Corrales community petitions council to save Salce Park

CORRALES — The owner of Salce Park, a local namesake park in Corrales, is asking for it to be preserved and improved for the benefit of the community. They don’t want the council to sell the land it’s on to be re-attained at a later date, like parks and recreation was considering at their last meeting.

Owner Tara Tafton’s plea and other community members’ concerns for the property were heard at the Oct. 22 council meeting. According to the petition sheets provided, 123 people signed a petition to keep the park as a park and improve it.

“We often discuss quality of life with the village and what we can do to enhance it. We’ve built a library, a skate park, gymnasiums, swimming pool, pickleball courts, etc. But we still have only one park for the 8,500 residents, and only 3.9% live within a 10-mile walk of that park. We have reserved conservation land and in the end, we still have only one park,” Councilor Bill Woldman said.

It was established that bond money can be used to restore the park as a park.

“Not only is it the quality-of-life issue and economically feasible, it’s also the right thing to do,” Woldman added.

One resident, Joneve Bender, says her family did a lot of work to get that development installed, which includes the park.

“Part of it is now Salce Basin, which I don’t think my grandmother, who was instrumental in the Corrales Watershed board and eventually into SSCAFCA, or my dad, who was SSCAFCA-oriented and the Sandoval County flood commissioner for years, would object to that,” she said.

She added that no matter what the family did with the park, it would flood anyway and still floods to this day.

“But a park that was set up with open space idea; I think would be an excellent plan. But what’s there? And I have been up there several times, not just because I live up there. It’s away from me. But there has to be a way for people that want to ride their horses, ride their bikes, walk their dogs, whatever. Some place up there for them because obviously Corrales Road is not the place to go, and that’s where our park is. It’s too congested. The roads are too narrow,” she said.

She ended by saying improvements to the park would be appreciated by the community and the family.

Tafton thanked all the petitioners for signing for the preservation.

“Salce Park was gifted to the village when Sagebrush subdivision was developed with the understanding that it would be a public park and would add to the enjoyment of all Corraleños. Note that we’re not making more land in Corrales and property values historically increase. So should the village make the decision to sell the park to get that amount of land back at a later date, it would not be cost effective. It would not be necessarily the best use of our resources, and it seems short-sighted,” she explained.

Tafton made some suggestions for alternative uses for the park while still maintaining the initial intentions for it. In her letter to Village Council she suggests pickleball courts, a nature park for children, a fitness park/obstacle course, bocce courts and xeriscape public space, citing examples from other communities.

She admitted that she was unaware there was already a pickleball court in Corrales.

Her main motivation for preserving the park stems from family pride.

“We helped found the Harvest Festival and have served on Village Council. You’ll bump into us at the growers market, but not me, because I’m the worst farmer in the family. We’re your ballet and music teachers, and your veterinarian in a lot of cases. So tonight we’re continuing their tradition of activism and engagement and asking that you help us honor our ancestors legacy,” she said. “The neglect of the park has long been a source of sadness in our family, and I urge each of you to preserve the space for the public benefit and take the necessary steps to start using it as intended.”

Councilor Zachary Burkett was content about the idea of keeping the park as a park and improving it so that it could be used as such.

“It’s something on the council we’ve been discussing for a while, and prior to that on Parks and Rec, when I was on that commission, we discussed for a while. I would strongly urge that we consider, though, that it needs to be of use to all the residents of the village, and that includes kids. It seems like we’ve already kind of come to a foregone conclusion. This is going to be a nature area for low-impact exercise, and I would suggest that we look for more medium- to high-impact activities for kids because we have very limited options,” he said.

He added that right now the village only has one playground and that kids in Corrales would benefit from another one.

Parks and Recreation Director Lynn Siverts was abstinent to the community’s pleas and council comments, saying the part of the community the parks and recreation hears from have asked for the land to remain as is because they don’t want anything by their homes. In other words, they like that the space is just wild vegetation right now.

“They don’t want anything by them. I mean, you guys are hearing people from other parts of the town, saying that we should do, we should do. And I get that, but I mean it’s just the people that butt up to the properties just do not want to see us do anything up there, and we met with them over several, several, several years. This is going to be a hard project to do. I mean, what we did do with the flood irrigation, or with the flooding had to happen,” he said.

He also said the project would be costly.

For councilors, it would be worth it to have an outdoor space that the whole of the village can use. The question was how can they improve the space in a cost effective, non-intrusive way.

Village council decided they would still consider the options and costs for the future of the park.