The Rio Rancho City Council will consider three resolutions Thursday that would commit the city to supporting a proposed hypersonic missile manufacturing facility outside its borders, a decision that has drawn significant public opposition.
The council meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. at City Hall, features agenda items authorizing up to $1 million in economic development funds for road construction, negotiating water and wastewater service agreements, and approving an intergovernmental pact with Sandoval County for Project Ranger.
The project involves California-based Castelion Corporation’s plan to build a solid-rocket-motor and hypersonic-missile manufacturing facility on approximately 1,000 acres in unincorporated Sandoval County, about three miles west of Rio Rancho’s city limits.
Sandoval County commissioners approved an economic development agreement in October related to Project Ranger that makes the county fiscal agent for $10 million in incentives, with $5 million from the state, $4 million from Sandoval County and up to $1 million from Rio Rancho.
The proposed facility would employ approximately 300 workers with an average salary of $100,000, according to company officials.
Public comments submitted ahead of the meeting reveal deep divisions over the project. Rio Rancho resident Elaine Cimino filed a 10-page written objection citing what she called “procedural defects, omissions and misrepresentations” in the approval process.
Cimino’s submission argues that neither the city nor the county held proper public hearings before funding approval and that no baseline groundwater, air or soil testing has been conducted despite the project’s use of ammonium perchlorate, a toxic oxidizer known to contaminate groundwater.
Another resident, Michael Farrell, urged the council to reject the resolutions, writing that the city would be committing taxpayers and ratepayers to “substantial financial, water and public-safety risks for a facility outside city limits.”
Farrell noted that since 2009, Rio Rancho has limited water and wastewater service to properties within city boundaries to protect the supply for residents and planned growth, and that creating an exception for the project “invites more exceptions later”.
At an October community meeting, Castelion officials said the facility would manufacture solid rocket motors and assemble complete missiles but would not synthesize chemicals on-site or conduct flight testing. The company said operations would include static fire tests lasting about 30 seconds.
The council will also vote on appointing members to advisory boards and considering liquor license transfers and zoning changes during the regular meeting.
Public input on agenda items must be registered with the city clerk no later than 15 minutes before the 6 p.m. start time, with a maximum of two hours allotted for comments on any specific item.
The meeting will be conducted in person and streamed live on the city’s website at rrnm.gov.
