Los Alamos Resident Helen Milenski updates the County Council on Citizens in Action’s survey regarding the County’s enforcement program. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Code enforcement continues to be a hotly debated and discussed issue. During the regular County Council meeting Oct. 10, both County staff and members of the public spoke about the issue.

During public comment, Los Alamos resident Helen Milenski updated County Council on a community survey she and other members of the group, Citizens in Action, created and distributed.

“Less than two days ago, I started up a survey and I distributed this through local media … as well as through several social media outlets. One of the interesting things that was told to me before I did this was I wasn’t going to get much response because no one really cared about it … apparently the only people who care about it are a handful of rebel rousers who are all on social media,” Milenski said.

“I have almost 700 responses in less than 48 hours. Let that sink in because that number is more than the number of survey responses that you guys got in 2016 for your focus survey … I think the anticipation of response over the ordinance issue is going to be overwhelming whenever we do finally get all the data analyzed … we are getting a very good, fair and broad response from not just a handful of rebel rousers. And I think it would do good for all of the County to take a look at it and reflect on this matter,” she said.

Later in the meeting, Milenski asked if Council could invite Citizens in Action to present its case during a future meeting. She said it would help provide balance and give the Council all the facts.  

County Manager Harry Burgess also provided information to the Council on code enforcement. During his manager’s report, Burgess provided a few numbers regarding code enforcement activity between May 8 through Sept. 25.

The total number of notices were 1,005. Of those notices, 127 went to commercial properties, 870 were for residences and eight went to County properties. The majority of these notices dealt with weeds, Burgess reported. There were 349 notices distributed regarding weeds. Other major offenses involved trash and debris with 201 notices, exterior protective treatment totaled 137 notices and notices regarding outdoor storage materials totaled 112 notices.

Of these notices, 45 resulted in citations and one lead to increased court sanctions, Burgess reported. The total revenue from the code enforcement since Jan. 1 totaled $2,774.

In looking at whether Los Alamos is more severe than other communities in code enforcement, Burgess said he did a quick web search and found that Santa Fe, Espanola and Albuquerque had similar types of code enforcement but more information is being sought. He added Los Alamos is the fourth jurisdiction he has worked in and every municipality he worked at previously had a code enforcement program.

“Ultimately, our goal, however, is to obtain compliance, to address safety issues and beautify the town,” Burgess said.

In other business, Council approved the transfer of ownership of a liquor license to Pajarito Spirits, LLC. Additionally, Councilor Chris Chandler asked if a future agenda item could include an update on the Pajarito Mountain transaction. She asked if the discussion could include the corporation that purchased the ski area, the ski club as well as hear from relevant County staff. Chandler added she would like to hear about the plans for the Hilltop House Hotel.