 2016/2017 and was hired as a ski instructor. “I skied 130 days the first winter. I wanted to move back to Cape Cod because I thought I was an ocean girl. It never occurred to me what it would be like here in the summer, but I could make a lot more money at my server job on the Cape and living with my parents.” 

With her summer job, Carrie saved up, bought a backcountry set-up and returned to the Butte for the winter. “I decided I liked CB a lot more than Cape Cod. I was gung-ho Crested Butte but I had a lot of low paying odd jobs. I used to walk up and down Elk with my resume that had George Washington University, a Fulbright scholarship and a bunch of serving experience in tourist towns and I couldn’t find a job. The bright spot of those times was that I made a lot of friends and started working at the Majestic Theatre,” she says. She was hired in May of 2018, “by our former manager Paden Castles Kelley, who was my first friend in the valley and my best friend. It was a close-knit group,” she says of the movie theater clan, “We called ourselves the Children of the Popcorn.” 

At the end of that summer, Paden was sick with cancer and the much-loved local passed away in March of 2019. Carrie was devastated and she turned her grief into a passion for saving the Majestic when it closed. “Paden had a lot of ideas for the Majestic which we’ve integrated into the current plan,” she says of the now non-profit organization that she helped spearhead. She is raising funds to keep the movie theater in the community as not only a first run movie theater but also an events venue.

When the triplex Majestic Theatre was dissolved, Carrie helped initiate Friends of the Majestic, “A non-profit 501c3, to entertain, educate and inspire the Gunnison Valley,” she cites its credo. “By keeping two of the three screens under Hollywood contract for movies, first and second runs, the third screen will be converted into an events space for general parties, karaoke, fundraisers and anything anyone wants to utilize the space for. Budget wise, it’s a really smart move taking the Hollywood contract off one screen because a big part of ticket sales goes back to Hollywood, so we’d make a lot more off of rental fees than ticket sales. That will enable us to maintain the use of the theater. When you’re under contract for a Hollywood movie, you have to sign a legal contract requiring the theater to show a movie for a certain amount of times per day, and if you cancel that movie, you have to pay the company approximately $300 per canceled showing and oftentimes, you’d have an empty theater, so our town needs that casual space rather than a third screen,” she describes. 

After observing Carrie organize four fundraisers for the Majestic, the Crested Butte Center for the Arts (CBCA) tapped Carrie to be Performing Arts manager there, which she accepted in March of 2021. “I told them, if you’re impressed with what I’ve done with the Majestic, imagine what I could do if I was getting paid,” she smiles. Carrie is now booking, producing, running security and marketing for the CBCA events. 

“I definitely never get bored,” she says. “My big goal being the concert producer for the Arts Center is to keep things really affordable for the locals and have a lot of diversity in our concerts.” Plus, she feels that her work there has also helped the Majestic. “People see what I can do now and have more faith in the Majestic project.” The organization has raised $80,000 of their $300,000 goal since October of 2020, and she’s hoping with the 501c3 status, she can secure larger donations and grants.

Carrie also created the Sweaty Kids Film Festival in 2019. “It’s like homemade mini movies called edits and we have no rules for submissions. It’s a celebration of local unprofessional talent. They’re incredibly talented filmmakers but also not professional.” The yearly event happens in December and is a sold out show at the CBCA. “It’s really soul affirming and super fun,” she says. “This year we had 20 entries and it lasted about four hours,” she says. The one-night event saw 300 people show up. “We livestreamed it and had 1,000 viewers all over the country.” Carrie is also a KBUT volunteer DJ, every other Tuesday, noon to 2 p.m. Her program is called Biodegradable Remedies. “We play all voices of color. I play old soul and funk mostly,” she says. 

Carrie met Conrad Kaul, now her fiancé, while they were both working at the Majestic in April of 2019. “There were only two people on at nights so it was like a date night,” she recalls. “We played Yahtzee a lot. We got engaged on the roof of the Center of the Arts, where he was doing snow removal, it was at the end of the work day. He had a bottle of champagne, a chair and a blanket set up,” she says, so of course, she said yes. 

The couple recently bought a house in Gunnison. “We wanted to move while things were still slightly affordable, and we couldn’t afford anything in CB. But we love this house and we can see ourselves having a family in it. We didn’t want to wait until we were forced out of our rental in Crested Butte and had to take whatever housing was left. We have two rescue dogs and the big fenced in yard was the big reason we wanted this house, for our sweet pups. We’re so committed to staying the valley. I’ve never felt like I belonged somewhere until I came here. It’s been a weird time to try to cement yourself in the valley and since Vail bought it, everything’s changing. So many long-time locals have been forced out, but I really believe we need the younger generation to keep it going.” 

