You're live.
Good afternoon. Welcome to the Las
Cruus's City of Las Cruis's work
session. Today is Monday, February 9th,
2026. It's approximately 100 p.m.
Mountain Standard Time. I am John Munoz,
Mayor Prom. our uh mayor will be in
shortly. Uh let's start with a moment of
silence for the brave men and women of
the United States Armed Forces as they
protect our interests around the globe
and our courageous men and women of the
Lustrus's Police Department and Fire
Department.
Please join me in the pledge of
allegiance
of the United States of America. and to
the rep for it stands nationy
andice for all.
All right. As we begin the the meeting,
um
I'll take a motion if someone would move
to allow Councelor Beno to participate
via Zoom.
So moved.
Second.
Moved and second.
This is on the motion to allow councelor
Bencomo to attend the meeting via zoom.
Councelor McClure,
yes.
Councelor Matise is absent. Councelor
Harris,
yes.
Councelor Ben Ko, I don't think she's on
yet, so absent for now. Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
And mayor, did you want to vote on this
one?
No. [laughter]
Perfect timing.
Yes.
All right. Motion carries.
All right. I'll turn it over to the
mayor now as we go into jobs of the week
with Sarah.
Thank you so much.
Good afternoon everybody. My name is
Sarah Rainey and I'm the onetop
coordinator for the Southwest Region of
America's job centers.
For jobs of the week, we have a utility
service worker for the city of Los Cusus
starting at 1807 an hour. That posting
closes on the 23rd. We also have a
public works inspector for the water
wastewater department starting at 2379
an hour and it closes on the 16th. We
have a sales rep um the relief large
grocery mass merch merchandise for free
for 2820 an hour starting that one
closes at um on the 6th of March.
We have an institution liaison and
receptionist for Pinnacle Institute.
That one starts at $15.90 an hour and
closes on the 22nd. A commercial driver,
part a part-time commercial driver for
AutoZone, depending on experience is
what they pay. And then it ends in
March. And then a medical intake
specialist for Delva physical therapy
and hand therapy starting at 33 a year.
And that one closes in March as well.
Just a reminder, um we have our
mockatilia rocket where we have all of
our local juniors and seniors come in
and practice their interview skills and
get a little um practice on presentation
of themselves, asking questions, and
just presenting themselves
professionally. We are asking for
volunteers. We have had a couple of the
city council members sign up. So, thank
you guys so much for doing that. It's
really exciting. Um, these juniors,
juniors and seniors really look forward
to this and it's really eye opening for
them. They get really nervous for the
first interview and we encourage them to
have three of them. By the third one,
they think they've got every job they're
going to apply to. So, [laughter]
we like to give them that practice and
let them, you know, experience it in a
practice setting. Um, and then just a
reminder, every Monday we have ALPS in
our office. They are doing onboarding in
our office from 9:00 to 2 every Monday.
So come in, check that out if that's
something that you're looking for. And
then on the 25th, we have an employer in
office meet and greet where we have um
different employers from our local area
come in and present their opportunities.
So if anybody's interested, feel free to
check it all out on employee&mm.com that
has all of our um local events and then
the events throughout the southwest as
well as our social media. So thank you
very much.
Thank you, Sarah.
Next is the agenda item 3.1, the
proposed GRT priority projects. Uh,
Chris Favor.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.
Hello, I'm Chris Faber, community
development director.
Okay.
All right. Good afternoon, everyone.
So, I thought we would pick up this
discussion right where we left off the
budget retreat,
[clears throat]
which was a discussion about the pay as
you go funding and then a decision that
seemed like there was consensus around
as far as the bonding goes to put 60% of
the bonding um money towards maintenance
projects and then 40% towards new
projects. So starting from that point, I
did want to go back in and just kind of
give a little bit of a of a overview on
the GRT
um and just kind of, you know, just
provide a little bit more context. So we
started collecting the funds last year.
Uh we're generating about 1.1 million
per month.
And so between when we started
collecting and June of 2027, we'll
probably bring in an estimated about
24.6 6 million.
For the bonding portion of it, there is
an $8.8 million um debt service payment
and that will allow us to tap into about
$20 million every two years. That leaves
about $15.8 million in what's called pay
as you go and that's basically the GRT
funds that are not obligated to the bond
debt service.
