Funding for a Fire Department water tank at the top of Angel Hill and water delivery pipes down Angel Road and then north and south along Loma Larga will be sought through the N.M. Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The Village Council approved a resolution at its June 8 meeting to seek an exceptionally low interest $5 million loan to complete the project that has been contemplated over more than 30 years.
The top of Angel Hill (the steep terrain where Angel Road has been paved up the escarpment) was identified by former Village Engineer Larry Vigil decades ago as the best site for a water tank that could deliver water by gravity to most of the village. Fire Chief Anthony Martinez proposed installing a well and pumphouse just inside the Corrales-Rio Rancho boundary and burying a pipe along Angel Road down to Loma Larga. The plan has been to install fire hydrants along Angel Road as the fire suppression pipeline is laid. A 12-inch diameter pipe would then extend north and south along Loma Larga.
The two-acre parcel of Village-owned land at the top of Angel Road, regarded as too steep to use for home construction, has been eyed for decades as an ideal spot for an emergency response dispatch tower as well as a water tank. The dispatch tower was erected about eight years ago.
Fire Chief Martinez has envisioned the Angel Hill tank as one that would hold 60,000 gallons.
At its September 10, 2019 session, the Village Council approved a contract for WHPacific engineering firm to plan, design and engineer “a fire suppression system to include a tank at 3001 Angel Road, a Village-owned property.
“The engineering firm will need to calculate needed water tank size and size of distribution line needed for a gravity system to run down Angel Road and into other areas in the Village of Corrales.â€
Chief Martinez said the proposed water line would have fire hydrants installed at intervals determined by the engineering firm, probably between 500 to 1,000 feet apart.
The interest rate for the state loan was reported to be 0.01 percent, described as an all-time low.