The proposed Tri-County Head Start relocation that was tabled earlier this month following outcry from residents of East Third Avenue and the surrounding library neighborhood appears to be back on track.
Durango City Council approved a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 4 where an ordinance for a lease agreement between the city and Head Start will be introduced. Staff will explain the project and residents will have the opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns.
Residents turned out to the City Council meeting Tuesday to vent their frustrations about how the Head Start proposal did not appear to be separated from a workforce housing proposal involving the construction of housing units on the site of Head Start’s current location at 2019 East Third Ave.
Resident Kelly Haun, who provided The Durango Herald with emails between her and the city, inquired with City Manager José Madrigal why the Engage Durango website still describes the Head Start project as a two-phase child care and housing project.
Durango Community Engagement Specialist Klancy Nixon told Haun that the website has not been updated to reflect the city’s decision to split the project into two separate proposals.
“We wanted to keep the page as it was for a bit of time to make sure our community understands the recent history of the project, before shifting and making updates to the project online,” Nixon said.
She said the city has a meeting planned for Friday to discuss the project timeline and to identify public engagement opportunities. The discussion will involve the project description on Engage Durango.
“The website will be updated to rename the project page, etc. after our meeting. The proposal for Tract F has been withdrawn, we just haven't updated the Engage page to reflect that yet,” she said.
Other residents voiced similar concerns on Tuesday.
East Second Avenue resident Martha Abers asked City Council to again table the Head Start lease ordinance, stating neighbors aren’t OK with the city taking action on the ordinance until they are assured their wishes to separate the child care and housing projects so they can be reviewed and approved or rejected individually.
“When we looked at the Engage Durango site, however, it’s all just pretty much the same. And so we’re just assuming that either your stance is the same or you haven’t been able to change that yet,” she said.
She said residents still have many questions about parking, such as whether street parking will be utilized and if anything conflicts with existing contracts between the city and business owners near the library.
Madrigal said City Council tabled the ordinance concerning a potential lease agreement between the city and Head Start, adding it would be inappropriate for staff to alter the ordinance before it was reviewed by the councilors at a public meeting. But when the ordinance is introduced on Sept. 4, if council so chooses, it could amend the ordinance to reflect the public’s requests.
Head Start Executive Director Lisa Stone said Head Start serves children and families in Montezuma, La Plata and Archuleta counties and has been operating for over 30 years.
“The location that we’re in, we serve families through a hundred-year-old house and two modulars,” she said. “I say to people all the time, ‘We have put as much lipstick on these buildings as possible, and it’s just time to do something different.’”
She said the Head Start organization encouraged her to submit an application to build a new home for Head Start in Durango, a very rare opportunity “in the Head Start world” where modular units are typically preferred over new brick and mortar facilities.
“I’m here tonight to say, first of all, thank you to the city of Durango for all their support in our current location and that we’re very excited about the possibility of building new construction,” she said.
La Plata County resident and fierce child care advocate Tiffany Chacon attended the City Council meeting to defend the Head Start proposal.
She said Head Start provides a crucial service in Durango and La Plata County, targeting child care needs for people at and below the poverty line. It also provides for children with high-qualifying factors such as cases of trauma and offers care not available at home, she added.
“I myself was a single mother. I have those high-qualifying factors as well. I was working two jobs with twins and I did not receive a call at all (from Head Start) because they do not have space, period,” she said. “If they were able to move to this location, they’d be able to double their capacity and serve 45 more children every single day.”
She said Head Start needs to start securing funding for the relocation right now, adding that blocking forward progress is the wrong call.
“Why should child care be stopped because you don’t know the system on how to engage?” she said. “I highly encourage the city to figure out how to share that system, share that engagement opportunity, with our community members so that they see they do have the opportunity to engage, to provide feedback and to shape the way that whatever happens, happens. But do not stop the creation of this new child care opportunity that can really impact our community.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
