Mark St. J. Couhig, news editor

ANGEL FIRE — The new mayor and council met for four hours this week to review village plans and goals inherited from their predecessors. The special work session was held at the Angel Fire Resort Hotel Thursday, March 20.
Angel Fire’s Economic Development Strategic Plan, prepared by The Idea Group of Santa Fe and presented to the village January 9, was the subject of extensive discussion. Village Administrator Melissa Vossmer placed the discussion on the agenda to determine if the new mayor and council agree “in principle” with the plan. The answer: with a few minor caveats, the new council and mayor are enthused about the plan and are ready to move ahead quickly with its implementation.
Councilor Chuck Howe, who has been working on the plan for some time, said it is certain the nation’s current “economic crisis” will eventually have a negative impact on the village economy. The village’s plan, he said, provides “an infrastructure of hope” that the village will emerge from the economic slow-down “in good shape.”
The citizens “will know the village is here to help them.”
Howe provided a strong endorsement of the plan. “The timing was opportune,” he said of the plan’s creation, and “we have to move forward. This is the document. We need to make it our own.”
Karen Nichols, representing the Association of Angel Fire Property Owners (AAFPO), also voiced her organization’s support for the plan. “We’d like to see the village put their stamp on it.”
Don Borgeson, president of the Angel Fire Chamber of Commerce, noted that the chamber board recently unanimously passed a resolution in support of the plan. He also asked the council for “direction” on those actions the chamber could take that would provide the greatest assistance in getting the plan underway. The chamber, he noted, is currently preparing a survey of available retail space, and a work force study, but would like more input from the council.
“Tell us which way to go,” he said.
Mayor Larry Leahy felt confident the resort will support the plan, calling it a “mom and apple pie kind of thing.” But, he noted, the council will have to work closely with the resort “to determine the best way to implement it.”
John McDermott, a member of the village’s Economic Development committee, described the first step in implementation, saying “we (the community) need to develop an attitude of growth.” He noted that it’s easy to become bogged down in minutiae such as “the kind of lamp posts we want to have.”
McDermott said the village needs to concentrate instead on “What can we do to be more business-friendly and customer-friendly?”
Tom Bowles, another member of the Economic Development committee, said “at the Roasted Clove we try to make people feel good. I want to see all the people feel welcome.”

The cost of change
Vossmer noted the economic development plan calls for the creation of a committee that will oversee several aspects of the plan. “That,” she said, “will cost a chunk of change.”
Regarding the need to keep costs under control, Councilor Stuart Hamilton said, “We need to develop a sense of ‘what can we do? It’s not just the village, the chamber and the resort.” We all need to all start “shopping locally, volunteering, picking up trash.”
Vossmer said the council’s declaration of support will lead to the next steps in implementation, beginning with the “allocation of resources.” The village and chamber will also be pursuing funding for the plan from the resort and Kit Carson Cooperative.
The village and the economic development committee will also begin breaking the complex plan into “bite-size pieces” for additional discussion and action.
The village’s current Economic Development Committee will play a major role in the implementation of the plan. The committee includes a broad spectrum of representation from the community, including Bowles and McDermott. Leahy and Hamilton represent the village on the committee. The Home Builders Association’s representatives on the committee are Tom Reik and Tony Guenthner, while AAFPO is represented by Karen Nichols. The resort representative is Dan Rakes, the Realtors Association representative is Ruth Bush, and from Kit Carson Cooperative, Luis Reyes.

Establishing the Tourism Committee
Hamilton provided the mayor and his fellow council members with a memo detailing progress toward the creation of the village’s new Tourism Committee. According to Hamilton, the committee has been established “to evaluate all tourism operations, marketing and promotional activities and devise a plan that is cost-effective, customer service-friendly and benefits the entire tourism community in Moreno Valley.” The committee’s “overarching goals” are to save money, prevent duplication of services, effectively and efficiently monitor and spend Lodgers’ Tax revenues, and “identify how to align the Economic Development Strategic Plan with the Village, Chamber and Resort for tourism activities.”
The first meeting of the Tourism Committee is scheduled for Thursday, April 3. Hamilton reported that he asked the following citizens to serve:
Resort: Christy Germscheid and Dave Dekema
Lodgers Tax Committee: Tom Bowles and Kathy Derwin
Chamber of Commerce: Don Borgeson and Bill Burgess
Retail and the Arts: Katherine McDermott
Village of Angel Fire: Melissa Byrne Vossmer and Tracy Orr
Hamilton also reported that he has asked The Idea Group to act as “facilitators of the process and prepare a report and recommendations.” Hamilton said the service will cost about $10,000. Vossmer added “it’s important enough, we’ll find the money.”
The committee hopes to complete their work and report to the council the first week in May in order to provide time to incorporate their recommendations into the village budgeting process.

About the budget
Leahy asked for two improvements in the way the budget is reported. First, he has asked Vossmer to come up with “a bottom line of discretionary funds.” As he explained, he is looking for a specific figure on the money that remain after all encumbered funds are set aside. After noting that “there may be no there there,” Leahy said that having such a figure would help him, the council and “our constituents” decide “where we should spend our money.”
“It also helps explain what you can’t do,” he said.
Leahy also asked Vossmer to develop a pocket-size budget that can be used for less formal discussions, when the “inch-thick” book of detailed data is overkill.

New committee assignments
In response to a request from the mayor at the council’s March 13 meeting, the council members volunteered for posts on the various village committees. The assignments include:

Established village committees
Plaza del Sol: Chuck Howe and Al Lott (both retained their prior membership); Recreation Committee: Deborah May; Trails Committee: May; Chamber of Commerce: Leahy and Howe; Economic Development Strategic Plan Committee: Leahy and Hamilton; Lodgers Tax: May (non-voting member)

New village committees
Village-Resort Creek Drainage Committee: Lott ; Roads and Drainage Committee: Lott; Signage Committee: Hamilton; Council Legislative Sub-Comittee: Leahy (Chair), and Howe

Non-village committees
Cimarron Watershed Alliance: Howe (retains his membership) and Lott; Enchanted Circle Intergovernmental Council: Howe (retains his membership); Northeast Regional Planning Association: Lott, with Howe as alternate; Regional Transport Committee: (This committee is investigating the feasibility of an Enchanted Circle bus route. If it proves feasible, a council member will be chosen to serve.)

Briefs
• The next regular council meeting will be held Thursday, March 27 at 5:30. Council will hold one meeting in April, on the 17th. Beginning in May the regular council meetings will be held at 5:30 p.m. each first and third Tuesday of the month.
• The 2004-2005 audit should be completed soon. Mayor Leahy also noted the village is “bringing in someone” to work on the 2005-2006 audit.
• The village will soon be conducting a survey of residents to determine satisfaction with village services.
• The council asked Vossmer to “formalize” the system for communicating quickly to councilors and the mayor breaking news regarding critical issues.
• Asked the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle to help publicize the village’s “Fix-It” system, which allows citizens to notify the village of service disruptions via the web. To use the fix-it system, citizens should visit the village’s website at www.afgov.org, then click on “Report a Problem.” Reports filed are directed to the appropriate department. Human oversight by village management ensures the response is timely and appropriate.