We noted yesterday in Part One that departing Pagosa Springs Town Manager, Andrea Phillips, gave a fairly thorough, 20-minute summary of recent and ongoing challenges faced by the Town government, at the Town Council’s annual retreat on July 13 and 14.
Prior to the presentation of Ms. Phillips’ summary, however, the retreat facilitator, Yvonne Wilcox, had invited the assembled Council members to share their most important concerns, as we move into the budget approval season for 2024 government budgets.
Below are some individual concerns, as expressed by our elected (or appointed) Town Council members, looking 25 years into the future. These were ‘seat of the pants’ opinions, it seemed to me, without allowing a chance for deep thought, or group discussion.
Ms. Wilcox suggested the Council members give ‘three core achievements’ that they could imagine future residents of Pagosa Springs feeling thankful for.
Brooks Lindner: “Parks, trails, and outdoor amenities… keeping Pagosa ‘real’ or funky… and keeping the rural nature of our community.”
Mat deGraaf: “The preservation of open spaces within the town, because as we grow, those things — once they’re gone, they’re gone — and 25 years from now, I’d like to think that there are still places that people can enjoy… My second one is ‘geothermal’. I feel that, while I haven’t been a big proponent of it, I think it’s a really cool thing that I would like to see, someday, blossom into a heat source for the community… and the third, I would like to think that, in 25 years, that we have a diverse community that takes care of its members.”
Gary Williams: “My first is home ownership, for public servants. My second is planting trees and landscaping along roads and trails. And the3 third is creating a recreation center including a pool and ice rink.”
Maddie Bergon: “My number one is creating a non-failing sewer system. Number two is seeing Town and County working together, since we are ‘one community’… with joint visions that we can try and accomplish together. And my third is, maintaining and expanding our downtown core so that it’s more cohesive.”
Matt DeGuise: “My first is fixing the sanitation district issues. The second is keeping Pagosa livable and walkable. And my third is creating a recreation center and recreation district.”
Leonard Martinez: “My first fits under the category of historic preservation; pioneers of the town and county are fully integrated into the long-term future of the region. My second is about ending generational poverty; citizens’ needs are seen as important to the region — as important as visitors, retirees and short-term citizens. And the third is to achieve the balance of affordable, high-quality education, cost of living and quality of life. So, it kind of ties into geothermal. If we can integrate [geothermal] into the cost of having people here, it will help with high-quality education, help us with public servants, help us with other thing in reducing the cost of living here, then they could be part of the quality of life.”
Shari Pierce, our mayor: “Taking care of our citizens, and they know that we have. Being fiscally responsible for the future financial health of the town. And developing strong relationships with other entities, to move our community, as a whole, forward.”
Of course, a Council member’s vision for 25 years into the future may have little relationship to the community’s immediate needs. On the other hand, it may have a very important relationship, if that vision of the ‘distant future’ influences the budget decisions in 2023.
There are, for me, some fascinating ideas in the above vision statements… and in particular, there are some obviously conflicting ideas.
We heard expressed, for example, a desire for additional parks and the preservation of open spaces. Places that “people can enjoy”. A community with a “rural” character. Historic preservation.
On the other hand, we can hear a desire for an expanded, walkable, affordable downtown, where citizens’ needs are met.
A “walkable” community might be a community that’s more dense, more ‘urban’, than what we’ve historically promoted in Pagosa Springs… especially in terms of our widely separated downtown and uptown districts, four miles apart.
An “affordable” community might mean more compact housing styles — multi-story apartments, for example — making more efficient use of existing private land and infrastructure. Housing that is more affordable, and that meets the needs of local residents, might actually mean “less” open space and “fewer” parks, and it might mean replacing existing (historical) housing with housing our current economy can support.
It’s very possible that ‘moving forward’ means “focusing on better maintenance of what we already have” and avoiding the temptation to add more and more tax-supported, municipal infrastructure and parks.
But is ‘moving forward’ even the right term to use? ‘Keeping things from falling apart’ might be more appropriate.
Mayor Shari Pierce:
“One thing I’ve talked to Andrea about, regarding the budget, was if — when they are preparing the budget — can they say, ‘These are all the things we have to do, this is our insurance, our maintenance, all those things that we’re required to do. And this is how much that’s going to cost.’ And then once we decide what [revenue amount] we’re going to base of budget on — because we know sales tax has been declining this year — then this is that little ‘gravy’ part that we have, that we can apply to different things.
“So we have a better understanding of the base cost of running our town…”
For example, the base cost of a problematic sewer pumping system.