Montrose council appoints Woodden to District 4, opens at-large seat to applicants
The Montrose City Council on Oct. 6 appointed Adam Woodden to its vacant District 4 seat, a day after he resigned his at-large seat to make the move. The three sitting councilors voted unanimously. The switch opens the at-large seat to any qualified city resident, not only people who live in District 4. Councilor J. David Reed, who proposed the plan at a special meeting Oct. 2, said it gives Woodden no extra time on the council; he faces election in April 2028 either way. "It's much like a lateral transfer," Reed said. He said he didn't think the council could agree on any of the District 4 applicants. "The one thing I would ask you not to do is to blame anybody else but me, because it is my proposal," he said. The council took no public comment on the appointment. Applications for the at-large seat are due by 6 p.m. Oct. 21, and District 4 applications carry over. The council plans to interview candidates and vote Nov. 2. KVNF reported Reed's plan on Oct. 5.
Privacy, insurance and fines shape Paonia's draft short-term rental rules
Paonia's Ad Hoc Short-Term Rental Committee, which is drafting a proposed ordinance for the town's trustees, dropped a provision on Oct. 6 that would have had the town mail written notice to every property owner within 300 feet of a newly registered rental. Members said registered letters would be expensive. Instead, operators would give neighbors, on request, the name and number of a local contact who can be reached around the clock. Privacy concerns came up, too, over a public list of operators' phone numbers. The committee agreed rentals must carry liability insurance, and it backed complaint-based enforcement, with draft penalties running from a written warning to fines of $150 and $300, suspension and revocation. The trustees would set the fines. Paonia voters repealed the town's previous rules in April 2025. The committee meets again Oct. 20.
Paonia's town administrator search asks for "a thick skin"
Paonia trustees on Oct. 6 approved the profile the town will use to recruit its next town administrator. It says the job calls for "a thick skin" and for building trust "following recent turnover and controversy," language trustees chose to keep. The draft profile lists an annual salary of $132,000, with a first review of applications Nov. 1. KVNF reported on the town's hiring of a search firm in September.
You may see smoke: national forests plan prescribed burns through spring 2027
The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests plan prescribed burns this fall, winter and spring, as conditions allow. In KVNF's listening area, that includes about 1,300 acres northeast of Nucla, 862 acres southeast of Ridgway on County Road 12, and two burns totaling about 620 acres northeast of Norwood. Start dates depend on fuel moisture and weather. The Forest Service asks people not to report the fires, because firefighters stay on scene. Updates will be posted on the forests' website and InciWeb, and air quality information is at fire.airnow.gov.
Hinsdale County EMS's interim director on rebuilding a small, mostly volunteer agency
Hinsdale County's emergency medical service had a summer of change: a new chief paramedic, the loss of its remaining EMS captain, and the county commissioners' termination of its EMS director. The commissioners have appointed Chief Paramedic David Jepsen as interim director. Jepsen told KVNF's Laura Palmisano that three people are in advanced EMT training, a fourth plans to start in the spring, and the agency needs more drivers. "We're facing the big rural EMS problem nationwide, and that is people," he said. Read and listen to the full interview.
