Colfax County announces conditional NMDOT RISE grant to support commercial flights to Angel Fire

The Chairman of the Colfax County Commission announced that the New Mexico Department of Transportation intends to award the county a RISE (Rebuilding Infrastructure and Safety for Economic Recovery) grant to support commercial airline service into Angel Fire. “They are gonna award us the RISE grant for commercial air flight into Angel Fire,” the Chairman said during the meeting.

The Chairman said county staff were notified that the award would be spread over two years and that the county would provide a 10% match that would be split with the Angel Fire Resort. He said paperwork had not yet been finalized and state aviation wants confirmation that the service is feasible and that the airline remains committed. “They didn’t drop any of the paperwork yet. They wanna see that this is feasible for us,” he said.

Commissioner Ware congratulated the Chairman and noted that the Village of Angel Fire is motivated to assist the county’s effort. The Chairman said he had reached out to a county contact, Taryn, to schedule a meeting with Advanced Air and consultants to discuss how best to use the funds and determine whether the carrier remains on board.

Next steps described at the meeting include a feasibility meeting with Advanced Air and consultants and follow-up with state aviation; the Chairman said staff would report back to commissioners after those steps. No formal vote or contract award was recorded during the meeting, and the final award paperwork and grant conditions had not been provided to the commission at the time of the announcement.