MV City Council approves new repair shop

MONTE VISTA — At the Monte Vista City Council meeting a public hearing was held for a special review use for a repair shop at 1636 Grande Ave. Applicant Neil Gatrell is in the process of purchasing the building with his partner Tammy Foresyth. They would like to use the building for 4X4 repairs, upgrades, and modifications.

“They have declared that in the future they would also put retail shops inside the building within the middle part of the building,” City Clerk Unita Vance informed the council during the hearing.

Gatrell who has done this work for 15 years in North Carolina shared some of their plans for the building saying, “We really want to open up that building. It’s been a bit of an eyesore.”

Gatrell later added, “We’d like to get the city involved. We’d like to have the high school paint the inside of the building. And kind of reface it, make it look a little better. It sits right as you walk into Monte Vista. It doesn’t put our best foot forward.”

Foresyth added, “We thought it would be a really cool idea cause it’s kind of the first thing you see when you come into Monte Vista. That end of the building maybe the senior art class could come and do a mural or even the other side where that little park is. I think it would be cool to have a big crane scene.”

The pair told the council that they have a YouTube channel which can be found at www.youtube.com/user/TheJeepMomma. They shared that last year they were able to take two fully sponsored trips through their channel. Their channel has also given them ties across the four-wheel community nationwide.

“Same thing with our YouTube and social media, and our following there. We’d like to start bringing some of the people into this area. Kind of spur some economic development. And kind of open up the trails system here in Monte Vista. We have a great trail system here in Monte Vista. We’d like to open up that and kind of bring people into this area and the building is just too big for one business. We have a machine shop that’s ready to move in. We’re waiting on the approval from you guys to put a machine shop in there. We have another fella that buys and sells used parts that’s ready to rent inside space,” Gatrell said.

Gatrell added that over the course of the next year they would like to house three to five other businesses in the building.

“We’d like to create a more centralized shopping location. I know you women are thrilled about getting your oil changed so it would kind of give us a chance to get the guys getting their oil changed and while they’re getting their oil changed, they’ll have a retail space where they can maybe find a consignment shop or grab a sandwich or a cup of coffee,” Gatrell said.

During the hearing, they were also asked by City Attorney Mike Trujillo if they anticipate having employees.

“I currently have two employees now, and we would like to add more employees to that list,” Gatrell answered.

Later during the hearing, they also shared how they were interested in possibly having classes.

“We also want to promote tread lightly to do classes, recovery classes,” Foresyth said. “How to wheel properly, how to recover your vehicle safely, and we would open this up to the community.”

They also shared how Monte Vista has a great number of off-road trails, and how they would like to establish a relationship with the local Forest Service.

“We’d like to reach out to the forestry service and say, ‘How can we help you maintain these trails? How can we help you clean up these trails? How can we make these trails safer for hunters, fishers, people that enjoy four-wheel drive,’” Gatrell said.

During the hearing, members of the public expressed their support for the new business. Newly elected Rio Grande County Commissioner for District 1 Scott Deacon said, “As most people know me, I love hot rods and that kind of stuff and these people are right up that alley. And they’ve got some good plans. Four-wheel drive stuff and I think it will fit in good with the community and I am glad to see that they picked us instead of somewhere else.”

Citizen Margo Alexander also spoke in support.

“I drive past that place every day and to see that there’s activity and something positive going in, thank you, Lord. Good luck to you and I’m all in favor,” Alexander said.

Jim Clare, who is on the Chamber of Commerce’s board, said, “What we’re looking at it’s a possibility of bringing in new money. It’s a specialized trade something that’s nowhere in the Valley. And he can bring people in not only from the state but out of the state.”

Clare added that Gatrell came to a Chamber meeting and gave a presentation, and they have people interested in being a part of what they’re doing.

Councilor Martha Lock moved to approve their special review use. Mayor Pro Tem Victor Sigala seconded it. The motion passed to approve with the entire council voting yes.