Mancos trustees face an Oct. 31 deadline on Proposition 123

The Mancos Board of Trustees meets Wednesday with eight days left on a state deadline that decides whether the town can apply for Proposition 123 affordable-housing money, according to the agenda packet the town posted Thursday evening.

The board will take up Resolution 11, Series 2026, which would set out expedited review policies for affordable housing projects — the step the state requires of a town opting in to Proposition 123, the 2022 measure that set aside part of state income tax revenue for affordable housing.

“If the Board wishes to move in this direction, we must adopt the attached resolution no later than 10/31/2026 in order to be eligible for future funding,” Town Administrator Heather Alvarez wrote in her staff report.

Her report sets out what opting in commits the town to. The state is requiring Mancos to produce 14 affordable dwelling units over three years. The town currently has four that qualify. Alvarez wrote that she is asking the state for a good-faith waiver to cut the number required, and that missing the target carries no penalty — the town would simply not be eligible for money until the next round opens.

The report also traces how Mancos got here. The board has already put affordable and workforce housing language in its land use code, stopping at land banking and saying it did not want to be responsible for construction, development or property management. In 2024, with a state planning grant, the town adopted several state-approved housing strategies. The wish to opt in to Proposition 123 came out of a joint workshop with the Mancos School District.

Signing off on the water plant

The board will also consider Resolution 10, Series 2026, formally accepting the completion of a construction contract with TKF Contracting Inc. of Lewis.

The work — renovating the water treatment plant, adding a water tank and other improvements to the town’s water system — was paid for through a loan the board took from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority. The packet puts the resource impact at approximately $2.6 million and describes the resolution as final project and loan close-out. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment requires the town to accept the construction by resolution now that the project is finished, the staff report says.

The draft resolution in the packet records the construction as performed from July 6, 2021, with the end date left blank for the board to fill in.

The rest of the agenda

• A housing needs assessment presentation from Shak Powers of Region 9, allotted 15 minutes.
• A Mancos Summer Hub presentation from Katie McClure, allotted 10 minutes.
• An update from the Montezuma County commissioners.
• A comprehensive plan discussion, listed with the two resolutions under discussion and action items.
• A consent agenda carrying the October 14 minutes and the SWORD committee report. SWORD is the Southwest Opioid Response District, a regional board whose members include public health directors and county officials from across south-west Colorado.
• An executive session on the town administrator’s evaluation, called under the state open meetings law’s personnel exception. The agenda says any action on a contract and compensation would be taken in the public meeting.

The agenda also lists what is coming on November 11: a workshop on the proposed 2027 budget, a further comprehensive plan discussion and an ordinance adopting the 2024 Model Traffic Code.

If you want to go

A board workshop starts at 5 p.m. in the Town Hall board room, 117 N. Main St., on the subject of Mancos United. The agenda says workshops are open to the public but are for board discussion only, and that public comment is not taken at them. The regular meeting follows at 6 p.m. and does take public comment, limited to five minutes a person on items not on the agenda and three minutes on public hearing items.

The town also posted a notice Thursday evening that its Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of October 21 was cancelled.

The agenda packet is on the town’s agendas and minutes page.