And then moving forward beyond um July
of next year, basically into FY28,
you're looking at your bond debt
service. And then roughly, you know, the
remaining balance there that could go
towards pay as you go. But I do want to
caution everybody that that 4.4 is just
an estimate. It could go up or down just
depending on what those collections are,
but the debt payment will be roughly
what we are obligating to there.
So, the first things I wanted to talk to
you about were the pay as you go
project. And so, a bulk of that could go
towards deferred maintenance of city
facilities. Uh, you know, right off the
bat, there's $8 million [clears throat]
needed for roofing projects alone. So,
there's a there's a wide variety of
projects that could be funded. Um when
it comes to those facility maintenance
projects,
another top priority project, this was a
street project, but that's to redo the
Hogland Alama intersection there. Um and
then putting $5 million towards five
fire department apparatus and then $5
million towards both vehicles for the
police department and a portion of that
towards the driving track. I believe
Chief Daniels talked a little bit about
the fire apparatus at the budget
retreat, but basically, you know, there
was a few years where we didn't order um
some of the apparatus that were needed.
So, this is kind of making up for some
of those years that we didn't. And
similarly for the vehicles in the police
department.
So, moving on to recommendations for
bonding, specifically the 60% that would
go towards maintenance. That works out
to be about $12 million.
Recommendations here are $5 million to
go to fire station one improvements.
Anything from the heating and cooling,
plumbing, utilities, re-roof, there's
there's an extensive list of
improvements that need to be made over
there. Uh we're also recommending $4
million to go towards general street
maintenance. Uh this would be for
projects that are you know part of the
pavement condition index program which
determines which streets need to be
priority and and what sort of processes
need to be implemented to deal with the
conditions uh on those streets that have
been identified.
We're recommending 2.4 million to go
towards public safety fleet upkeep. This
would be over two years and this breaks
down to about $600,000 per year for each
police and fire and that will allow them
to keep up with fleet maintenance so we
don't fall behind like we've done in the
previous years. And then the balance of
that we are making a recommendation of
$600,000 for additional facility
maintenance specifically towards ADA
compliance on city facilities.
So, moving on to bonding the 40% new
projects gives us about $8 million. And
I've just listed several projects that
were kind of priority that have been
identified through the process. Um,
again, putting more money towards road
reconstruction,
uh, money towards the joint public
safety training facility, uh, $2 million
towards Bruin and Motel Road
improvements. in that project
specifically is if parks moves forward
with either a park build out of the land
that they purchased over there or some
sort of a recreational facility in that
area. Uh improvements to that road would
needed would be needed to handle the
additional capacity. Potentially putting
some money towards municipal court
design. public works has worked up kind
of a loose estimate of how big a
facility would need to be roughly 25,000
square feet and based on the going rate
for um you know designing construction
per square foot you're looking at about
22 to $25 million for a new municipal
facility you could put money towards
starting that design process um again
additional park projects there's there's
a long list of park projects that could
use funding so you could put money there
again there's also a lot of um current
projects on the CIP that that could use
specific um funding to fill some of
those gaps. Maybe they just need a few
hundred,000 to complete them. That could
be money dedicated specifically to
checking off some of those and then
putting money towards the Angler Road
extension. Overall, that's about a $24
million project, but I think there's
some interest at the state level to
maybe kick in some money. So, if we were
able to put some money towards that, um
that could possibly, you know, get us
more money uh from the state level. So
that's really the last slide I had. I
kind of wanted to leave it on this slide
and sort of turn it over for discussion
amongst council. Really what we kind of
need today from a staff perspective is
we need to get some consensus on pay as
you go projects and then the bonding
projects in order for staff to move
forward with you know budget adjustments
and other things. So if we can come out
of here with consensus on all those
areas or some of those areas that would
be very beneficial towards the process.
So I will stand for questions.
Yeah. Thank you, Chris. Uh, council
clerk.
Thank you, mayor. Um, [snorts] I know at
the budget retreat we talked a little
bit about um traffic calming and I felt
like there were a couple of places where
that might go if that is in new projects
sort of under re road reconstruction or
is it under streets maintenance? But I
think all of us kind of spoke to the
need for traffic calming and where we
can kind of enable that with either new
funding or but I I would also say just
to wrap my little area up here. I think
the MUN court's important. I think parks
design is important and I also think
closing out some of the current CIP
things where we have projects that we
can kind of do quickly kind of goes
along with what I was saying too with
the budget retreat. Thank you.
Councelor Harris.
