JOURNAL 05/28/2006

SUMMARY:
I should do the entire journal first, but that's just not going to happen
tonight, so I'll mention the most timely item, and the one weighing on my
mind. Lucky you, to be privy to all that!

Oh, and that, despite assurances from the school board president about
adherence to Sunshine, a memo from finance director Jon Nelson attached to
the most recent incarnation of the school district budget references a
Tuesday meeting where the board made a change to a middle school position it
had approved at its Monday meeting. Since the District Accountabiilty
Committee meets on Wednesdays, we're wondering what Tuesday meeting took
place.

Maybe the board noticed the meeting and we just missed it; maybe Jon got the
day wrong on his memo. But the staffing pattern changed sometime after the
scheduled board meeting.

The budget hearing is set for 5:30 p.m. next Monday at Lake; we're
encouraging folks to attend.

If you're on the lookout for more meetings to attend, city council this week
(Tuesday night) will hold a work session on affordable housing. The planning
commission has a draft chapter for the master plan on housing that might be
a good basis for the onset of a policy discussion, and City Manager Ken
Coleman has put together a workbook of "tools" for the council to consider.

Richard Karas suggested to planning commission that the city ought to look
at its approach to affordable housing as an investment portfolio: the city
will have to try several things, and not all of them will work. The
investment in each tactic should be enough that a difference is noticeable
if it works, but not such a heavy investment that too much is lost if it
doesn't work.

Several GVCA members -- along with many other people, including the mayor
and city manager -- met with representatives from MGA Communications, a PR
firm out of Denver that has been retained by U.S. Energy, proud (but
severely undercapitalized) new owners of the moly mine on Mt. Emmons above
Crested Butte.

And while mines come with many faults, I've heard it said that median
incomes in Gunnison County are pulled up to where they are because of the
coal miners in Somerset. After looking at just a couple of figures on a
chart Ellen had, I'd believe it.

Ellen's chart -- and I failed to look at the source of the data, but it's
among the city's papers for the Tuesday housing discussion -- shows that in
2000, the PROPRIETOR of a retail business in Gunnison County earned, on
average, $12,564. So much for the lucrative world of small business.

Her chart also showed a decline, in real dollars, from an average (not
median, I don't think) annual income about $25,000 in 1970 for county
residents to $20,850 in 2000.

So housing and how anyone who wasn't fortunate/smart enough to buy a house
here 20 years ago can afford it is certainly a topic for discussion.

But there's another area that we shouldn't lose sight of, and that's the
state of retail in the City of Gunnison. A stroll along the first block of
Main Street, plus a trip through the classifieds, shows Corner Cupboard,
Reflections of Colorado and Horsefeathers all for sale, while the store that
got abandoned several months ago (Simply Unique?) finally has a "space for
rent" sign in the window. As does the Johnson Gallery Building.

The W Cafe is for sale. So's the Brick Cellar Wine Bar. And Rocky Mountain
Frames, Misty Mountain and Rocky Mountain Rose. Duncan 4 x 4 is for sale; so
are Van's, Hi-Country Gas and Laundry and the Willis family's closed gas
station across from Metamorphosis. Not to mention that A&W won't be opening
again, at least not under the old owners.

Now, all of these sales/closings are not due to poor economics. Many, in
fact, are due to retirement desires, and in at least one case, the second
jobs both proprietors held have become more lucrative (and perhaps less time
consuming) than running a business. And Fiesta Mexicana is in the midst of
reopening, and someday there may be a steakhouse on Main Street.

But you have to wonder how many of these "for sales" will turn into
closings, and just how many Mexican restaurants one town will support. Paul
Schlegel is retiring after 37 years of Gunnison dentistry, and so far no one
has come along to take over the practice -- or so says his ad in the Times.

Maybe because an average salary of less than $13,000 doesn't sound like a
great deal to someone looking to move here, into a $250,000 two-bedroom
tract home.

So one has to wonder. And while Lynn was at Family Dollar today, she heard
someone, either customer or clerk, say that Super Wal-Mart is returning, and
that this news is in 'this week's paper." (I don't know if that means last
week or the one coming out Thursday.)

