A new Rock Creek subdivision seems to be moving forward a lot faster than the Rock Creek development just west of Candelaria Heights, which has been in the works for more than 10 years.

The new one is the old Williams Field Service parcel, now owned by Richard Olguin, at the south edge of town on Highway 172. He wants to subdivide it into three parcels, with the middle one for a Family Dollar store.

The town board discussed it at their July 15 meeting, and it could be on the agenda on Aug. 5. The company apparently is in a hurry.

In his written staff report on July 15, Dan Naiman, the town development coordinator, said developer Dave Murdoch had submitted plans for the store, but construction on the building can't start until the land is subdivided. "In the interim, Richard Olguin will be submitting for permit(s) to begin excavation and installation of utilities, i.e. water, sanitary sewer, gas, etc. That shoud help keep the Family Dollar project on schedule for anticipated completion at the end of summer."

Naiman continued, "The Family Dollar rep has a strict timeline imposed on him. He says he has to have the building up out of the ground in August or he is charged significant fees. What we are proposing is to have Richard Olguin be the permit holder."

This was the first submittal for the subdivision. Naiman said there has to be a hearing on the subdivision, with public notice 30 days in advance. Then the final subdiviision plat can be considered. "I understand the developer's situation, but I don't want to do anything wrong," Naiman said.

Town attorney David Liberman advised: "What I've seen, get the agreement with the preliminary plat, impact fees, required public improvements. I think once the preliminary plat is approved, they can enter a sales contract but can't finalize the sale. I think it makes sense to nail down what will be required with the preliminary plat."

Naiman said he had a template for that but was concerned about the timeline.

Trustee Alison deKay commented, "When we did our house annexation and subdivision, the paperwork took a year."

Olguin responded, "The Dollar Store has been trying to come in here for three years."

Naiman said Family Dollar will put in the water and sewer lines for the other two lots. Olguin said someone is looking at one of those lots to build a 10-unit apartment.

In other action on July 15, trustees voted to join Bayfield, Durango, and the county in seeking voter approval in November to opt out of a 2005 state law that limits local government involvement in providing community broadband service faster than 256K.

Acting Town Manager Kirk Phillips added, "If we had this, we could lay conduit for fiber (optic line) when we do the gas line." Trustees approved a gas line replacement contract on July 1 for a quarter mile of line, most of it from the Hwy. 172/ 151 intersection south to the post office. The stated goal was to have the work done before Labor Day.

Trustees also discussed the contract for interim town manager services to be provided by Pagosa Springs resident Mark Garcia, including how he will be paid for time and mileage to commute from Pagosa. Trustees voted to pay him $100 a day for that instead of time and mileage.