Carrie feels strongly Crested Butte needs to keep itself funky and authentic, “A real place with real people because it’s 100-percent the people and the community that keep me here. It’s powerful. I can’t imagine losing that.”

House under contract in Gunnison

[  By Kendra Walker  ]

The Mt. Crested Butte town council made it very clear last week that it wants the town manager to live inside the town boundaries.

During their February 1 meeting, the Mt. Crested Butte town council denied town manager Isa Reeb’s request that they waive the requirement that the town manager must reside in the town of Mt. Crested Butte. She said she was unable to secure housing in the north end of the valley and had put a house in Gunnison under contract.

The Mt. Crested Butte town charter states that, “during his/her tenure of office, he/she shall reside within the town, except at the discretion of the council.”

In a staff memo to the council, Reeb stated, “I have been unable to find affordable for-sale or long-term for-rent housing in Mt. CB for my family since our search began in February 2021. My employment contract stipulated that a Homestead unit would be available, however, that housing project has not come to fruition and the timeline on completion is unknown.

“We’ve been working with several realtors and property managers for nearly a year and the instability has been detrimental to my home life and mental health,” she continued. “A permanent housing solution has presented itself outside of the Town of Mt. CB and is currently the only viable option to ensure stable, long-term housing for my family. It’s important that we find stability, and this affords us that opportunity. After moving three times in six months and being on a constant search for our next place to live, we are eager for our search to be over.”

She noted, “The decision to search outside of Mt. CB for housing was extremely difficult because I would rather live in Mt. CB. However, this decision will not affect my availability or ability to perform my duties effectively and efficiently.”

She also provided a list of other mountain communities that do not require the town manager to live within the town boundaries, unless a housing unit is already offered and provided, including Winter Park, Breckenridge, Steamboat and Avon. “All of the town managers talk to each other and from what I’ve heard is the residency requirement is outdated for resort towns,” she said during the meeting. 

“I think that this waiver is a very serious question,” said council member Nicholas Kempin. “Upfront Isa, I think this was the wrong approach for a whole host of reasons. To be very direct I think you should have brought this subject up before you went under contract on a property. You’ve shrunken the timeframe for us to decide this and I don’t think that was the way to go.”

Kempin listed the various reasons why he felt the requirement was important to be included in the town charter. “We live out here at the end of the road, a single road with no way out in the winter time,” he said, noting natural disasters, wildfires, utility outages, etc. “All of those things are important for the town manager to be present for. The town manager should also be subject to the rules and fees and costs that come with a community where you’re working on the rules and costs…If you’re putting a burden on the citizens in Mt. Crested Butte, then that same burden is on you as well.”

Kempin also noted that the previous Mt. CB town manager often made himself available to chat with council members after business hours. “You made a comment at our last meeting about what a long day it was and that we were 14 hours in and so I wonder how that will play if you have to drive home to Gunnison.” 

He continued, “I have not heard from you that the Elevation [Hotel] was unacceptable to you, and I would have expected an interim step where you came to us and said living in Elevation is not acceptable to me, I have not found other housing and so I would like to expand my search.”

Reeb explained her reasoning, “As you guys know, any type of property that’s available you have to jump on immediately, so it was not an ideal situation, nor has this entire year been an ideal situation.”

“We should have been given the opportunity to find you a place to rent or give you additional money,” said Kempin. “Buying a place in the valley was never part of our bargain with you.”

“It’s been a year,” said Reeb. “It’s been extremely hard and you guys know how hard it’s been. We talk about housing difficulties all the time.”

“I’m definitely very sympathetic to the housing struggle,” said council member Lauren Koelliker. “The difficult thing is town did purchase for about half a million dollars a condo for employee housing for our town of Mt. CB employees and none of them chose to move into it,” she said, referencing the Elk Ridge II condo the town purchased in November which is now being leased to a community member.

According to the Gunnison County Assessor’s Office, the unit is an 876-square-foot two-bed, two bath condo.

“It’s hard for me to understand how there wasn’t anything available,” said Koelliker. “I understand that it wasn’t maybe to your liking or what you were hoping for. But I think it was a solid effort by town to put a lot of money into trying to find at least a temporary solution.”

“I personally value living in the community that you’re attempting to be a part of,” said council member Roman Kolodziej.

