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Telluride Ski Resort access closed until Nov. 27, 2019

Snowmaking

Words by Kathrine Warren / Recreation

Telluride Ski Resort is currently closed to all users.  The Mountain Operations Team is in high gear making snow, building ski runs, and preparing for another winter season.  Opening Day is fast approaching and the Mountain is bustling with snowmobiles, snowcatse and a lot of gear stretched out.

This annual closure is done under the ski resort’s special use permit with the United State’s Forest Service which allows the ski resort to close access on occasion to help ensure the safety of the public and resort employees.  Currently, snow is being made and pushed all over the area from down in the Town of Telluride at the bottom of Oak Street, all the way up to the top of Lift 9, and back down again into the Mountain Village Center.

Access to the Telluride Ski Resort is expected to open on Nov. 27 on Donation Day where each guest is asked to donate $25 to benefit the local Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club.  Official Opening Day is planned for November 28th.  Uphill access will open in the Lift 10 area upon the opening of the Sunshine Express terrain.

Please help us ensure a safe and efficient start-up to the 2019-2020 season and recreate elsewhere until the Lifts are ready to roll.

Telluride Ski Patrol to hold Howitzer training Friday, Nov. 8

Howitzer training

Words by Kathrine Warren / Communications, Recreation

Telluride Ski Patrol and the US Forest Service will begin mandatory annual howitzer training this Friday, Nov. 8.

Telluride Ski Resort will be CLOSED to ALL travel during Friday’s training, so please do not plan any recreation around the resort on Friday, including hiking, biking, skiing or hunting.

Beginning at approximately 9 a.m. and continuing through the day, expect to hear live firings of the avalanche mitigation cannon from the ski resort. Telluride Ski Patrol operates two howitzers to assist the Snow Safety Team in the mitigation of avalanche danger. Training is expected to end by 5 p.m.

It is critically important to note that howitzer shrapnel can be deadly as far as 1,500 feet away from the point of impact. Warning signs will be placed around the resort at key locations to serve as reminders.

Town of Mountain Village to launch orthophosphate pilot program

Water Quality Mountain Village

Words by Kathrine Warren / Public Works

In an effort to reduce copper levels at the Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Town of Mountain Village Public Works Department will begin to add minimal amounts of orthophosphate to the Mountain Village water starting in mid-November.

The towns of Mountain Village and Telluride are both working with the State of Colorado to reduce copper levels being discharged from the plant into the San Miguel River. The addition of orthophosphates (which is comprised of phosphorous) will form a natural protective barrier on copper pipes and fixtures and limit copper from leaching into our water and sewer systems.

Orthophosphates have been added to 89 different water systems throughout Colorado to lower copper levels and has been deemed safe by the Food and Drug Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency has also fully approved this method for reducing copper in the water.

This pilot program will add 1.5 milligrams of orthophosphate per liter to the water which is .5 milligrams per liter of phosphorous.

A conservative estimate shows that the phosphorus added to drinking water will be less than 1 percent of the average daily phosphorus consumption for most residents. Phosphorous is found in such common foods as milk, soda, quinoa and sunflower seeds, and the estimated average daily intake of phosphorus in the United States is 1,400 milligrams.

Mountain Village will test the effectiveness of this program for one year, and if testing results are not satisfactory, the program will be discontinued.

Mountain Village water customers were notified in their November billing statement.

For questions, please call (970)728-5946 or visit townofmountainvillage.com/utilities. 

2019 County and State Election

Words by Kathrine Warren / Election

Tuesday, Nov. 5 is election day for a small number of county and statewide initiatives.

While Telluride Town Council has an election for two council seats and the mayoral seat, Mountain Village does not have any municipal initiatives this November, however, Mountain Village voters should still expect to receive a ballot from the San Miguel County Clerk’s Office.

Ballots were sent to all active, registered voters on October 18 and Mountain Village voters are being asked to consider three open Telluride R-1 School Board Seats, Ballot Issue 6A (for the San Miguel County Public Library District) and state ballot measures CC and DD.

The school district board has five candidates running for three open seats: Len Metheny, Jenni Ward, Adam S. Chambers, Cheryl Cartsens Miller and Dylan Brooks. To learn more about the candidates, visit the Telluride Daily Planet’s article featuring all the candidates.

The Wilkinson Public Library is asking voters to consider a .75 mill levy increase. To learn more about Ballot Issue 6A, read this article from the Planet.

