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Residents urge Red River council to help clinic and to include citizen input after town-sponsored event drew low official attendance
Summary
During public comment, multiple residents criticized the council for perceived lack of responsiveness and urged support for a local provider, Jessica Cross, including finding commercial space and exploring grants; residents also raised zoning, developer infrastructure obligations and the idea of a sheriff substation at a planned county fire station.
Several Red River residents used the public-comment portion of the Town Council meeting to press officials to do more to support local services and to include citizen input in council deliberations.
A public commenter (Speaker 7) said council members had discussed and voted on issues without hearing in-person input and called the approach “condescending and disrespectful to Red River constituents.” The commenter asked whether public comments are automatically added to the next meeting’s agenda and urged the council to prioritize year-round, owner-occupied residents over short-term rental owners.
Another resident (Speaker 4) raised a separate but related concern about local health services, asking the council to consider helping Jessica Cross, a local provider, find larger commercial space and noting that many residents currently travel to Taos for prescriptions and appointments. “She’s having a hard time finding a place that’s big enough,” the commenter said, urging the council to place the issue on a future agenda to explore options.
Don Wood (Speaker 8), who identified himself as a resident of the Upper Valley, questioned whether the newly rezoned tract discussed in the comprehensive-plan process is covered by the plan’s consultants and expressed concern about whether developer payments would cover on-site and off-site infrastructure costs. He suggested negotiating with the developer to secure commercial land and proposed discussing whether the planned county fire station could include a sheriff substation to improve emergency staging and response in the Upper Valley.
Residents also asked questions about the sequencing of water and wastewater work on neighborhoods including Viva, Dell and LaBelle. Town staff (Speaker 5) said current grant funding covers water-line work and that separate funding restrictions prevent mixing water and wastewater in the same grant; Chair (Speaker 3) added that the Water Trust Board is expected to fund wastewater projects in the future, allowing the town to apply for those funds later.
The council did not vote on any of the specific citizen requests during the meeting; public commenters asked for follow-up at a future meeting and for staff to explore options for commercial space, grants and infrastructure negotiations with developers.
