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2024 year in review: June

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• A total of 101 Archuleta School District students graduated in two ceremonies on June 1, ending their high school careers. The students earned more than $800,000 in scholarships.

• On June 4, the town council tabled its decision on whether it would sell or lease a portion of town-owned property on Trujillo Road to La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) for the installation of its new substation.

The property in question is located at 2140 County Road 500 and is the location of the Archuleta County-run transfer station.

• At its June 4 meeting, the BoCC ratified a separation agreement with Woodman. That agreement included the county paying Woodman’s salary through Dec. 21, 2024 — the end of his contract with the county.

• At its June 4 meeting, the Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) Board of Directors voted to hold a public hearing and vote on imposing fees for out-of-district responses at its upcoming July 2 meeting.

Fire Chief Robert Bertram introduced the topic, explaining that the proposed language for the out-of-district responses would state that out-of-district responses would be billed based on Colorado Resource Rate Form rates for equipment and personnel.

• On June 4, the town council accepted a Geothermal Utility Revitalization Project Grant from the Colorado Energy Office. 

 The funding was set to go toward replacing “key system components that have received minimal preventative maintenance or have reached and exceeded their useful life since the installation of the system in the 1980’s,” according to an agenda document on the matter. 

The town’s award amount is for $140,390 and requires that the town match that amount, which would bring the total project budget to $280,780. 

• At its June 5 meeting, the BoCC approved drafting a letter of intent to purchase a piece of property south of U.S. 160 near South Pagosa Boulevard for the construction of a new county administration building.

• On June 5, Christian Champagne, former district attorney for the 6th Judicial District, was found not to be in contempt of court involving the Christopher Maez homicide case.

On July 11, 2023, Maez’s defense counsel filed a motion for the court to issue a citation to hold Champagne in punitive contempt of court, alleging Champagne “violated an order from the Colorado Supreme Court in this case,” according to an order issued by the court on July 14, 2023.

• At its June 12 meeting, it was announced that the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation had been designated a Community Based Development Organization by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

• A 10-year-old female from Lubbock, Texas, was killed on June 6 after colliding with a pickup truck while on a dirt bike at the intersection of Forest Service Road 631 and Forest Service Road 640.

“Initial reports indicate a 10-year- old female child wearing a helmet and protective gear was driving a dirt bike south on the Forest Service Road 640 when she drove through a stop sign and failed to negotiate a sharp turn onto the eastbound lane of Forest Service Road 631,” the press release states. “A Toyota Tacoma driven by an 18-year-old male on Forest Service Road 631 collided with the dirt bike.”

According to the press release, bystanders performed lifesaving measures, which were continued by EMS personnel upon their arrival, but the 10-year-old “succumbed to her injuries before transport.”

• The Combined Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved a motion at its regular meeting held on June 6 supporting the town in pursuing a scaled-down version of the proposed parking lot in the west corner of the athletic field at Town Park.

Pagosa Springs Parks and Recreation Director Darren Lewis presented the topic to the board, indicating that the current design for a permanent parking lot in Town Park would feature approximately 70 parking spots and take up one-third of the existing field.

• The Snow Ranch Fire, located approximately 11 air miles west of Pagosa Springs in the Chris Mountain area of the San Juan National Forest, was started by lightning on June 11. By June 15, it was estimated to be 386 acres. It was estimated to be 93 percent contained as of June 18.

• Dana Guinn submitted her resignation from the BoE on June 11, with Guinn stating she would be relocating for a career opportunity.

• O’Donnell took part in the 2024 Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State Games’ first-place contest on June 12 inside CSU-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.

• At their respective meetings on June 13 and 17, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District and San Juan Water Conservancy District boards approved a grazing lease, as well as a sand and gravel lease extension with the Weber family for Running Iron Ranch, which is jointly owned by the boards.

• At a Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board meeting on June 18, Tourism Director Jennifer Green provided a brief report on lodgers’ tax collection.

“Town lodging tax has been up every month this year so far compared to last year,” Green said. “We are still up significantly over pre-pandemic. Certainly it’ll be a while before we reach the numbers from 2020-2021.”

Total collections for 2024 were up $17,197.67 compared to the same time frame in 2023.

Since lodger’s tax collections began in 2007, the year with the highest collection was 2021, with a total of $1,005,454. That is followed by 2022 at $937,209, the year 2023 at $799,503 and 2020 at $796,344.

• Members of the community celebrate the grand opening of the Tennyson Sculpture Park and Gardens on Lewis Street on June 22. 

• Three Pagosa Springs High School athletes earned the right to represent the local USA Track and Field club, Triple Crown Track Club, at the USA Track and Field’s Colorado Junior Olympics in Aurora. 

Nehring, Dozier and Lucero competed June 22 and 23, with all three recording strong performances.

• Parts of Pagosa Country received more than 2.5 inches of precipitation June 20-24.

According to data from the High Plains Regional Climate Center, precipitation received from June 18-25 in Archuleta County ranged from 400 to 800 percent of the normal precipitation for those dates.

As of June 20, 73.75 percent of Archuleta County was in a moderate drought stage, with the remaining 26.25 percent in an abnormally dry stage, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

At the start of the 2024, 93.16 percent of Archuleta County was in a severe drought stage, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

• Archuleta County voters favored advancing John Ranson to the general election as the Republican candidate for Archuleta County commissioner for District 2 in the June 25 primary election.

• On June 25, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, through the Division of Housing’s state housing board, announced that it awarded more than $41 million in rental and homeownership support for a total of 414 housing units to be constructed across the state.

One of the awards granted by DOLA was a $4.75 million Transformational Housing Fund loan awarded to an affordable housing development project proposed for Pagosa Springs.

The development, located at 116 Alpha Drive on 3.5 acres, will feature two buildings with a total of 50 affordable units. The units will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 30 to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), with an average affordability of 60 percent AMI.