SOUTH FORK— South Fork board members gathered at the Carnegie Library for their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 23. The meeting began with a presentation on the annual audit on the town financial status by Amanda Hensley with Wall, Smith and Bateman.
During her presentation, Hensley stated that the town had no issues with their audit and only needed to be sure to watch their budgets throughout the fiscal year. “The town went over on budget in both the general and Silver Thread fund and though it is not uncommon, the issue could have been resolved with a resolution increasing the budget and we have to report that issue in our audit report,” said Hensley.
Town Manager Dan Hicks explained to the board that because of an increase in funding for both of those accounts late in the budget year, the reports reflected an overage, though there actually was not and that the town financial status is only in the red by about $10,000.
“We received additional funding from the Rio Grande Tourism Board that was placed in the general fund and additional grants that were placed in the Silver Thread fund. The reason it showed an overage is because we did not account for the additional expenditures through a resolution that increased our budget. We will be sure to if this happens again this year,” said Hicks.
The next topic on the agenda was for the board to approve a conditional use liquor license for a new restaurant that will be coming to South Fork. Mountain Pizza and Taproom LLC is scheduled to begin renovating the old gas station located along the frontage road west of town tentatively in June.
Owner Bob Hart spoke on behalf of the establishment during the public hearing stating that the reason for the delay was solely due to a gas leak that had to be inspected before they could begin work on the building. “We are being told that everything will be in order before that time, but June was set as our closing date just in case,” said Hart.
After some questions from the board about what kind of business this was going to be, Hart explained that the restaurant/taproom would be a self-service wine and beer establishment that served pizza and side items.
“We have a restaurant like this in Pagosa Springs and I encourage everyone to make a trip and come see us. We are very unique, and we feel that it will be a huge benefit to the South Fork area,” said Hart.
After the hearing, board members voted to approve the conditional use license, with the stipulation that Hart must return in the future for a full approval once the building was in his possession.
More information on the new business will be reported as it comes available.