Saturday, March 4, 2006

Belen candidate forum focuses on development

Clara Garcia and Jackie Schlotfeldt; News-Bulletin Staff Writers; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com; jschlotfeldt@news-bulletin.com

Belen Economic development issues, growth and annexation were among the issues raised at a candidate forum held Tuesday night in the Belen High School Student Center.

Candidates running for mayor, two council seats and municipal judge were invited to the forum by the Greater Belen Chamber of Commerce. Linda Hixon served as moderator as about 75 supporters and citizens attended.

Participating were mayoral candidates Rudy Jaramillo and incumbent Ronnie Torres; council candidates Max Cordova, incumbent David Lopez, Gene Marquez, Manuel Ortega, Aurelio "Al" Padilla, Leon Prevot, Paul Rivera, Eddie Segura and incumbent A. Terese "Tinky" Ulivarri. See story on Page 6A about the judge forum.

The first question posed asked about the candidates' vision for the future of the downtown beautification project.

Jaramillo told the audience that the council has been working on the project and has been seeking funding through various agencies. He said he envisions the project to include the remodeling of some of the older buildings on Becker Avenue. "This will be a benefit to Belen," he said.

Torres said the project is seven years in the making and plans to restore an "antique flavor" to the area with streetlights and a walkway to the future Rail Runner commuter station. "I want to make sure we keep a historic feel to the downtown area," he said.

Cordova said he has noticed a lot of improvements to the area and mentioned the new walk path on Mesa Road. He too would like to see the older buildings restored, but also said he would like to see the beautification project expanded to Main Street.

Lopez told the audience that the city has been working hard on this project and the future of downtown Belen consists of both new businesses and a connection to the Rail Runner train station.

Marquez said that, as a newcomer to the city, be believes more attention needs to be paid to the area where the new commuter rail station and platform will be located on Ross and Reinken. "This will be an attraction for the newcomer to town ... these are the people who will be most appreciative."

Ortega said, in order to make necessary improvements, begin with improving the city's infrastructure and updating the master plan. He said that, with these two things, the city will be in a better position to attract new businesses.

Padilla said that, not being personally involved in the beautification project, he's not sure how far along the project has progressed. "It's an old section of town and it could be made to attract artists and tourists from all over the state."

Prevot commended the city for the "tremendous work on Main Street" but said he too would like the project to expand toward the commuter rail station. He told the audience that, with the new train system, the city will need to improve the area as tourists visit the city.

Rivera said he does a lot of walking and noted that there have been many improvements to the city in the past few years. He said he would like to improve access for the handicapped and seniors both on Main Street and in the downtown area.

Segura said while the project is beneficial to the city, he would first focus on cleaning up the city — particularly city-owned property. "This is a beautiful town and we all need to take pride in it."

Ulivarri said the vision of the downtown beautification project was developed by a lot of people, not just the council. She said the project included business owners as well as public input. "We want to keep the walking areas intact and charming — we want to preserve the past while planning for the future."

What are your feelings about annexation — should it be selective, made individually or by communities such as the Rio Communities?

Cordova said there is a lot of room for annexations and pointed to the west mesa. He said he would like to see more land annexed for residential, commercial and industry use. "But, before that happens, I think we need to look at the road going up there as far as the drainage and ponding."

Lopez said he believes annexation is good and the city does have plans to grow. He noted that the city has recently annexed more land adjacent to the airport and a new housing development on the west mesa. "There is going to be a lot more people moving into town which will allow for more gross receipts taxes and give the city an opportunity to prosper and provide better services to our citizens."

Marquez said the city needs to be more selective when it starts annexing. "If we don't have the means to provide the infrastructure ahead of time, then I think we're taking a step in the wrong direction."

Ortega agreed, saying a good master plan would help the city in making those types of decisions "especially if we're considering annexing Rio Communities because it will cost our city in order to put services such as sewer lines, new policemen and new firemen and a new fire station."

"The City of Belen, for whatever reason, is stagnant with a 7,000-something population," Padilla said. "I was reading a circular from the chamber of commerce back in 1948 and the population was 7,000. Something is wrong. I think it's essential to have efficient growth in the community and it's essential we concentrate on expanding our city limits."

Prevot said he's happy with the size of the city and doesn't believe "more rooftops" are good for Belen. He said, with mass transit on the horizon, the city should be looking at high-rise apartments. "If we're not careful, Belen is going to be a mess at five o'clock."

Rivera said he believes the city should concentrate on attracting businesses first before considering annexing other parts of the area into Belen. "We need better grocery stores on the other side (south) of Belen."

Segura agreed, saying that Belen shouldn't worry about Rio Communities until the city takes care of its own problems. "Let's fix our problems here in this town — not just Main Street. I've seen some streets over by Central School that can knock out the front end of your car. I believe we need to get down and do it like we would our own home — don't try to buy another trailer until you get your own home fixed."

