Votes at a glance: Taos council approves personnel-policy change, land-use committee, contracts, paving and airport utilities

The Town of Taos council took multiple final actions on Sept. 9, approving changes to the personnel policy, creating a land use development committee, and awarding contracts and task orders for downtown services, street resurfacing, airport furnishings and airport water/wastewater utilities.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution 25-55 (amend personnel policy sections 17 and 18.13 to expand succession planning to include deputy and key positions): Approved (roll call recorded: Mayor Pro Tem Fambro — Yes; Council Member Oswald — Yes; Council Member Ortega — Yes; Council Member Fernandez — Yes). Motion and second recorded; outcome: approved.

- Resolution 25-56 (establish Land Use Development Committee): Approved (roll call: Oswald — Yes; Mayor Pro Tem Fambro — Yes; Ortega — Yes; Fernandez — Yes). The resolution sets a five-person committee plus a non-voting member and directs staff to bring appointments to the next council meeting.

- Professional services agreement with Downtown Taos Inc. (annual contract for FY 2025–26, $200,000 inclusive of New Mexico GRT): Approved (roll call: Mayor Pro Tem Fambro — Yes; Oswald — Yes; Ortega — Yes; Fernandez — Yes). The contract covers wayfinding, plaza capital improvements and programming tied to the town’s transformation strategies.

- Task Order No. 1 with Cutler Paving, Inc. (resurfacing various town streets, $1,071,001.67 inclusive of GRT): Approved (roll call: Oswald — Yes; Ortega — Yes; Fernandez — Yes; Mayor Pro Tem Fambro — Yes). The task order lists a package of streets and includes temporary striping to be contracted separately.

- Purchase of airport terminal furniture package (RFP 20240319) from Element Slate ($219,628.70 excluding NMGRT): Approved (roll call: Oswald — Yes; Mayor Pro Tem Fambro — Yes; Ortega — Yes; Fernandez — Yes). Staff said the vendor held pricing but that updated quotes reflected market increases since an earlier approval in January.

- Award of ITB24-2502 for Taos Regional Airport water and wastewater on-site utilities to Double E (DB21-1385) ($3,033,009.97 inclusive of GRT): Approved (roll call: Mayor Pro Tem Fambro — Yes; Ortega — Yes; Oswald — Yes; Fernandez — Yes). Staff said the project is funded in part by an EDA grant and state aviation funds; a notice to proceed was expected in late September or early October with a roughly 270-day construction schedule as estimated by staff.

What the votes mean

The personnel policy amendment expands the town’s succession-planning list beyond department directors to include deputy-level and other critical positions. The land use development committee will be used to guide code updates and alignment between town and county land-use expectations; staff will return with mayoral appointments for council approval. The downtown contract continues funding for Main Street services and capital-related activities; staff and the downtown director said county and town matches are expected to fund parts of the work.

Several infrastructure contracts approved at the meeting advance near-term capital work: Cutler Paving’s task order will schedule resurfacing work as the contractor becomes available; the airport on-site utilities award follows grant funding and will support the new terminal and future hangar development.

Roll-call records and the motions as recorded in the meeting minutes are the source for the vote outcomes and tallies.

Details and provenance for each action appear in the meeting transcript and the town’s agenda packet.