During Tuesday’s special Taos County Commission meeting (Feb. 8,), a “public/private partnership proposal” to spend $155m, $110m in American Rescue Plan Act funds on a major transport infrastructure project was met by overwhelming public opposition.
Many of the people who attended the online meeting provided input and said that it would not be prudent for the county to send a letter of support because many residents had heard about the project less than 24hrs before the meeting began.
Sylvia Rodriguez from Valdez said, “None has had time to look at the plan.” Her comments were echoed by many others during public input section. Many of these people stated that they had only heard of the plan an hour or so before the meeting began.
Rodriguezadded that Rodriguez wanted to clarify the matter by referring to a list with partners. Rodriguezadded that all the Rio Hondo commissioners have not met to discuss the plan. [and]We didn’t know about it until 24 hours ago. This is a very typical approach from the ski valley. This is a tactic.
Many others claimed that the proposal’s partners list, which listed many entities as being “enthusiastic, unanimous” supporters of this project, was misleading.
Carlos Miera from the Des Montes Community Ditch Association stated that David Norden, Taos Ski Valley Chief executive officer, had reached out to him in December and Dean Archuleta, a fellow ditch association commissioner, about the project. Miera said Norden had described his project, but that the whole association board never got to meet with him.
Miera stated that Rio Hondo ditch members thought it would be a good idea to have another meeting in January with all the commissioners. “Unfortunately Dean, Dean, and I were both busy so we couldn’t reschedule that meeting.”
Taos Ski Valley, Inc. proposes substantial public funding to build a clean-energy public transportation system linking Taos, Taos Regional Airport, and Taos Ski Valley. A $10 million gondola will also be built. The proposal also calls to improve road and trail conditions, campground upgrades, watershed management and improvements to the water and wastewater infrastructure in the transportation corridor as well as in the ski valley.
Miera stated that the proposed wastewater management and wastewater improvements would address long-standing problems in the watershed due to malfunctioning septic systems.
“To clean up Rio Hondo, it was important that this section be linked into the [Village of Taos Ski Valley]Miera stated that sewage treatment plants are needed to eliminate all septic systems. “There were some merits in the program that we felt were important to consider. I don’t think it is necessary to abandon the entire project. It needs to be more clearly defined and discussed.
One commenter expressed concern that Taos Pueblo might not have been consulted regarding the project. There didn’t seem to be a Pueblo representative present at the meeting. However, Taos Pueblo is listed in the proposal as having provided “preliminary verbal approval of endorsement” to the project concept.
A message requesting comment from the tribe was not returned to press time.
After the meeting was adjourned, a copy of the project proposal (including a cost schedule, timeline, and cost estimate) was made available online in the packet. However, it was no longer accessible online. The Taos News was provided Tuesday afternoon by Brent Jaramillo, County Manager. However, he did not respond to questions about the online document that was no more available.
The Commissioners were to examine a formal support letter for the project, but they rescheduled the agenda item after Norden withdrew their request for the support letter. They also decided to cancel the presentation of his proposal.
Hank Saxe made the following statement in public comment: “When you make such large government investments into the local economy you have to think hard, you have to have open dialog with all the parties and players in the political spheres in an effort to determine how all the sections of the population and the environment will fare in the end due to this funding.” “This plan, which required a total investment of $155 million, is a massive public works project that dwarfs anything this county has seen or imagined. It does all in one go.”
Some commentators said it was inappropriate to spend public funds on a project that would mainly benefit a private corporation. Others said more research was needed on the potential negative impacts of this project on county residents.
Pascual Maestas stated that for every $50,000 in lodger’s tax collection, the median home value increases by approximately $13,000 which would further exacerbate our housing crisis. Maestas is currently a member of the Taos Town Council. He is running to be Taos mayor for the March 1 municipal elections.
Norden thanked meeting participants for their feedback and added, “We don’t see the need to present at this moment.”
Norden was invited by the Commissioners to reschedule for a future meeting.
In an earlier version of this article, it incorrectly stated that David Norden had received support letters from state officials. We regret this error.