Kempin made a motion to deny waiving the residency requirement in the town’s charter. The council voted 6-1, with Koelliker voting against, to not waive the residency requirement. 

When the Crested Butte News followed up with Reeb this week, she responded, “The outcome of the town council meeting on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, was disheartening for me and my family.

“I, like many others in this community have struggled to find housing in the valley for the past year and have been living in small, close quarters that are inadequate. The delay of Homestead affected many families in this community, and I am in the same situation they are with struggling to find an alternative option.”

She continued, “These housing challenges are not unique to the town of Mt. Crested Butte. Within the staff memo, I outlined the many resort towns within the state that either offer a single-family house or allow their town manager to live outside of town limits. One I did not include is the town of Crested Butte—which also provides a single-family home for their town manager. While I understand this is not the most ideal situation, I am at a loss of what to do if I want to remain working and living in the valley and serving the town of Mt. Crested Butte. My situation is not unique to my family, it will continue to be an issue for future town managers as well.

“I sincerely hope we will be able to come to an agreement that works for the town of Mt. Crested Butte and my family so I can continue serving the community I care so deeply about,” she concluded.

A story on the World Wide Webs this week tells of Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s richest people, telling Jon Stewart that the future would rely on service workers to perform tasks for the people of means. Stewart said that was a “recipe for revolution” as people want to be proud of their work and feel like they are contributing to society. 

That seems a fair assessment. With Crested Butte and the upper valley, we live in a place built in large part of service work. Whether it is making the food, changing the oil, loading the chairlifts, shoveling the roof or sharing the information, service work is one of the valley’s economic foundations. A distinction of Crested Butte and the valley has always been that service work has been a proud occupation and one where it did not carry a negative social stigma. Those serving and those served would happily socialize and respect one another in the greater community. That was easier when the place was smaller and more affordable but that too is foundational to Crested Butte.

 I can recall when the president of the only bank in town lived a block from one of the hippie ski bum houses. There aren’t many of those left any more — local bank presidents or hippie ski bum houses. It was common on Friday nights for the Wooden Nickel to be filled to the brim with the entire cross section of community and shots were shared by the ski area CEO and the lift ops. I don’t see that happening much anymore either.

As this place matures into a more traditional resort community – and I use the term “mature” loosely – we must take care to honor the history of what has always distinguished Crested Butte. It is that notion of egalitarianism that brings people together as opposed to separating them and has made CB unique. The school still does it. So do the outdoor opportunities that abound. Sock It To Me Ridge doesn’t care how much money you have or what sort of car you own — that place treats everyone the same based on the focus and skill needed to get safely down the terrain.

I do smell separation as the restaurant scene dries up and the prices get adjusted. If the local snowplow driver who is doing pretty well financially this season can’t afford to belly up to the bar next to the stock trader who lives and works here, that is a detriment for the community in general. When a schoolteacher can’t afford tickets to a show at the Center when her students can, that is a step backward. I sniff separation forming as one of the movers and shakers in Crested Butte, Mark Walter (hey – I’m still open if you want to sit down for an interview), apparently has moved to not just buy up Elk Ave. commercial and down valley ranch property but has apparently spent $2 million recently on several individual lots in the Kapushion subdivision. That pretty much is a final nail in the already nailed coffin for local workers hoping to buy a piece of dirt in town and build their own house. It will also impact the local workers already owning in town who will no doubt see their property tax bill jump noticeably if just the dirt is valued at millions of dollars.

The people of means coming here may honestly like what they see. I understand that. It is a beautiful town with incredible outdoor opportunities. The worry is that they do not comprehend what truly makes it special and different from the other beautiful mountain towns with gorgeous outdoor opportunities. They may not comprehend the history that this place was based in mining coal and not silver or gold like Telluride and Aspen. That has mattered. The history here is of working people who help one another and come together through the weird traditions that respect the past and pave a way for the future. People here have mingled happily together for decades to talk recreation, politics or family no matter their financial status.

If the money coming here now to live or visit has no desire to share elbow space with the workers, if they simply see the guy behind the bar and the woman bringing them their meal as just a servant for their desires, Stewart is right in that that is a recipe for revolution.

CB is nothing like it used to be, but I will argue it is still pretty darn good. This place still attracts people who value experiences and opportunity for “quality of life” over money. In Crested Butte, quality of life includes the time to be able to enjoy what is around here. It includes being respected for a hard day’s work and an even harder day’s fun. Quality of life here includes forming real social bonds not found on FacefrickinBook. It includes being honored as a member of the community for what you do and how you act as opposed to how many zeros you have in the bank account. 

