S T E A M B O AT
TODAY
THURSDAY JUNE 19, 2014
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
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Vol. 26, No. 146
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INSIDE: Howelsen Hill brings trail running back with race Saturday • page 21
You could be in the ‘Dog House’
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JOHN F. RUSSELL/STAFF
City of Steamboat Springs Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services maintenance worker John Green drags Klumker Field on Wednesday afternoon. The parks and recreation commission will hold a work session next week to learn about parks and recreation taxing districts.
Crash course on funding
Parks and recreation taxing district to be discussed at work session next week Scott Franz
STEAMBOAT TODAY
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Steamboat Springs’ Parks and Recreation Commission next week will get a crash course on how other communities in Colorado have created taxing districts to fund their recreational amenities. The city has invited Steve Russell, executive director of the Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District, to talk to the commission Wednesday night at a public work session about his district and how it works.
■ WEATHER
■ INDEX Briefs . . . . . . . . .10 Classifieds . . . . .28 Comics . . . . . . . .25 Deaths . . . . . . . .10 Directory. . . . . . .26 Happenings . . . . .6
Formed in 1980 to build a community swimming pool, Russell’s district now oversees more than $20 million of facilities and is funded annually by a property tax. Russell’s trip to Steamboat comes as city officials and parks and recreation commissioners in Steamboat have been having some informal conversations about the prospect of creating some form of a parks and recreation district here. Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services Director John Overstreet said the topic came up most recently at a focus group meeting about the future of Howelsen Hill.
Lotto. . . . . . . . . .26 The Record. . . . . .5 Scoreboard. . . . .26 Sports. . . . . . . . .21 ViewPoints . . . . . .8 Weather . . . . . . .24
Sunny. High of 68.
Page 24
“They were asking the question of how they are structured,” Overstreet said. “It really depends on if it’s a city-only district. It could be a regional district. It could be a county-wide district. There are a lot of nuances involved.” Some community members also raised the issue at a separate public meeting on Howelsen, saying they would be willing to pay a tax to support the park. Next week’s work session on the taxing district was requested last week by parks and recreation commissioner Doug Tumminello.
teamboat Springs’ biggest and most historically significant “dog house” is for sale for $7,500. Dog not included. Bob Schneider confirmed this week that he has placed an advertisement for the sale of the 10-foot by 24-foot Tom Ross log writSTEAMBOAT TODAY ing cabin of noted Western history author John Rolfe Burroughs, who referred to his rustic retreat as the Dog House. “If we don’t get any local response, I’ll try eBay,” Schneider said. “If that fails, I might turn it into a horse shed. We asked a contractor what it might cost to turn it into a private study or maybe a caretaker’s cabin, and he said, ‘Oh, maybe $25,000.’” It was Schneider and his wife, Jean, who rode in on a white horse in summer 2010 to save the Dog House when the current owner of Burroughs’ former home, which overlooks Old Town from the west end of Maple Street, ran out of room for it. The property owner was about to break ground on a new addition to Burrough’s cozy old house. Unable to find a way to move the writ-
See Tax, page 3
■ RIVER REPORT
Yampa River flow Wednesday Noon 1,770 cfs 10 p.m. 1,950 cfs Average for this date 1,680 cfs Highest for this date 5,060 cfs, 1917 Lowest for this date 93 cfs, 2012 Streamflow reported in cubic feet per second at the Fifth Street Bridge as provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.
See Ross, page 3
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