By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

As Los Alamos County Councilor David Reagor said, “It really has been a busy year”.

On Dec. 13, the Los Alamos County Council – as consisting of Reagor and Councilors David Izraelevitz, Sara Scott, Denise Derkacs, Randall Ryti, Melanee Hand and Keith Lepsch – concluded.

It was an ending to four very eventful years. This council featured changing faces, significant decisions, a major wildfire and global pandemic.

The Los Alamos Daily Post reached out to all seven Councilors and asked each what they saw as this council’s greatest achievements and challenges and how they view the significant issues the council addressed.

Here are their responses:

David Izraelevitz:

I think we just made it under the wire to pass a new development code before the end of this term, a culmination of several years of planning and discussion by this Council. We drew on public, staff, and consultant’s input on how to envision and how to implement that vision in our community and downtown areas. It is especially notable that we now envision revitalized retail centers in both the townsite and White Rock.

This development code, Chapter 16 of our Code of Ordinances, was an achievement and a challenge. There were so many different points of view regarding our future development in terms of preserving our neighborhoods but also promoting the right type of downtown.

To me, the biggest challenge was how COVID continued to affect how we could maintain services and maintain the availability of staff. Of course, trying to manage those challenges fell more on staff than on the Council. The biggest effect of COVID was the effect on operations, and I applaud how our staff navigated this.

It was a challenging year, but I felt it was in a sense a good way to finish my tenure. We finalized a lot of things that had been in progress. I think we have provided the new Council with some good tools that they can use to move the community forward. I feel some of these issues were complicated and no one should expect these to be the final word on these issues. A lot will depend on future circumstances but at least we can be well-positioned for the next several years.

Keith Lepsch:

Overall, I would like to start by stating that while I am still gaining experience with the County operations and the government processes, I have been very impressed and pleased by all of the County staff and systems that I have witnessed on my short tenure on the Council.

When I started the first full meetings were budget hearings. For me two highlights: One, the County is in a financially very stable position, two, we approved additional staffing for the Police Department so that officers will never have to be alone on patrol but will always be on shift with at least two officers.

Broadly speaking, we have many wonderful amenities in our community, trails, ice rink, aquatic center, splash pad, etc. I would like to see us keep all of these in excellent shape and improve as we reasonably can.

The Cerro Pelado Wildfire sparked some controversy around trail use, especially during the fire. I think our Fire Chief Troy Hughes made the correct decision for the time in mirroring the closures of all of our surrounding agencies. I’ve been extremely impressed with how the Fire Chief and the Fire Department have reflected on trail closures and balancing safety, our desire to recreate, and have made new proposals for fire season trail management in the future.

The Golf Course. I also started on Council in the middle of the golf course discussion. Essentially, we were faced with two probable safety issues, Diamond Drive and the driving range. So, after two consultants, multiple additional proposals, and multiple discussions we moved to go forward with funding for deferred maintenance without expanding the footprint of the golf course at all.

White Rock Metropolitan Redevelopment Area. This was a positive step that will allow the County to support and hopefully bring new businesses to life in the White Rock downtown area.

Finally, the updates to the County’s Development Code (Chapter 16), and what is often referred to as the Nuisance Code (Chapter 18). I am pleased that we passed this, and I believe that these are significant improvements to both chapters and we are in better shape today than before we passed these updates. We intend to revisit any needed revisions or improvements as they are identified.

Randall Ryti:

Looking back over the last two years, this Council has had a number of challenges and opportunities. Looking at two of main Council and community priorities of increased housing and support for local businesses, we had long term efforts to approve downtown plans and recently approved the new development code. With the new code and Metropolitan Redevelopment Area in White Rock we have emphasized incentives. Other options should be investigated by the new Council to address vacant lands, vacant buildings, and underutilized property.

Among challenges was the failed 20^th Street development project. That brings an opportunity to do something different with greater community input. The Cerro Pelado Fire was our first implementation of the “ready, set, go” framework and daily briefings by the incident teams were well received. But like with anything new we had some lessons learned and we can strive to be more responsive and better communicate with the public. I’m looking forward to continuing to serve on the next Council and work to make improvements to Council and the County for the benefit of all.

Sara Scott:

First, I’d like to thank all of the community members, staff and my fellow Council members who invest their time and energy to actively engage in keeping our community the wonderful place it is to live, work, and play while taking steps to address challenges and make Los Alamos and White Rock even better in the future.

Four years ago, Council pared down more than 20 strategic priorities to seven so that we could focus efforts on key areas of interest to the community. Making progress in these priority areas that include housing, business environment, infrastructure, vacant spaces, inclusivity, social services, sustainability, open spaces, and our historic and cultural amenities often requires work and integration across county government, community organizations, Los Alamos Public Schools, and private business owners and investors. And we’ve seen that happen.

I’ve so much appreciated the opportunity to serve the community on County Council for the past four years – I love the work and it’s been an honor and a pleasure to engage with so many amazing folks and see how many ways they are making a difference in our community. My sincere thanks and admiration go out to all of the talented and dedicated county staff, to so many able and active community volunteers, and all of the others in our town that work every day to keep Los Alamos and White Rock the special place it is and will continue to be.

Melanee Hand:

In 2022, Council achieved many things that will be summarized in more detail in the January 2023 County Manager’s Report and Chairman’s Report; I was glad to be a part of great progress to support open space and recreation initiatives and protection, environmental sustainability, and support for infrastructure improvements, increased housing, and small business success.  This was a challenging year for ongoing supply chain issues and personnel retention that impacted project schedules and community services. I hope we can improve or resolve hiring, procurement, and employee retention challenges, maintain project schedules, and accomplish our goals and priorities in the year to come. As a newly appointed Councilor in 2022, I revisited county government procedures, legislation, and other Councilor interfaces that help me be more effective during my upcoming four-year term.

David Reagor

The thing I am really happy with is the MRA and redevelopment of White Rock. White Rock needs housing and the MRA is a tool to make that happen.

Overall, I am pleased with the results of Chapter 16 and 18. Chapter 16 is not quite done but there has been a lot of momentum and it is the culmination of a lot of work.

Some of the major issues to be addressed are the big vacant areas in White Rock and Mari Mac. I think adding parking can create the ability to put more density into other services. If you add more parking spaces, you allow landlords to do more with development. It’s a key thing the County can do to improve both housing and retail.

The problem we have to address is the Kroger property (by Smith’s Marketplace). There’s a lot of empty spaces. We need to pressure them to get those pads developed. They have to change their attitude.

Denise Derkacs