New impact fees, four new playgrounds, and a $192 million question headed to Council

If you read nothing else

• Park impact fees were restructured by unit square footage and implemented July 7: down 22% from $2,600 to $2,029 for the smallest units, up 42% to $3,600 for larger homes, and up to $5,600 for the really large homes.
• Staff said the city has never adopted the full legal maximum fee it could — and that over time this drives the level of service down as population grows.
• TischlerBise assumed $438,000 to construct an acre of parkland; the CIAC put it nearer $306,000. Council sided with staff and the professionals' analysis.
• Four playgrounds were replaced in the last fiscal year — Pioneer Women's, East Mesa Recreation Center, Valley View, and Gus Vlachakis — with a Valley View ribbon cutting set for September 9 at 9:30 a.m.
• East Mesa Pool was shut five weeks by two pipe breaks and opened July 4, salvaging nine weeks of summer. All pools served just under 51,000 from May 24.
• Bingham previewed a Council work session on the November GRT increase: a $192 million total, to be bonded in increments every four years over 20 years.
• No action items were on the agenda and no public participation was received.

Who was in the room

8.1 PIF status — the impact fee study

Katherine Harrison-Rogers discussed the impact fee study recently approved at City Council and passed out the report. Chapter 33 of the municipal code requires that park impact fees, land use assumptions, and the capital improvements plan be reviewed and updated every five years.

She explained the purpose: impact fees offset growth impacts, so that as the city grows and people use the system the City can maintain the same level of service — measured as a number of park acres per 1,000 people. Cost escalations and shifting policies and priorities with the elected officials also factor in. Park impact fees are collected at the time of the permit to build.

Harrison-Rogers said the park impact fees have historically been low, and that the City has never adopted the full, legal maximum amount of fees it could adopt. What that means over time, she said, is that the level of service and the facilities in the City go down based on the population.

The study is done by TischlerBise, which looks at what the legal maximum allowable fee could be. Council can lower the fee but cannot exceed the recommended amount. The study covers land use assumptions and a capital improvement plan by facility type — the types of facilities the fee can be assessed toward — as well as revenues and shortfalls: what the City would take in at the maximum amount over time, and what would need to fill the gaps.

Fees are broken into two dimensions: housing type (single-family home, apartment complex) and unit size (under 1,300 sq. ft.; 1,301 to 2,100 sq. ft.; and 2,101 sq. ft. and above).

There were several public meetings. The CIAC is the recommending body to City Council for park impact fees, and its recommendation had increases and decreases across the board; it recommended going by square footage, which is what Council ultimately adopted.

The two bodies disagreed on construction cost. TischlerBise assumed an acre of parkland costs the City $438,000 to construct; the CIAC thought it was more in the $306,000 range. Harrison-Rogers said that based on the Parks assessment and what Parks does, the CIAC figure is not accurate. City Council supported staff and the analysis done by the professionals. She said the CIAC had good commentary, that neighborhood parks were looked at but specialty parks do cost more, and that developers can build parks more cheaply than the City can because of procurement laws, wage rates, and similar constraints.

The recommended facility types are community parks, community parks athletic, special use parks, trails, recreation centers, indoor aquatics, and outdoor aquatics. Neighborhood parks were not included as part of Realize Las Cruces, but were added as a requirement for people subdividing and developing.

The adopted fees, implemented July 7: smaller units down 22%, from $2,600 to $2,029; larger homes at $3,600, a 42% increase; and the really large homes up to $5,600. These are paid by the home builder, the homeowner, or the person building the apartments.

8.2 Playground replacement

Harrison-Rogers said it had been an exciting year and that the department was lucky to get a lot of funding to replace some of the older playgrounds. Many playgrounds were constructed in 2004 and 2006 and are coming to the end of their life.

Four playgrounds were replaced over the last fiscal year: Pioneer Women's Park, East Mesa Recreation Center Park, Valley View Park, and Gus Vlachakis Park. A ribbon cutting for Valley View was set for September 9 at 9:30 a.m.

