By Rodd Cayton
Village councilors in Corrales will be dreaming about traffic codes for the next couple of nights, Melanie Romero predicted near the end of their Sept. 8 meeting. Councilors spent almost two hours fine-tuning the village’s proposed code as it approaches final approval. Romero, the village administrator, recommended that the council have another discussion to make sure the traffic code and penalty schedule best reflect its intentions before publishing the relevant ordinance.
The months-long process has included several review sessions by councilors and village staff, whose research has included looking at fines in nearby municipalities. Councilors seemed to want to especially discourage offenses that put other road users at risk, with large fine increases for speeding in school zones, passing stopped school buses and distracted driving. Police Chief Victor Mangiacapra told councilors it’s likely that the increased fines will lead to more violators choosing to have their day in court. “There will be an increase in court appearances for the officers,” he said. “There’s a little bit of a drain on our resources.” He said law-abiding citizens are deterred by fines, but chronic offenders rarely review penalty schedules.
Councilor Stuart Murray suggested the village set fines for various traffic violations in increments of $50. Some of the current fines are as low as $10, having remained unchanged for decades. Murray’s idea is to set those fines at $50, with higher amounts assessed for more serious infractions. Village Attorney Ken Tager said adopting the penalty assessment schedule as part of the uniform traffic code will ensure the municipal judge and police officers are on the same page regarding what citations can be issued and what fines can be levied.
One suggestion was that drivers could be offered crossing-guard duty in lieu of paying fines. “Maybe it has more of a tactile feedback to them if they stand there next to a bunch of kids and watch the impact of a car actually driving by quickly and what it could do,” Councilor Zachary Burkett said. “Maybe that actually leaves more of an impression than writing a $50 check.”
Romero told the Corrales Comment that a date for adopting the new ordinance has not been discussed. She said the council likely will not take a final pass at the code and fines before Oct. 13, with a first reading no earlier than Oct. 27. The earliest the ordinance could be adopted would be Nov. 17, she said, meaning the new code and fines would not take effect until around Thanksgiving at the earliest. “That’s if all goes well from here on out and there are no more requests for changes,” Romero said. “This is still very much a work in progress that will not be complete for a while.”
In her report to the council, Romero said utility workers with Ezee Fiber have struck two gas lines over the past two weeks, due to inaccurate markings for the underground lines.