What’s in Store in 2024?

Published December 29th, 2023 at 10:00 am

Where is Corrales headed?

That’s a question whose answers will be revealed in 2024 – Corrales’s 54th year as an incorporated village. And with each passing day, Corrales is finding its way.

Two big matters carrying over from 2023 are the proposed multi-use facility and the work being done on the Comprehensive Plan, which will be used to guide decision-making for the next 10 years.

The Comprehensive Planning Committee recently released the results from the community survey it conducted in November and December. True to its task, the survey was indeed comprehensive, designed to measure the Village’s temperature on a broad range of topics. Committee chair Chris Allen and her group have also conducted dozens of interviews with individuals and groups. Town Hall style meetings were also held with residents of each of the five political districts.

“They’ve put a lot of work into it,” said Corrales Mayor Jim Fahey during an interview with the Comment that included Village Administrator Ron Curry and Clerk Melanie Romero.

The data collection is complete. Now, the committee will analyze the data in preparation of a report to the Village Council this spring.

The Multi-Use Facility Committee is also due to present its findings and recommendations regarding a proposed facility to the Village Council about that same time – the Council’s first meeting in March, Romero said. But some are already saying it’s too tight of a timeline. 

This is already the second ad hoc committee created to explore the idea, which started as a proposal for an $8 million performing arts center. But pushback from the public seems to be reshaping the concept into a community center. What’s been established is there does appear to be a desire for a building capabie of accommodating large gatherings, but with an educational element to include classrooms and exhibit space.

Chaired by Johnny Martinez, the Multi-Use Facility Committee created its own survey to collect community input that’s available now on the Village’s website. 

The mayor has advocated for the project to be built on a part of the old Jones property near the recreation center, though he acknowledges the Village doesn’t have the money to build it. Still, he’s confident that funding could be secured with public and private funds. 

Roundhouse roulette

It won’t be long into the new year that some of the Village’s future will be determined. The 2023 Legislative session gets underway on Jan. ?? A 30-day session focusing on the budget, Corrales hopes by the end of the session to have funding to put toward special projects.

Earlier this year, the Village Council set its priorities for the 2024 legislative session for capital outlay funding. Topping it was the Angel Hill water tower, which would help link fire suppression water lines throughout the Village.

“This will allow us to hook into a loop system and give a pressurized line,” the mayor said. 

The tower could allow the Village to install a sprinkler system to fight fires in the bosque. “They’ll put out a lot of water real fast,” Fahey said.

Curry added there’s over $1 million in fire suppression money the state has left over from last fiscal year, some of which could come to Corrales.

Fire station No. 3 is next on the list. Voters in November approved a $1 million bond to build and equip the substation. But the Village is still seeking $300,000 to complete it all. 

Another bond passed in November provided $1 million for roads and drainage. The Village is seeking more from the state to deal with drainage issues, primarily on the westside. Repaving and restriping roads are ongoing projects. The Village expects to spend $10 million on roads and drainage in the next fiscal year.

The Public Works Department completed a survey of roads this year and will address striping and traffic calming measures as funding becomes available.

West Meadowlark Road and the pedestrian/equestrian/bicycle pathways are still a work in progress and is back on the drawing board.

“There’s been a lot of iterations and a lot of fingerprints on it,” Curry said, adding line-of-sight issues for residents living along the road remains an issue. “We’re trying to simplify it with safety first.”

The crumbling road shoulder will be shored up with curbing on both sides. The north side of the road is planned to have a 5-foot wide asphalt path running parallel to the road, while the south side is expected to have a cider trail for horses.

Corrales’s identity is wrapped up in the historic Old San Ysidro Church. And to keep up appearances from within, the iconic church needs the interior replastered. 

Fifth on the priority list is the parking lot for the Village Complex. “It’s a working parking lot,” Fahey said. By that he means it serves not only the Village administrative offices but the municipal court, Planning and Zoning, Animal Services, the community and senior centers and the police department.

Fahey and Curry said they should get some money for these projects from the state, but how much will be determined. Last year, Corrales got about $3 million in capital outlay funding.

The Village will be relying primarily on their representatives at the Roundhouse – Sen. Brenda McKenna and Rep. Kathleen Cates. Another key player will be the Village’s lobbyist, Larry Horan.

“What almost always happens is at the last minute they’ll call and say, ‘what’s your priority?’” said Curry. “So some of this goes out the window. But we try to prioritize as much as possible what we send up to Santa Fe.”

Fahey talked about the Village’s approach to funding projects. They try to utilize matching funds as much as possible, so the Village isn’t saddled with the entire cost. 

“We like to use other people’s money,” he quipped.

It’s also good to have “shovel ready” projects, he said, as those are more likely to get funding and municipalities often have to spend the money within a certain timeframe.

