Four months without an activity pool, and 20-30 parks without names

If you read nothing else

• The activity pool at the Regional Aquatic Center had been out of service since October 8 — the heat exchange coil is custom made one at a time and arrived only the afternoon before this meeting.
• Keep Las Cruces Beautiful reported 120 volunteers, 153 hours and 2,190 lbs of trash for the October clean-up alone; the roll-off containers took 38,400 lbs, and the county's tire roll-offs another 5,880 lbs.
• Staff will bring groupings of unnamed parks to the board over the coming months — roughly 20-30 park facilities need official names, most of them in District 5 and many in Metro Verde.
• Two of seven seats — Districts 1 and 5 — were vacant, and the Community Outreach Subcommittee is on hold until the board is full.
• No action items and no public participation. Every motion of the night was procedural.

Who was in the room

7.1 Keep Las Cruces Beautiful quarterly update

Amelia Corrales, KLCB Program Coordinator, reported that the program participates in and hosts clean-up activities throughout the year. The past quarter it ran Team Up to Clean Up in October, placing roll-off containers and sending volunteers out across the community, partnered with NMDOT, South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA), Keep Doña Ana County Beautiful and the Town of Mesilla.

The roll-offs accept household materials except tires, hazardous materials and refrigerant. The county is able to place roll-offs for tires.

Adopt-A-Spot signs up families and businesses that adopt a spot and are required to clean it once a month. There are currently 15 sites adopted.

On graffiti eradication, KLCB works closely with LCPD and Codes Enforcement on a private-property waiver. Businesses and private property owners can now have graffiti abated as long as the SOP is followed, signatures are obtained from the property owner on the waiver, and staff do their best to paint match. This follows an ordinance within the Municipal Code. KLCB also works with community engagement on the 311 tasks the public files about graffiti.

Community outreach: 13 events completed this fiscal year — presentations, craft presentations, out-of-school-time programs, LCPS, red ribbon events. Libby the dog is used to help.

The program did not receive its grant funds until October.

Upcoming: restoration of the Outfall Channel trail tunnel mural behind Kohl's, and a redo of the outside of the tunnel near Triviz. An Earth Day event on April 19 at the Plaza de Las Cruces, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., covering sustainability and master gardeners, including an art recycle show for art made of 70% recycled materials. The Great American Clean Up on April 27 is national; before COVID, KLCB partnered with Walmart on a clean-up from 8:00 to 12:00 with volunteers going to Walmart for lunch from 12:00 to 2:00, and that partnership has been restarted. The hope is 1,000 volunteers, again partnered with Keep Doña Ana Beautiful, NMDOT, SCSWA and the Town of Mesilla.

The Outfall Channel was vandalized two weeks after completion in 2020. The goal is to promote the idea of students doing the work rather than an outside artist. Other murals, being the work of an individual artist, cannot be abated by Parks and Recreation — only by the artist.

The Keep America Beautiful conference was held the past week in San Diego; eighteen affiliates from New Mexico attended. Some other affiliates are nonprofits, where Las Cruces is City run. In 2026 the program wishes to host the Greatest American Clean Up.

KLCB has two City staff members and four NMSU interns.

7.2 Community Outreach Subcommittee

Vice-Chair Haas reported that the subcommittee is on hold until the board is full.

7.3 Sports Field Usage Subcommittee

Board Member Coppedge reported the subcommittee has formed a draft of suggestions and met with Franco and Rene the previous day. Some hard lines were mentioned around safety issues and liability. There were good discussions, and all want maximum usage of the sports fields.

7.4 Regional Aquatic Center — a four-month outage on one part

Phil Catanach reported that the activity pool at the regional aquatic center had been in need of repair for over four months. The activity pool is the zero entry for youth, the water slide, two lanes and a curved channel that can be walked for exercise.

The pool went down in early October — the minutes give the date as October 8 — when a heat exchange coil within the main boiler stopped working. That coil heats the water to 81 degrees. A work order was put in that day and the part was ordered, with two to four weeks quoted for the whole process. The part is not mass produced or ready to ship: each heat exchange coil is custom made individually by the manufacturer. Staff were then given a seven-to-eleven-week window. On January 5 the manufacturer said the coil should be completed and shipped between January 18-22. That was pushed to the week of February 5. The part was finally received the afternoon before this meeting. It weighs 500-700 lbs., and it will need to be installed with time to verify it works correctly. Staff hoped to have the pool open by the last week of February, at the latest March 4.

The natatorium has remained open for exercise and fitness swim, lap swim and open swim. The warm water pool has also been open.

Board Member Engle said he attended the latest City Council meeting where a member of the public complained loudly about the disrepair of the aquatic center. Staff answered that there were some issues with sinks and showers, but many of them minor and addressed as promptly as possible; that there are 39 valves and none had significant leaks; and that the Facilities Department fixes toilets, sinks and showers while Parks and Recreation puts in the work orders.

Asked how to stop this from happening again in 10-12 years, staff said it does not make sense to purchase a part to sit on the shelf. Staff will look at and assess other systems within the aquatic center to see if there are other systems at risk. Annual inspections continue, but some things are unexpected and others cannot be inspected because they are built within other parts.

