April Mayor's Minute

Dear neighbors, I hope you have successfully transitioned into the shoulder season and are thinking about what the Spring will bring to our lovely town (hopefully less snow). Despite the slowing level of activity, town government continues its work. Last month Town Council received a report from the San Miguel Power Association about the "Telluride Reliability Project" that will add redundancy for electrical services in the event of a blackout similar to the February event. The project will start this Fall and hopefully be completed next summer (potential issues involve permitting from San Miguel County and the Forest Service). We will also schedule a worksession on other actions we should take in a future outage (e.g. phone charging stations, gas distribution, signage and communications). We also had a deep dive into fire risk throughout Mountain Village. First the West Region Wildfire Council discussed fire risk by region and parcel, then we reviewed current regulations, and finally introduced an incentive program for each home to create defensible space around their property. We heard an update from the Telluride Historical Museum including a focused discussion on their plan to reduce their deficit. Council considered a draft of a Regional Transportation Authority Intergovernmental Agreement (RTA IGA) and brainstormed ways to increase engagement in our upcoming gondola study in partnership with TMVOA, Town of Telluride, San Miguel County and Telluride Ski & Golf Company. Finally, in addition to the usual land use matters and staff reports, we discussed a potential new grant process to manage Mountain Village's support of regional organizations. This month, another full agenda awaits us. The town has heard some concerns from residents about the ability to sub-divide single-family lots and will conduct a worksession to share information and consider a temporary moratorium on such actions. We will receive an update on the wayfinding proposal and scope of work, regional greenhouse gas inventories, and EcoAction Partners energy programs. In addition, we will have a first reading of an ordinance approving a franchise agreement for the installation of a dispersed antenna network intended to improve cell coverage. Finally, we will have our usual array of routine land use matters, staff updates and Council reports. I hope you will be able to join us for the meeting this Thursday, either online or in-person; if not, please be sure to . Warm Regards, Dan Jansen Mountain Village Mayor