"We have put $6 million underground and need another $5 million more before we start courting new communities and businesses," Ulivarri said. "We have to annex carefully, and, yes, there is room for growth."

Jaramillo told the crowd that, since he's been on the council, he's always felt that the city should be squared off, saying the city boundaries are uneven. "The fire and police departments don't even know who to respond to (in) some of these areas because they don't know if it's in the city limits," he said. "We need to be prepared with infrastructure, sidewalks and treatment plants. We just need to be careful."

Torres explained that the city currently has an annexation process that is by petition. He said there are plans in the works that will triple Belen's land mass in the next year. "When these people come in to annex, it's their responsibility to take the sewer up there and street lights — the city pays nothing on that. They are responsible for that."

What would be your master plan for incorporating the commuter rail with future public transportation here in Belen?

Marquez said: "I don't have the slightest idea, but I would think ... by starting out with our own transportation so that they can have the means to go to and from where they want to go. Otherwise, they'd be out on foot trying to go out as far as they can and I don't think they'd have a true picture of our town."

Ortega said the city will have to work with the state to see how it can provide transportation. "It has to be with a master plan because we have to deal with our transportation problems here alone in town."

Padilla said he believes the commuter train is very important to the valley and linking transportation within the city is a critical issue. "I'm not sure financially how we can handle that, but we can educate the people to use the commuter train and figure out a way to get them to and from the station."

Prevot believes there are some interesting benefits and opportunities that come with the train, such as transporting the handicapped and senior citizens to and from Albuquerque. "Albuquerque has an awesome network of buses and you can go anywhere in Albuquerque on a bus," he said. "The problem I see is parking. I think we're going to need a parking structure."

Rivera said he also believes the commuter train is a great opportunity for the visually impaired as well as the senior citizen population. He said he has utilized the public transportation system in the city and it has been beneficial.

Segura said while he doesn't like to sound negative, he believes that the valley is not ready for the commuter train. He noted that he has not seen a plan in place that would benefit those using the train getting where they want to go in Albuquerque. "I think if we have vans, they can take them where they want to go and pick them up."

Ulivarri said she has been a member of the transportation steering committee that has been addressing this issue since the idea first arose. She said the committee has addressed routes and ways to accommodate the people who will be using the rail system. She said Belen currently has one van that is used primarily by seniors and the handicapped.

Jaramillo said he has heard from many people who have asked him about the issue, and he said the city does need to plan a way for people to get to and from the rail station. "It's something that's going to take work from everybody," he said. "I think we need to see how the community will use it."

Torres said that, since the announcement was made that the commuter train was coming to Belen, the city has been receiving calls from all over the country asking if the Hub City was going to be the tail or the head of where the train is going to end up. "We're working right now on a bridge — our No. 1 priority — and what it is is an outside elevator that will start where the train stops and goes to the Reinken overpass. You'll walk over the bridge and come right back down by the Kune Hotel — right by the Heart of Belen project."

Cordova said he believes it will be many years before the commuter rail service will work. He said he feels anyone working in Albuquerque will not take the commuter rail to work and the only people who will utilize it will be seniors, teenagers and those who can't drive. "I think what we need here in Belen is shuttle buses like we had before," he said.

Lopez said the city, along with the Mid-Region Council of Governments, has worked hard in the planning and the governor has invested a lot of time and money into the project. "This project will give a boost to every local economy and everything has to start somewhere. New businesses will sprout from this and it will alleviate highway congestion. If all the city entities work together, I know this will succeed."

What is your 10-year plan for economic development in Belen?

Padilla said Belen has a problem with attracting some kinds of industry to the area. "We need to put our heads together, as leaders of this community, and figure out why. We have railroad accessibility, freeway ramps and we have the land for commercial usage."

Prevot said he hopes in 10 years his children will be able to find jobs here. "What I want to see is tourists getting off the train and I want to see some small plazas like you see in Santa Fe and Taos. I want to see these talents in these art shops just like you see in Taos."

Rivera said he would like to bring in more general shopping on the south side and he would like to see little shops come to the community with an old-time feel to them. "We can pull together and, in 10 years, who knows where we're going to be, but we want to try our best to bring business here."

Segura said that while he can't envision Belen 10 years from now, he believes the city can work on problems one at a time.

Ulivarri said the airport is a major contributor to the economic development to Belen. She said Campbell Farms bringing in industrial business and the new Rail Runner coming in will affect business. "You won't believe what it's going to do for this community."

Jaramillo said he thought the primary focus should be to attract industry into the community and, as a city, find ways to help firms establish themselves. He said other cities provide incentives for businesses to move in and, as mayor, he would look into it.