I did read, in a newspaper discussion of heritage tourism, that Breckenridge
has somehow limited the number of national retailers allowed in its hamlet,
in order to preserve the town for tourists. No other information was
forthcoming, and I'm not sure that's even something for too many other
places to try (Crested Butte, maybe, although perhaps Home Depot could
design a building that looked like a series of old coking ovens -- which
should not be construed as a new rumor that Home Depot is coming to our
small valley, because I've heard nothing of the sort).

Then there's the sales tax issue. While working as a volunteer for the
Gunnison Farmers' Market, and trying to determine at what rate take-home
foods should be taxed, it turns out that our county is gaining a lot of
income from a source it didn't think it was.

Everyone I asked, from the city finance director through county finance
employees and finally county finance director Linda Nienheuser, told me that
only the City of Gunnison, which is home-ruled, charges tax on groceries,
which are defined (as far as I can tell) as foods that are packaged for home
consumption (which would include the farmers' market's fresh produce and
consumables such as cookies and bread).

Since the city charges 3% sales tax, that's what the groceries ought to be
charging. But it turns out that City Market is charging an additional 1%,
which gets given to the county. Safeway is also charging that 1% county tax,
plus an additional .35% for the Rural Transportation Authority. Wal-Mart
charges the 1% county tax but not the RTA, and Family Dollar only charges
the city's tax. I have yet to survey the hardware stores or convenience
stores, but it's clear enough that the county ought to do some
investigating, and then get all business selling food on the same page (part
of that leveling of the ol' playing field).

After an initial look into the issue, Linda told me that the county's
charter says it will follow the state's rules, and since the state doesn't
charge tax on groceries, the county presumed it isn't, either. But the state
says that a taxing entity specifically has to exempt an item, such as
groceries or farm machinery, to not tax it. And since the county hasn't
exempted any specific items, it should be collecting tax on all of them.

If the county is smart, that's what it will keep doing, although it ought to
make sure all players are on the same page, and it needs to figure out
whether Safeway's charging too much tax with the RTA collection, or if
everyone else needs to. That might go a long way toward funding ground
transportation if some of the county's biggest businesses started tacking
that .35% onto grocery sales.

Conversely, do the math if the county decides it should not be collecting
grocery tax: turning down money it has been getting from the groceries and
Wal-Mart (for food items) could be a $300,000 a year loss for the county, at
a rough guess.

What's really astounding in this is how no one has looked at their sales
slips. I never did, until I started trying to figure out at what rate the
market should be taxing food. So maybe we could add a sales tax for a
recreation district, and a library, and some sort of health care pool, and
and and . . . and no one will even notice.

In the meantime, a new start-up local business, the Go-To Guides (which for
my money have the only good phone book out of the 4,000 soaking those
wealthy small-business owners for their ad dollars) is offering phone book
recycling at the Recycling Center, but only until May 31. So keep the books
out of the landfill by recycling, and be sure to thank this local business
for undertaking this project.

I may or may not get to a journal tomorrow (after this, it will be very
short and I'm sure incredibly sweet), but this ought to hold you for at
least 12 hours, don't you think?

TL

DETAILS:

Okay, making it short, at least, if not so sweet :

1) Gunnison City Council
    Check 'em out tonight for the work session on affordable housing. And
after two appearances (the meeting two weeks ago was attended by only two
council members, so most things got repeated last week), it sounds like the
Gunnison Home Association has been given the go-ahead to pursue plans for a
seniors' RV park north of the Willows.

2) Planning Commission
    The commission will devote this week and next to the master plan, but
after that the projects and hearing start taking off. There will be public
hearings on June 14 for the rodeo grounds (street vacation and a PUD for
overall use of the area, submitted by the county) and the sketch plan for
the Van Tuyl Village (formerly popularly known as the "Super Wal-Mart
Site"). On June 28 the commission will host public hearings for the county,
which desires to make the courthouse part of the Central Business District
(which has no off-street parking requirements), and Sage Mountain School,
which would like to extend its conditional use at its current location at
Boulevard and Virginia.