Um, thanks. So, yeah, I would also like
to make sure that we get something for
parks on it. I think that was in the
language of the of the measure to
approve the GRT. Um, and I'm also in
favor of closing CIP gaps. And uh also
wanted to remind about traffic calming
because that's a big important thing to
me as well.
And actually I guess if you could maybe
remind us all and members of the public
what kind of what the language was when
we approved um this GRT increase.
Certainly, Mayor Councelor Harris, I
believe it was, um, you know, funds
dedicated to capital improvements
specific to, um, parks, street
improvements, uh, and public safety, and
then other public facilities as well.
So, it it was new capital and
maintenance that kind of covered that
broad range. That's not exactly the
language, but those were the major
milestones within the verbiage.
Yeah. Thanks, um, Michael Harris again
for the record. Um, yeah. I just want to
make sure that we're we hit all of those
things. Parks, public safety, street
improvements. Um, since that's what we
we asked people for. Um, that's what
they said we get. So, we should do it.
Council current.
Sorry, Mayor Promos had his button on.
Okay. Um, thank you for this. I um also
want to speak to the the Bruins Motel
Road. I know that rec centers were a
large overwhelmingly supported component
of the um
public input sessions that we did uh as
well as our commitment to focusing on
things with youth. So, for me, the I
really want to speak to the Bruins Motel
um specific
road improvements as they gesture toward
a future of a rec center or a
significant park buildup in that area,
which I think is historically
underserved um for with parks and
recreation opportunities. And I would
also add the Ingler
extension I think is um somewhat
specific to my district but also a huge
kind of demand and uh corresponding
um
investment that the New Mexico
Department of Transportation will be
making related the the Anglr interchange
is supposed to start in 2027. Um, and so
that and people in my district, the the
single biggest thing aside from uh
neighborhood traffic calming, which I
would also say is is the thing that
folks are looking for is the uh
increasing danger of having a large
population that has only one ingress and
egress. And I think I've heard this from
the fire department as well and and
they're thinking about um the East Mesa
specifically. So I just wanted to speak
to that angler gesture toward a large
project that I think we should be
investing in that that we can um magnify
the money related to that. So
uh other than that I echo what a lot of
my colleagues say, but I do want to
elevate rec centers as the thing that
many many people in the public mentioned
and I think um
the Bruins and Motel road improvements
is where that appears in this new
funding. So, I hope we can consider that
public input.
Councelor Bencomo, if you're on
Yes, I hope you can hear me.
My Wi-Fi is very bad. So, is can folks
hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Thank you. Um, I just wanted to clarify,
are you asking for further guidance at
this point? because I can also share
some thoughts. I just I wanted to
clarify um what the ask is right now.
Mayor Councelor Ben Como, yes, we are
we're looking for for further direction.
If you have other items you would like
to discuss as well, by all means, these
were just recommendations based on some
of the information we've pulled together
during this process.
I understand. Thank you, Chris. I you
know I really appreciated that staff
taken um you know at the budget retreat
being open to the 6040 switch for you
know maintenance and existing
infrastructure versus new
infrastructure. I think from what I see
certainly in the city, I've said this
before that there is a clear
infrastructure emergency and so that
needs to
um really be you know um
taken seriously and so I think want to
make sure that municipal court is on
that list that our road conditions are
on that list and that we are addressing
the issues in parks. And um to me that's
really critical. And so I think the
other part of you know when we went to
the public and said public safety I also
think that means um traffic calming.
We've seen the number of pedestrian
accidents where our people been injured
or even worse killed. And and so to me
that also means public safety. Public
safety also means our firehouses. And um
I think those are really important you
know pieces for us to continue to
highlight when it comes to new some of
the new infrastructure for me. It was
very clear that actually and then back
in the you know um in the 60% of
maintenance the library obviously right
like that is a very clear ask from the
community in terms of new
infrastructure. Um, as councelor Corin
said, recreational centers were a really
big ask and that was a very popular ask
for our constituents, especially
constituents who don't have access to um
as many parks in their communities as
other potentially other neighborhoods um
in the city do. And so, yes, I'm going
to continue to advocate for rec center
on um the west part of town and to make
sure that, you know, that moves forward.
