NEWS: Snowpack healthy headed into runoff season, A11
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VOL. 143 NO. 15 | THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024 | $1.00
City approves 5% electric rate increase Cites rising cost of materials, ‘pass through’ costs from supplier Bella Biondini Times Editor
The Gunnison City Council approved a utility rate increase of 5% for electricity, set to go into effect during the May 1 billing cycle. This is the third consecutive year the city has raised electric rates. Of the 5% increase, originally outlined in the city’s 2024 budget, roughly 4% is a “pass through” from the city’s wholesale power provider, the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN). The remaining 1% is due to the inflat- SOLAR AMAZEMENT: At the Gunnison Community School, Ann Good’s fifth grade reading class took a break to step outside and view the partial solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. Grace Henaghan used glasses to get a glimpse of the spectacle. For more, see A9.
Electric rates A7 (Photo by Jacob Spetzler)
INSIDE
TODAY NEWS: County to offer model home plans, A13
COMMUNITY: Where the pups run wild, B1
Biden approves School board declines to adopt Thompson Divide housing action plan mineral withdrawal Members concerned about lack of financial clarity Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer
SPORTS: Titans lacrosse secures comeback, B4 OBITUARIES A2 OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A15-A18 SPORTS B4 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM
After over a year of discussion, the Gunnison Watershed School District did not adopt its draft housing action plan at a board meeting on April 8. Members expressed uncertainty about how the district would pay for it and what the housing would look like. The school board has been working on a housing plan for the last year to prepare for the
possibility of building or master leasing housing for its teachers and faculty. The district brought on housing consultant Willa Williford to gather data and offer solutions. Board member Anne Brookhart made a motion for approval, but it failed to receive a second after members had disparate understandings of what the board was committing to. The board will revisit the topic at its work session on April 22. “I'm concerned about the price of materials and everything else,” said board member Mandy Roberts. “If we started doing it [housing action plan], what are we getting into?” As housing prices in the
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Housing plan A6
20 years of protection for Crested Butte’s Red Lady Bella Biondini Times Editor
The first step in permanently protecting Mt. Emmons, known locally as the Red Lady, from the threat of molybdenum mining was finalized last week. On April 3, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland approved the Thompson Divide mineral withdrawal, preventing new mining claims and oil and gas leases on more than 220,000 a c re s o f C o l o ra d o’s pu b -
lic lands. The administrative withdrawal will stay in place for 20 years, protecting pieces of Gunnison, Garfield and Pitkin counties, including Mt. Emmons in Crested Butte. Only Congress can issue a permanent withdrawal. In the Gunnison Valley, the federal action helps ensure the community’s headwaters are not impacted by the development of a large-scale mine. “The citizens of Gunnison County have never backed away from this challenge and for decades have been persistent in their desire to remove the threat of mining on Red Lady — today we celebrate with every one of them and thank them for their advocacy and dedication to the Red Lady A6