COVID-19 Virus Reaches Gunnison County Two Confirmed Cases but More Expected [ by KENDRA WALKER ]

NEWS | COMMUNITY | SPORTS | CULTURE | OPINION Crested Butte News the News never sleeps | www.crestedbuttenews.com VOL.60 | NO.11 | MARCH 13, 2020 | 50¢ COVID-19 virus reaches Gunnison County Two confirmed cases but more expected [ BY KENDRA WALKER ] The first two positive cases of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, have been confirmed in Gunnison County as of Wednesday, March 11 but more may be on the way as one Denver County resident treated at Gunnison Valley Hospital (GVH) tested positive and at least five others are showing symptoms of the virus but do not yet have test results. The positive cases were announced Wednesday in Gunnison County involving two separate females in their 50s, both residents of Gunnison County. According to Gun- nison County Health and Human Services, each case involved getting exposed while ARE YOU READY?: The 2020 Red Lady was named Friday at the Public House. Mallika Magner will represent HCCA for the next traveling and they have self-isolated at their in- photo by Robby Lloyd year, and was crowned by former Red Ladies Lauren Koelliker and Sue Navy. dividual homes. According to Health and Hu- man Services director Joni Reynolds, the self- isolation/quarantine must last a minimum of Council to look 14 days. If symptoms have not resolved within CBCS expansion estimated to cost that period, the isolation will be extended. An- other 24 hours of quarantine is then required deeper at funds between $30 million to $60 million once symptoms have resolved. The cases are undergoing investigation District and citizens looking capacity is 762 students. The 2022 pro- by health officials to determine who may for housing and at five options jection is anticipated to be 787 students. have come in close contact with the patient. The maximum target capacity of the The Crested Butte News asked for more details [ BY MARK REAMAN ] CBCS campus is about 1,000 students, surrounding the case, including where the climate change which would average approximately 84 patients were traveling, how long they have Forming citizen’s committee; As enrollment in the Crested Butte students in each grade, requiring three been back in Gunnison County and whether Empty House Tax still an option Community School continues to grow to four classrooms per grade. they had attended any recent local events that each year, the Gunnison Watershed The five options presented to the might have exposed them to large crowds. [ BY MARK REAMAN ] School District board of directors is in advisory committee by Calhoun ranged Reynolds could not provide any information the midst of investigating the best way from somewhat modest additions and and said Health and Human Services is un- The Crested Butte Town Council ap- to alleviate that growth pressure. renovations to the current school to able to share that data at this time as they work pears ready to form one or perhaps two An informal advisory group made building a new junior and senior high with the state in investigating the cases. committees at its next meeting on March 16 up of about 30 local citizens, staff ad- school at a different location. Estimated During a Wednesday evening press con- to study and then make recommendations ministration, students and teachers has costs range from about $30 million to ference, Colorado Governor Jared Polis ad- on how best to fund the town’s ambitious been meeting regularly to begin dis- $60 million. As part of the process, the vised against unnecessary travel to resort and five-year affordable housing and Climate cussing the issue in depth. The school board is considering what sort of bond mountain communities, particularly for in- Action Plan (CAP) goals. district has hired RTA Architects of Col- issue to present to voters in order to pay dividuals who are over the age of 60 or who The committee idea emerged from a orado Springs to plan a possible expan- for the project. have chronic conditions. This advisory is due work session on the topic held Monday, sion of the Crested Butte school facility. Calhoun went over several expan- to the number of people traveling back and March 9 in which various “funding mecha- They presented five primary options on sion alternatives at the March 3 meet- forth from resort communities to other parts of nisms,” including the concept of an Emp- March 3 that included additions to the ing. the state and the disproportion of the virus hit- ty House Tax were bandied about by the current facility as well as constructing Option A would build additions to ting the high country communities first based council and about a dozen interested citi- new school buildings located some- the current community school as well on the positive state numbers. “This will get zens. where else in the north valley. as renovate the existing space. worse before it gets better in Colorado,” said While no one at the work session ap- “If you look at the trend of the Option B would be to build a new Polis. peared to like the moniker Empty House last four or five years, there has been primary school separate from the cur- On March 10, Gunnison County initially Tax, according to town finance director Rob growth of 20 to 25 students each year rent facility but on the current campus. announced a different positive COVID-19 case Zillioux, a $3,000 per unit Empty House at CBCS and we think it will continue,” Option C would be to make minor of a female in her 40s as the first in Gunnison Excise Tax on the estimated 350 potentially said RTA’s Brian Calhoun. “This year, additions to the current facility and also County, but later reclassified it as a Denver qualifying units in town could raise about enrollment already exceeds the capac- build a new primary school on a new case. The patient visited Gunnison County $1 million annually. ity of the building and that’s why there site that could handle about 240 K-2 and was treated and released from GVH, but Taking the town sales tax rate from the are modulars being used right now.” students. resides in Denver. She is no longer in Gunni- current 4.5 percent to 5 percent would gen- Calhoun said the current facility CONTINUED ON PAGE 19 son County and is being monitored in Denver. erate about a half million dollars each year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 Increasing the Short Term Rental excise tax to 6 percent from 5 percent would bring in an additional $60,000. Raising the property tax two more [ Overheard ] mills would bring in about $250,000 more “The gas pump is the each year. Borrowing $2 million at 3 percent in- public phone of the terest over 20 years would result in total 21st century… payments of about $2.5 million but would wash your hands!!” take away from other capital uses. 21 8-Ball Rally 33 Ski Patrol first CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 2 | March 13, 2020 EDITORIAL Crested Butte News Email advice: Panic or chill? WORLD NEWS If you don’t have toilet paper… Panic! WORLD Spill causes wine to flow through village’s pipes instead of water Well there’s really no choice but to start with the Residents of a small village in Italy had the taps in their houses dispens- coronavirus, right? We’re apparently on the front lines ing red wine instead of water due to a fault at a nearby winery. Locals in of the battle with two confirmed cases of a “presump- the village of Settecani, in the Castelvetro area of Modena, said the taps tive positive” of COVID-19 in Gunnison County. in their kitchens and bathrooms were dispensing red liquid instead of At least I think so. The county said Tuesday that the water Wednesday, and many quickly identified it from smell as Lambr- state said there was a Gunnison woman who tested usco Grasparossa, a locally produced wine. Officials at the winery said positive. Then they said Tuesday that she was from technicians investigated and discovered a technical fault had caused Denver and had gone back home. But she was tested wine to leak from a silo into water pipes. Some residents told local me- here and was moving about and touching things be- dia they bottled as much of the wine that came from their taps as pos- tween sneezes. And then the county said Wednesday sible before the flow returned to normal.—information compiled from UPI morning that someone else tested positive. And then they said we take that back and then they didn’t. The Plastic-munching caterpillars can clean up our world—but there’s a catch bottom line is that the coronavirus has found its way Researchers at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, found that into the valley and once it’s here, it’s probably going waxworms are able to “ingest and metabolize polyethylene at unprece- to spread. dented rates” thanks to the microorganisms in their intestines. Research- Obviously we’ll repeat what you already know— ers found a greater amount of “microbial abundance” in the caterpillars’ wash your hands, don’t touch your face and don’t guts when they were ingesting plastic than when they ate a traditional hug people coughing in line, any line. And there are diet of honeycomb. In waxworms, polyethylene metabolizes into a gly- apparently giant lines to buy toilet paper even here in col, which is biodegradable. Waxworms are not an end-all solution to Gunnison County. plastic waste, however. Wax larvae are pests for bees, naturally feeding off honeycomb and running the risk of reducing their populations— I’m not freaked out by this virus showing up and those of plants and crops.

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