NEWS: Kombucha bar coming to Main Street, A11
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VOL. 142. NO. 24 | THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2023 | $1.00
Conservation from the sky EcoFlight traces boundary line of proposed Thompson Divide mineral withdrawal Bella Biondini Times Editor
Bella Biondini
High Country Conservation Advocates Water Program Director Julie Nania (left), and Kestrel Kunz, a stewardship director with American Whitewater, look out the window of the plane.
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NEWS: Affordable housing project planned for lot off Hwy. 135, A2
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EcoFlight A6
Planning Commission clears path for water treatment plant location City council will review PUD changes at July 11 meeting
COMMUNITY: Local foragers find early-season delights, B1
As the small plane left the runway, the Gunnison Valley transformed into a mosaic of wet meadows and brilliant green patches of aspen that had finally given in to the arrival of summer. Northward, the high peaks surrounding Crested Butte were still coated in white, holding on tightly to a healthy winter’s snowpack. The plane’s path, which was illuminated by a blue dot on an iPad, slowly traced the boundary line of the proposed Thompson Divide mineral withdrawal — roughly 225,000 acres straddling parts of Gunnison,
Bella Biondini Times Editor
The City of Gunnison is one step closer to moving forward with its preferred location for the construction of a
water treatment plant: VanTuyl Ranch. On June 14, Gunnison’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved a major change to the planned unit development (PUD) standards
for the VanTuyl Ranch in preparation for the possible construction of a water treatment plant on the property. Within the PUD, which is essentially Water treatment A7
City prepares to pursue ballot measure Rec and roads redistribution would maintain sales tax of 4% Bella Biondini Times Editor
Although the City of Gunnison is not planning to ask for another sales tax increase, it may place another ballot measure in front of voters this fall. City council has decided to explore another ballot measure in the upcoming November election to relieve the city’s tight road maintenance budget. Although each initiative has looked a little different, this
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would be the third time the city has asked Gunnison voters for help creating a dedicated funding source for its slowly deteriorating street system. In an attempt to solve two problems at the same time, the city has come up with a new idea that would remove the looming parks and recreation tax decrease, or “sunset,” and redistribute a portion of
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those funds to its road budget. Pending voter approval, this would create what is being called a “rec and roads” tax, without putting an immediate sales tax increase on the ballot. After months of discussion about the best way to address its annual $1 million street funding gap, city council chose this new Rec and roads A6