During a quick Bernalillo Town Council meeting Oct. 14, councilors welcomed Sandoval County Commissioner Kathrine Bruch, who presented the county bond measures on the general election ballot.
Mayor Jack Torres also appointed Councilor Phillip Valverde as mayor pro tem, and the council unanimously approved the appointment, filling the vacancy left by the death of former Councilor Dale Prairie.
Bruch addressed councilors about four general obligation bond measures, totaling $24.4 million, approved by the County Commission at its July 24 meeting to fund various community projects. The bonds, if approved, will help construct a new county animal shelter, improve the public works vehicle fleet and improve the county fairgrounds.
“We would love, of course, for everyone to vote yes on all four,” Bruch said. “That is clearly up to the voters, but for many of us, each of these will hold a different significance.”
She began by discussing the library bond, which will allocate up to $3.1 million over two years for books, media, computers and other technological equipment, as well as improvements to the 17 county libraries.
“It is the largest number that we’ve had for the libraries in the history of Sandoval County,” she said.
The second bond allocates up to $11.2 million for public safety improvements, focusing on water delivery and telecommunications. It will complete Phase 3 of the Emergency Medical Services communications program, initiated in 2016, and fund the final stage of the fire suppression water project for the Placitas Community Library and Algodones business loop.
The third bond allocates up to $7.5 million for constructing a new 11,000-square-foot animal resource center in Bernalillo, estimated to cost $17.6 million. To support this initiative, the county secured $1.5 million in congressional funding, $223,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act and additional funding from legislative capital outlay and unused Health Care Assistance Program funds.
The final bond, totaling $2.6 million, is designated for public works improvements throughout the county. It includes funding for new vehicles for county departments, road repairs, a tractor and bleachers for the county fairgrounds and upgrades to the Rio Rancho fueling station to meet federal standards.