The Corrales Harvest Festival is back on! After the festival was curtailed and effectively cancelled during the pandemic, the fall event will return the weekend of September 25-26. As it has been in recent years, the widely enjoyed festival is being organized by the Kiwanis Club of Corrales which promises a “full-blown” event to include the pet parade, election of a new pet mayor, live entertainment, hayrides, local produce, crafts fair and the hootenanny dance that Saturday night featuring singer-songwriter Kyle Martin and his “Westrock” sound.
For a section at a time, traffic along Corrales Road will be constricted to just one lane as the roadway is being re-paved this month and probably next.
Initially the project was estimated to take two months from the start date at the south end, at Alameda Boulevard, to completion at the north end, at Highway 528 in Rio Rancho.
Village Administrator Ron Curry reported at the May 25 council meeting that the paving project would start Wednesday, June 2 and might take only 25 working days. Work would begin around 9 a.m. and conclude each day at 3 p.m., he indicated.
The Village Council is expected to vote on an ordinance clarifying regulations, and imposing new restrictions on, construction or conversion of secondary dwellings, commonly referred to as “casitas,” at its June 15 meeting.
The council unanimously approved the draft ordinance at its May 25 session.In the past, many Corrales property owners have rented out casitas or guesthouses in what other villagers consider a contravention of the Village’s “one home per acre” rule that dates back to the community’s incorporation as a municipality in 1971.
Intel has requested financial assistance and tax breaks from the Sandoval County Commission, the City of Rio Rancho and the State of New Mexico to convert its factory between Corrales and Rio Rancho. Agreements with those governmental entities follow Intel’s announcement May 3 that it would invest $3.5 billion to upgrade and renovate Fab11X for mass production of its innovative laser-driven three-dimensional computer chips.
The Village is set to preserve in perpetuity another 10 acres of farmland at the north end of Corrales. It is the Phelps Farm on the east side of Corrales Road where Trees of Corrales has had a tree nursery for its wholesale business in recent years. It is a little south of the intersection with Romero Road, one of the main entrances to the Bosque Preserve.
At the May 25 Village Council meeting, an option to purchase a conservation easement on the land was approved unanimously. A final appraisal has yet to be made, but the Village is expected to pay approximately $780,000 to prevent the tract from being developed.
The money has been generated from sale of general obligation (GO) bonds as directed by Corrales voters in the 2018 municipal election. Those bonds were issued to raise $2.5 million to be used for farmland preservation.
The Corrales Equestrian Advisory Commission will be sponsoring an equine de-spooking clinic at the Corrales TopForm Arena Saturday June 19 from 9 a.m to 2 p.m. There is no charge for the clinic, which is designed to build confidence in horse and rider and to acclimate horses to the various difficulties and challenges they might encounter along the trail.
“We will have all kinds of obstacles, from tarps to bridges and balloons set up with experts on hand to guide riders safely through the course,” said Bon Bagley of the CEAC. “This is an important safety training opportunity for riders.” Two sessions will be held: riders up to 16 may attend the morning
Corrales psychologist and art innovator Michael Baron has recently completed a large, wooden wall hanging as a statement on America’s divisions. Some of his earlier assemblages of wood dowels were shown in the July 19, 2014 issue of Corrales Comment. His earliest work became table tops and other furniture.
Renewed discussion of possible regulations on construction of walls and fences along Corrales Road could come at the June 15 Village Council meeting.
The council’s summer schedule voided the regular meeting that would have fallen on June 8. At the last meeting in May, Councillor Zach Burkett asked that the next agenda include an update on possible amendments that would protect the scenic quality along Corrales Road.
This spring, he and other council members asked the Corrales Planning and Zoning Commission to make recommendations for an ordinance that would restrict tall and/or opaque barriers adjacent to the Corrales Road Scenic Byway. As of the May 25 council meeting, the commission had not forwarded a proposed ordinance.
The abandoned, trashed-looking mobile home left along the Corrales Main Canal last month attracted lots of humor. Before it was dismantled and hauled away in late May, the not-so-mobile home generated guffaws and smirk when signs were affixed offering it for rent or designating it as a police substation.
Indeed, a Corrales police car was often parked nearby, some thought to nab the person or persons who had littered the roadway. But Police Chief Vic Mangiacapra said May 29 that the owner had been identified, and that the mobile home was being removed from a nearby location as directed by the Village’s land use code enforcement officer.
”The owner was in the process of moving the trailer off of a nearby property as a result of a code enforcement case, but didn’t make it very far,” Mangiacapra said. “The officers were keeping an eye out just to make sure it didn’t turn into the neighborhood playground before getting hauled off.”
Local nonprofit organization Albuquerque Involved brought together community-minded teens from across Albuquerque during the pandemic. The Albuquerque Involved Mentee (AIM) program was designed to help high school students discover and interact with local non-profits.
Through AIM, teens learn how the non-profit grant application and funding process works.
For the 2020-2021 school year, students met remotely to have the experience of designing an application and evaluation process for grants. Through a gift from Nancy Croker and Joe Gorvetzian, the program awarded grants to three Albuquerque non-profits out of 45 applications received.
The successful grant recipients, each receiving $3,333, were Paws and Stripes, New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care and United
A tax rate review and recalculation was conducted for all New Mexico employers by the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) under the provisions of the Small Business Recovery Act of 2020. Revised notices were sent out informing employers if their rate increased, decreased, or was unchanged from the notices sent in November 2020.
With that “extra” $4.7 million discovered last year still unspent, intact and sitting in reserve, the Village Council has approved a budget for the next fiscal year that anticipates revenues of $5.9 million in the general fund.
As always, the biggest chunks of that would go to the Police Department ($1,216,796) and Fire Department ($753,026).
Corrales’ preliminary budget has been submitted to the N.M. Department of Finance and Administration for review and corroboration before the FY21-22 starts July 1.
Parks and Recreation expects to spend $440,198; Corrales Library $260,218; Public Works $440,854; Planning and Zoning $336,938; and Municipal Court $172,429.
According to the budget approved, another big slice goes to “General Services” for $902,337, while Finance/Administration is to get $916,028.
