Craig Daily Press

Steamboat Springs — The importance of the Routt County Livability Index wasn’t disputed by the Routt County Board of Commissioners or the Steamboat Springs City Council during a joint meeting Monday, but the cost of the information was.

The livability index is an analysis of four categories: civic, economic, environmental and social livability in Routt County. Four groups analyzed existing data and compared Routt with nine other Colorado counties to measure the quality of life here.

Noreen Moore, business resource director at the Routt County Economic Development Cooperative, said the livability index will need to be conducted every year to provide timely and useful data. She predicted the study will cost $15,000 next year alone.

In order to pay for it, Moore requested that the city and county each contribute $5,000, and the remaining $5,000 will be solicited from business partners.

While the commissioners approved the expenditure, City Council members were hesitant to commit to funding it.

“I think I’d be a lot more swayed if I saw commitments from the community and businesses that were going to fund this, as well,” City Council President Pro-Tem Cari Hermacinski said. She added that she was uncomfortable committing the $5,000 before the council defined the city’s budget for next year.

“I don’t believe you have to do something every year,” City Council President Loui Antonucci said about the frequency of the survey. He and Hermacinski expressed concern that the cost of the survey would increase each year, and they were hesitant to commit to an amount that is not completely defined.

Councilman Steve Ivancie said he thinks the information provided by the survey is extremely valuable and is worth the investment. He thanked project manager Roger Good for volunteering his time and expertise, which kept the price for the 2008 livability index at around $10,000.

Moore indicated in a memo sent July 1 to City Council and the commissioners that the cost of a one-time survey to obtain the same information provided by the livability index would be upwards of $500,000.

Neither the City Council nor the commissioners made a final decision about funding future livability indexes.

In other action

■ Craig Robinson, open space and trails supervisor for the city of Steamboat Springs, discussed a bike trail expansion to western Steamboat Springs. Both the City Council and the commissioners agreed that the expansion should be a high priority and that both parties need to be involved. The Open Space and Trails Plan still is pending approval from the city and the county and will be reviewed in the joint meeting scheduled for September.

■ Financial partnerships between the city and county were briefly discussed, and it was determined that each finance department would compile a list of jointly funded projects for further discussion during the joint meeting in September.