Mammoth’s Town Council gets down to CBIZ-ness

Even when its meetings are shorter than usual (90 minutes), Mammoth Lakes Town Council is always good for a little controversy (and copy).During Public Comment, former Mobility Commissioner Eric Wasserman formally expressed his disapproval of the way communication was handled when notifying commissioners of Council’s intention to dissolve the Mobility and Airport commissions. Wasserman said he felt insulted and disrespect after receiving a Dec. 26 e-mail regarding Council’s intention to begin the dissolution process.Apparently, Wasserman replied to the e-mail, asking for Council to delay taking up the matter until he could return to town and speak on the matter in person. Wasserman said he received no reply from Council or staff.He went on to suggest that, after studying the world financial markets, that money is soon to be coming back into the Mammoth community, and that the already busy Planning Commission doesn’t need to be burdened with traffic issues.Mayor Matthew Lehman apologized for any disrespect shown to any of the commissioners, which he said was not intended. Lehman said the world economy might be stabilizing, but Mammoth’s is not stable yet, needing every dollar it can get back at the present time. Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht also acknowledged the entire matter could have been handled better and took some of the responsibility for the poor communications, adding his apologies as well.

Mammoth might be leaning toward more solar power options. Earlier, during a Council study session review of Public Works, Transportation and the Airport, part of the Town’s restructuring process, Lehman cited a recent tour of the Mammoth Community Water District’s solar power array, and suggested it might be worth looking into a similar array to augment power at the Mammoth Yosemite Airport.

In addition, Councilmember Michael Raimondo and Public Works Director Ray Jarvis said the Town is also exploring adding solar-powered street lamps in some of Mammoth’s darker areas. Solar-powered street lamp lighting has proven to be successful on the Cerro Coso College connector paths.

Council also determined that the Community Benefits Incentive Zoning proposal for a Mammoth Creek Inn Expansion project was suitable to be forwarded to the Planning Commission for its review. The Inn, located on Old Mammoth Road across from The Stove, is planning three new buildings with 12 new condo-hotel rooms, which would have views of the Sherwins.

The only hitch would mean increased density, requiring a variance. The Inn currently has 26 rooms, and the additional rooms would bring that total to 38. Given the site’s acreage, 31 rooms is the property’s allowable density. CBIZ provides allowance for the applicant to pay an in-lieu fee to cover the increased density. Based on the projected net return for the project, the fee would be about $6,000, possibly less.

Council expressed some reservations at the relatively small amount of the fee, and also that the rooms would also be able to be resold, meaning Transient Occupancy Tax would be lost and such a sale wouldn’t benefit the Town. Steven Hakim, one of the Inn’s owners, said his family has no plans to sell any of the rooms, at least not in the near future. He also suggested that even if they were sold, he envisions a scenario under which the units would stay on the hotel’s register and therefore be eligible for TOT generation. “We have small rooms already,” Hakim said. “With this expansion, we are looking to bring in families on a larger scale, and bring in more life to the hotel.”

Understructure parking is a component to the expansion, which Hakim seeks to tie in with the new Mammoth Rock ‘N Bowl Center, already under construction. Hakim said a projected timeline is still in the works, and that no construction bids have as yet been solicited. He does, however, anticipate using local contractors for the project.

(Photo: Geisel)