And then I I think what I'm about to say
now may be a little bit controversial
and again I want to caveat that. I also
want to note that the public safety um
building complex that only one counselor
during the budget session had that on
their priority list. And now I I mean I
know that if you maybe asked for that
consensus today, you could potentially
get a um majority support for that. But
I did just I wanted to note that because
I noticed that that only one counselor
had that on their list and that
obviously this is a m very much a staff
priority but it was also not a priority
largely by the public when we went out
to the public and asked them to um you
know name their support systems. And
then the last thing I'll say is that I
think you know we want to make sure that
whatever we can do to ensure our water
like our utilities um infrastructure is
taken care of to me that is all very
important. So I don't know if that's any
more guidance. I just I wanted to note
that and I think if you say well you
know public safety we have to address
something and we are right like the
racetrack that has been very clearly an
urgent request that has been made and
we've been making it to the legislator
then we're making it through this
process and that to me felt like the
most clear it has a plan. It's needed
now um that can move forward and um to
me the public safety complex was just
not there. And again, I'm just one voice
though naming that during the budget
retreat. Um, that was not something
highlighted by most folks.
And thank you, Chris, and you know, the
whole staff for getting us here.
Mayor Pro.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, Chris and Leslie
and staff, thank you very much for
putting this together as well. I'm glad
that the Angler Road extension is on
there. Um
I um very close to um coun um councelor
Karen's district and so I travel in and
about and and we need we need some help
there. Um also happy to see the parks
projects uh road construction road
calming and road repair on the list as
well. So um for Chief Daniels uh in
Chief Story I know we we talked about um
design
along with the training track for the
joint public safety training facility.
Um you know one thought that I do have
have in mind is could we if it makes
sense overall and I would like our uh my
colleagues to to weigh in as well. Would
it make sense to to um build now um and
uh rather than design and and take that
further down yours? Does it make sense
to to do it um have a building now that
that's a training facility that would
make sense to to get to um fruition
sooner rather than later and probably
save us some money in the long term? And
Chris, you can weigh in as well if you
want to, but really want to talk to the
subject matter experts. Uh both chiefs
Chief Story, go ahead.
Thank you, Mayor Mayor Prom. Jeremy
Story, please chief for the record.
That's a a very good point. I think
we've been dealing with, you know,
dilapidated double wide for a long long
time. I think mayor went through I don't
know if you went through the academy
there or not, but um we're used to kind
of beg begging and borrowing anything we
can to accomplish training for so long
that what we really want is a place to
actually do the training. It doesn't
have to be fancy. We don't need a Taj
Mahal. Doesn't have to be bougie. We
just want to get the training done. So,
Chief Daniels and I actually were
talking about this last week and trying
to find a way to instead of taking 3
million for design, which is a lot of
money just for design. I I admit that.
I'd rather put that money into getting
something that achieves the purpose now,
like a metal building, a modular build
or pre-fabricated metal building that
does what we need to do without all the
bells and whistles. And I think I'll let
Chief Daniel speak to it. I mean, that's
what fire has been leasing for a lot of
money for a few years is essentially a
metal building. And it's important the
training building is not just meant to
be a training building. and it's meant
to accomplish the logistics piece,
especially for fire that they're using
the other building for right now. So, I
I would support that. I think that's a
really good idea. Mayor Prom,
Chief Daniels,
Mayor Mayor Prom, Mike Daniels, fire
chief for the record.
Um, no, I just wanted to uh uh just to
echo chief's story. I think the
naturally what we've seen is uh and what
we're learning with even our regular
facilities, the cost of construction
doesn't get any less. Um and it seems to
increase quite rapidly. U just the
difference between station three and
station 9 a few years apart is in the
millions in construction increases for a
station that's not much bigger. So, I
think the more we continue to push it
down, one, we're continuing to invest
$18,000 a month in a facility that we
don't own, that's that's our lease um
amount, which is up in July for for
renewal. [snorts]
But the and we've been in the same boat.
We've been in a we we've been kicked out
of some facilities that had other plans
and uh we've been forced to lease
buildings over the years. Uh the first
one was significantly smaller, still
quite expensive. Then we moved to Valley
Drive as we were growing and our
facility needs were growing and our
fleet wasn't [snorts] able to work on
our vehicles in their in their
facilities. So it's we look at it as
very much a a not just police fire but
it's also solving a fleet problem and
and I agree that there is a a mechanism
where we can look at some fabricated
buildings and maybe reduce the cost and
get something functional understanding
that we may be able to add on and the
design side once we get it designed it
positions us well for being able to
request capital outlay um because we're
we continue to be told shovel ready
projects, shovel ready projects, shovel
ready projects. So, so this
may also be augmented by by our ability
to get legislative appropriations.
