With first snows, Taos Ski Valley gears up for winter
Village says ‘yes’ to public safety tax
Following several frigid days that left a dusting of snow on Wheeler Peak and the mountains north of Taos, the Village of Taos Ski Valley’s regular meeting opened with appropriately excited banter Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 25).
“They started making snow last night; lots of noise,” Mayor Pro-tem Tom Wittman said, to which councilor Henry Caldwell added: “I heard it was, like, 15 degrees last night.”
In the public comments section of the meeting, John Kelly, vice president of operations for Taos Ski Valley, Inc., confirmed that “We are now at 24/7 operation gearing up for the ski season, so snow makers will be here all hours of the night, seven days a week and then, in a couple of weeks, we’ll start having snow cats out pushing the terrain and pushing the snow and things like that. So you’ll see more staff showing up, you’ll see more activity, you’ll see more orientations going on. So we’re really excited, obviously, to work with everybody here to get ready for another ski season.”
As the resort gears up for ski season, which officially opens in Taos Ski Valley on Nov. 24, the village that exists in the shadow of the ski area is moving forward on several major projects that will ultimately reduce its water supply inefficiencies, improve roads and see its troubled wastewater treatment plant become fully functional.
Councilors voted unanimously to approve two project agreements with the New Mexico Environment Department that are funded wholly or partially through capital outlay.
One will install fire hydrants within the village, while the second project is to “plan, design, construct and equip the Kachina water distribution lines in the village.” Village Administrator John Avila confirmed that an auxiliary sewage treatment plant has been removed and that the necessary “corrections” to ensure the permanent wastewater treatment plant are underway.
“Currently, Integrated Water Systems is at risk for the improvements and has the village to help with costs for completing the other half of the correction,” Avila said in his report.
After some discussion about the village possibly generating outsized gross receipts tax compared to other municipalities in Taos County, councilors reluctantly approved a letter of support for a proposed countywide, 0.25 percent gross receipts tax increase for fire and EMS departments. The tax question will be on the Nov. 8 ballot in Taos County.
“I think we should be aware that this is the county raising tax,” Councilor Chris Stagg said, acknowledging that, “in many cases, particularly EMS, the county does take a larger portion because they run the EMS service for the whole county. It’s gonna give the county more money, and probably it’s gonna leave the Ski Valley short, but I’m okay supporting a letter on it.”
Councilors also agreed to send a letter of support to the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion in support of TaosNet’s application for grant funding to expand its service.
“This will allow them to up their broadband speed all across the county,” Stagg noted.
he agenda was the appointment of a new member to the Village of Taos Ski Valley Tax Increment Development District (TIDD) board of directors. Councilors voted to elect Councilor Henry Caldwell to serve in the position previously held by the late Neal King, who died in August.
“I’m happy to have Henry volunteer for this,” Wittman said. “He knows a lot more about the TIDD than a lot of the people in our community, so I think [he] will be a valuable member of our TIDD board.”
In his report as mayor pro-tem, Councilor Wittman remarked that King’s wish had been fulfilled that a celebration be thrown after his death.
“I’d like to really thank TSV, Inc. for the effort they went to and all the people that participated from TSV, Inc, to make this a very memorable all-afternoon event for all Neal’s friends and all the other people that attended,” Wittman said, noting that King’s widow and former chair of the village’s public safety committee, Kathy Bennett, “was there with both her sons. It was quite nice.”
“It was what Neal wanted — he wanted a party, he got a party,” Wittman said. Bennett, who tuned into the remotelyheld meeting, thanked the mayor pro-tem for his words.