In odd numbered calendar years, state-level measures are limited to taxes or fiscal matters related to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) and propositions CC and DD are such measures.  Proposition CC would allow the state to reallocate excess tax funds to public schools, higher education and roads and bridges. DD asks voters if Colorado should create a tax on casino winnings to fund the Colorado Water Plan. The Daily Planet also examined both if these propositions, to learn more, visit their website.

Ballots may be turned into a Voter Service and Polling Center (VSPC) by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. For VSPC locations and information on the county’s 24/7 ballot drop boxes, please visit the County Clerk’s Website. 

Heritage Parking Garage door to be replaced

Words by Kathrine Warren / Parking

Due to inclement weather, the work scheduled for Oct. 28-30 to replace the Heritage Parking Garage door has been postponed to next week: Tuesday, Nov. 5 and Wednesday, Nov. 6.

The garage will remain open with in/out traffic allowed during the following times:

Prior to 8:30 a.m.
Between noon and 1 p.m.
After 5 p.m.

Times are subject to change depending upon work progression. Thank you for your patience.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Words by Kathrine Warren / Community

In its recent monthly meeting, the Mountain Village Town Council approved a proclamation in partnership with the San Miguel Resource Center declaring October 2019 Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we urge every member of our community to be part of the solution today and every day. Support and believe survivors. Educate yourself and others. Model non-violent and respectful behavior through your everyday actions. Speak up about abuse. At the San Miguel Resource Center, we envision an equitable community in which every person has the right and the ability to be safe, respected, empowered and free from oppression, violence and the fear of violence, and we hope you join us in our work to make this vision a reality.

Domestic violence is a purposeful and systemic pattern of behavior aimed at gaining power and control over an intimate partner, and it includes physical, sexual, psychological, emotional and economic abuse.

Abusers use  a range of tactics to frighten, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, often injure, and sometimes kill a current or former intimate partner.

More than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 4 men in the U.S. report having experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime and intimate partner violence accounts for 15 percent of all violent crime. Approximately 5 million children are exposed to domestic violence every year.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of employment or educational level, race or ethnicity, religion, marital status, physical ability, age, gender or sexual orientation.

All community members can and should work together to end relationship violence because domestic violence is prevalent in every community, even small ones, and has devastating consequences that can last a lifetime and cross generations.

The San Miguel Resource Center served 143 survivors of domestic violence and 13 child witnesses of domestic violence last year. To learn more about their services, please visit their website.

If you are being abused, please call the Resource Center’s Toll-Free 24-Hour Helpline at (844) 816.3915 or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 799-SAFE (7233). Online chat support is also available from the National Domestic Violence Hotline for those not able to make a phone call.

 

October is Substance Abuse Prevention Month

Words by Kathrine Warren / Community

In its monthly meeting, the Mountain Village Town Council approved a proclamation from Tri-County Health Network declaring October 2019 Substance Abuse Prevention Month.

As the Mountain Village Town Council, we also call upon the citizens, government agencies, public and private institutions, businesses and schools in the Town of Mountain Village to recommit our community to increasing awareness and understanding of substance use disorders, the steps our citizens can take to help their fellow citizens who are experiencing addiction, and the need for appropriate and accessible services for all people who are living with substance use disorders.

The month is intended to highlight the vital role of substance use prevention in both individual and community health, to remember those who have lost their lives to substance use, to acknowledge those in recovery, as well as those supporting them, to encourage all to speak openly about this topic to help end the stigma, and to direct those in need to the appropriate support services.

 

Substance Abuse By the Numbers:

  • In the United States roughly 7.7 million people meet the diagnostic criteria for a substance use disorder
  • People who begin using addictive substances before age 15 are nearly seven times more likely to develop a stusbance problem than those who delay first use until age 21 or older and every year that substance use is delayed during the period of the adolescent brain
    development, the risk of addiction and substance abuse decrease.
  • Over 70,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2017

 

To learn more about Tri-County Health and its substance use prevention work, please visit their website.

 

Mountain Village Police Officer recognized for life saving action

Words by Kathrine Warren / Community

Erika Moir saved a lifeOn Tuesday, July 9, 2019, Mountain Village Police Officer Erika Moir responded to a call for service that saved a life. A man was panicked because his infant son was not breathing.
Upon arrival, Officer Moir recognized that the infant’s airway needed to be cleared and she administered CPR. With her knowledge, skills and abilities, Officer Moir was able to get the infant breathing again and carry him to the arriving ambulance. Officer Moir continued to provide breathing support and monitor the infant until EMS transported to the Telluride Medical Center.
Officer Moir’s quick and calm actions were instrumental in saving this baby’s life.
She was thanked for her life-saving service at yesterday’s Mountain Village Town Council Meeting with Chief Chris Broady and Mayor Laila Benitez.

