This March, MetRec has been primarily focused on preparing for the publication of our 2023 Recreation Grants Program and Application on our website on April 3rd, 2023.
On March 13, MetRec’s Advisory Committee met to provide feedback about the 2023 Draft Recreation Grant Program and applications. The advisory committee also discussed the upcoming 2023 Strategic Recreation Needs Assessment Survey and alignment around the need for regional recreation strategic planning. MetRecs’ first recreation survey was conducted in 2019, before the pandemic, which seems like a lifetime ago. Since our recreation budget has increased from about $300K in 2022 to about $1.2M in 2023, MetRec seeks to take another recreation pulse from the community. The survey results will guide MetRec’s funding decisions and help with strategic planning.
As we have been talking with stakeholders and voters, we’ve realized there is no regional recreation master plan. MetRec desires a regional plan to guide our recreation funding decisions and so we can develop a strategic plan. So far, a consensus is growing around the idea that MetRec’s Advisory Committee could serve as an effective conduit for helping with strategic recreation planning in 2024.
MetRec held a Recreation Public Work Session on March 15th before its regular board meeting. Here is a link to the presentation if you want to check it out.
During the meeting, the board discussed the draft recreation plan and provided feedback. Since the meeting, we’ve updated the project with their feedback. Here is a link to the most recent 2023 Draft Recreation Grant Program and Applications. If you have viewed previous drafts, you’ll notice that we added a brief description of the purpose of the 2023 funding, a short section about the grant award decision-making process, and some minor edits throughout to clarify things. We are still vetting the plan. So if you have feedback, please get in touch with Derrick, the district manager (derrick@gcmetrec.com, 719.221.9125).
2023 metrec board election candidates
The six candidates for the May 2, 2023 ballot election are:
- Mary Haskell – Crested Butte South
- Ethan Mueller – Crested Butte
- Keith Bauer – Crested Butte
- Cassia Cadenhead – Mt. Crested Butte
- Liz Jordan – Crested Butte South
- Brendan McClarney – Crested Butte South
website updates
Finally, we’ve started updating the website. So far, we have updated the theme and website navigation. We will update the recreation information next to reflect changes coming down the pipe. Keep checking out our posts for the latest news.