While CB people value experience more than money, it still takes money to live here. And as the price of everything from rent to groceries to gas skyrockets, it takes more than ever to get by in any resort community. So, while workers here may not care if they have a fat 401K, they do need to survive and do so comfortably. You can’t pay people here the minimum wage for a place like Tulsa and expect them to be able to live and contribute here with any quality in their quality of life. 

Stewart’s revolution in places like this will not come with torches and pitchforks. It will start with people just saying ‘f it and either moving on or walking away from the system that is broken. Hmmmm. That is why there is the important need for workers to live throughout the community (in ADUs and economically mixed neighborhoods as well as deed restricted projects) and not be isolated in crowded serf city pods down valley. Not everyone will get a place, but those that do should have a good one. Quality on top of quantity. Crested Butte needs to remain a place where the lift op and the financial planner share shots and talk trails.

As this community moves into the next phase of figuring out housing with several ideas and projects, there needs to be a laser focus on planning for ways to keep the service workers in and around town. They must remain a part of the community and have opportunity to grow as a part of that community. They need to have a room as a 20-year-old ski bum, a condo as a 20-something couple and a house as a 40-year-old couple with kids. FYI, the Miller Ranch in Eagle County seems to have many of these attributes and might be worth studying as we move forward. 

The revolution seems to have quietly started. Many once proud workers have walked away from the jobs that make this community spin. Newbies aren’t jumping at low wage jobs that require an hour commute. The new ski bums are figuring out how to work and ski without a pass job. We are at the tipping point, but we are set up pretty well to now address the causes, turn it around and make it work for a balanced, economically diverse and still distinctive community.

—Mark Reaman

Saving an average of $300 a year

[ By Mark Reaman ]

Patty Zishka and Cara Stiles own property in Crested Butte on Whiterock Avenue with two houses on the lot. They rent the larger of the two to a local couple and their 7-month-old baby. The home is basically an old miner’s cabin and to say it was not very energy efficient is probably an understatement. So Zishka and Stiles engaged with the new GreenDeed program run by the town and the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority’s GV-HEAT (Gunnison Valley-Home Energy Advancement Team).

As part of the Crested Butte Climate Action Plan (CAP) the effort was started earlier this year to weatherize and increase energy efficiency in deed-restricted properties located in town. The “GreenDeed” program kicked off last February with more than $30,000 allocated to the program.

GreenDeed was supposed to focus on seven homes that were weatherized and included a mix of single-family homes, duplexes, accessory dwelling units, mobile homes and condos. That was stretched to 12 structures when more grant money became available.

GV-Heat coordinator Gesa Michel said that the units were chosen on a first come-first served basis.

Zishka and Stiles missed the first round of houses to be included in the program but lucked out when there was some additional money available from the grants.

“I saw an announcement in the Crested Butte News looking for applications for the GreenDeed energy program,” Zishka said. ”It was a simple process and included making a $50 payment for the application so we did it. I was contacted by Gesa Michel a couple of months ago when she noted that she had some money left in the grant to work on one more property and we were next in line!”

An energy audit was done on the old miner’s cabin and the report showed major issues with the house in terms of heating and insulation.
Zishka said she worked with Michel and major improvements were implemented.

“About 10 days later, Gesa showed up with a crew of guys who made all the improvements in one day,” recalled Zishka. “That included, I believe, eight storm windows to go on the front of the house, blocking air leaks along the baseboards all the way around the house, putting insulation on the hot water heater, putting in LED bulbs all over the house. They also replaced the old thermostat and installed good seals around the doors. This was all done with no cost to us.”

The crew also recommended insulating the attic and the walls. But Zishka said the cost of that would have been around $9,000 and she didn’t have the money to put out right then for that. They also suggested getting a new Energy Star refrigerator but that was going to be another $1,600.

“We paid nothing for the work that the GreenDeed crew did for us,” she said. “And almost immediately the tenants described the house as feeling warmer. We were quite inspired by their work and plan on replacing the refrigerator and putting in insulation as we can afford it. We have not seen the utility bill, but I would bet it is less.”

It’s about being affordable and comfortable
Michel said such success stories are inspiring and not unusual as the work takes place. “The households have been chosen by the order they have submitted their enrollment when we opened up the program to eligible households in February 2021,” Michel explained. “After making sure their deed-restriction is in order, we contacted the participants to schedule an energy assessment, going down the list. We were able to stretch the funding in 2021 due to additional funding from GCEA and rebates from Tri-State, so that instead of the original goal of 7 homes we were able to address 12 homes in 2021.”

