Don’t give up on midvalley rec center

It’s really easy to find the polling place for the May 6 (or before then) board of directors Crown Mountain Parks and Recreation District. When you enter Crown Mountain Park, just stay right and you will end up at the parks office where you drop off or cast your vote.

Many thanks to the existing board members Bill Reynolds, Rich Pavek and Ted Bristol, who are running for re-election for having a polling place election instead of a mail-in ballot as you saved taxpayers at least $ 5,000 in costs of mailing ballots.

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The savings of $ 5,000 can now be used for park and recreation things instead of a mail-in election.

One thing I learned really fast last fall when I polled eligible voters within the enormous boundary lines which make up the Crown Mountain Park and Recreation District — the majority of voters wanted a recreation center but not paid for by an increase in their property taxes.

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I totally agreed. While I philosophically support the concept of recreation centers, I voted against the property-tax increase to fund construction and operation of a rec center because most people (including myself) could not afford it or did not want to afford it.

The question I heard the most: Why can’t we fund a rec center the same way Glenwood, Carbondale, Basalt, Snowmass, Aspen, Edwards, Battlement Mesa and many more communities fund their own communities’ rec centers?

Since Crown Mountain Park and Recreation District does not have any sales tax revenue to call its own, the only option the Crown Mountain Board had (to put the voter mandated question before voters) was to ask for a property tax increase.

Does that mean that the idea of a rec center should just evaporate and go away? Or does it mean that a different method of funding should be used? Perhaps a different location should be looked at again. Most voters I polled supported the concept of a small, smart, and, municipal-charged entry-fee structure, as opposed to a recreation center charged entry fee.

Lots of people had lots of ideas as to the future for their park and rec activities within the district (not just Crown Mountain Park). Now that voters have said “no” to an increase in their property taxes to pay for a rec center, what happens next?

Toni Kronberg

Old Snowmass