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VOL. 143 NO. 36 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024 | $1.00
Library district will request tax increase this fall Funds for CB South branch and expanded programming Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer
The Gunnison County Library District is seeking a property tax increase to help defray the cost of a new library in Crested Butte South, and expand programming with a focus on digital books, movies and resources. The decision follows turbulence in the state’s property tax law that might obscure future revenues for Colorado’s special districts. The library district plans to
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ask county voters to approve a 1.1 mill levy increase this fall, scheduled to go into effect at the start of 2025. The question will appear on the ballots of all Gunnison County voters, as the district’s boundaries track county lines. If approved, the tax will amount to an additional $1.25 million in 2025, or 59 cents per month for each additional $100,000 of actual residential value, for the district. If voters approve the measure, approximately half of the funding would support construction of a new library in CB South. The other half will support expanding library services, such as events and activities for library patrons, increasing its collection of books, movies and Library A6
BUBBLES AND BACKPACKS: Lake Preschool and Kindergarten students were greeted at the front door by a flurry of bubbles on Aug. 28, the first day of school. For more, see B15. (Photo by Mariel Wiley)
Park Service to Whetstone plans manage grazing more units, but at Curecanti, fewer buildings County narrows Black Canyon in on final were formally established. Agency seeks While grazing permits in these design details have historically been public comment areas Abby Harrison managed by the Bureau of Times Staff Writer Land Management (BLM), the on plan National Park Service will begin
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Bella Biondini Times Editor
A new plan may give public land managers more control over livestock grazing at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area. C a t t l e a n d s h e e p h av e grazed within the boundaries of the national park and recreation area long before they
to take over after its grazing management plan is finished in 2025. The early stages of a draft began this summer with a public comment period. The plan is part of a settlement stemming from a lawsuit filed in 2020 by the Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project. The nonprofits sued the BLM, the Forest Service, Park Service Grazing A6
Not much has changed in Whetstone’s design since early 2023, but Gunnison County and its development partners are now adding more detail and resolving lingering engineering issues. To stay within its $130 million budget, the county removed several smaller buildings and wants to increase the size of the apartments to stay cost-efficient and house more people. Whetstone is the county’s
planned 252-unit, incomerestricted housing project. The county will develop the project on a parcel just south of Crested Butte, while maintaining ownership of the land and controlling rents through income caps. Three years in, the county is in the final steps of its land use review process, with final approval as early as this fall. Planners hope to break ground on utilities next year and welcome the first residents by 2027. The county cleared significant hurdles in the last month, including a commitment from Crested Butte Town Council to stretch repayment of the project’s $7.5 million tap fee over a decade, and to provide a Whetstone A8