By Anya Kaats
Crestone conducted a special meeting on short notice to approve a new “Welcome to Crestone” sign that would feature Crestone’s designation as an International Dark Sky community.
Crestone Board of Trustees, on Thursday Oct. 19, posted the notice of a special meeting for the following Monday, Oct. 23. The meeting included a discussion concerning a proposed Welcome to Crestone sign that would feature Crestone’s designation as an International Dark Sky community.
According to Mayor Kairina Danforth, the proposed sign would sit in front of the existing Welcome to Crestone sign and would be seven feet high and eight feet wide. The total cost of the sign was estimated at $13,000 and would be paid for in grants and donations already received. A 10-foot culvert was also proposed to be placed underneath the sign, at the expense of taxpayers, for an undisclosed price.
Danforth explained that in addition to applying for two grants from the Department of Local Affairs and SLV Council of Governments, she’d also requested and received donations from Joyful Journey and Saguache County Tourism, under the assumption that this sign had already been approved by the Board. Trustee Kimberly Martinez disagreed, claiming that while a Welcome to Crestone sign had been briefly mentioned at a previous meeting, no final details had been discussed, nor approved.
Danforth explained that in order for Crestone to recertify with the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), the town would be required to install and display an official sign designating it as an International Dark Sky Community. Trustee Adam Kinney asked if a smaller sign hung from the existing Welcome to Crestone sign would meet the Dark Sky obligation. Danforth confirmed that it would. “Yes, it would meet the requirement, but other Dark Sky communities spend a lot of money on their sign, and it’s a source of pride for the community,” she explained.
All four trustees in attendance—in addition to three community members—expressed discontent with the proposed sign, citing concerns about cost, design, function, and inappropriate handling of the project overall. “I’m not comfortable with how we’re going about this, and we need more time for public input,” said trustee Kinney. Martinez questioned why $3,500 worth of rocks needed to be imported from Telluride for the sign when free rocks could be found in Crestone.
There was unanimous consensus among the attending trustees that regaining public confidence was of paramount importance, and that moving ahead with this project without following the proper procedure of obtaining three bids and discussing the project in a regular scheduled meeting was a bad idea.
When Danforth expressed her concern that refunding the grant and donation money would “reflect poorly” on the town of Crestone, trustees Laki and Byer suggested that the money could be used for alternative signage. Laki suggested several ideas for interpretive signs that could be focused on educating people about Dark Skies, and Byer insisted that stop signs and speed bumps should be prioritized. “If the town sees us working on this new sign, it will show that we are neglecting a lot of our other obligations, including making sure this town remains a safe place to walk in,” said Byer. When asked directly whether or not the grant money could be used for alternative signage, Danforth expressed emphatic opposition. “This was money that was given to us in good faith. If we don’t do this, we should simply turn the money back.” Despite Danforth’s pressure, the Board requested that Interim Administrator Scott Ehresman look into whether or not the grant money could be used for alternate signage.
In addition to expressing their concerns about the sign, each community member and trustee who spoke at the meeting also made sure to commend Danforth for the work she’s put into leading the initiative to accredit Crestone as an official IDA International Dark Sky Community, clarifying that their opposition to the sign was unrelated to their ongoing support of Dark Skies as a whole.
When the discussion came to a close, the Trustees reiterated their support of Dark Skies and expressed their disapproval of the online bullying they’d seen on social media directed at Danforth.
As the Mayor left the meeting to attend to another obligation, Laki and Martinez again expressed their appreciation and support of Mayor Danforth and were interrupted by Danforth who declared, “I’m going home to think about turning in my resignation.”
The Crestone Eagle contacted Danforth following the special meeting for additional comment. While appreciative of the opportunity to say more, Danforth confirmed that she had nothing else to add regarding the proposed sign or about her declaration of resignation.
Photo: A rendering of what the Dark Sky sign would have looked like. photo from Town of Crestone meeting information packet