Kim Antonucci and Ellen also attended the open house in Mt. CB for the North
Village, and report that the preliminary plan calls for a "traditional
neighborhood design" of 1,000 units. The side streets are narrow, with lots
of walkability throughout the 67-acre parcel, Kim reported, noting that the
original (pre-Mueller) approval had been for 1,800 units, down from the
initial request of 3,200. The project has a 20-year horizon for build-out.
People at the presentation noted that no provision has been made for
community buidings such as hospitals, schools or the like.

3) Detention Facility
    After months of hard work and discussion, the committee settled on a
location and model to set before the voters. It looks very similar to last
year's ballot proposal, but this time, instead of a slapdash rush at the
ballot, voters can be assured that a broad cross-section of the community
thoroughly examined many options before settling on this as the best fit.
There are still meetings ahead for the committee, including determination of
funding sources that will impact the requet set before voters. There are
also discussions about programming that might better direct the jail
population and perhaps keep some people out of the jail.

After serving on a jury, Karen came back with the report that while a judge
has six different options for sentencing DUI offenders, all domestic
violence offenders get measured by one yardstick. In the case she juried (if
that's the proper verb for that sentence), the woman had called 911 to
request a mediator, but once 911 is called, a protocol goes into effect that
culminates in an arrest. So far, there is no mediation option. Karen also
noted that only people who make less than $14,000 qualify for a
court-appointed public defender, which likely leaves a gap (as in this case)
of people who make too much yet still can't afford legal counsel.

4) RE-1J
    As noted, the budget is up for public hearing next Monday (5:30 p.m.,
Lake Building). Reserves are at 12.86 percent in the latest draft of the
budget. However, some items have still been left out of what is a fairly
bare-bones budget. Last year, to accommodate a larger sophomore class, high
school teachers were instructed to use their classroom supply money to
purchase additional textbooks, which then means that classroom supplies had
to come out of the teachers' pockets (some to such an extent that they were
able to itemize it as a deduction on their taxes). So we talked about Jeff
Walker's suggestion of publicizing the district's needs, both large and
small, in an effort to boost community donations next fall.

On the personnel front, recently-hired executive administrative assistant
Elaine Crumpton tendered her resignation last week. The new superintendent
is scheduled to come on board in July.

5) Farmers Market
    We had a preliminary discussion about participating as a vendor,
soliciting garden donations from locals who aren't interested in vending
themselves, but who might have excess of one or more plantings. All proceeds
would be donated to the Food pantry, while any leftover produce might go to
the Willows. We are looking for people who might be interested in
participating with this project, particularly those willing to staff the
booth for a Saturday or two, sometime from July through October.

6) Health Forum
    Don't forget the League of Women Voters' health forum on June 6, 7 p.m.
(I think). Margaret reported that the hospital has contacted her to find
persons interested in health care within the community. The opening of the
new orthopaedic clinic has definitely impacted the hospital's business. So
perhaps the hospital will have some personnel in attendance at the forum.

7) MGA Communications
    Butch, Pat and I, along with observer Mark Hatcher, met with two
representatives of this PR firm, over the ojections of HCCA. Richard and
Mayor Ferguson met with the same two the following morning.

We learned a lot about Mike G (his handwriting was awful -- it might be
Gallahan), who is an old AMAX guy who worked here on Mt. Emmons two decades
ago. And we learned about MGA Communications, whose largest client is the
Rocky Mountain Arsenal. In between snippets of his life story, we hope we
conveyed the sense that this is a valley of highly educated, well-informed,
passionate people. Before his meeting, Stu collected input from all sorts of
people and typed it up in a written presentation. I imagine he would be
happy to provide a copy to anyone who asked.

US Energy, which doesn't have nearly the money it needs for this project, is
trying to find a big-money partner. Mike seemed to imply that Phelps Dodge
heads the list, which is interesting since Phelps Dodge forced the mine back
onto US Energy.

Steve Voynick has a good article in this month's Colorado Central
(www.cozine.com) about the plans to reopen Climax near Leadville, and his
piece includes some history on Mt. Emmons and his thoughts on why it's not
worth it for a mining company to pursue that property. Part of his analysis
-- which was a view shared by Luke Danielson -- is the battle with a
community that doesn't want a mine, versus the arms-wide-open welcome being
offered by Leadville.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't as short as I imagined. But we've all made it
through now, so we can go on with the rest of our days.

TL