Wonderful. Um, so it sounds like it's
it's doable and you're leasing a
building now rather than than u the city
owning it. Um, Chris Leslie, from your
perspective, is this is that doable?
Mayor, mayor prom. I mean, if if one of
the recommendations is for funding to go
to that, we can certainly include that
on the list here was listed as one of
the things like we did discuss it as
designed specifically before, but if
there's conversations to do something
different, staff direction would be all
we would really need.
Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you,
mayor.
Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Leslie. Uh
again, something that I wanted to share
was a thank you to the voters who voted
for this GRT increase. It may seem like
a list and it seems picking and choosing
can be problematic at times, difficult,
but the truth of the matter is
we have added value. We can add value to
our community and that that is something
that speaks volumes. And again, I thank
the voters that said yes to this
increase. It's not so much the projects,
it's the value. I know that there's
bottlenecks at Angler. If we get a new
wreck, there's going to be bottlenecks.
I understand the traffic calming, all
those things. So, you know, all those
things have to take place. The library
has been long overdue
uh for being rehabilitated
uh fire station one. But the training
facility that to me has been something
that
was talked about back in 2007
that was going to get done. Giving us as
firefighters and police officers this
hope that someday we'll get that
training facility. And here we are 2026
still talking about it. I think this is
a great opportunity as both chiefs have
said uh we get kicked around, we get
moved around. Uh chief story I think we
did our defensive tactics at Sisbar's in
a vacant building that they had
available. Uh so the the the fire
department had tea time. We were booted
out of that so that it could be sold. Uh
we still we still have that. Um, so I I
think it's it's very important that we
we look at this public safety training
facility. However, we can uh get it
started so that we can start looking at
external funding, whether it's federal
dollars, state dollars, any way that we
can get some some funding, some grants,
anything that we can get to start
building on once we get it started. So
all those other things I I say they are
priorities. They are important. that
would be my priority. Um, and again to
add value to our community. Thank you,
Council Harris.
Thanks, Michael Harris. For the record,
I I also really like the thought of
maybe downscoping the training facility.
Um, I think it's very the training
facility itself is very important. Um,
you know, coming out of our budget
retreat, it sounds like it's going to
help a lot more departments than just
the police department. They they need
the track urgently. You know, like the
chiefs are saying, they need space. Um,
and instead of spending 3 million bucks
to do a design and then waiting another
couple years to put together
tens of millions of dollars to actually
build some some super fancy thing, you
know, if we can throw a million bucks at
it and get a giant steel building um
that's roughly equivalent, a little
better than what they've got now, that
sounds like excellent value for the
money if if that's something that um
would help them out. And so I guess I'm
I just was penciling things out here.
I'm kind of seeing consensus on Bruins
improvement because of the rec center uh
parks. Um Angler Road. I had a question
about that. How much does a million
bucks actually get us on that project?
Mayor, councelor Harris, I I don't know
specifically. I think it was more to
show commitment from the city and try
and advocate for, you know, funds for
that project. um from the state level.
So, I mean, I you know, if it was
something that council wanted to put
money towards and it didn't pan out,
maybe we could redirect those funds. Um
I I I think it was just to kind of show
them that, you know, it it is a high
priority for the city. So,
okay. So, there's no like concrete ask.
We're just saying
we we are willing to budget a million
bucks of this towards this project and,
you know, to to match whatever. Okay.
Um, so yeah, with with those things and
then, you know, filling gaps in other
CIP projects, which I'm all for pushing
things over the finish line. Um, that's
that's about 8 million bucks.
Thank you.
Um, so sorry to that end, we were
talking about uh traffic calming that
those kind of projects probably would
fit under maintenance as well because,
you know, we're maintaining streets and
adding traffic calming measures.
Correct.
Councelor Krin.
Um, thank you. I just want to go back to
the public safety training facility. I
So I I I hear the idea of getting things
done. Um, but the I think that on RCIP
this has been somewhere between 20 and
$60 million in its in its ultimate cost.
um in the original draft of of what this
looked like, that's that's about the
area. And I I think the 20 was like 2007
prices. So I think that this the last I
saw this was somewhere in the realm of
40 to $60 million.
Um, and while I think thinking about it
differently would be um would be
welcome, I do not think that like I I
don't think we can I don't I think we
should neither short it in a way that
makes it not as useful as it's meant to
be. So, so to me, I feel like the fact
that we're not sure what exactly we need
um and what what role that's fil filling
sort of speaks to the need to have a
robust planning component to it because
I wouldn't want us to say, "Oh, can can
you get something for $3 million?" Um I
know we can't like that that is not
going to fill what what the projected
needs are that that you're alluding to.