Michel said the driving mission is to provide free energy assessments and upgrades for deed restricted homes in Crested Butte. The purpose is to not only drive increased energy efficiency in the town’s building stock but also ensure local residents remain affordable and comfortable.

Crested Butte planner Mel Yemma said the program has already had a significant impact. “We are pleased with the first year of the GreenDeed program and its impact. We identified this type of program in the Town’s Climate Action Plan as a way to not only increase the presence of GV-HEAT in the Town of Crested Butte to drive down energy reductions in our existing building stock, but also as a way to work on keeping our deed restricted housing inventory affordable for our community members,” she said. “Reducing energy usage in our existing buildings is a challenging nut to crack, but an essential part of our climate action strategy. We are so excited by the support, interest and participation in the first year of the GreenDeed program and look forward to continuing and growing the program.”

According to a summary report to the Crested Butte town council, on average $3,250 was invested per household on energy assessment and energy efficiency improvements. The best return on investment made in each home was replacing lightbulbs with LED replacements. Ten homes received air-sealing measures to reduce air leakage, which reduced the natural air exchange by an average of 16 percent.
Other energy saving measures included attic insulation (three homes), water heater insulation, programmable thermostats, floor or bellyboard insulation, low flow sink aerators and new storm windows. Half of the participating homes received a new refrigerator. A new refrigerator replacing one older than seven years old is expected to save about $85 in annual energy costs due to compressor improvements.

Saving real bucks
Projected annual energy savings per home ranged from $8 to $682. “On average, the participating homes are projected to save $300 annually on their utility bills, a major savings in a household’s annual expenditure,” the report stated. “The average payback achieved in about 10 years.”

Sixteen total Crested Butte homes were served by GV-HEAT. Michel explained that GV-HEAT was able to assist four additional homes through another program called CARE – Colorado’s Affordable Residential Energy program.

“This is an income qualified program paid for by state funding, where applicants need to earn 80-percent AMI (Area Median Income) or less. I had fielded a few of the homes that originally had applied for GreenDeed and four households qualified and were approved through CARE,” she said. “We were able to serve them through this funding method. The assessment and retrofit process is very similar to the GreenDeed process and the type of improvements exactly the same, like air sealing, insulation upgrades, LED replacements, etc.”

The town and GV-Heat plan to continue the program into 2022 with weatherizing another 12 homes. There are currently 18 homes on the waiting list.

“From our past experience we decided to address another 12 homes in 2022,” said Michel. “I am already in contact with these next 12 homes on the waitlist and we will be doing the energy assessments in the beginning of the year, probably sometime in February.”
The town had budgeted $30,000 for the program in 2021 while Gunnison County Electric Association added $7,000. An additional $5,000 was recycled into the program through equipment rebates from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
Yemma said the GreenDeed team would also evaluate opportunities to consider growing the program regionally across the Gunnison Valley. “We are planning to stay at the current budget of $30,000 for 2022, but hope to discuss ways to grow the program both within Crested Butte and regionally next year,” she concluded.

Zishka said if her experience is any guide, the program should be expanded beyond Crested Butte. “I absolutely would recommend this wonderful program to anyone who qualifies,” she concluded. “It really helps use less energy.”

[  by Dawne Belloise  ]

Elle Truax grew up surrounded by the lush orchards and vineyards nestled along the banks of the Columbia River in Hood River, Oregon, where breweries and watersports are fostered. Despite being quite a distance from the coast, the area is known for its windsurfing and Elle proclaims kitesurfing the Columbia Gorge was her passion. “You rig up on the Oregon side and surf into Washington,” she says. Both Elle’s parents were environmental engineers – her mother focused on air quality and her father on water quality. Her dad grew up skiing the icy East Coast resorts, but her mom hit the slopes around the Seattle area and Elle laughs, “She kicks his ass skiing.”

As a kid, when it was time to stash away the board and kite for the winter, Elle dove into her other passion, ski racing. She joined the local Mt. Hood team when she was 7. “I was the kid who would throw a fit when I had to go in to eat lunch because I just wanted to keep skiing. I’m pretty competitive, so I grasped the sport early on,” she says. As a freshman in high school, she was successfully competing.

Elle recalls the regimen of hard core ski racing discipline. “In the summers you’re in the gym working out and during the winters you’re training all the time,” she explains.

