Staff asked the board to recommend a name for a trail system running through NMSU and along the Las Cruces Lateral toward the Village of Tortugas. The board postponed the recommendation to March 19 and asked for more names, maps, and the MPO's trail alignments. Staff also briefed the board on the new 0.325% municipal gross receipts tax and asked it to come to March prepared to recommend spending priorities.
Kept at length on purpose. Every point raised is listed, in the order the minutes record it.
Katherine Harrison-Rogers stated they are trying to be more participatory and will be attending those meetings.
Staff stated the trail map is being worked on.
Katherine Harrison-Rogers stated a couple of trails are ready for construction or going under contract to be under construction. Generally through the construction process a trail carries a grant name or project name that is not descriptive of the trail system — not great for wayfinding, and not great for emergency services.
Staff looked to the board to submit a recommendation for a name to City Council; City Council makes the final determination. A city manager policy outlines the formal naming process, which can apply to new or existing facilities. The recommendation goes to the city manager's office, which determines whether to move it to City Council. They look at whether there are similar names, to avoid confusion, and whether a name is politically charged, before it goes to Council.
The alignment as described: a trail project through the university and then near the Village of Tortugas, along the Las Cruces Lateral, with the end result coming out on South Main and Idaho. RTP — also known as University Loop — runs from the south end of Las Cruces High School down El Paseo, then down to University Avenue. The next segment is DA-Move, which runs through the university, along the Las Cruces Lateral, then along the drain adjacent to the farmland and the interstate, hooks up with the Union Multiuse Path, then the Park Drain, and ends up close to the Village of Tortugas on South Main.
The trail does not go into Tortugas because the village had a lot of negative sentiments about that. On campus the lateral has already been under-grounded, per EBID. An overhead view was shown for clarity.
Staff's suggested names: Heritage Farm, Las Cruces Lateral Trail South, Aggie Trail, South Main Street Loop.
A question was raised about whether the trail will connect to the Outfall Channel Trail. The MPO has a high-level trail plan, and there is also an active transportation recommended trail alignment map. Staff is asking for money for a trails plan. Doña Ana County is going through a planning process for trails, and with some money the city could partner with the county on it.
On wayfinding: La Llorona has mile markers, as do Triviz and Outfall. The minutes record that there is a great wayfinding plan, but that the only street sign on the Outfall Channel Trail is at Doña Ana — Valley is obvious, but three roads to the west have no markers. The record states the need for wayfinding and place markers for safety.
Names that drew support in discussion: Heritage Trail was called a nice name, Aggie Trail was liked, and Aggie/Bulldog Trail was suggested. A suggestion was made to keep it one name rather than breaking it into various names. The stated purpose of the trail is allowing people onto campus and allowing university students without vehicles to get into town. It was noted that most of the trails are already named after the lateral they follow.
Asked whether EBID has a say, Harrison-Rogers stated the city is in cooperation with EBID, that the city has a permit to use, maintain, and build on their laterals, and that EBID has no preference on the name of the trail.
Funding sources named: capital outlay, some Park Impact Fees, a grant from the Paso del Norte Foundation, Trails Plus, and another that the record does not name.
The suggestion that carried was to delay to a date certain in March and direct staff to provide more information — other names, the MPO's Active Transportation Plan trail alignments, and maps of existing trails.
Josh Clevenger read an e-mail from Steve Bingham. The budget retreat featured individual presentations from each of the City Councilors and the mayor, each outlining specific priorities in the upcoming budget with heavy emphasis on how to deploy the revenue from the newly approved 0.325% municipal gross receipts tax. The minutes record that this shall be used for funding capital improvements and maintenance of public safety, streets, parks, and other public facilities for critical infrastructure.
City Council will be setting the budget within the next couple of months. The full set of individual presentations from the Council and elected officials will be e-mailed to the board, which is asked to review them and provide a list — with a critical eye — of where the Councilors' visions overlap with the department's needs and where to advocate on specific recreational interests. Board members were asked to arrive at the March meeting fully prepped to discuss the documents, to ensure the new GRT funds are used effectively for the community.
The stated hope is that the advisory board makes a formal recommendation to the Council on where the priorities are.
Katherine Harrison-Rogers stated there are two pots of money: what has been collected thus far, with $15 million to allocate by the end of the year, and a second pot from bonding it — a bonding cycle related to the GRT. The numbers discussed were $2 million of what has been collected so far for Parks and Rec, and $2.8 million for all facilities maintenance in the city. The bonded-out monies would be several years' worth.
Vice-Chair Laura Haas pointed out that the board was supposed to get an approval of the December minutes, which did not get onto the agenda, so they could not be added to this agenda either. She asked that the December minutes be approved at the next meeting, and thanked everyone for their help and information.
Board Member Alana Bradley stated that last month they did not vote on minutes.
Board Members Jeremy Williams and Stephanie Genelle Hofacket had no comments.
Robert Nunez stated there are community events starting in the area, including the Fourth of July, and that staff will get a proposal completed for an entertainment vendor, trying to get multiple vendors involved to assist with aspects of special events in the area — the library, Visit Las Cruces, the museums. After-school programs run at a total of nine locations, and staff is getting ready to hire new staff for a tenth location with the teen programs on the East Mesa.
Josh Clevenger stated swim lessons start in about a week and a half. The third-grade safety swim is coming up in April/May at three schools, with about 200 students coming in to learn swimming during school time. It is the season for allocations and tournaments — soccer, softball, baseball.
Joey Dominguez stated forestry is getting ready to do tree assessments in 15–25 parks, depending on funding. The construction crew is currently getting ready to start additional seating at Four Hills Park. Parks is starting to apply pre-emergent and post-emergent granulars in the park systems, along with fertilizer.
Katherine Harrison-Rogers stated planning and construction has several ongoing projects. La Llorona is about finished and there will be a ribbon cutting. The city is also closing on phase 2 of the East Mesa Recreation Complex, with a formal ribbon cutting to be done later in the spring. Ongoing projects include Benavidez Community Center Park, an RFP to get bids on the Valley View Master Plan and Trail, and another median project along Roadrunner that started recently. Stakeholder meetings for the bike park are set for toward the end of March. Chandler Tank is getting close to completion but is being led by Public Works.