Other projects

Another list to look at is the Village’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan. The same projects listed as legislative priorities appear on this list, but there are others that reflect the Village’s planning for the future. The multi-use facility – described as the “Multi-Use Education, Community and Arts Center” – is listed here, along with miscellaneous items like a fire trucks, generators and solar panel installation. 

The biggest project on the list is a wastewater collection system, priced at $16 million. 

Fahey said there’s been talk of installing a sewer line in the Village for some time. “We should have done it in 2007, 2008,” he said. “I always thought it was a good idea. Get that crap out of the Village.”

Fahey said the project is a long way off and just getting to the design phase. “The goal is to have it planned for the whole Village,” he said, adding that it would probably take 10 years to build.

Also on the list are smaller projects, such as electric car charging stations, an annex at the library and the Corrales Road Pathway Project.

The Pathway Project involves Corrales Mainstreet, which the Village contracts with to promote economic development and develop a culture and arts district. That group is working on a plan to tie together Village properties, some of them recently purchased. 

Mayor Fahey said the Wells Fargo Bank building and Gonzales property across Corrales Road from the Village Administrative Complex will be developed. The newly purchased Gonzales property adds about 3 acres that already borders La Entrada Park, allowing for easy expansion of the park. A pathway could encircle the park and an orchard could be planted to make for an inviting open space.

The Wells Fargo property borders both the front part of the Gonzales property, which may be utilized for parking, and La Entrada Park. The bank building could be opened for public restrooms, be converted to a visitor’s center, or provide office space for Corrales MainStreet.

The bank purchase also came with water rights that Fahey said the Village could utilize.

“Or, we can allow 4-H kids to farm the back with alfalfa and use the water,” the mayor suggested.

None of that is set in stone. Ultimately, it will be the Parks and Recreation Committee that will study the lay of the land and make recommendations to the Village Council, which could happen this upcoming year.

Department check

The Village will be opening two new buildings in 2024 – one for people and one for animals.

The new gymnasium at the recreation center is expected to open in January. 

“When you see it, you won’t believe it compared to that cracker box,” the mayor said, referring to the old gym, which will be converted to an exercise room. “There will be room for parents to come and watch their kids play basketball. There will be room for pickleball. It opens it all up for everything.”

The animal shelter in that same municipal parking lot is expected to open in April. Curry blamed miscommunication and lack of documentation for the delay. The shelter was shipped in from Pennsylvania last summer but state regulators red tagged the building. Plumbing and electric need to meet code and the building will be stuccoed.

The Village will be operating under a new set of animal ordinances, the Village Council having adopted an update earlier this year.

Efforts to reach Wendall the goat, Corrales’s pet mayor, for comment on the new rules were unsuccessful.

Animal Serives is overseen by the police department. The department reports just one vacancy in the ranks, an improvement over past years. Crime remains low and police have stepped up speed enforcement, finding that most violators are from out of town.

No big news coming out of municipal court. Judge Michelle Frechette was reelected in November. We know she’s in support of parking lot improvements, having allocated some discretionary funding to that project.

Planning & Zoning, which also shares the parking lot and is neighbor to Animal Services, is always updating maps and ruling on plat divisions. 

Clerk Romero was asked what was happening with the Clerk’s Office, but was interrupted by Curry. “She’ll continue to create efficiencies,” he said.

That includes managing the Village’s website. Romero has purged dozens of webpages that no longer apply or haven’t been viewed in years. She is also in charge of the Village’s social media array and in helping keep the community informed. She manages the CivicPlus software utilized by the Village and serves as producer for meeting broadcasts over Zoom and posted on YouTube.

Preserving quality of life

While change is inevitable, there are some things Corralenos don’t want to see changed. A rural, agricultural oasis a short distance away from the urban jungle is what drew a lot of people to Corrales and makes people love to live here.

Village voters approved a $2 million bond to be put toward farmland and open space preservation this year. The money can be used to acquire easements that shield the land from development whether it is farmed or kept as open space. 

“It can’t be used for recreational activities,” Fahey said. “No picnics, no frisbee, no dogs. It can’t be used for anything like that.”

Recreation at Siphon Beach is on hold while work is done to remediate the riverbank washed away by high water volumn in June. The area has been closed indefinitely for public safety. That’s not a Village project. The Bureau of Reclamation is doing that work, while the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is working to replace the Corrales Siphon in the same area.

Farmers learned this year that they will have to go through the 2024 growing season without the aid of the gravity-driven siphon, which supplies the Village with irrigation water from the river. While electric pumps have been used as a temporary measure, the system relies on a sufficient amount of water in the river. The pumps were shut down in August this year, forcing farmers to rely on rainfall to get them through the season.

There’s no telling what’s in the forecast for Corrales this year, both weather-wise and in the news. What we can count on is a similar type of quality of life we’ve enjoyed this past year. Open spaces, the Growers Market, holiday parades, pet elections, Harvest Festival, shopping local stores and eating in restaurants, hot air balloons overhead and all the activities at the old iconic church assure that Corrales will retain its uniqueness, at least another year.