Her dream was to be an Olympic ski racer so when she won an academic scholarship her high school sophomore year to attend the prestigious Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City, it made it affordable for her family to find a way to fund the rest of the expenses. “I was ecstatic. It was a big deal, especially financially,” she tells. “My family has worked hard for everything we have.”

She arrived in Salt Lake City in August of 2013, living with a host family. “School was so hard and I was training with the ski team every day after school. We’d do a lot of outdoor training, like road biking and running.” It was October, just before the team’s scheduled trip to train on Colorado resort slopes, when Elle’s dreams were literally shattered.

“We were road biking up Emigration Canyon. I was doing warm up laps, crossing the road to group up to start the ride,” when a speeding car T-boned her at 40 mph. Her bike went under the car and Elle flew up on top. “I remember being in the air thinking, I’m going to die if I don’t land right. I landed on hands and knees and my left patella took most of the force.” Elle’s kneecap shattered. “I had so much adrenaline that I got up and walked to the side of the road.” She describes a traumatic scene where her teammates were crying and her coaches came running. “I remember, being on the ground, looking at my kneecap. It’s about a week before we go to Colorado to start on-snow training. I was totally in denial saying, I’m going skiing, I’m fine. I wasn’t paying attention to the pain, I was just pissed.”

Her team had to take off without her. After multiple surgeries, wires and screws, a massive brace and in a wheelchair for a month, Elle was determined to still get out on the slopes. She began upper body workouts, building her strength, along with intense physical therapy. “I’m frustrated and in disbelief. I’m nagging the doctors about when can I ski.”

Incredibly, she was able to strap on her skis in February but she says, “I couldn’t do anything. I was just sliding around. My knee wasn’t strong. I couldn’t ski a race course with my team.” She was cleared to ski for real in March. Her goal was to qualify for Junior Olympics at the end of March in Alaska. However, she missed the qualifier by one spot. “I wasn’t ready to compete at that level yet. But it was still quite an accomplishment,” she says, rightfully proud.

With mounting hospital and medical bills, Elle was maxed out financially and emotionally and didn’t return to the academy for her junior year. She finished out high school at Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation in Bend, Oregon, where she graduated a semester early in 2015 and took the opportunity to simply ski through her final semester of high school. “I’d go up every day. I started to freeski a lot, skiing with people who were better than me, going off cliffs, doing 360s. I became a really solid, all-round skier. It wasn’t about ski racing anymore, it was more about having fun.”

Taking a gap semester before college, Elle traveled to Chile for two months to freeski at Portillo and, “to find my passion again.” She stayed with a Chilean friend in Los Andes. Fluent in Spanish, she was able to work in her friend’s family bed and breakfast in exchange for housing. While in Chile, she decided to attend Western Colorado University in Gunnison because she had several friends from Hood River at WCU. “I heard they had a Big Mountain Freeride ski team.” Elle was accepted into WCU with a scholarship as a Borick Scholar, arriving on campus in January of 2016.

She joined the freeride team for Big Mountain competitions on the freeride world qualifier tour. She hadn’t even seen Crested Butte yet. “The first time I ever skied CB was on Headwall as a forerunner for the competition. I couldn’t believe all that was so close to Gunnison. I instantly fell in love and everyone was there because they wanted to be,” she says. Elle had her revelation, “I decided it’s what I really wanted to do. My passion shifted away from the U.S. Ski Team and the Olympics to freeride and big mountain skiing.”

Elle began competing that first semester. “Ed Dujardin was my coach, and I was stoked. Our trainings were serious. We’d push ourselves. Ed would be at the bottom of Body Bag screaming at me to huck myself off of whatever was in front of me. Things like that are such a good feeling after you do it,” she laughs. “That’s my whole experience in freeride, you’re really so scared but it’s so rewarding.”

Every summer Elle returned to Hood River to kiteboard and work, becoming certified as a wildland firefighter, fighting fires in California. “But it was traumatizing for me, it was a wake up call. I was a little 18-year-old girl fighting fires with all these creepy guys. I felt uncomfortable. Someone broke into my truck and stole all my gear. It made me decide to go back to WCU and get my degree and have a different job to support myself.” She graduated in 2019 with a business major in marketing and a minor in communication.