On each: East Mesa was described as a really good project, with engineered wood fiber surfacing, built-in shade structures, and a playground more exciting for kids. Gus Vlachakis got a larger structure and more shade. Pioneer Women's Park got really improved shade structures and a much better playground. Valley View — the next ribbon cutting — got more shade structures and lots of added play value, and staff noted the park is in a "lift up area" where the City is trying to put a lot of projects.

A question was raised about what park impact fees can be spent on. Harrison-Rogers said you cannot spend them on maintenance or replacement — you can only if you are adding a level of service that never existed in that park before.

On funding: Valley View drew on some capital outlay, some active transportation funds, and some other funds. The other parks got Telshor Fund money, of which only the interest is used. Seating for adults at the parks is included. Parking lot improvements are planned for later in the fall at Valley View. Staff also rehabilitated turf, added benches, replaced old trash cans and old benches, added shelters, and painted bollards — which they said will be replaced with boulders.

8.3a Pools — five weeks lost at East Mesa

Jake Gutierrez said the East Mesa Pool was shut down for five weeks. Initially it was thought one pipe was broken; there ended up being a second major break in the slide. The major repairs were made, with one more repair still to be done — the contractor would be there the week after Labor Day. The second break is at the kiddy features and will be repaired in the off season. Because of the repairs the original contractor was not available and a second contractor had to be secured. The pool opened July 4 and will get nine weeks of the summer.

Steven Bingham said there are five City staff for year-round maintenance of the pools with a certain range of things they do, a facilities team that services the entire City and City buildings, some contracts set up, and some things that require special contractors.

Some board questions asked whether the pool could have been open during repairs. Staff answered that the slide was a major feature and that the broken pipes could leak under the pool and cause other damage.

Across all pools, from May 24 through the meeting, just under 51,000 were served with aquatics. There are two outdoor pools, two indoor pools, and the splash pad, open seven days a week, hitting capacity at 200 per session.

Asked whether more pools are needed, staff answered that per the park impact fee study the city has excess capacity, which is shown in the numbers.

Asked whether the outdoor pools can stay open longer when it is really hot, staff said the outdoor pools are open until Labor Day and the splash pads stay open through September on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; once school starts the numbers drop off, even on weekends.

The natatorium has had one tournament and has now been asked to host a first swim team meet, an invitational. Staff partnered with Alameda Elementary to provide swim lessons and called it amazing, hoping to do more schools.

A concern was raised that the showers run cold regularly. Staff said the tank system has a timer, twice a year for the time change if it is not updated right away, and that the other part is how the system is set up.

8.3b Pickleball — waiting time and online registration

Zach Hernandez said they began online registration for pickleball participants. There is a current remodel of the facility, and shortly they will take all registrations for youth programming and similar offline for Meerscheidt.

Registration has worked out, with a few gripes and groans. Participants can register one day in advance and staff can help with that. Wrist bands are handed out 15 minutes ahead of the session start time. Sessions currently take 40 participants, and if there is space there will then be five drop-ins available.

The one-day-in-advance limit, he said, is because it is extremely popular and produces more consistency of people showing up. For groups you can book two to three months in advance.

The schedule as recorded: Tuesday and Thursday have two sessions, 8:15 to 10:15 and 10:30 to 12:30; Fridays 8:00 to 9:30 and two gyms 10:30 to 12:30; Monday and Wednesday 10:30 to 12:30. The multipurpose room has morning and evening slots available to bring in the family to play for $10 an hour.

Board Member Charles Beard said he was impressed with Meerscheidt pickleball, and that at East Mesa the biggest complaint was that it was being played by college kids who get on the court and stay for hours. Staff said rules have been added at all locations to address those issues.

Wayfinding signs are being discussed at Parks and Rec because there are two East Mesa recreation areas. Staff said they will see if they can have a quick sign done in the meantime.

