1) Monday, April 7, 2008, the expansion of Town Hall will begin in earnest.  This is the construction related to the Town Hall expansion – work that should take approximately a year to complete and will approximately double useable Town Hall space.  This effort will restrict parking in the Town Hall parking lot, and at least initially will require the movement of Town Hall’s main public entrance to its side entrance (on the Taos Public Library side).  Signage will be evident to assist the public.  The Farmer’s Market (Saturday mornings starting in May) will be accommodated either in Parr Field (the School District’s field across from Town Hall’s parking) and/or in the remaining Town Hall and Library parking areas.  Landscaping, as it is disturbed, will be relocated (given that it is mature and can survive) and reused, and/or new plantings will occur at the conclusion to construction.   Any additional information required about this construction effort should be directed to Mauro Rosales, Director, Town of Taos Buildings Department, 751-2044, mrosales@taosgov.com.   Mr. Rosales is overseeing the construction effort and its general contractor.  Patricia Trujillo, Special Projects, is also assisting with the coordination and communication effort, 737-2630, ptrujillo@taosgov.com.

2) A new Fiscal Agency Policy for the Town of Taos and the nonprofits who ask for the Town to function as their fiscal agent for State appropriations, grants and other funding has been approved.  Nonprofits will be required to apply with the Town for this status during the month of May (rather than in an as-needed fashion throughout the year).  So, if you’re connected to a nonprofit who may request this of the Town anytime during the coming fiscal year, July through June of 2008-09, contact Francella Garcia, Grants Administrator, Finance Department, 751-2029, fgarcia@taosgov.com about application.  Details and a copy of the new policy will be available in the next couple of weeks per the Town of Taos Legal Department.  The policy will be advertised/communicated in a variety of ways, but this is an early ‘heads up’ for members of the media, nonprofits, and the public.

3) Town of Taos Lodger’s Tax Receipts: Yesterday, Town of Taos Finance Department reported at the Council Briefing Meeting that as of February 29, 2008, its Lodger’s Tax Year-To-Date revenues, based on actual occupancy when compared to the same period last year were up by 19.34%. This represents $743,198 in revenues paid to the Town by Lodger’s Tax from the first of July, 2007 through the end of February 2008 (The Town’s fiscal year is July through June).  Lodger’s Tax revenues are usually reported a month after they occur – i.e., January revenues are reported in February.  However, in reference to the number cited, these are indeed year to date revenues through February, based on February occupancy.  Moving forward, the Town of Taos is working with area stakeholders to prepare monthly reports on Lodger’s Tax and Gross Receipts Tax revenues/reports that will be available to the public and help everyone examine consistently what is happening in these areas.  This statistic is provided as the beginning to that ongoing reporting process.

4) Town of Taos calendar highlights as of April 2, 2008 (Changes/additions may occur to this schedule; check with this office or Town Clerk Renee Lucero, 75102995, rlucero@taosgov.com).

· Council Special Meeting 9 a.m., Thursday, April 3, Council Chambers – Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) proposed by Departments for 08-09; Council priorities and goals.  Agenda already distributed.  11 a.m., Groundbreaking for Town Hall construction by Mayor/Council at Town Hall – photo opportunity.

· Council Special/Workshop Meeting 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 8, Council Chambers (agenda to follow)

· Council Special Meeting 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Wednesday, April 10, Council Chambers – Focus is briefing by Griffin & Associates re: Taos Marketing

· Special Joint Town/County Meeting, Monday, 9 a.m., April 14, Council Chambers – Primary focus is recycling.

· Landfill Board meeting (tour for officials, media; RSVPs essential due to limited transportation space – call Janice at 751-4459; public tours available throughout the year – just call to be placed on the tour list), 9 a.m., Quail Ridge Inn parking lot; meeting to follow at Quail Ridge at approximately 11 a.m. to 12 noon; Intergovernmental Committee Meeting (IGC) of Enchanted Circle stakeholders same place at 1 p.m.  These organizations are not agendized by the Town of Taos, although we participate.

· Regular Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 15, Council Chambers (agenda to follow).

· Joint Town/County Regular Meeting, 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 30, Taos County Commission Chambers.  Among other topics, the North Central Regional Transit District (RTD) will be discussed and their proposed item on the November 2008 election ballot to increase Taos County taxation to pay for increased transportation services in a four county area; update on renovation, potential new uses, and provision of new public restrooms in Taos County’s Old County Courthouse, etc. (agenda to follow).

Preliminary May, 2008 dates –

· Council/Staff Budget Retreats in Council Chambers — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 5, and 9 a.m. to 12 noon May 7

· Management Team Meeting/Agenda Meeting, 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 7 (check on location)

· Council Workshop Meeting, 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 13, Council Chambers

· Regular Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 20, Council Chambers

5) 8 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturday, April 19^th is the Annual Town of Taos ‘Trek for Trash’ Clean Up, headed by Parks Division Supervisor Dennis Martinez.  Town staff work with nonprofit groups, which receive a small grant contribution to assist, on this Town-wide trash clean up effort, and the public is welcome to participate – just contact Dennis Martinez at 751-2020, dmartinez@taosgov.com.  As part of this clean up effort, Town residents are also encouraged to bring their trash, yard waste, old appliances, and other items to dispose of for free from 8 a.m. to 12 noon that day to the Town of Taos Public Works yard, 1030 Dea St. (near Walmart).

