Spruce Street construction to accompany CPW expansion

Neighboring Cattlemen's Days sign temporarily taken down

Bella Biondini Times Editor

The Cattlemen’s Days sign that hangs over the entrance to the Gunnison County Fairgrounds has been temporarily removed in preparation for the realignment of Spruce Street.

Right next door, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is building a new service center to create added space for staff as well as the visiting public. As part of the project, CPW is working with city and county officials to realign Spruce Street, which will run adjacent to the new building’s main entrance and parking area. The design also includes a new sidewalk.

According to onsite project manager Michael Mazurek, construction on Spruce Street could begin as early as next week and is scheduled to wrap up before the fall. To minimize the project’s impact on fairground access, the team plans to keep at least one lane open for the majority of the construction period.

The new 6,800 square-foot CPW service center will be built directly west of the agency’s existing offices at the intersection of New York Avenue and Pine Street on a horse pasture. CPW owns all of the lots on the block just north of the fairgrounds. Gunnison Area Wildlife Manager Brandon Diamond said the agency is still unsure what will become of the old office.

With construction on the service center well underway, the team at the fairgrounds worried the Cattlemen’s Day sign would get damaged and removed it on

Monday, July 24.

“This way we can ensure that it’s taken down safely and in one piece,” said Fairgrounds Manager Tony Janssen. “We can store the sign and preserve it so that when everything's said and done over here, that we can reinstate it as one of the focal pieces of the fairgrounds that's always been here.”

The Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association donated the sign to the fairground in 2000 for the 100th anniversary of the Cattlemen’s Days Rodeo. It has served as the gateway to the fairgrounds and the Fred Field Western Heritage Center ever since. Janssen said he plans to reinstall the sign once construction is finished, which could be as soon as next spring.

Falls from A1 but wonder what would’ve happened if he hadn’t heard the kayaker’s call for help.

“That one worried me, because I almost didn't go back there,” Haase said.

This was one of numerous boating accidents Haase recalled at Psychedelic Falls: a fishing boat flipped upside down, a raft that was stuck overnight, Western Colorado University students with no life jackets who were thrown from their innertubes into the water. His nextdoor neighbors considered purchasing a rescue rope in fear they would need to use it.

While the rapid is known colloquially as Psychedelic Falls, its actual name is the KemelOwens ditch diversion, which is designed to divert water from the river, primarily for agricultural use. Because of this, the resulting water feature is not natural and forms a threetiered waterfall. At its center is a frothing bowl that has the tendency to recirculate water at specific river levels — creating a zone that can trap boaters who aren’t careful.

The dangers presented by Psychedelic Falls have attracted the attention of the Gunnison community for decades. Local leaders have reconstructed the diversion multiple times to try and create a safer passage for boaters and carefully monitor the condition of the structure each year. Despite these actions, some believe the rise in river use and the proximity of the falls to the relative safety of the whitewater park have allowed the dangers to persist through the decades.

Better now than ever

The Tourism and Prosperity Partnership, the local organization tasked with marketing the outdoor thrills of the Gunnison Valley to tourists, advertises Psychedelic Falls as a “class III rapid” and the highlight of the river run between the Gunnison Whitewater Park and McCabe’s. “Don’t blunder into this one unless you really like swimming,” its website reads.

The local raft guiding company Scenic River Tours still runs this section of the Gunnison as one of its most popular trips. Although rafts “skirt around the meat” of the hydraulics at certain levels, owner Dustin Brown said Scenic rarely has any issues at the falls.

But many river goers don’t know it’s there, hidden around the bend. Some won’t have life jackets. Depending on the water level, they will only have minutes after they leave the Gunnison Whitewater Park to try and get out of the water until they are forced to pass through the falls. Most of the land along this stretch is private property.

“When you have a river you have inherent dangers,” said Paul Morgan, an experienced local kayaker. “That’s kind of why I do this because that makes it exciting. But this is a man-made danger.”

Years ago, Morgan had his own experience at the falls.

Suddenly he was upside down and struggled to roll his kayak upright because the river was churning him around like he was in a washing machine, he said. His attempts to turn rightside up only flipped him more violently. After a fight, he eventually freed himself from the current.

The falls were much different then, with one, large 6-foot drop that came off the main irrigation diversion. During runoff season, the diversion would frequently shift or wash out and need to be reconstructed — causing blockage and ever-changing conditions through the section.

