Noticias

• Telluride Moves to Appoint Final Town Councilmember
• County Mining Regulations Pushed into New Year
• Listening Club Remains in Light

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Telluride Moves to Appoint Final Councilmember

Telluride’s final town councilmember will be chosen by appointment, Telluride Town Council decided this week.

“As of today, there’s an immediate seat vacancy on town council, since we had three people run at the November 4th election for four seats,” Town Clerk Tiffany Kavanaugh said.

That came as Kavanaugh addressed Town Council on Tuesday.

“In our charter, council has two options to fill this vacancy. One, to appoint somebody. Or two, to call a special election,” she said.

There are some nuances for either an appointment or a special election.

In an appointment, Town Council must solicit applications, interview the candidates and appoint a person within a month.

A special election would take several months. Candidates would circulate petitions, and the electorate would vote. According to Kavanaugh, the election would likely take place in March and cost the town roughly $15,000.

Town Council was not unanimous on the decision. Over the course of about two hours — spanning across the day — council went back and forth, gridlocked 3–3 most of the time, highlighting the importance of a seventh member of council.

Telluride’s newest councilmember, Kristen Permakoff, believes an appointment is the right way to go.

“Whatever the reason is why people did not run, I don’t know why they’re going to change their minds now. I feel like it would be a good opportunity for the six of us to come forward, in a transparent way, and hire someone that we think will help the council move forward,” Permakoff said.

Councilmember Meehan Fee and Mayor Teddy Errico say they started off in favor of a special election but shifted toward an appointment after hearing from members of the community. Here’s Fee, followed by Errico.

“Our community doesn’t trust our choices, and I think we have to earn that back by doing the work, not by saying ‘If you don’t like our choices, you make the choice.’ I think we actually have to put ourselves in the line of fire, justify the decisions that we’re making because that’s the job we were elected to do. That’s the job we swore to do,” Fee said.

“My priority is to heal the community, and I’m not sure we’re ready to go through an election with a lot of the questions that were asked of the candidates, and the temperature of those meetings from the fall,” Errico said.

Councilmember Ashley Von Spreecken stands firmly in wanting a special election.

“I feel really strongly that in order for our community to feel like they’re apart of this process it needs to be put to a vote and allow the community to make that vote,” Von Spreecken said.

Councilmembers Elena Levin and Dan Enright are torn.

“I think we have two mediocre options for a non-ideal situation, so I’m not excited that we’re even in this position, but my instinct was a special election and I think a lot of that is because of a lot of the rhetoric I heard around 300,” Levin said.

“One of the big themes of this last election is that we operate under representative democracy and the cornerstone of that is letting our constituents choose who represents them. That’s the system we operate under and I still believe philosophically that that is the best system of government that we have, so we should stick true to that value. If we get through this process and we don’t have anybody raise their hand, we can still appoint somebody then,” Enright said.

But at the end of the discussion, after hours of back-and-forth, Levin and Enright moved toward an appointment for the sake of keeping the process moving. Here’s an exchange between the two:

“There is validity to the argument that: you didn’t take your opportunity. You had every chance to run. So don’t complain to me now that we appointed somebody,” Enright said.

“You also had every opportunity to give us feedback that you wanted a special election,” Levin added.

Council decided to move forward with an appointment in a 5–1 vote.

Applications to be appointed to Town Council are currently open. Questions on the application ask candidates why they’re interested in serving on Town Council, previous experience, hobbies and interests, and whether they would consider running for town council in the next election.

Telluride Town Council members receive around $21,500 for their work, are eligible for town health insurance and get a wellness benefit.

Town Council plans to hold interviews with candidates Thursday, Dec. 11, at 5 p.m., and select a new councilmember Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Applications are available at bit.ly/totcouncilapp.

In addition to deciding how to move forward with filling the final seat on Town Council, Clerk Kavanaugh also swore in Meehan Fee, Kristen Permakoff and Dan Enright to their council seats. Town Council also elected Councilmember Fee to serve as mayor pro tem.

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County Mining Regulations Pushed Into New Year

After nearly a year of public meetings, San Miguel County’s mining land-use regulation overhaul is still unfinished. County Commissioners held a public hearing last week and voted to postpone a decision until January. The proposed rules would comprehensively update land-use codes for exploration, processing and mining operations across the county.

The process has pulled in feedback from federal and state agencies, mining industry representatives and environmental groups. Planning Director Kaye Simonson said the goal is to address local impacts left uncovered by higher-level permitting.

Simonson said, “So the emphasis is on impacts to the county that are not otherwise addressed or mitigated by state and federal permits. The new regulations are intended to provide increased transparency and clarity for everyone, applicants and the public and any other interested parties, an applicant for a mining activity will be required to provide reports, plans and studies that analyze the impacts of the project and to explain in the application materials how the applicant will mitigate those impacts.”

Commissioners at both the county and planning levels have heard months of comment about potential duplication in the codes. Mining industry commenters argue the state and federal government already require much of what the county is asking.