6) The Town of Taos Municipal Court is now able to take online payments via the internet for penalty assessments (including parking tickets).  The web site is http://www.citepayuse.com.  Payers need to enter their date of birth, ordinance number/citation number or case number, and correct payment amounts when paying in this fashion.

7) The Youth & Family Center ice skating rink is closed for the season.  This came after a great end of the Taos Ice Hockey season – with two weekends of the Taos Coyote Classic Hockey Invitational bringing literally 3,000+ visitors to the Taos area.

Taos Public Library’s May activities will include a planned ‘hands on’ demonstration to be organized in conjunction with the New Mexico Archaeological Society – a new and different type of program.  Details to follow.  As May approaches, contact Library staff and Director George Jaramillo for further details, 737-2391, and check the Library’s web site, http://www.taoslibrary.org.

9) A few weeks ago, the Town of Taos Public Works department set up a special phone number, 575-751-2042, and email address, pothole@taosgov.com, for reporting area potholes.  Staff has recorded 4 calls and 7 emails – only two of which were potholes on streets under Town of Taos jurisdiction.  The other reports have been relayed to Taos County and the State of New Mexico Department of Transportation for action.  As soon as the weather changes consistently enough, the potholes within the Town’s jurisdiction will be repaired in a more permanent fashion.  This also goes for striping the applicable areas on the 57 miles of Town streets.  The Town’s Public Works Department is also pointedly communicating with the State about the need to expedite their schedule for ‘spring repair’ of their street sections within the Town, such as Paseo del Pueblo Norte and Sur, Kit Carson, etc.

10) Taos Coverage Clips –

	1.	BUFFALO NEWS Circ./Aud.: 262,507 Buffalo, NY 03/30/2008 “Spring skiing going strong out west ”	view clip view text
	2.	SUNDAY STAR-LEDGER Circ./Aud.: 570,523 Newark, NJ 03/30/2008 “Spring skiing out West strong ”	view clip view text
	3.	CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Circ./Aud.: 270,347 Charlotte, NC 03/30/2008 “Extra snow extends ski season out West ”	view clip view text
	4.	CECIL WHIG Circ./Aud.: 13,629 Elkton, MD 03/26/2008 “Spring skiing stays strong in the West”	view clip view text
	5.	VENTURA COUNTY SUNDAY STAR Circ./Aud.: 17,000 Ventura, CA 03/23/2008 “Jemez trail visits New Mexico’s history, spas and scenery”	view clip view text
	6.	VENTURA COUNTY SUNDAY STAR Circ./Aud.: 106,876 Ventura, CA 03/23/2008 “Jemez trail visits New Mexico’s history, spas and scenery”	view clip view text
	7.	THUNDER PRESS Westerville, OH 04/01/2008 “An offering from the ancients”	view clip view text

11) Forbes Magazine ‘advertorial’ (attached).  This is a co-op opportunity that Griffin & Associates, and community businesses, came together on.  Aimed at meetings, conventions and group travel/tourism, the one page piece is attached.  It will appear in Forbes in the June 2, 2008 issue.  A more thorough description is below:

This is a special section entitled Destination New Mexico “A Guide to Corporate Events” appearing in Forbes June 2, 2008 issue. In this issue Forbes will be profiling five top resorts in New Mexico.  The profile section will appear in every subscriber copy of Forbes in the region (Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico).  Forbes introduces the section with a full cover page entitled Destination New Mexico  “A Guide to Corporate Events” It features a photo in a professional or conference setting and includes a lead in about New Mexico and all it has to offer for corporate events. The cover page also has an area dedicated to each of the featured companies where resort names appear along web address/phone numbers.

Within the section itself there is a full page color profile dedicated exclusively to the Town of Taos (our page is the other item attached with the email). Each profile is about 400-500 words and photos are showcased.  The profile will reach an exclusive demographic of 233,682 readers 88% of whom are top management with an average household income of $217,067, and average household assets of $1.8 million.

12) Sustain Taos is holding a planning meeting this Friday, April 4th from noon until 1pm in the Martinez room of Kit Carson Electric on Cruz Alta. They’ll be discussing the upcoming Food and Farm Expo, May 2-4 at the Taos County Economic Development Corporation, corner of Bertha & Salazar Streets. This year the event’s emphasis will be on fresh, local seasonal food. Saturday will be an expo with many exhibitors including food vendors, cooking demonstrations and sale of plant seedlings. Sunday there will be hands-on workshops on composting, greenhouse gardening and vermiculture and many others.  Volunteers are needed. Contact Allen Richardson, Event Coordinator, at 575-779-0270.

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

Fax 575-751-2026

505-779-1013 cell