PRIORITIES, PRIORITIES

Last week, the Mammoth Lakes Town Council voted on a list of priorities to focus on in the new year. Chief among them was public safety, with an emphasis on emergency management and risk mitigation. 

Aptly so, given the sobering Pack Fire in November and ski patroller Cole Murphy’s tragic avalanche related death in December.

“Over the holiday, we lost two members of our community,” Councilmember John Wentworth said. “That public safety thing takes on a different context.”

The goal of establishing clear town objectives is to allow town staff and council to appropriately allocate financial and staff resources, according to the staff report from last week’s meeting.

The town priorities, which also highlighted bolstering municipal services, community investment, and recreation amenities and programs, were initially presented at the Dec. 19, 2025 meeting. 

Key details included that the town will continue to implement its “Housing Now!” project, focusing on creating affordable housing for the “missing middle,” meaning individuals who earn between 100% and 120% of the area median income (AMI). The town also plans to increase utilization of the Mammoth Yosemite Airport, develop the Town’s emergency response team, augment emergency management operations, public notification technology, and bolster education efforts.

The edits to the December priorities included a draft of an AI policy, centering how the town will engage with changing technology, and an effort to include more Spanish-language offerings.

Another update from last week’s council meeting? 

Snowplow problems, explained Lawson Reif, Outdoor Recreation Manager. This snowcat is responsible for grooming the Sherwin Meadows, as well as the motorized system between Mammoth Lakes and June Lake, east and west of Highway 395.

“About a week and a half ago, we basically had the track fall off,” Reif said.

Reif and his team quickly called Kässbohrer, the company responsible for repairing Pistenbully’s main engines.

“They didn’t fix it well.” Reif said. “Track fell off again.”

Kässbohrer admitted to their mistakes, Reif explained, and is now back in Mammoth, repairing the snowcat free of charge.