Adam Eckman, president of the Colorado Mining Association, told commissioners that more collaboration is needed with state and federal regulators.

Eckman said, “I think that finalizing this regulation in its current form would run afoul of those and would certainly get in the way of any productive conversations that might otherwise be able to take place between San Miguel County, DRMS, BLM and DOE. So again, our hope here is that you will consider delaying this to at least have those conversations. Don’t shut the door on that, and hopefully an agreement can be reached that serves all of the parties well.”

Last month, commissioners sent the draft regulations back to the planning level, where staff removed a waiver policy that industry representatives—Eckman included—had criticized as subjective.

The process has also brought uranium miners from across the region to the table. Chris Newman, a lawyer for Greenberg Traurig who works with Southwest mining companies, shared his concerns.

Newman said, “The industry views this as an existential threat. When this happens around the country, people take interest and take notice, because what you’re doing, you know, staff keeps saying we are purposefully duplicative. What that means is you’re reserving a veto.”

Since 2022, seven mining exploration permits have been approved in the county, most for uranium and vanadium—minerals designated as critical for national security under the Trump administration.

Commissioner Lance Waring defended the updates.

Waring said, “we do not want to close the door to mining in San Miguel County, we want to open the door to responsible mining. And I truly believe that I know that at first blush, these regulations look large, but I think Kay is correct when she says that instead of having to look through many pages of land use code to find the regulations that currently exist, these are now gathered together in one place,”

After a brief executive session following public comment, commissioners scheduled a follow-up executive session for Dec. 17, with the public hearing set to resume Jan. 21. Commissioners say public comments should be submitted by Jan. 12.

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Listening Club Remains in Light

This Monday the Wilkinson Public Library holds its monthly Listening Club. It’s like a book club, but for albums. Peter Garber will lead the December club with his work of choice, the Talking Heads’ 1980 album “Remain in Light”.

The December Listening Club on “Remain in Light” will take place on Monday, December 1^st from 6 to 7pm at the Telluride Music Company.

KOTO News spoke with Garber about his selection.

Story begins at 9:03.

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KOTO Hosts Local Bluegrass Ticket Sales

Snow is flying, but the twang of a banjo will be here before you know it.

Next week, Planet Bluegrass will host local ticket sales for the 2026 Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

KOTO will host the local ticket sales for residents and workers of San Miguel County.

Tickets increase on Dec. 21, so festivalgoers are encouraged to get passes now at a discount.

Ticket sales will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the Purple House on Pine.

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Mountain Village Starts Slash Pile Burning

This fall, the town of Mountain Village cleared more than 20 acres of dead timber from the north side of town. Now, the town’s forestry department will conduct slash pile burning to remove the woody debris and other natural materials left behind after forest management.

The town notes slash piles are burned under specific conditions to mitigate and reduce smoke. Mountain Village will only burn in coordination with the Telluride Fire Protection District when there is enough snow on the ground.

The slash piles are located below Boulders Way, near the Public Works Shop and along Jurassic Trail. The town says additional piles may be burned along the Jurassic and Stegosaurus trails extending toward See Forever.

Slash pile burning is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Dec. 2, as conditions allow and will continue through the winter. Smoke may be visible along the ridge on the north side of Mountain Village.

Burning is permitted between sunrise and sunset, with burns expected to occur Mondays through Thursdays.

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Mountain lion killed illegally near Gunnison park, CPW seeks information

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking for the public’s help after the illegal killing of a mountain lion near Gunnison.
Last Friday, CPW officers responded to a report of a mountain lion carcass near campsites at Gunnison City Mountain Park. Officers found a female lion that had been shot through the chest and left in the bushes.

The lion was poached only three days before the start of Colorado’s legal mountain lion hunting season.

To provide anonymous information, the public can contact Operation Game Thief at 877-265-6648 or by email at [email protected].

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Colorado launches Housing Hub Colorado to streamline affordable housing funding

Colorado has launched a new online tool to help developers apply for affordable housing funding. The platform, called Housing Hub Colorado, is designed as a central location for affordable housing developers to access information and resources around public funding.

The site will eventually include a common application for multiple local, state and federal tax credits planned for next year. The initiative is being led by the governor’s office, several state agencies and the city and county of Denver.

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Colorado aims to boost beaver population

Colorado has a new goal for its beaver population: encourage as many as possible. CPR’s Sam Brasch explains.

Story begins at 17:15.

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Durango family detained by ICE speaks out about alleged abuse

Last month, a Durango family was detained by ICE without probable cause and taken to a facility in Texas. They have since requested voluntary deportation back to Colombia.

This week, the mother and wife of the family spoke publicly about their experience at the ICE Field Office in Durango.

As of this broadcast, ICE representatives have not responded to a request for comment on the allegations of mistreatment and abuse. This piece includes mentions of abuse and sexual assault. From KDUR, Jamie Wanzek reports.

Story begins at 18:10.