Gunnison Country Times, November 23, 2023

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PHOTOS: Gunnison says farewell to Firebrand, A10

VOL. 142. NO. 47 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2023 | $1.00

County signals support for water plant City races clock on state compliance Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer Bella Biondini Times Editor

Gunnison County Commissioners shared their support for the City of Gunnison’s pending water treatment FIRST TURNS: Skiers and riders gathered at Crested Butte Mountain Resort for the annual opening day banner break and festivities on Wednesday, Nov. 22. For more, see B7. (Photo by Jacob Spetzler)

INSIDE

TODAY

NEWS: City’s community grant budget shrinks, A12

COMMUNITY: Filmmaker joins Western faculty, B1

County submits lengthy objection to proposed GMUG forest plan filed objections last month to Comments the U.S. Forest Service proposed management plan for the center on failure final Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and to include GPLI, Gunnison (GMUG) national forests. The GMUG, the largest sysand emphasis tem of national forests in the on logging Rocky Mountain region, will Bella Biondini Times Editor

Gunnison County, alongside numerous conservation groups, SPORTS: Western football eliminated in playoffs, B4

OBITUARIES A3 OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A14-A17 SPORTS B4 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM

Water plant A6

soon be managed under a new forest plan after going without a major revision for 40 years. The plan is complex and includes more than 400 pages of maps GMUG A8

The Raggeds Wilderness, a portion of which falls within the Gunnison National Forest, will be one of the areas managed under the new plan. (Photo by Bella Biondini)

MetRec takes hard look at the future of valley’s TV service Monarch tower replacement could cost $100,000 Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer

The large metal TV signal towers perched on hilltops around the Gunnison Valley are showing signs of significant aging. Service goes down regularly, forcing Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation (MetRec) District’s TV engineer Bill Frost to drive or walk up steep slopes to address the problem. But these towers, decades old and difficult to access, provide over-the-air TV

service to hundreds of locals. In the late 70s, MetRec was created to find a way to finance television infrastructure in the Gunnison Valley. Today, the valley was without internet and television and residents in places like Sapinero and Ohio City didn’t have a real connection to the outside world. MetRec became the valley’s only local over-the-air TV provider, bringing world news to local homes.

Forty years later, MetRec has expanded its mission to fund recreation interests. But while the board pursues the valley’s first-ever regional recreation plan and fine tunes its now generously-funded grant program, its TV infrastructure is aging out. For the last several months, board members have grappled with how much the district is TV service A6


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