So I I think
um generally what seemed to come out was
a question of whether this seemed like a
lot of money for planning which is an
abstract idea. But I do think that
planning things is something that is
best done thoughtfully and and with a
lot of kind of input and and
communication in terms of like it's not
something that I think we could
adequately do. So, um,
I I just want to sort of speak to when I
when I look at this and I think about a
$60 million project, I think we need to
invest in in planning it and making sure
that we're we're serving the needs that
we say we're going to serve. Um,
I wouldn't want us to to think about
doing something that was I I my sense is
that it's more than it's north of 1
million and south of 60 million, but
beyond that, we're not really sure what
this will look like. So, uh, from from
my perspective, having seen this and
seeing it on the CIP is about $40
million, I think. Um, I I really would
like to know more concretely what we're
what we're really talking about
building. um and where there's room to
change or or do something different.
Council Mccclure,
just to clarify a little bit on the
public safety, um would this be on land
we own? I'm I keep getting confused
about the driving track and the public
safety building. Those are kind of
adjacent to each other. Am I correct
about that? And then we would own that
land and currently the training facility
for fire we don't own. Is that right?
Okay. I'm just I'm just So I would say
like scaling down would be a good one so
that we we're already losing money by
leasing. So if we can put it on land we
already own, it makes more sense to me.
That's
pro.
Sure. Um I think the these are all valid
points and um you know the you know my
suggestion is is not to
um
I I can't think of another word to short
change the the departments uh definitely
believe that you should get what what uh
what you deserve and what works well
right um if this is a start and we can
start with a good strong solid
foundation in a shell and it's still
workable uh then definitely I I have
consent expenses and I agree this is the
route that we should take. So, um you
know, if if it's
if if it's a land that we owned, if it's
something that we could start with um or
even a shell with with the knowledge of
maybe we might need to upgrade in the
future, um I think it makes sense to to
um go ahead and and start that up now.
So, that would be my my thought, Mayor.
Thank you.
All right. Thank you. Uh for some
clarity on the land and what's already
there like uh fire station uh 7 already
has a training tower things like that.
Um Chief Story, do you have anything
else to add on on that?
Thank you, Mayor Jeremy. Please chief
again for the record. The the lot that's
identified for the driving track would
be the same lot that we would intend to
put the the training building on and
that's just south of where fire station
se seven and the training tower are. So,
it's very convenient for both fire and
us to have the training building out
there. Um, and just on the on the
concept of the metal building, the you
know, it definitely would be more than
three million to councelor Karan's point
and it should definitely be less than
what we're talking about with a
traditional brick and mortar at 30
million plus. I think the goal would be
if we can do it for 8 million, 10
million instead of 30, that's a win for
everybody. It probably be done faster.
One of the the one of the other reasons
that we're asking for the training
building and this is pri prior to 2007
that we've actually been working on
this. I was talking to one of the
retired lieutenants at Qualss this week
and he's like I had you know I was
working on that project in 2006. It's
been a long time coming. We are bursting
at the seams of a station. A new station
if we're trying to tackle that project
is 60 to 80 million or maybe more.
If we are able to build this facility
where we can move our academy over
there, that will free up space at the
East Mesa station, which maybe buy us a
couple more years u so we don't exceed
the growth. I mean, we're just bursting
at the seams already, but that would
relieve some of the pressure. And a
metal building also can be expanded. So,
one of the good things is we can get the
bare, you know, make it nice, make it
usable. We're not trying to cut the
corners. We want to be able to do the
training, but you can always add on to
the metal building, which is a benefit
to it in the future for other things
that are are needed, but maybe not the
things we need right this second. I hope
that helps.
Thank you, Chief. Chief Daniels, uh,
what is the cost right now for the
leasing of the facility on Valley Drive?
Mr. Mayor Mike Daniels. The current is
$18,000 a month is what we're paying
plus utilities
and is that scheduled to increase or is
there like tier rental?
Mr. Mayor, we are getting ready to start
having those conversations with the
owner because the the lease expires in 6
months. So
So we're in the process of getting that
renegotiated.
Okay. Thank you. We expect we would
expect that it's going to increase
though.
Great.
Council Harris.
