From the Desk of Eagle Nest Mayor Carr: May 2022

by Mayor Jeff Carr, Eagle Nest, eaglenestmayor@eaglenest.org

The Village of Eagle Nest has had a long history of EMS cooperation in Moreno Valley. Eagle Nest covered the entire Valley for many, many years before Angel Fire even existed and after for a few years, until Angel Fire established their own EMS.

Eagle Nest has always helped Angel Fire and has assisted as mutual aid consistently until service was voluntarily suspended. For the very first time Eagle Nest has lost our volunteers and we were unable to maintain the requirements to keep our ambulance service functioning legally. After I was elected Mayor, I immediately went to work to supplement the work already done so that we could get the funds needed to hire an EMS manager. As a result Eagle Nest EMS was awarded emergency funds and received them in February of this year. The Village put out a wide search for people to fill this position and we found an excellent person who we hired, but for family reasons he needed to back out and informed us just 2 days before he was to arrive.

We have since interviewed one other person and put out another wide search again.

This situation, in my opinion, is no one’s fault except maybe the state which didn’t foresee these issues which are happening in rural communities throughout the state including Springer. There is a great deal of misinformation and out-right lies, circulating.

The Village of Eagle Nest was successful in obtaining EMS funding and received a grant from the state legislature to reinstitute Emergency Medical Services amounting to $100,000 per year for the next three years. The money we received from the state is earmarked specifically to reestablish the Eagle Nest EMS Ambulance services. That money cannot be paid to anyone else.

We have no other money to give, or we would have already written a check to Angel Fire.

Recently there has been a short history of discontent between Angel Fire and Eagle Nest, officials and between Moreno Valley and the rest of Colfax County. Eagle Nest is in a situation that is not of its own making. The ambulance services do indeed get reimbursed, though not nearly enough to realistically cover the true costs of the service. Angel Fire’s Fire Department budget is much bigger than Eagle Nest’s entire budget. We truly appreciate the great first responders from Angel Fire.

We operate the Senior Center in Eagle Nest that has been delivering meals to seniors in Angel Fire for the last two years. Our citizens also pay taxes in Angel Fire. The attitude of assigning blame is in no way helpful. We are doing everything we can to re-establish our EMS service and if anyone is to blame it is the state for not handling this situation. If we can reimburse Angel Fire in the future, we will, but the State should be the one that pays.

The only long-time solution to this issue is money from the state or county for our community EMS or, as Rep. Roger Montoya has proposed, a county wide EMS. I will continue to do my best to get the funding needed for all our EMS services.

We are all in the same boat and casting blame doesn’t help. Working together for the common good is our only path forward.

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Legislative Session Has Ended

Barring line-item vetoes, the following will be funded from legislative capital outlay bills.

• 1615 EN Emergency Generator Install/Equipment - $100,000

• 1610 EN Water System ph v Des & Construct $95,000

• 1605 EN Water Truck & Vac Trailer Equip $100,000 (partial funding)

Most entities received about the same that they did last year. Large projects in bigger cities were given the priority on capital outlay. It is likely that the village will get the rest of what was requested from the federal infrastructure dollars, soon. Village projects such as a $3.5 Million health clinic and the completion of Enchanted Eagle Park with an amphitheater, watering system and lighting are at the top of the list.

I have been assured that permanent funding for emergency medical services (EMS) is in the works. To that end, interviews are being conducted this week for the EMS director position. Budget meetings started March 1st.

Hearings on two (2) new ordnances regarding the Village park and the banning of off-road vehicles as authorized by our ballot initiative will be held soon. I am investigating another ordinance that will require traditional concrete foundations for manufactured homes.

I’ve requested a stop light for the corner of Hwy 64 and South Tomboy and at least two additional crosswalks with more signage to help slow traffic.

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Welcome Eagle Nest’s New Municipal Judge, the Honorable Melinda Etschman. She will begin her training in May.

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The Village Offices are open Monday through Friday, 8am - 5pm. You may come in “unmasked” and use our window. If you need further assistance inside, we ask that you please wear a mask for the safety of Village employees.

The community center is open for events, a donation for its use is appreciated.

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Finance Officer Hired: Anna Roth from Cimarron has joined the team and she is going through extensive training. Anna used to live in Eagle Nest, and she will make

a terrific addition to our Village staff.

Senior Center: Hopefully, we will have the center open before May 1st. Though there is a lot of cleaning still left to do. To protect staff & our seniors, since some covid restrictions still in place, a Lexan Barrier will be placed in front of the serving line. Senior Center work is progressing as fast as possible. This opening, as usual, is subject to continuing covid conditions and state restrictions.

A Big Thank You to Bruce Manakas for stepping up to take Frank Gonzales’ position as the Senior Center driver.

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The Electric Vehicle (EV) Car Charging Station: is located at Village Hall, the electric vehicle charger is now fully functional. There will be a charge for the charge.

Pun intended. I am told it will take credit cards.

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March Council Meeting:

Our at-will employees consisting of the village clerk, finance officer and village administrator were approved for the next two years by a vote of 3 to 1.

We approved the following projects: paving French Henry, Tangle Leg, No Name Trail, and the parking lot of the Senior Center. We received a petition to not pave French Henry after we had three hearings, and a

4 to 0 vote.

I plan to withdraw the funding for French Henry and pave Neal Avenue instead. The will of the people is important to me. We also approved new homes on Golden Eagle Trail and No Name Trail.

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New Ordinances:

We will be having hearings this month on a parks ordinance and an off-road vehicle ordinance.