This resulted in the reconstruction of the diversion structure with three main priorities: divert water into the ditch, allow fish to travel through and create a safe passageway for boaters. Most of this work was completed in 2008, but there was a catch. The new three- ing kokanee salmon were still able to migrate upstream.

“In the end, it is an irrigation diversion,” Brauch said. “It's not a waterpark feature that was designed primarily for river users. But we did work to improve conditions for boaters through that reach when we did the work.” has been made to the diversion, a different problem has arisen, Haase said. Although fewer boats are caught now, the incidents have continued, with smaller water crafts such as paddleboards and tubes more susceptible. drop falls created a back-eddy, which acted similar to a vacuum. Although the drops looked relatively harmless, the current was sometimes strong enough to hold boaters.

The three drops at the diversion are spread out, to allow boaters, if something does go awry, to straighten themselves out, said Andy Spann, one of the agricultural users who depend on the diversion. It was also designed to withstand high water and is checked each year to make sure none of the rocks have shifted.

According to Assistant County Manager for Public Works Martin Schmidt, the signs will be up before the end of July.

More than a decade later, a local team returned with a river contractor to try and fix the problem spot after hearing the community’s concern, said CPW Aquatic Biologist Dan Brauch, who became involved

According to Spann, other diversions exist on the Western Slope that actually “shut the river off,” something he and other water users on the ditch tried to avoid.

“They are impassable by any watercraft, rafts, kayaks, anything, and that’s something we don’t want to do … We are conscious about trying to make reasonably safe passage.”

But some have argued that boaters seem to be the last pri-

The risk of entrapment seems to increase at lower water levels, said Cheryl Cwelich, a water resource specialist at the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District. She encouraged boaters in tubes or duckies to take out at the whitewater park, or to float with a personal floatation device (PFD), otherwise known as a life jacket, and know how to self rescue if needed — especially at water levels that hover around 800 cubic feet per second (cfs). This week, the discharge of the Gunnison River at the whitewater park, which is far past its peak flows for the summer, dropped from around 1,000 cfs near this range.

With direction from the river community and support from the Upper Gunnison, Gunnison County plans to install new signs at the park that warn of the hazards looming downstream of the park. “Proceed at

In recent years, traffic along the Gunnison River has increased steadily. As the number of cars parked at the local put-ins rose, so did the number of boats on the river and incidents at Psychedelic Falls, Haase said. He’s been living near the river for 30 years. Haase, alongside ranchers, CPW and other local leaders, has puzzled over finding a way to make it any safer.

An experienced boater himself, Haase no longer floats the section. Instead he has acted as a sort of guardian along the river section, aiding those who get hurt and answering calls for help.

“I just don't want to take a chance,” he said. “But I can tell you, it's better now than it's ever been.” eral public who are less aware of daily avalanche danger.

(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@ gunnisontimes.com.)

“It's a massive help to our organization … This gives us a little more stability over the course of several years. We can continue efforts for more longrange planning rather than just year by year,” said Executive Director Than Acuff

Over $130,000 flowed to South Valley organizations such as the Gunnison Senior Center, the City of Gunnison’s Parks and Recreation Department, the Gunnison Arts Center, Gunnison Trails and the Gunnison High School soccer team.

Parks and Rec will use the $25,000 to replace the pedestrian bridge on the southwest side of the VanTuyl Loop, said Parks and Rec Director Dan Vollendorf. The $10,000 flowing to the department’s Senior Center will help fund weekly activities like bird walks, snowshoe hikes and nordic skiing.

The Gunnison High School soccer team has now received four years of grant funding from MetRec. In past years, the money has helped move the team from probationary to non-probationary, which means the Gunnison Watershed School District now covers all in-season expenses, said Head Coach Susan Powers. This year’s funding will allow the team to pursue off-season training. The $4,700 will cover a winter tournament in Pueblo and the Denver University Soccer Camp next summer.

“It's just so nice to have community support for this team,” Powers said. “It's been ongoing for the last few years, and it just continues.”

Gunnison Trails was awarded $25,000, which will allow the organization to hire a parttime development director, the organization’s second-ever paid position. Gunnison Trails has needed that role filled for a long time, said Executive Director Tim Kugler.

“For the organization, it's certainly a big deal to have this additional role,” he said.

Survey results

Nehrenberg presented the results from its 2023 recreation survey at a July 19 board meeting. MetRec conducted its first recreation survey in 2019, but decided to run another to capture how interests may have shifted through the pandemic and following the passage of ballot measure 6B. The new survey is meant to reveal how recreation interests may differ on the north and south ends of the valley and gauge community interest in a regional recreation master plan, Nehrenberg said.

