NEWS | COMMUNITY | SPORTS | CULTURE | OPINION Crested Butte News the News never sleeps | www.crestedbuttenews.com VOL.60 | NO.29 | JULY 17, 2020 | 50¢ New Gatesco affordable housing project ready to roll Gary Gates excited for 77-unit operative, so we don’t have any obstacles. It is development nice to get this going.” Located across from the Gunnison Recrea- [ BY MARK REAMAN ] tion Center near Walmart, the approximately $15 million project will have almost 90 percent The basic infrastructure is in. Large ma- of the units under a deed restriction. The units chinery is moving dirt across from the Gun- range from 375-square-foot efficiency units to nison Recreation Center with the intent to 1,268-square-foot single-family homes with see scores of affordable rental housing units three bedrooms and two bathrooms. There pop out of the ground within the next sever- will be everything from tri-plexes, to buildings al months for local workers. Foundations are with 16 units, to detached single-family homes. expected to be poured this week and framing There is a LIHTC (Low Income Housing to begin next week on the county’s latest af- Tax Credits) project going up in Gunnison so fordable housing project. The developer of the the idea is to fashion most of the Paintbrush 77-unit complex, tentatively called Paintbrush, units toward what might be considered mid- hopes to be renting the spaces by February dle-income workers making between $17 and 2021. $22 per hour. Twenty-nine units are meant to be Developer Gary Gates of Gatesco Inc. said rented for people in the 80 percent AMI (Area Monday that while there were some delays Median Income) category with a 60 percent or with road and irrigation ditch issues, every- below AMI floor; 30 units will be restricted to thing is wrapped up and it should be smooth those making less than 120 percent AMI, but sailing, weather permitting, to get the units more than 80 percent AMI; nine will be set vertical and workers living in them before the aside for people making no more than 200 per- end of next ski season. cent AMI but more than 120 percent; while the “If the weather is good and the coronavi- remaining nine units will be free market with rus situation doesn’t shut us down for some no deed restrictions. As was the idea with the reason, we can go pretty fast,” Gates said. proposed Gatesco Corner at Brush Creek pro- “There is no bank involved right now so we ject, utilities will be paid by the landlord, so don’t have to wait for lender approvals. I think water, natural gas and electric will all be rolled we have the people to get it done. The city of into the rental rate. Gunnison and the county have been very co- CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 A Q-and-A with new Gunnison County commissioner Liz Smith Bringing a different perspective, FISH ON: Local angler Billy Watson fought a rainbow trout near Almont last Sunday while emphasizing unity before bringing it to the net to admire the beauty. photo by Nolan Blunck [ BY MARK REAMAN ] When John Messner retired from his Dis- trict 1 county commissioner seat on July 1 to Working it out—Part II: take a position with the state, the Gunnison County Democrats had 10 days to appoint his Public use on private property replacement to fill out his term for the year. They met last week and chose Liz Smith, the Pursuing solutions for historic public/private land use interfaces political party’s co-chair. She will also run for the seat this November and while many of [ BY KATHERINE NETTLES ] these questions will come up during the cam- also developed a profitable technical writing paign we felt it fair to get some of her perspec- and editing business working on short- and Last week we looked at two areas, the Middle Upper Loop trail and the new tive as a sitting commissioner. long-term projects, including grants for institu- GB Trail, both of which involved the interface of private and public land owner- ship and uses. This week, we focus on the changes to Moonridge Ranch and how Why did you throw your hat (or mask) tions like the National Weather Service, tech- nology proposals for the military, medical and the new owners want to protect Nordic trails for future users. Land use agree- in the ring to replace John Messner? psychiatric reports for workman’s compensa- ments like this have taken work and understanding among parties, but when suc- In recent years, I have been deeply trou- tion litigation, land impact studies and ap- cessful, these agreements can protect the interests of all who use our vast acres of bled by the divisiveness in our national and praisals related to large-scale eminent domain public and private lands in Gunnison County. local politics. In my tenure as co-chair for the projects. Additionally, in my experience