EDITOR’S NOTE: Our original posting of Part One of this editorial series disappeared from our database for some reason. I’ve done my best to remember what I wrote on June 29, and re-post it here.
We’ve all heard the expression. “Talk is cheap”.
The results that can arise from talking, might not be quite so cheap.
Yesterday, on June 28, twelve people sat around a conference table, with the intention of talking about a number of local issues related to government. The meeting at the Ross Aragon Community Center — a joint meeting of the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners and the Pagosa Springs Town Council — included commissioners Alvin Schaaf, Ronnie Maez and Warren Brown, as well as Council members Shari Pierce, Maddie Bergon, Mat deGraaf, Matt DeGuise, Brooks Lindner, Jeff Posey and Gary Williams.
Also at the table were Town Manager Andrea Phillips and County Manager Derek Woodman.
The public audience was rather sparse. Two reporters for the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN, Town Clerk April Hessman, Chamber Director Mary Jo Coulehan, and myself.
The agenda items were:
I. ALTERNATIVE REVENUE SOURCES AND POSSIBLE SALES TAX INCREASE
II. LANDFILL/RECYCLING/TRANSFER STATION
III. UPDATE ON COUNTY COURTHOUSE PROPERTY
IV. WORKFORCE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING UPDATES
In general, the Town government and the County government address the needs of their own particular constituents, and rarely act in a collaborative fashion. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however. The two governments jointly fund the community-wide Dispatch Center, for example — along with the Fire Protection District and the Upper San Juan Health Service District — although it’s managed by County employees under the direction of County Manager Woodman.
But as we see from the agenda, the two governments wanted to talk about a possible sales tax increase, to fund… something?
County Manager Woodman introduced the topic.
“So, there’s been some discussion amongst the County staff and commissioners, and interacting a little bit with Andrea at the Town, about the possibility of looking at a sales tax initiative that would move forward on this November’s ballot.
“Based on the way the sales tax split takes place, [shared 50/50 between the County and Town governments], we have the possibility that a one-cent sales tax would generate approximately a little over $4 million.
“And then moving forward with that, the Town and the County would certainly have topics — should there be the desire to move forward on it — would be clearly identified and moved forward.
“You know, one of the topics at the County is, you know, on employee sustainability, and ensuring that we have good quality staff and that they are compensated appropriately.”
(We might mention that, among the staff that ought to be compensated appropriately, we find Mr. Woodman’s wife, Tina Woodman, who runs the County’s Human Resources department.)
As we can see from the agenda items listed above, the sales tax issue was only one of four topics to be talked about. More about the sales tax issue, later.
Another item was the County-run Transfer Station on Trujillo Road. This facility accepts household trash and recycled trash, to save folks the nine-mile trip to the County landfill, further down Trujillo Road. The property on which the Transfer Station sits is an old municipal landfill, which means the property belongs to the Town of Pagosa Springs and is being leased to the County for one dollar a year.
Mr. Woodman and the commissioners wanted to know if the Town would donate the land to the County.
To judge by the views only — minus the bales of trash — this piece of property might be considered extremely valuable. But because it’s a former landfill, its uses are limited by state and federal law.
Mr. Woodman explained that the County would like to erect a building on the site, to keep the bales of recycled cardboard and paper out of the weather, and also to house future processing equipment. He indicated that the County is hesitant to erect a building on leased property.
Here’s a map of the parcel, with the Transfer Station near the middle.
Town Manager Andrea Phillips noted that the parcel measures approximately 23 acres. It appears from the map that only the northern half was ever used as a landfill. The southern half, however, suffers from topographical challenges.
Apparently, neither Mr. Woodman nor the commissioners realized how large the parcel was.
Mayor Shari Pierce asked the question that needed to be asked. Would the County considering donating some County land to the Town, in exchange?
Mr. Woodman suggested that would be unlikely.
The conversation will presumably be continued at a future date.
A brief discussion about the historical County Courthouse indicated that the potential purchaser, Ronnie Urbanczyk, intends multiple uses for the building, possibly to include lodging and retail.
The talk about housing will be shared on a later installment.
But the discussion I found most interesting at the June 28 meeting concerned sales tax. Specifically, increased sales tax.
To be used for… what?
Employee salaries? Roads? Housing? Recreation? No one at the table seemed to have strong feelings about what our local governments should do, with an additional $4 million.
But everyone agreed: they could find a way to spend it.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.