Thanks, Michael Harris. For the record,
um yeah, I wanted to clarify my position
is is basically exactly what what Chief
Story was saying. I am looking for
iterative,
you know, an iterative approach to this
project rather than
that gets us something now and then in
the future we can add on to it to get us
new things rather than saying we're
going to spend $60 million on this great
gleaming facility and it'll be ready in
10 years. Um, and in the meantime, you
know, we're stuck with what we've got.
So I it it sounds like the the
departments have a good idea of what
they need right this second and
direction on where they might upgrade in
the future. Um so obviously building
those into the plans seems like it's
very prudent. um you know don't we don't
want to design if we're going to get a
metal building we design it and put it
on the land in such a way that it can be
added on to later um and get classrooms
or put in plumbing and fixtures and
things where they can be um added. So I
just just wanted to clarify that.
Did you want Mayor Pro?
Um no just one more comment. Uh just
shifting gears a little bit and then a
point of clarification um for Steve on
the parks projects. One of the themes or
comments that I had at the budget
retreat was to ensure I know that the
team is doing a great job. I just want
you to continue doing that of making
sure that those parks are accessible
especially to our ADA u residents. Um
pro roughly about you know 9.8 8 to
about 11% of our kids in Los Cruus are
a, you know, 88 and and would love to um
see more kids in the park regardless of
their abilities
and uh also grandparents and
great-grandparents that are able to
traverse through parks would be my hope.
Steve Bam, parks and direct director. Um
mayor and um councelor Munes, mayor Tim
Munes. Um yes, every design we do,
everything we look at is to comply with
ADA law and accessibility. And if
anything, we look to go above and beyond
to uh make it accessible to all
individuals.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Another point of clarification, mayor,
and um for our city clerk. So on
so that the I think uh Chris mentioned
wanting consensus um is it simple
consensus it's a work session we don't
necessarily vote on this so just with
the context that that the counselors uh
have provided then the uh staff goes
forward and starts this up okay because
it's almost Thanksgiving again so
we want to get started
thank you mayor
All right. Thank you.
Back to me.
Yes.
Okay. Um, so kind of what I'd like to do
now is we, you know, we can wrap up
conversation here in a minute on these
new project, but I thought maybe we go
back to the beginning and just make sure
we're good on pay as you go
recommendations, then the 60%, and then
we can kind of lock in final direction
on the 40. So, if you don't mind, I'll
take you guys back to pay as you go. If
we're all good with this slide, then I
will move on to the next slide. Going
once.
I'm sorry.
Correct.
I apologize. I'm not objecting to this
and it I I but I when you say going
once, I react and push the button. So,
if you ever want me, but I'm hoping that
for the sake of people who weren't at
the budget retreat, people who are
listening, can you explain what you mean
by pay as you go, please? Um, and and
sort of talk about what this means in
the bigger context of how this is going
and then also when will we have to so
pay as you go this year, next year? What
is the sort of cyclical nature of these
um two? If you could talk a little bit
about that.
I'll I'll turn the money stuff over to
Leslie. So,
Good afternoon, Mayor. Oh, you're taller
than me, Chris.
Councelor Corin. So, yes, we there's
really two pots of money that we're
looking at because we have begun to
collect before we have bonded. So, the
first pay as you go is going to be
significantly more because we have and
will continue to collect about 1.1 a
month. So once that is spent and
accounted for then going forward
beginning in 28 we will have
13.1
but 8.8 of that has to go to debt
service. So anything beyond that will be
the pay as you go.
Thank you. That's I just wanted every I
I don't know that folks necessarily
listening or or I I don't know that I
understood this prior to you explaining
it so well at the budget meeting exactly
how this money is being divided and how
some of it goes to debt and some of it
goes to bonds and some of it is we can
spend as we're going along and we've
been collecting it for a little while um
in the meantime. So thank you for just
making that a little bit more explicit.
Yes,
councelor Harris.
Um thanks. I guess I had a related
question. Um so on the next slide
maybe the next one where the the list of
projects um yeah so what you're looking
for direction on today is direction for
that 15 million pay as you go that's
available right now because we've
already got some that we've been
collecting and haven't spent. So this so
so we have 15 now and then next year
we're going to have four.
Yeah.
So Mr. Mayor, councelor Harris,
I'm sorry. Ask that question one more
time. I want to make sure I'm
understanding before I answer.
Sure. So what we're I want to clarify
what we're what you're looking for
direction on today. And my understanding
is we're looking to direct the spending
of about 15 million today. Yes.