Torres said the council passed an ordinance a year ago that allows the city to donate property to people to bring businesses to the area. He said Belen needs work on its infrastructure so it's ready for new growth. "We've had quite a few calls already and, with the Rail Runner, the train and I-25 and we're ideally located. I guarantee you're going to see a lot of things happening."

Cordova said there was plenty of room to grow on the west mesa and the city would be able to annex more property for industry that would bring in more business creating revenue for the downtown area.

Lopez said that a 10-year plan was currently in the works involving good annexation, good infrastructure, planned growth and community involvement. "Property values are going up here in our homes as well as (there being) more business looking at the City of Belen for future sites."

Marquez said the City of Belen needs a professional planner to be ready for the growth.

Ortega said he'd like to see Belen grow as Los Lunas is growing. "We have all the resources here, but I think more joint power agreements between all the entities in our city, including schools, county and city government and that's how we'll have a 10-year plan going."

What taxes will need to be assessed to cover the city's share of the commuter rail deficit, economic development and such?

Rivera said he couldn't answer the question about taxes because he wasn't educated in that.

Segura said he didn't believe people should be taxed any more than they already are. "The prices are going up on everything."

Ulivarri said the first three years on the commuter rail are covered, but, after that, probably a quarter of a cent will (be assessed) ... but you have to keep in mind, to fund it, it's a regional transportation district that includes Albuquer-que's great tax base as well as Sandoval County so we won't bear the whole brunt of it."

Jaramillo said the city is maxed out as far as gross receipts go so there wouldn't be an increase there but covering the costs of the commuter rail needs to be looked at. "We need to see how the rail will do and see if it will be profitable."

Torres said the city is taxed to the limit. "We did that for infrastructure for sewer and, before we could go to Washington for funds, we had to be taxed and bonded to capacity. We can't tax any more than we are right now."

Cordova said people shouldn't be taxed on the commuter rail until it's determined if it works. "If we bring in more business, we'll bring in more revenue which will bring in more tax money to help with other services such as police, health and fire protection."

Lopez said if the Rail Runner works according to plan, the gross receipts it will generate will help relieve some of the tax burden. "The wear and tear on the highways should be less so we should be able to tap into some of the funding from the transportation department. As a last resort, a potential tax hike could be imposed on the citizens but it would take a vote to do that."

Marquez said he wasn't in favor of any tax on the Rail Runner being imposed on the communities and the routes it's taking. "Ours is the highest gross receipts and any more tax would be a big imposition on anybody."

Ortega said Belen is paying as much in taxes as the city of Albuquerque and the citizens don't want to pay more. "If the train comes, we should look at acquiring federal grants."

Padilla said this was the governor's pet project so the city should see what he will do for it. "There's going to be a fee, but we don't know what it's going to cost so we're going to have to put our heads together and come up the money needed."

Prevot said the city's share of a Rail Runner deficit is a question nobody can accurately answer. "We should be able to get a share of that highway money by saving the wear and tear on the highway like David (Lopez) said. I believe the Rail Runner needs to have a partner so we can have an investor. The Rail Runner has to work and we have to fully commit to it and progress as if it's going to."

The last question asked of the candidates came from a member of the audience. Is there enough water for the city to attract more businesses and homes and is the water treatment plant at capacity and how will you deal with this?

Jaramillo said there is sufficient water right now and the treatment plant is able to supply the present number of homes as well as future growth.

Torres agreed, saying the treatment plant can accommodate about 3,000 more residents in Belen. He also said that any developer coming into the city is required to bring his own water rights.

Cordova told the crowd he hasn't researched the issue but believes the city will have enough water for years to come thanks to the aquifer.

Lopez said there is more room for expansion at the wastewater treatment plant for when the time comes when the city grows. He also said problems with ground water leaking into the system has been solved.

Marquez said before the city looks at expanding the treatment plant, Belen needs to make sure there is enough water for residents' needs. He said the water should be monitored every few months, if not every few years, to make sure the city doesn't sell itself short.

Ortega believes a study needs to be done before any plans for expansion.

"It sounds like we're pretty sound when it comes to water but, if it comes time to upgrade, there are grants that we can go after," Padilla said.

Prevot said the city will have a hard time expanding the plant if surrounding property owners won't sell. He explained that this is one of the reasons he doesn't believe Belen should look at major growth.

Rivera said that he is not educated on the subject but agreed, if the time comes, the city should acquire water from different sources.

Segura said he believes employees at the wastewater treatment plant have done a good job and deserve a lot of credit. He also said the city needs to acquire people with knowledge regarding how Belen can acquire more water rights.

Ulivarri said the treatment plant was renovated three years ago and is currently being used at half its capacity. She said the city is always buying as many water rights as possible.

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