“I wasn’t sold on CB yet and I was a broke college kid. I wanted to live the life I wanted to live,” Elle says and moved back to Hood River, getting a job in the marketing department of Naish Kiteboarding Company. “It was a full-on nine-to-five behind a desk all day. But it was a dumpster fire for me. I couldn’t ski.” And she admits, “It was back to the Pacific Northwest cement snow.” Then COVID hit that spring of 2020. She missed skiing in the Butte, so she moved back that September, working at the Dogwood and remote part-time marketing with Smak Strategies.

Another realization recently led Elle to her new business endeavor, “I’ve always worn wide brim hats and there weren’t any hat shops in Crested Butte like there are at most ski towns,” she noticed. She took off for Denver to gather info and instruction on becoming a milliner. “I wanted to learn to make hats and get insight as how to make them. I always admired the work of hatter Nick Fouquet,” she says, researching his hats and videos online. “His hats are extremely expensive,” she describes some of the famous milliner’s methods of steam shaping, taking sandpaper to hats, and using fire to give smoothness and shine to his felted creations. “I thought that was so cool.”

Serendipitously, Elle met a hat toolmaker who gave her a hat block and some felts and a Tennessee milliner’s phone number who also tutors. She was on the plane the following week for an intensive workshop with the master, after which she began to drain her savings to set up her Elk Avenue shop, Bjorkstam Hat Company (Bjorkstamhatco.com, also on Instagram and Facebook). “Bjorkstam” is Icelandic for birch tree and as a child, Elle had an enormous one with a treehouse. But more importantly to her, it’s a dedication to her mom, whose surname is Bjorkstam.

“It was a turning point to risk everything to get the mandatory machinery. The CB Center for the Arts came through with a temporary winter workspace,” in which she cranked out hats all off-season to prepare for her June 4 opening. Elle partnered with Caitlyn Ward of Lonewolf Collective who makes hatbands for her creations. “Everyone in town was so supportive. I realized through this process that CB is my home. Making hats here in Crested Butte made it feel like home and I felt like I had a purpose. Everyday is a new challenge that I love. I’m so thankful for this community and friendships that I’ve grown.”

Grace in Resilience

[  By Dawne Belloise  ]

“I’m living out of my car and couch surfing,” Alysha Joaquin says with an entirely big smile. Not that it’s easy, nor, she feels, should workers have to live without basic necessities like a bathroom, shower, running water or a roof over their heads, but for now, this hard-working Buttian will keep the blinders on and continue. “We’re the people who interact the most with the tourists,” she rightfully claims.Born in Wheat Ridge on the Front Range, her parents moved her to Bemidji, Minnesota, a little town that has similar aspects to Crested Butte, she says, because there’s tourism, lakes and woods and lots of outdoor activities. “But there are no mountains,” she laughs. “I’ve always lived in cold places my whole life and always dreamed of being a beach bum, but it’s never happened.” As a toddler, she lived in the Bemidji State University dorms while her mom attended school there. After graduation, her parents moved to Lansing, Michigan, then Iowa, where her parents went their separate ways and Alysha went back to Minnesota with her mom, spending holidays and summers with her father in Colorado.

Back in her small-town country life in Bemidji, Alysha spent many days on the lake. “I’d visit friends across the lake by taking the canoe out,” she remembers, and at 10 years old, she’d be jumping off a bridge into the lake with friends, or tubing behind a boat or playing in the Mississippi River headwaters at Itasca State Park. “I’d ride my bike on all the trails. You could eventually make your way into town. One of the similar aspects I see between CB and Bemidji is that the kids are free range and independent. I basically raised myself. I was self-sufficient because mom was working a lot.”

She also spent much time with her grandmother who lived an hour north. “We’d go out on the dock every morning with peanut butter and mayo sandwiches and spend the whole day out there.”

She was 12 when she moved to Colorado with her father, visiting mom in Bemidji for holidays and summers. “Dad was more strict. It was the middle of a school year and I was put into Catholic school with about 20 kids in my sixth grade class,” she explains.

Alysha was in culture shock after her independent upbringing. ”I was probably this little demon that my dad didn’t understand,” she says.

By the end of the school year, she was adamant about never returning to the parochial school. “The nuns said I was teaching the other kids (things good Catholic kids shouldn’t know) and corrupting them. They didn’t want me back either,” she laughs. She and her dad came to a compromise and she enrolled at Frontier Academy, a charter school in Greeley. “It was a lot more comforting than the Catholic school. I had really great and inspiring teachers there and that had a lot of impact on me.”

