Santa Fe council delays $2 million shift to non‑congregate shelter plan after questions on sites, costs and community engagement

Santa Fe city leaders voted to delay deciding whether to move $2,000,000 from general fund balance into construction work in progress for non‑congregate sheltering projects after an extended public and council discussion about sites, costs and community engagement.

The funding request, presented by Henry Hammond Paul, director of the Community Health and Services Department, would reallocate money set aside in a prior budget for purchase of a building and instead use the funds to stand up non‑congregate micro‑community shelter solutions — often called pallet shelters — and related auxiliary infrastructure.

Councilors pressed staff on details including where sites would be located, who would operate them, and how much the city must commit for the units and their set‑up. Paul said the city previously procured 40 pallet shelter units under an earlier contract, with 11 deployed at Christ Lutheran Church and the remainder in storage. He said an existing procurement allows the city to buy additional units at earlier contract prices even though vendor list prices have risen.

Paul and Julie Sanchez, director of the Youth and Family Services division, described the program at Christ Lutheran Church as a managed site with a site host (Christ Lutheran Church) and an operator (LifeLink) that provides case management and wraparound services. Paul said the pilot has resulted in four occupants moving to permanent housing and one other in the pipeline.

Councilors asked for a breakdown of how the $2,000,000 would be spent. Paul provided line items on the record: he said a 120‑square‑foot living unit costs roughly $26,000–$26,938 each and that standing up a unit adds costs — heaters (about $958 each), installation kits (about $830 each) and digital door locks (about $186 each). Paul said those unit costs are part of a larger budget that also must pay for auxiliary bathroom/laundry units, site prep (trenching, utility hookups, ADA ramps) and one‑time construction costs to make city parcels habitable for micro‑communities.

Councilors also pressed whether the city had rights to use particular parcels and who would pay ongoing operating costs. Paul said the city issued a request for proposals (RFP) for an operator to serve up to two city sites and a request for qualifications (RFQ) to identify community hosts for other sites; he said operating costs would be part of the operator’s proposal and any contract over the city manager’s purchasing threshold would come back to the governing body for approval.

Several councilors, including Councilor Lee Garcia and Councilor Michael Garcia, urged more transparency and earlier community engagement. Council members noted the city already has roughly 29 units in storage and asked why those had not been deployed. Multiple speakers sought a publicly available list of the city parcels under study and requested a clear line‑item budget for the proposed $2,000,000.

After public testimony and more than an hour of questions, Councilor Michael Garcia moved to postpone the funding approval for two weeks so staff could publish candidate city parcel locations and provide a firmer budget breakdown and deployment plan; the council approved the delay 5–3 (Yes: Councilors Michael Garcia, Castro, Chavez, Faulkner, Lee Garcia; No: Councilors Lindell, Romero Worth, Mayor Weber). The postponement means the council will revisit the budget amendment at a later meeting after staff provides the requested site list and cost detail.

What happened next: staff said they would provide councilors the RFP/RFQ materials, an accounting of previously allocated funds for pallet shelter infrastructure, and a list of candidate city parcels for community review and engagement. Mayor and council members emphasized community engagement and “good neighbor” agreements modeled on the Christ Lutheran pilot as preconditions for future approvals.

Why it matters: the move would shift previously reserved capital dollars to a shelter strategy the city says can provide dozens to more than 100 temporary beds at significantly lower cost than conventional construction — but the council asked for clearer budgeting and community outreach before committing the full $2 million.

Votes at a glance: Motion to postpone final vote on the $2,000,000 budget amendment for two weeks — Passed, 5–3 (Yes: Michael Garcia, Castro, Chavez, Faulkner, Lee Garcia; No: Lindell, Romero Worth, Mayor Weber).