ALAMOSA — Alamosa City Council started Wednesday night's meeting with a proclamation designating the week of March 9-15 as AmeriCorps Week 2025. The proclamation, signed by Mayor Pro Tem Liz Hensley in Mayor Coleman's absence, heralded AmeriCorps as a smart investment in local communities that also creates service opportunities that strengthen communities and expand pathways to education, careers, and civic participation for 200,000 volunteers each year. 

A second proclamation was signed designating March 12 as Mayors Day of National Service Recognition Day. After Councilor Jackie Vigil read the proclamation, Mayor Coleman, who was attending virtually, praised all the city's volunteers who work together for the good of all. 

As is procedure with consent calendars, the city council approved by a single unanimous vote two resolutions. The first resolution, No. 5-2025, authorized council to execute the deed to the Old Walsh Hotel and adjoining parking lot, which is part of the agreement reached between the city and developer Manny Patel in building a hotel downtown. In that same vote, the council approved a second resolution authorizing approval of the city's three-mile annexation plan. That plan must be approved before the city can consider annexing any new lands. 

Maria Kramer, library manager, and William Krebs, president of the Library Board made a presentation to council highlighting the issues and numerous accomplishments and advances that have taken place at the library in the past year. Krebs first brought up the passage of Colorado SB24-216 that safeguard libraries encountering people advocating for censorship. Library programs were also mentioned including the library's quilting program, book club and origami classes. 

It was also shared that participation at the library is approaching the pre-pandemic level with more and more patronage. Other services that may not be widely known were mentioned, including the opportunity for members of the public to rent a DVD player or a Blu-ray player. The Alamosa Public Library is also offering an increasing number of free services to community members, such as growing computer literacy, free help with taxes and scholarships to attend free, self-paced certification classes that can greatly improve a person's marketability in the job market.  

Councilors praised Kramer for her work, including Councilor Vigil who said he sees people walking into the library "all the time". Councilor Dominguez praised Kramer, saying she "not only brought the community into the library, [she] brought the library to the community" by having a strong presence at multiple public functions.  

Rachel James, director of Development Services, requested that the council waive the building and excavation permit fees for Alamosa County, which is repurposing a vacant bank building downtown to serve as new offices for the District Attorney, her staff, and, eventually, agents with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The council approved the request. 

James also asked the council to authorize city staff to apply for a Rural Development Initiative grant in support of the Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley's construction of a childcare center. The council voted to authorize staff to apply. 

With the exception of Councilor Jan Vigil, all councilors were present at the meeting, including Mayor Ty Coleman and Councilor Jamie Dominguez. Vigil's absence was excused.