Grocery and food options while the Mountain Village market is renovated

Village Market Coming Soon

Words by Kathrine Warren / Uncategorized

As of Oct. 1, 2019 the Market at Mountain Village has closed for renovations and the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association announced last month that the Village Market will open in a newly renovated space in May 2020. To learn more about the store transition, please visit our blog.

During this time, the Town of Mountain Village is working to coordinate grocery and dining options in Mountain Village. Visit Telluride has compiled a comprehensive list of shoulder-season business hours. 

The Sunshine Store, located in the Franz Klammer breezeway near the Telluride Conference Center and Telluride Distilling CO., will be open through Oct. 20 and reopen on Nov. 22. They offer prescription pickups, health and wellness products, beer, coffee, snacks and grab-and-go food options.

South’s Market is a Costco delivery service that delivers Costco products to you, without a membership. You can shop online, through their website.  Currently, their pickup location is in Aldasoro but look forward to a Mountain Village delivery location coming soon.

Clark’s Market also provides grocery delivery services to Mountain Village. For more information visit their website. Telluride Delivers also provides grocery delivery options to Mountain Village.

In the coming weeks, a brand new vending cart, Silver Creek,  will be set up in Market Plaza. Stay tuned for opening dates and menu details.

October Mayor’s Minute

Mayors Minute

Words by Laila Benitez / Mayor's Minute

Hello neighbors,

Below are some Town Council meeting highlights from last month and some upcoming topics. As always, I hope you can join us for tomorrow’s meeting or consider sharing your feedback with us about any of these matters.

Last week, Town Council convened for the annual special Town Council meeting focused on the 2020 budget. The all-day budget meeting allows council members and staff to review the details of each department’s budget, receive the Grant Committee’s recommendations, and discuss upcoming capital improvement projects. A first glance and deeper dive of the budget can be found at http://bit.ly/MV2020Budget using the OpenGov Portal. You can also access this tool to take an in-depth review of the town’s past financial reporting, budgeting, and expenses. Stay tuned for a more in-depth email dedicated solely to the 2020 budget, once the budget has been approved.

September 19  Meeting Highlights:

  • Town Council continued discussing the potential 49-unit expansion of Village Court Apartments (VCA). Specifically, we explored whether the proposed project is designed as a rental or for-sale development. As a brief recap, of the 1,203 occupied affordable housing units in San Miguel County, 539 or 44.8%, are in Mountain Village; however, only 120 of those units, or 22%, are owner-occupied deed-restricted housing. The last for-sale affordable housing development developed by the town in Mountain Village was the Coyote Court development in 2005. As we continue to explore options as part of our due diligence, we will need to examine financing options, complete a market analysis, conduct a local survey of residents and business owners, and draft a developed project proforma. While all of us would prefer a project with a more expedited timeline, there is a fiduciary and community responsibility to consider all our current housing development options. Additionally, we are sensitive that our decisions today impact not only this project but the available options and resources to fund future community housing needs.
  • Town Council voted to approve on first reading an amendment to the Community Development Code (CDC) clarifying the definition of Efficiency Lodge units, a zoning designation comparable to what is commonly called a “Hotel Room” – a single room with a bathroom. Council aligned our definition of “Short-Term Accommodation” to the CDC that is consistent with our Municipal Code and Colorado State Sales Tax laws. These clarifications were drafted to ensure that properties zoned to function as short-term hotel rooms or “hot-beds” are not used as a primary residence. Lodge and condominium units, which are sized and equipped for longer-term use, can still be used without stay limitations.
  • As part of our region’s ongoing effort to meet new and updating wastewater treatment regulations, Mountain Village is beginning a one-year pilot project to add a phosphate blend to our drinking water system in order to help reduce copper levels at the Telluride Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Mildly corrosive water and copper-containing infrastructure in both the Mountain Village and the Town of Telluride influent flows are thought to be substantial contributors to high copper levels at the WWTP. We will be reviewing this pilot program in six months to gauge the project’s efficacy and any unintended impacts.
  • Last month, Town Council appointed Michael Doherty to the Mountain Village Business Development Advisory Committee and Cath Jett and Michael Fallon to the Green Team Committee. On behalf of Town Council, thank you to everyone who volunteered and those who were appointed.

If you would like more specifics about these topics, you can watch a video of last month’s meeting on the town’s website. September meeting minutes will be posted online after they are approved at tomorrow’s meeting.

October 17 Agenda Topics:

A full agenda has been posted on our website; we welcome your input and hope to see you at the meeting.

Warm regards,

Laila Benitez
Mountain Village Mayor

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