DMR pulls back on airline subsidy

Durango Mountain Resort is ending its efforts to get the local community to subsidize air service. Last week, the ski company announced it will be capping the amount it pays to guarantee seats on incoming flights and will no longer be pleading with local businesses to help ensure consistent local air service.

DMR will continue to pay $225,000 to guarantee seats on incoming Continental flights. However, the resort will no longer go above that cap if the seats are not filled.

“We’re only committed for this season,” said Bob Kunkel, DMR senior vice president. “We negotiated a cap with Continental Airlines. We do not have financial risk beyond that.”

Nine years ago, the resort started a group called Destination Durango, a loose group of local businesses that covers the cost of empty seats on incoming flights. Kunkel said that lately several members of Destination Durango have not been paying up and sticking the resort with the bill.

“It doesn’t make any sense for us to be the only one,” Kunkel said. “We’re not going to carry it any more. We need to see some enthusiasm for the issue from the community.”

Kunkel said that La Plata County needs to start helping carry the burden, particularly since local traffic accounts for most of the seats coming into La Plata County Airport.

“The majority of the service is not tourism or DMR business,” he said. “Between 60 and 70 percent of the seats are local travelers. We just can’t do it alone. It’s not just us.”

Lieb tapped as chamber director

The Durango Area Chamber Resort Association has announced a new director and plans to split into local and tourist wings next month. Bobby Lieb, executive director of the La Plata Economic Development Action Partnership (LEAD), was chosen from 40 applicants to become the chamber’s director, and Mary Hart will continue as tourism director.

Lieb said he is pleased to have been named. “Of course I’m excited,” he said. “This is a good opportunity.”

In particular, Lieb said he looks forward to blending the efforts of LEAD and the chamber to better serve Durango’s changing economy and, particularly, light industry.

“I think there are a lot of changes going on in the community in terms of how our economy is shifting,” he said.

Lieb said that combining LEAD and the chamber will help provide a central focus for economic development. LEAD will continue to have independent status, though a new staff member will be brought on and housed in the DACRA building. Lieb added that splitting the chamber will allow the tourism wing to focus exclusively on marketing to tourist dollars.

A coordinating council will serve as an umbrella organization and meet to make sure the two wings are working effectively.

In September, long standing DACRA Executive Director Jane Zimmerman stepped down. Since that time, Joel Jones, former Fort Lewis College president, has been serving as interim chamber director. Lieb takes his position Jan. 6.

County and Utes settle tax dispute

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe and La Plata County signed an intergovernmental agreement last week in order to dodge a lawsuit. According to the agreement, the tribe will pay the county a portion of its profits from selling federal tax credits.

The dispute arose when the tribe delivered tax credits to a nontribal entity. The county alleged that once the credit left the tribe, it no longer constituted a credit. The credits surround oil and gas development throughout the reservation.

According to the agreement, the tribe will pay La Plata County $472,984. Of the contribution, $350,000 will be put into a mitigation fund, to which the tribe will contribute further tax credits.

Josh Joswick, chair of the La Plata County commissioners, commented in a news release that the agreement signifies a good working relationship between the two entities. “The intergovernmental agreement demonstrates the sincere desire of both the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and La Plata County to address issue sof mutual interest and concern in a fair, positive and productive manner.”

The Tribal Council of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe issued a brief statement that it was in the best interests of the Tribe to work cooperatively with the county.

County planners reject wolf refuge

Last Thursday, the La Plata County Planning Commission denied a permit for a wolf refuge near Ignacio by majority vote. Citing noise as the facility’s biggest problem, the planners recommended that county commissioners reject the request for a permit by the WolfWood Refuge and Adoption Center, five miles west of Ignacio.

The home for abandoned wolf-dog hybrids has been in business in La Plata County since April but had not obtained a county permit to operate. A complaint from neighbors alerted the county to the facility’s existence.

“I don’t think it’s difficult to know in any county that you move into that you need to have a permit for development,” said Joe Crain, county planning director.

WolfWood had obtained a State of Colorado permit to operate. However, a crowd of more than 60 people turned out at Thursday’s hearing objecting to the issuance of a permit.

“I think there is need for those kinds of facilities,” said Crain. “By the same token I think where they’re located is important because they do tend to have an effect on adjacent properties.”

Crain noted that WolfWood was located in Pagosa Springs prior to a forced relocation because it was deemed a nuisance. Both the Planning Commission and staff have recommended that commissioners deny the permit request at a future meeting.

– compiled by Will Sands