Because that's how much pay as you go
funds we have currently and expect in
the next two years
through
Yeah.
Yes. June through July. Yes.
Okay. Um and then next year when when we
come back to have this discussion again,
it'll be 4.4. Yeah. or whatever we
collected
estimated.
Yeah, of course.
Sure.
Yep. Yep. No, no, it it it's could go up
or down. Of course.
Yes.
Yep.
Council,
can you give us a little bit more on the
deferred maintenance asset maintenance
sort of give us some project ideas so
that people just basically know what I
know it's going to be roofs. It's going
to be a lot of roofs, but a little bit
more.
It doesn't just have to be all roofs. I
mean, there's a variety of of things and
there's a lot of things on the CIP. I
don't want to put Cynthia on the spot,
but if she wants to come down and speak
specifically to the wide range of
projects on the CIP that would be under
deferred maintenance, she probably is
sort of the expert on that. Um, way more
money than, you know, needed than we
have right now, but it would be a good
start.
Good afternoon, mayor, city council.
Cynthia Lamio, CIP manager. We do have a
vast number of projects that need
funding. Specifically talking about
defer maintenance. We have a wide range
of projects. As Chris mentioned, we have
all of the several re- roofs that we
need. We also have a couple building
infrastructure uh improvements are
needed that it goes from basic security
improvements like fencing through actual
improvements to some of the structural
elements of a building. We know that
fire stations are some of those
elements. Uh bigger projects that go to
the other extreme with municipal court,
but some of our utilities buildings also
need improvements and um I believe some
internal CI uh city hall imp um
improvements in general. Then we also
have on the other end parking lots that
need repairs and then we have
replacement of generators that it's just
one element but it's quite costly and
it's a significant project that we want
to be considered.
Thank you.
Okay,
moving on from pay as you go, unless
there's more questions.
Go ahead, Chris.
Okay, so moving into the 60% category,
we're recommending improvements to fire
station one, putting money into the
street uh maintenance,
um the fleet upkeep, and then specific
facility maintenance to ADA compliance.
Harris. Um, seems like there's a little
less than 12 on these two slides.
Right about 12. Yeah.
Oh, okay. Cool.
Good.
Go ahead.
Okay. And so Leslie and I were trying to
do some math while we were keeping up
with the discussion. Um
I think what we were seeing is Bruins
Lane seemed to be
high priority. Um
the uh funding for gaps in current CIP
projects seem to have some support.
um Angler Road,
um then the municipal court, and then if
there was a conversation about putting a
certain amount of money towards the
public safety facility. So, those were
kind of the ones that we keyed in on, we
can sort of work with staff to finalize
exactly what those amounts should be for
each of those. Some of these were kind
of just more estimates, but we can if
that's kind of the consensus there, we
can take from there, refine that and as
we come back with budget adjustments and
and the ordinance for the um bonding,
we'll have more specific numbers. So, if
that's
good direction, I think I will take that
as a win.
I just want to have you say on the
record, sorry, that traffic calming is
one of those things. Okay,
mayor.
Yes, council.
Thank you. I Yes, I completely agree
with councelor Mccclure. Traffic coming
and then Chris, I'm sorry if I missed
this before, but I know that it had been
previously on the lists and I again I'm
sorry if I missed it in your
presentation, but is the
traffic calming potentially light
traffic light at Alama and Hogland? Has
that been scrubbed?
Because if it has, I want to advocate
for
talk about one of those things that's
been 20 years in the making. That is one
of them.
Mayor Councelor Ben Ko know we have that
as one of the priority projects for the
pay as you go.
Awesome. Thank Sorry about that. Thank
you. I appreciate it. And I just feel
very strongly about this.
Thank you,
Councelor Harris. Um, yeah, I also feel
very strongly about making sure that
we've got traffic calming projects in
there and some kind of way to to make
sure that those are able to be expended
quickly on on smaller projects to get
good return.
Okay. Anything else, Chris?
I'm good. Thank you.
No, thank you again. Again, I I can't
stress enough this adds value to our
community and that's what we have to
look at the big picture and uh I think
this is great and uh
we'll look forward to we'll be [snorts]
back.
Yes. What you bring back. All right.
That was the only item on the agenda.
Okay. Motion to adjurnn.
I move to ajourn
second. Munoz.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
work session. Councelor Mccclure,
yes.
Councelor Matise is absent. Councelor
Harris,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes. And thank you for letting me join
via Zoom.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
And mayor,
yes.