Burn Lake

The timeline

1. September 19, 2024
   Dog park rules get teeth after attacks at Hermosa — and a 70% veto clause

   Staff brought the board a rewritten set of dog park rules, prompted by what the record calls a lot of dog attacks at Hermosa Park, and said that if 70% or more of the community is against them Parks and Rec would return to the drawing board. The board took no action items, and no one spoke at public participation.
2. September 21, 2023
   3,000 kids, four fields, and fifteen years without a new soccer complex

   C. W. Ward of the Las Cruces Youth Soccer Association told the board the league has roughly 3,000 kids and 428 coaches on four fields, has lost fields since a 2012 swap with the school district, and was removed from the joint use agreement around 2014. Board Member Coppedge said he is interested in a committee to further address inequities with youth soccer, and it will be placed on another agenda. Staff also returned with the trail education plan requested in August and reported four locations where trail signage has been removed, but not by staff.
3. November 17, 2022
   A light pole falls at Harty, and the board names a course "The Big Enchilada"

   Staff reported that a 30-year-old light pole delaminated and fell during a softball tournament at Harty Ballfields, missing an umpire and closing the facility pending testing of the remaining 17 poles. The board voted to recommend "The Big Enchilada" as the name of the city's new disc golf course and cancelled its December meeting. Staff outlined a proposed tree ordinance and the roughly $7 million Parks received from the 2022 GO Bond.
4. September 15, 2022
   New pool, new prices, and the end of Frenger — the board sets rates for a 50-meter pool that will not pay for itself

   The board approved fees and operating hours for the Natatorium, the city's new 50-meter pool opening early January 2023, and accepted staff's recommendation to close Frenger pool when it does. Staff presented El Paso's numbers as the benchmark: $70,000 in revenue against operations over a million. The naming of a new disc golf course was tabled to October.
5. July 21, 2022
   Veterans want a designation, not a playground — and the director tables the name change to go ask them why

   The board tabled the renaming of Veterans Memorial Park to August after the Parks & Recreation director said she had not been part of the earlier conversations and wanted to put questions to the Veterans Advisory Board first. The Veterans Advisory Board's vice-chair told the board the group wants a special-use designation rather than a name change. Three of seven seats were filled.
6. February 18, 2021
   GO Bond program at 26% on time, and the District 5 park gets a number: $675,000

   Held via Zoom webinar. Public Works reported the GO Bond park program is 26% on time and 32% on cash, with Apodaca courts due in May and demolition started at Young Park. Staff said the new District 5 park has a funding source of approximately $675,000 from the Philippou settlement. Board members reported that three City Councilors each described the resolution as a one-off.
7. November 19, 2020
   A resident asks where $2.2 million went, and the board gets the whole budget — an $18 million department with closed facilities

   Meeting by Zoom with all Parks & Recreation facilities closed under the Public Health Order, the board heard a resident question the accounting on the Nevada Cool Corridor and got the Public Works director's answer on the record. Staff then walked the board through the entire FY21 budget — $11 million in general fund, a little over $18 million in total. The board approved two youth-painted murals and cancelled its own December meeting.
8. August 4, 2020
   Two GO bond dog parks voted to Council before the public comments arrived

   A special Zoom meeting of the board took presentations on the Burn Lake and Rinconada dog parks, funded from the 2018 GO bond, and moved both to City Council on unanimous votes. The two emailed public comments in the record are timestamped 5:58 and 6:00 p.m. — after both motions carried — and are appended to the minutes as a note.

   • Motion carried unanimously — Accept the proposal and pass on to City Council the Burn Lake Dog Park Go Bond Project.