Alysha jokes that she has the gift of gab, and through deep discussions about life, the universe and everything with her teachers, she also discovered her interest in understanding people and their cultures. When she graduated in 2010, she decided to take a gap year, moving in with her bestie and working at a pizza joint in Greeley. When her family offered to pay for some college, Alysha signed up for summer classes. ”I didn’t know what anthropology was but the description sounded cool. I really liked it, but I still wasn’t ready to go to college. I was a little hippie during this time,” so naturally she scored a second job at Mellow Yellow, a head shop, and went full-time there in 2011.

Alysha felt the need to head back to a place she could connect with – a place of water, forests and mountains. She applied to Western State College (now Western Colorado University, WCU). “All the reasons that I had for not attending college were still valid.” But she says, “I wanted out and didn’t have a ton of money saved up because I spent it all on concerts and festivals.” She notes that this was especially easy growing up in an area with venues like Red Rocks and Mishawaka Amphitheatre. “Something was appealing about going somewhere I didn’t know anything about,” she says of Gunnison, arriving in the summer of 2013. “WSC has an excellent anthropology department,” she states. She graduated in 2018 with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Sociology.

Alysha began working at the Secret Stash in the spring of 2014. “I had never skied before, but after my second year here, friends got together to get my equipment and I was able to learn to ski. I’ve never met anybody who tries skiing and doesn’t like it.” With most of her friendships built outside of the college, Alysha started to think about whether she could find her place in this community. “At this point in my life, I’m looking for a home rather than just a house. I’m asking, do I fit in here? I’m not a rad ripper or a business owner, or a community leader or even an uber athlete, so sometimes, I feel as though I’m challenged to justify what I’m doing here.”

The deciding factor for her was that many aspects of the area reminded her of the North Woods she grew up in. “I feel safe here and there’s a lot of like-minded people. I like to travel and having the off-seasons. I like the slow-moving lifestyle. CB time is like five minutes later, it’s not hustle and bustle. I have time to sit with my thoughts. I’m able to walk everywhere. There were no issues finding a place to rent when I moved to CB, although the rise of that issue had already started at that point but there were still available and affordable places you could find.”

Until recently, Alysha was living with three other roommates and three dogs in a cute little condo in town with a tiny yard. Each of the four were paying a reasonable $550 per month. “And I was grateful for that. I was in New Orleans, traveling during off season. I had been there for only three days when my roommate forwarded an email from the condo owner. They weren’t going to renew our lease.”
They were given one month notice, beginning in May this year, to vacate by June 15. Two of her roommates, a couple, found a place to stay until August but are then leaving the valley because, she says, “Housing is hard to find and the vibe of town has changed.” The other roommate luckily found a place in CB South.

Alysha was able to get a storage unit, which is also hard to come by. “I reorganized my whole life and decided what was most important to me and I downsized. I have a couple laundry baskets in my car that have my clothes and immediate toiletries,” she says of her pared-down life. She dropped off her 8-year-old dog at her grandfather’s ranch in South Dakota, ”Where Honeybee can play in the creek and with her sibling,” she says of the furry bestie who’s been with Alysha since she was a puppy.

Essentially homeless, but working multiple shifts, two days a week at Secret Stash and three nights at the Breadery, Alysha’s fortitude is admirable. “You become more versatile. You’re more resilient when you’re more versatile,” she says. She takes showers at friends’ houses and notes, “You don’t have a consistent bathroom or a closet full of clothes, where you can get ready and primp yourself every day, but you realize how little you need to function and be happy.”

Recently, Alysha worked out an arrangement with a second homeowner, an accessory dwelling that mostly sits unused, a place where she can stay sporadically. She was there for a couple weeks in June until family came for three weeks in July. “It helps a lot. It’s less than ideal but it’s something.”

Creatively, Alysha aspires to writing. “I find solace through humor and being able to laugh at yourself. One of my long-time goals would be eventually to perform stand up comedy. One of my favorite things to do is laugh with my friends.” Laughter, she feels, is the universal language. “Laughing has a lot of benefits to your metal health and it’s a really good way to communicate and understand people.”

Alysha admits she has no idea of what she’ll do when winter arrives if she still can’t find an affordable place to live. She talks about the possibility of fulfilling that beach bum dream, perhaps in Costa Rica.

”There’s a lot of uncertainty and instability and not everyone, given this unique situation, would be able to make this work for them. But Crested Butte is the first place I built a home for myself. I found it on my own. I like the lifestyle here, the seasonal changes, and my biggest interest in life is traveling, being able to leave, to see other cultures and then being able to come back and regroup in a place that feels like home.”