1) New System for Pothole Reporting – (575) 751-2042 hotline, and email address pothole@taosgov.com

Although the Town of Taos Public Works Department and its Street Division crews are out each day effectively maintaining the 57 miles of streets the Town has jurisdiction over, an extra effort is being made to assist with the public’s ability to easily ‘report out’ about pot holes that need renewed attention.

This includes potholes that are not part of the Town’s responsibility. The Town will relay caller’s requests that belong to Taos County or the State of New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) to those agencies when information is received. The public can call or email their requests (information below).

As area weather permits, Town of Taos Street crews will repair all potholes on Town streets – but in the interim nearly 50 tons of filler material has been used, or will be used by the end of this winter season, to maintain streets until the more permanent work can be effectively undertaken.

The following message is on the Town of Taos web site home page, http://www.taosgov.com.

“The Town of Taos Public Works department has set up a special phone number, 575-751-2042, and email address, pothole@taosgov.com, for reporting potholes. Our Street Division crews will deal with your Town pot hole within 24-hours. The Town will make sure that the proper agency will be notified if the pothole is on a road maintained by the county or state. Later this spring, all pot holes will be repaired in a more permanent manner as weather permits.”

2) New Council Members sworn in March 6^th – photos attached. The first public meetings for these council members will be a Special Council Meeting, followed by the regular Workshop Meeting, 9:30 a.m., March 11 (agendas attached as ‘wma’), and the Regular Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m., March 20, both in Council Chambers on Civic Plaza Drive. Two agenda highlights for March 11th: The Special Meeting Agenda includes a request for council approval of an additional $70,000 to be allocated immediately for increased Taos marketing; the Taos County Chamber has requested an item on the workshop agenda to revisit the Town of Taos parking meter program moving forward.

3) In Memory of our Nation’s Veterans – Dennis Martinez, Parks Division Supervisor, Town of Taos, is spearheading an effort to acknowledge our nation’s veterans at Taos Plaza through the production and placement of ‘memory bricks’. If anyone is interested in sponsoring placement of such an item, please contact him this month for details – 751-2020 or dmartinez@taosgov.com.

3) Town Hall Expansion Construction – It is anticipated that Town Hall expansion construction, and that at the Taos Center for the Arts, will begin around May 1^st. Many more details will be forthcoming, including ‘staging’ information about public entrances, parking, Farmer’s Market logistics, etc. This is just a heads up that this activity is coming.

Taos area highway construction will also resume in the not too distant future (date still to be determined) on Canon, and it will soon commence in the El Prado area on Highway 64 – both projects part of the NMDOT, Clem Baker, Project Manager, 758-4353. The Town’s Public Work’s Department has brochures from NMDOT about ‘driving roundabouts’, which will be part of the Canon streetscape when construction is complete.

3) Forbes Magazine June 2 Advertorial – Per Jeanne Kitzman at Conventions, jkitzman@taosgov.com, “The response to participate in this effort has been nothing short of tremendous, and thank you to all the businesses who have responded thus far. As mentioned, the Town of Taos will be covering up to 50% of the anticipated $8900 expense for this placement (in the June issue which is focused on New Mexico). To those of you who responded, once we have the contract completed with Forbes, the writer will be in touch with us and I will get back with you on next steps, including contact information, whom to make out the check to and where to send it. We now have 16 local entities on board for this article, so at this moment additional paid participation is closed. Thank you all.”

4) Attached are brief notes from the well attended March 6^th meeting of Tourism Stakeholders in Taos who were briefed by Griffin & Associates about marketing efforts November 2007 through February 2008. More information/reports can be found at http://www.taosgov.com/pr/community.html, or

contact Joanie Griffin at (575) 261-4444, jgriffin@griffinassoc.com. “Taos: The Movie” – fun new production group wants to potentially dovetail with for Taos tourism marketing at film festivals throughout the nation – check it out, http://taosthemovie.com/newsletter/news2.html.

5) Added Taos coverage clips – ‘relationship travel’, as reference in the Endless Vacation clip, is a priority target for Taos.

	1.	EAGLE Circ./Aud.: 30,001 Bryan, TX 02/24/2008 “Tours open window to artist O’Keeffe’s life”	view clip view text
	2.	ARTHUR FROMMER’S BUDGET TRAVEL Circ./Aud.: 500,000 New York, NY 03/01/2008 “WHERE NEXT”	view clip view text
	3.	ENDLESS VACATION Circ./Aud.: 1,554,389 Carmel, IN 04/01/2008 “letters”	view clip view text

6) Gross Receipts and Lodgers Tax Updates, Town of Taos

The Finance Department has reported as of current figures that Town of Taos Gross Receipt Tax Revenues are on target for the projected 4% increase for this fiscal year over last; Lodgers Tax Revenues are also on track as projected over last fiscal year’s amounts for a 3% increase. Town of Taos budget projections for these revenues during the 07-08 fiscal year: NMGRT $10,956,522; Lodgers Tax Revenues $982,912.

7) Northern New Mexico Golfing Magazine

This publication, put out by the Santa Fe New Mexican/Taos News organization, is being sold now for summer 2008 advertising. It was pitched as something not only for out of state visitors, but for New Mexico’s traveling/golfing residents. It promotes Northern New Mexico as a golf destination/guide, and purports to have over 100,000 readers. If there is interest in advertising contact Alex Martinez at 505-995-3837, or Jesse Vasquez at 505-995-3844.

Cathy Connelly, Public Relations Coordinator

Town of Taos

400 Camino de la Placita

Taos, NM 87571

http://www.taosgov.com

cconnelly@taosgov.com

505-751-2001 office

505-779-1013 cell

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