County looks at top five priorities in ICIP plan

BERNALILLO — The Sandoval County Board of Commissioners started the month off with a special meeting July 1 to discuss and vote on the 2027-31 infrastructure capital improvement plan.

A presentation by the county public works department highlighted some of the priorities within the plan. Of 10 priority projects, there were five the department gave extra attention to at the beginning of the meeting.

The first presented was the highly talked about Paseo Del Volcan extension, which remains in the design phase for the section from Unser Boulevard to Rainbow Boulevard, according to Laura Chavez. The multi-phase project of extending PDV all the way to Interstate 40 past Quail Ranch has been in the works for decades.

“This is necessary to help ease congestion and to also provide flood control in that growing community of Rio Rancho,” Chavez said.

The Sandoval County Dispatch Center that opened the day of the ICIP meeting was next on the list. County Manager Wayne Johnson said that the building just opened but there are some additions necessary for training.

“We still need a phase two to expand the dispatch area. What we have now is a very functional interim center, but over the next five to 10 years, we’re going to want to expand that to be able to handle more effectively and efficiently not only call volume, but also training for staff that will constantly go on during the operation of the center,” he said.

A third requested project is a new Bureau of Elections Warehouse. Sandoval County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero explained why there is a need.

“We’re really very cramped right now. We have no space. We have to rent storage units to store stuff, especially during elections. Election night is a nightmare,” she said.

Also on the list was the addition to the current Sandoval County administration building. Chavez stated it includes design, construction and furnishings to complete the Sandoval County Administration Building as originally intended.

“This wasn’t completed at the time due to lack of funding. This project will construct new commission chambers on the south side of the first floor of the current administration building, making commission meetings and other county public meetings easier to access for the public while also providing additional security measures for the entire facility as a whole,” she said.

Last on the list was a new fire station for the village of Cuba. Chavez said it would be located at the Cuba Fairgrounds to serve the community with both fire and medical services.

Chair Mike Meek wondered why the cost was so high for the fire station, which is priced at $25 million. Director of Public Works Mark Hatzenbuhler said it would be a main station with living quarters and more planned to service most of northern Sandoval County with fire and emergency medical services. There is no funding for personnel at this point, according to Johnson.