coor- Gunnison County Democratic Party, I have dinating two programs at Western Colorado Sunflower Ranch: Long-time component of Nordic Center trails consistently promoted unity as our most im- University and spending five seasons direct- changes hands, but maintains public access portant core value, arguing that we need to ing the aquatics program at Boulder Country John Kiltz of Austin, Texas, purchased the Moon Ridge Ranch (newly dubbed find hidden virtues in positions we disagree Club, I have developed and overseen budgets Sunflower Ranch) on March 10 in partnership with his sons. Kiltz has expressed with to leverage the common ground we share up to $55,000, managed staffs as large as 30 and his intention to keep Nordic Center access on the property. His real estate agent, with members in our community. For me, the cultivated a strong set of interpersonal skills to Diane Aronovick, told the Crested Butte News, “I know there has been some fear message of unity is not simply a dinner theme successfully collaborate with numerous pro- within the community about development and potentially losing access for recrea- or campaign slogan. It represents a core value grams and stakeholders. tion. That isn’t going to happen.” I strive to live by in my teaching, relationships, CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 community activism and day-to-day life. This is a value I think our entire community could benefit from right now. [ Overheard ] What is your professional “Tired of the background? In a word? Varied. I completed my Ph.D. rainstorm? Just wait in English and Cultural Studies from the Uni- ten minutes and it’ll be versity of Oklahoma in December 2016 and bluebird again…” have more than 10 years of teaching experi- 27 New state historian 34 Softball and Putin ence. While completing my doctoral degree, I 2 | July 17, 2020 EDITORIAL Crested Butte News WORLD NEWS WORLD “Alien-like” creature resembling E.T. discovered in ancient area of Pacific seafloor A marine creature that resembles the alien E.T. has been found growing in a prehistoric area of eastern Pacific seafloor rock. The “E.T. sponge” has been classified as a new species and genus, the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration said Thursday as it announced the discovery. The creature was found in “an extraordinary seascape” 7,875 feet down, where strange-looking creatures appeared to be growing from the rocky seafloor, NOAA says. —information compiled from the Miami Herald Poland accidentally invades Czech Republic in “minor misunderstanding” You’d be forgiven for not knowing that the Polish military recently invaded and briefly occupied territory in the Czech Republic. Seems like headline news, sure—but it appears that even the Polish troops didn’t know what they were doing. A spokesperson for the Czech Foreign Ministry confirmed to NPR on Saturday, “Polish soldiers mistakenly deterred our citizens from entering a church on the Czech territory in close vicinity of the Czech-Polish borders.” Czech officials photo by Robby Lloyd say the incident happened in late May near a small village known as Pelhřimovy, just across the border from Poland. They added that their diplomats immediately notified their Polish counterparts, and Things to keep an eye on in the future that Polish soldiers are “no longer” present at the site, which Czech There are lessons in the past and always hope When the list was published, a few people asked nationals can again visit as they wish. —information compiled from NPR in the future. The pandemic has certainly thrown me why one of the largest awards in Crested Butte a wrench into both history and what lies ahead, so went to a business called Nations Best Holdings NATION there is no shortage of things to anticipate in the that had the address of a house near Totem Pole Runner who seemed to break Usain Bolt’s record ran a shorter race coming days. The key is to learn from history and Park. I emailed the CEO and founder, Chris Miller, A U.S. runner was briefly thought to have beaten Usain Bolt‘s record make good decisions based on past outcomes. That from the company website that listed its headquar- in the 200-meter race—but it turns out he started from the wrong is true whether deciding how to open the schools ters in Dallas. He responded and explained, “The spot. Noah Lyles, 22, running alone on a track in Florida against this fall, figuring out how affordable housing can reason our PPP loan was done in CB is because that competitors in Europe as part of the Inspiration Games, finished his be built in the valley through cooperation instead of is where my corporate office was established at that run in 18.90 seconds, which was thought briefly to have broken the sniping, or determining best practices to get the ski time.