7.5 Naming of parks

Catherine Mathews gave the board a copy of City Manager policy 3.3, which covers naming City of Las Cruces facilities including parks and playgrounds. It was last revised about 11 years ago. Name suggestions go to the City Manager, the City Manager submits to Council, and Council discusses and approves or rejects. Under the guidelines for submittal, for parks the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board hears suggested names, determines whether the request should go forward to City Council, and makes recommendations to City Council. Names can be submitted by members of the public, by people interested in recommending a person's name, and by City employees.

In the GIS system parks are mostly named for location, subdivision or roads — easy for staff to remember. The proposal is to work with GIS to identify how many parks do not have official names and then work to acquire and apply names. Over the next several months, groupings of parks needing names will be brought to this board. This will also tie into wayfinding. Any facility's name can be changed through the process.

There are approximately 20-30 park facilities in need of names. Most are in District 5. The vast majority are new parks, many located in the Metro Verde area. Staff do not anticipate naming parks after people, but the public are welcome to make suggestions.

A suggestion was raised to use the outreach subcommittee, neighborhood associations and homeowners associations to gather suggestions. Staff said they would prefer a short time period for naming, if possible.

8. Staff member comments

Hazel Nevarez said she has District maps and does not know who did not get one.

Franco Granillo said updates are coming for springtime. Staff are working on repairs in parks, fencing and a construction area. The berms at the shooting range are being rebuilt due to wind, and the barbed wire at the shooting range is being fixed because cattle are coming into the shooting area. Parks is getting applications for herbicide pre-emergent ready; these were inspected by NMDA and passed perfectly, including tanks, backpacks, storage and disposables. Ball fields and trail areas are also being worked on, and staff are looking at areas to plant this spring and summer. The community forester is working on ramping up the tree steward program. Leagues asked for more blackout dates, and Parks has opened up an additional four weeks — 20 more days — of play throughout the summer.

Robert Nunez said dumpster days on February 24 will have three locations throughout the City. The Keep Las Cruces Beautiful City logo was recently updated. Out-of-school time programs are getting ready for spring break March 4-15, offering programming for youth from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. all 10 days. The Weed N Seed program at A. Fielder Memorial Safe Haven will hold a family night February 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with educational information for parents and games for the family. The Youth Development and Diversion program is still in the application process for FY25, with notification on funding expected end of March or early April.

Phil Catanach said the Father/Daughter Dance just sold out with 30 couples within the first two days of registration, and staff hope to put on a Mother/Son dance before Mother's Day. Youth Basketball League registration has closed at 52 teams and over 550 players. Youth Cheer registration is February 22. Swing into Spring volleyball tournament and sand volleyball registration is on the 20th; last time it sold out within 30 minutes online. A new marketing coordinator has been hired to help with special events. Coming up: a Mother's Day concert, Mayor's Jazz Fest, Music in the Park, Movies in the Park, and the Fourth of July celebration and electric light parade. The first meeting with partners at New Mexico State was held that day: the parade will be on the Apodaca route, but the fireworks and concert will be at NMSU at Sisbarro Park. He will let the board know when the activity pool opens.

Cathy Mathews said a public engagement meeting for the new skate park is the following Wednesday, February 21, at 6:00 p.m., showing the designer's concept for feedback. A new project manager, Christina Abeyta-Corella, has recently been hired.

Steve Bingham said the first day of the budget retreat was that day, hearing from Councilors and the Mayor on their priorities, some of them in Parks and Rec. Budget proposals and key aspects are presented the next day. Parks has some big asks financially in capital (CIP) and in legacy parks — older parks in need of renovation — plus additional resources for Park staff to have construction-level employees doing more work regularly for enhancements. KLCB is asking to double its temporary staff to lower the time graffiti exists, aiming for removal within 24 hours. E-sports was mentioned, with NMSU involved. About 75-80% of the funding ask goes to parks, maintenance improvements and KLCB. Materials and supplies has spent every dollar for the last few years. He commended Amelia and her group.

9. Board member comments

Vice-Chair Haas commended Amelia and offered the board's help if needed.

Board Member Coppedge said he sent an e-mail to Cathy Mathews about a trail grant from the State of New Mexico. Mathews said they did submit in the fall for the Trails Plus grant to support the DA Move Trail and Tortugas Trails, but have not heard back yet. Steve Bingham said there is still $7 million unappropriated and they anticipate receiving it. The hiking club was mentioned as asking for Shaunnna Foster to return.

Board Member Engle said he was approached by a member of his District, Mr. Carroll, about issues with Apodaca Park — a lack of ADA compliance and a water fountain issue. He suggested a discussion item on a board agenda to go through Mr. Carroll's issues one by one to put it to rest, and said an e-mail with the issues will be sent to staff. He appreciated Amelia's presentation, asked to see Libby if possible, and thanked the Parks staff.

Chair Raish asked if there was a date on the disk golf. Mathews said not at this time. Disks have been ordered with Ziggy on them to give away, and the course is prepared for opening, but the map for the course is still needed and is being done locally.

Recorded votes

Left open at the gavel