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County, towns and nonprofits coordinate on "The Shed" youth hangout; MOU and capital numbers still being finalized
Summary
County commissioners, town staff and program partners discussed a planned youth drop-in space called "The Shed" that Telluride is managing and CTC (Communities That Care) will operate; capital costs and a three-way cost split are still under review and commissioners signaled concerns about equitable county-wide benefit.
County commissioners on Feb. 5 reviewed a draft intergovernmental memorandum of understanding and program plan for a youth drop-in space in Telluride known informally as "The Shed." The project is a collaboration between the Town of Telluride, Mountain Village, San Miguel County and a local nonprofit operator, Communities That Care (CTC).
Project status and schedule: Town staff reported the building permit for the tenant improvements was issued Jan. 6 and white-box construction resumed Jan. 13; tenant-finish bids were due the day after the meeting and final tenant improvements were expected in March with turnover to CTC for programming anticipated in April. Ryan McGovern and Zoe Donnell (Telluride) said final contractor selection was imminent.
Funding and roles: Town staff said Telluride has taken the lead on capital and design expenses so far; CTC will lead operations. The draft MOU under review references a possible $70,000 capital contribution line (listed as Item 3a in the draft), but staff told commissioners the numbers have not been finalized and bids are pending. The towns of Telluride and Mountain Village and the county had previously discussed splitting capital items three ways for 2024–25, with possible proportional adjustments in subsequent years based on usage data; staff said no multiyear funding agreement has yet been executed.
Commissioners' concerns: Commissioners expressed concern about equity of a straight one-third county contribution given the county’s responsibility to the entire county population and the heavier taxpayer bases of the towns. Commissioner Waring said he was "starting to be more firm in my conviction that this isn't necessarily going to benefit the entire county as much as it is the kids mostly in the East End," and he asked staff to consider proportional contribution options. Commissioner Gleason echoed the need to consider countywide benefit and requested data about where participating youth live if programming is combined with West End partners such as True North.
Support and partnerships: Tri County Health's Melanie Wasserman told the board Tri County and CTC are pursuing grant funding that could offset county contributions and described outreach to other youth-serving organizations, including True North, that could provide periodic programming at The Shed.
Next steps: Staff said they will hold an internal intergovernmental review of the draft IGA and hoped to return to the respective governing bodies with an aligned draft in February or early March. Commissioners asked for clearer capital line items and for data-driven usage projections before finalizing county contributions.
Ending: No formal county funding decision was made at the meeting; staff will return with revised financial numbers and a coordinated IGA after internal intergovernmental review.
