LL Council OKs off-site development agreement for Main St. intersection

LOS LUNAS — The Los Lunas Village Council unanimously agreed to a development agreement with Trucor Investments, L.L.C., represented by land owner Jon Trujillo at a council meeting on Thursday, June 12.

The agreement between Trucor and the village is for off-site infrastructure improvements at the southeast corner of Main Street and Huning Ranch Loop SW, west of Interstate 25. The improvements are a first step towards the development of the proposed Sunset View Marketplace shopping center

The agreement was further developed after the issue was deferred for approval at a regular council meeting on April 26 where the improvements were discussed. Due to the absences of councilors Gino Romero and James Runyon, the approval was by a vote of 2-0.

“This is a type of agreement that we do not routinely go into,” said Los Lunas Deputy Village Administrator Erin Callahan. “It would provide an adequate framework for the council to pay for this project and then recoup a certain percentage back from the property owner — essentially as an economic development incentive.”

Trujillo and Trucor went before the council in April proposing to develop the Sunset View Marketplace shopping center on the 18 acre parcel of land. At the time, Trujillo requested the village pay 100 percent of the required off-site infrastructure improvements.

The improvements will provide access to the property and mitigate the added traffic impacts on Main Street. Because these improvements are to be made to an existing public right-of-way, a development agreement is required to move forward.

The agreement brought before the council stipulates an 80-20 percentage split between Trucor and the village. Trucor is required to pay its share within 120 days of bid award and to pay any subsequent share payments necessitated by change orders within 120 days of the providing notice of an approved change order along with an invoice for the applicable change order.

The developers are also required to obtain all necessary development approvals from the village to construct the project.

The preliminary cost estimate for the entire project is $666,779.33.

“In addition, depending on how the project may change, then it could impact the traffic alignment, and so that could compromise just the effort that we’re putting into it,” Callahan said. “There could end up being cost increases for certain reasons. There may be need to approve change orders, and what we have in the agreement says, if there’s a valid need to approve a change order, we keep the same cost share percentages.”

Callahan said the developers are also going to try to obtain LEDA (Local economic Development Act) funding from the village. During the April meeting, Callahan said the hope was that LEDA funds would cover up to 40 percent of the project.

During discussion, the prospect of Trucor doing an exchange of the property around Champion Road, to the west of Huning Ranch Loop was brought up as a separate issue involving improvements at the intersection of Sun Ranch Road and Desert Willow Road.

In other council action, the village council:

• Unanimously approved the village’s Title 6 update, which was a requirement to continue receiving funds from the federal government.

• Approved the Valencia County DWI Program’s existing contractors.

• Approved three hires for the Los Lunas Fire Department — Nicholas Moya, Andrew Yamamoto and Matt Scott McKay.

• Received updates on the village’s 2027-2031 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP) from assistant public works Director Brittany Armijo. Due to the absence of councilors Romero and Runyon, the issue was tabled until the next council meeting on Thursday, June 26.