Sandoval County commissioners approve five-year ICIP after debate over costs and priorities

Sandoval County commissioners voted unanimously to approve the county's prioritized five-year Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, known as the ICIP, after staff presented a ranked list of projects and commissioners questioned cost estimates and sequencing.

County Manager Johnson said the ICIP “is a statement of the commission's and county's priorities with regard to our capital projects over the next five years,” and turned the presentation over to Laura Chavez, the county's recently hired senior grant writer. Chavez told commissioners she and staff had identified the county's top 10 projects and ranked them for submission to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). “I am the new senior grant writer at Sandoval County… I'm happy to be here today to take a stab at presenting you with the top priorities for Sandoval County's infrastructure capital improvement plan,” Chavez said.

The list ranked a Vaso Del Vulcan transportation corridor first ($19,329,000); a new county dispatch center second ($18,059,664); new Board of Election (BOE) offices and warehouse third ($29,575,000); completion of the county administration building fourth ($5,035,000); and a new Cuba fire station fifth ($30,100,000). Chavez described the dispatch center ask as planning, design and construction to create a second PSAP and a consolidated dispatch facility to serve suburban, rural and tribal areas; Mark Hatzenbuehler, the county public works director, added that “the PSAP actually started functioning this morning and taking calls,” but said a phase 2 expansion is needed to convert the interim center into a longer-term facility.

Commissioners probed several items during discussion. Commissioner Herr raised concerns about prioritizing large vertical projects at the expense of everyday road maintenance for residents, noting an older engineering study that rated many county roads poorly and urging the commission to consider “more creative options” for transportation. Herr also pressed for higher priority or clearer funding for the county's animal resources center, saying the project has been under way for years and needs to be completed.

Commissioner Brook defended the inclusions on the ICIP, saying the list is used to demonstrate planning when applying for grant funding. “If we do go for grant funding, one of the first questions they ask is, is it on your ICIP? If that answer is no, then we are immediately ineligible for that funding,” Brook said.

Several commissioners questioned the $30.1 million estimate for the Cuba fire station and other high line-item projections. Public works staff said early programing money ($75,000) was requested for design and that larger totals are preliminary projections intended to avoid under-budgeting later. Hatzenbuehler said the county used a high per-square-foot estimate to ensure it would not need to return to the legislature to ask for additional funds after underbidding. Commissioners sought more precise cost estimates before pursuing larger funding requests.

Others urged attention to several smaller, near-term projects that, commissioners said, could be completed quickly and would demonstrate the county's ability to finish projects — for example, the Algodones water storage request (listed at $250,000) and remaining work on the El Zócalo Plaza. Commissioners noted the state requires that projects be on an ICIP to qualify for many grant programs, so the list intentionally includes both large and smaller items and projects not slated for immediate funding.

After discussion, the commission voted on a motion to submit the prioritized ICIP to DFA and to proceed with the list as presented. The clerk recorded the roll-call votes as follows: Chair Meek — yes; Vice Chair Buettas — yes; Commissioner Brook — yes; Commissioner Herr — yes; Commissioner Jones — yes. The chair declared the motion passed.

The commissioners and staff agreed to refine cost estimates as project programming and design advance, and staff emphasized that the ICIP is a planning document intended to show the county's multi-year intentions to state funders.

The commission also approved the meeting agenda and authorized electronic signatures for commissioners participating via Zoom earlier in the session.