At both ends of the valley, improvements to indoor recreation centered on more indoor fitness equipment, sports practice space, swimming and cultural events. North Valley residents continued to express the need for a recreation center.

“Given these results, I think it's at least worth some further analysis, especially if we go into recreation master planning, to look at that question about the rec center needs in the north,” Nehrenberg said.

When asked about the regional recreation master plan, 86% district-wide said the proposed scope — a plan for the Hwy. 135 corridor between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte, extending into the main drainages — was comprehensive.

(Abby Harrison can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or abby@gunnisontimes.com.)

Development has attempted to remedy what it has deemed an inadequate wastewater treatment system up near Lake Irwin.

Irwin is located 25 miles west of Crested Butte, and the few property owners in the area maintain on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) for these rural homes, all located in the Crested Butte watershed.

The defendant, David Gottorff, 47, was recently incarcerated for multiple felony charges of harassment in Ouray County. Reporting from the Ouray County Plainsdealer details numerous instances over the years in which Gottorff harassed neighbors and former employers, resulting in multiple restraining orders. Last week, he was convicted of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and single counts each of menacing and stalking. He is being held in Montrose County Jail without bond until his hearing in September.

The lawsuit against Gottorff in Gunnison County began in October of 2021, when County Attorney Matthew Hoyt and Deputy County Attorney Alex San Filippo-Rosser filed a civil suit in District Court. The complaint alleges that Gottorff maintained an “inadequate and unpermitted” wastewater system on a parcel of land he owns in Irwin. The plumbing system consists of a bathroom, kitchen sink and urinal on the property that are connected to a 500-gallon plastic holding tank. The sewage then flowed freely from the tank out of a pipe and into the front yard.

Free-flowing sewage poses a threat to the “health, safety, and welfare” of those in the Crested Butte watershed, the complaint alleges. In May of this year, District Judge Steven Patrick ordered Gottorff to schedule professionals to do design work on a new system by June 30. He failed to do so.

Lawsuits to enforce compliance with health and safety regulations are relatively rare, with the county filing roughly a couple of cases per year, San Filippo-Rosser wrote in a state- ment to the Times . The county aims to resolve these issues with the property owners before filing a lawsuit, but litigation can be a necessary tool when the property owner fails to fix the problem.

The property in question is not connected to a public sewage system and the drainage system was installed without a permit. The cabin on the property was built in the 60s and Gottorff bought it in 2007.

In 2017, Gunnison County Building and Environmental Health Official Crystal Lambert sent Gottorff a letter asking him to comply with an annual septic inspection required from all residences in the watershed.

Two years later, in 2019, Lambert sent two more notices of violation asking Gottorff to comply with the inspection, but received no reply. Gottorff finally replied later that year and claimed he did not have a septic system and did not believe that there was anything to inspect. Nevertheless, he soon sent a septic inspection report prepared by Williams Engineering.

After reading the report, Lambert again sent Gottorff a notice to correct the violation, but he continued to deny that there were problems with his system. He referred to the county’s correspondence as “forms of harassment” that have caused emotional distress and anxiety.

Gottorff asserts, in his formal answer and counterclaims issued in early 2022, that his system was built prior to the watershed’s regulations (enacted in 2014) and functions legally. He said he is unaware of any public health risks and lacks the financial means to build a compliant septic system — claiming the new system could cost upwards of $115,000.

In fall of 2021, a Gunnison County Public Works official encountered Gottorff near Irwin, where, according to an affidavit, Gottorff said he “had a noose” for staff in the Community and Economic Development and Health and Human Services departments, which resulted in one of those staff members obtaining a permanent protection order. When county officials went up to his property to inspect the wastewater system, as per a court order, they were accompanied by two officers from the Mount Crested Butte Police Department.

The judge also found Gottorff to be liable for the county’s fees and costs, which has racked up to nearly $100,000 pursuing the matter. San Filippo-Rosser said the amount is the result of the extensive litigation that has occurred, including Gottorff’s counterclaims brought against the county. Gottorff is currently in jail, but the system on his land on Irwin will remain unchanged until he submits an OWTS permit application.

If Gottorff fails to abide by the court’s order and bring his system into compliance, county attorneys could pursue additional remedies, including a contempt citation. The county attorney’s office is figuring out how to address the courtordered remedies now that Gottorff is incarcerated, San Filippo-Rosser said.