Staff comments — youth programs, fall work, and events

Robert Nunez said they just wrapped up summer, offering day camps for ages kinder to 12th grade with just under 9,000 visits from all participants. At A. Fielder they average about 45 teens from 5:30 until 9:30 p.m. There were over 50 field trips throughout the community and down toward El Paso, Wet and Wild, and Western Playland; kinder through 5th grade did a lot of local field trips.

After-school programs are now in 10 locations with school back in session, seven of which are at capacity. Staff are working closely with Las Cruces Public Schools on an MOU to expand the after-school programs and also regarding 3rd grade swimming opportunities.

Keep Las Cruces Beautiful had over 45 events, including neighborhood dump days free of charge; working with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, they can offer free dumping at the transfer station off Motel Blvd., monthly, rotating through all the council districts.

The Youth Development and Diversion program takes youth formally referred from the juvenile probation office, plus informal referrals under an agreement with the middle schools from student resource officers and each school's administration, to redirect youth heading down the wrong path through the Positive Action Program, life skills programs, and community outreach and service. The program goes to Chaparral, Anthony, Santa Teresa, and Hatch.

Franco Granillo said staff are gearing up fall projects, with maintenance at the end of August and irrigation gearing down in September. They would be working on some pickleball issues at Apodaca the following week. The light project on Hadley was completed. They continue to support events citywide.

Josh Clevenger said basketball sign-up was held in person on Saturday and the soccer league is running. Concerts are going on in the park with two more left on Sundays; there were 18 concerts between Young and Amador Live. Coming up: a candy drop at Hadley and then the tree lighting. In the wellness program, the championship volleyball game was that night. They continue to offer a lot with therapeutic programming and are taking a lot of mobile rec to different events.

The $192 million GRT bonding work session

Steven Bingham said there were a lot of things to discuss and thanked the staff who reported and the board members who bring concerns and questions and push staff to be better. He said he believes the park impact fee and Realize will provide an opportunity for this community to move forward in quality of life.

He then flagged an important City Council work session the coming Monday. Last November, residents were asked whether they were willing to increase their GRT tax to address public safety, streets, parks, and critical infrastructure. At that work session a laundry list of items would be presented to City Council with some approximate costs for the different things.

The City's intent, he said, is to go forward and bond against the GRT increase for a 20-year period, in incremental steps every four years. The total amount is $192 million. Putting the whole amount through does no good because the projects cannot get done that fast, so the City would go in increments, bonding a portion of the funds and working on those projects. Parks will share their list of projects with the board.

He noted two things going on at once — the GRT and the GO Bonds. The proposed GO Bond is lower than the previous one, and what they are going for is that the 2018 GO Bond is now going to be paid off, keeping the same rate.

Board member comments

Board Member Charles Beard, who lives in District 2, said that on the Fourth of July he knew about the event more than ever before, but that heading home he got railroaded into the university and it took him 30 minutes to get out. He said he would like the board in future to be informed of what is being done before the Fourth of July so it can have input — and likewise on the light parade and the summer food program.

Board Member Jeremy Williams thanked the Parks and Rec staff for all they do.

Board Member Alana Bradley thanked the new board member. She said she reached out to Parks and Rec because she wanted them to show up: her kids go to school at Ceasar, Sunrise, and Mesa — the "resource desert" — where the only things available are the library, the fire station, and the pool, very briefly, plus a few other things scattered, and lots of neighborhood parks that are hard to find unless you are looking for them. She invited Parks and Rec to one of the back-to-school events so people would know their options, including after-school availability and what the department can work with them on, not just in town. Parks and Rec came and it was a great hit — parents could sign their kids up right then and there.

Bradley also asked what attendance is like at Music in the Park. The approximate answer given was 600 people at Young Park.

What the agenda did not contain

Item 6, Public Participation, records "None." Item 7, Action Items, records "None". The board voted on nothing but the agenda, the minutes, and adjournment.

Item 5 is headed "Approval of the Minutes April 17, 2025," but the motion recorded beneath it approves the minutes of August 15, 2024 with amendments proposed. The record does not resolve which set of minutes was actually approved, and does not list the amendments.

No adjournment time is recorded.

Recorded votes

Left open at the gavel