[Music]
Council,
you're live.
Good afternoon. Welcome to the work
session. Today is Monday, July 28th,
2025. It's approximately 1 p.m. I'm
Mayor Eric Enriquez. We will start with
a moment of silence for the brave men
and women of the United States Armed
Forces as they protect our interests
around the world and also our courageous
men and women of the Los Cusus police
and fire that protect our city uh 24/7.
Please join me
in a moment of silence.
Join me in the pledge, please
stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
Okay, we'll start with jobs of the week.
Uh Sarah Rain.
Good afternoon, Mayor.
All right. My name is Sarah Rainey. I'm
the onestop coordinator for the
Southwest Region of America's Job
Centers New Mexico. For the jobs of the
week, we have for the city of Los Cusus,
the concrete finisher that starts at
1676 an hour and the posting closes on
August 11th. We also have for the city a
treasury supervisor starting at 60,000 a
year and that posting closes on the 4th
of August. For Bonahan Houston,
we have a construction observer. That
one starts at $12 an hour and the
posting closes on the 23rd of August. We
also have a housing support specialist
for Amidor Health Clinic starting at $18
an hour and that one closes on the 21st
of August. For NMSU, they have several
positions posted. Um, these are just
three of the many that they have. An
AADE success support center coordinator,
program manager, and program specialist
senior.
Just a reminder for our upcoming events,
since August is right around the corner,
we have our Mountain Shadows hiring
event. That is where Mountain Shadows um
career um sorry,
care coordinators will be in our office
on August 6th. They are doing on-site
interviews. Um bring in your resume, be
ready for an interview. and they've done
a quite a bit of hiring out of our
offices. So, we're doing that once a
month. And then we have our career
essentials. That's where job seekers can
receive one-on-one employment
assistance, program referrals, and then
anything else that you're needing. And
then we have our community of hope job
readiness event on the 20th of August.
That one again is joining with the
community of hope. Um, and actually the
Elcalido soup kitchen. That's where
we're housed right now. They help us
with the participants that are out there
on their career paths.
And that is all I have. Thank you.
Thank you, Sarah. Next is Pets of the
Week with Carol.
Good afternoon. I'm Carol Nelson with
the Animal Services Center of the Missia
Valley digital content specialist. As a
reminder, anytime our cat and dog of the
week are promoted, they are available at
no cost for the full week. This week, we
have boxer 88515.
I'm your future MVP of playtime and
certified squeaky ball enthusiast. My
motto, ball is life. I haven't quite
nailed the whole bring the ball back
part yet. Once the ball's in play, I'm
all in sprinting, squeaking, and showing
off my athletic side. I also love some
chill time and will happily lean in for
attention. I'm a big fan of treats.
They're the magic key to getting me to
sit and maybe even give up my precious
wiki toy. Think we could be ultimate
fetch duo? Come meet me and let's find
out.
This week, our cat of the week is Mama
93148.
She's very, very sweet. Um, I'm a quiet
sweetheart with a gentle soul and a
whole lot of love to give. A whole lot
of love just waiting to be shared. When
I first arrived, I was a little shy.
It's a big new world out there. But even
then, I let the kind humans gently hold
and handle me. Once I know I'm safe,
I'll come right up to you with soft
steps and a curious heart. A few pets
later, and I'm a full-on purring
machine. Bonus points if I get to make
biscuits on my pillow while I soak it
all in. Let's write our quiet, cozy love
story together.
Uh, and as always, we want to highlight
our long-term residents who have been at
our center for three months or more. uh
our top four right now. Peppa has been
in foster home and at the shelter for
358 days. She's currently with the
foster. So uh reach out to the center if
you would like to meet her. Fessa uh has
been with the shelter 265 days, Roelly
255,
Eley 250. So we would love to see them
go to their home sooner rather than
later because the longer they stay in
shelter um they start to decline oftent
times.
um and upcoming events and promotions.
This Saturday we are going to be at
Petco from 9 to 12. So definitely come
on out. And we are happy to announce
that we are teaming up with Clear the
Shelter again uh from August 1st to
August 31st. All adoptions are actually
going to be free. So we would love to
clear the shelter as we have gone
through a lot of intake lately and we
are very much at capacity. So please
help us clear the shelter.
Uh and as always for more information
you can visit our website ascnv.org or
follow us on social media. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Carol.
Next, we'll start with our agenda items
3.1, commercial property, assess clean
energy, the CPACE with Isaac.
All right.
All right. Good afternoon, mayor,
members of city council. My name is
Isaac Colin with the economic
development department for the record.
And today we'll be providing an overview
of the commercial property assess clean
energy program, also known as CPACE.
Joining us virtually, we have Eric
Christensen with Adelan Consulting and
he'll be giving you an detailed overview
of the program and the next steps for
the CPACE program
whenever. There you go.
Yeah. Can you hear me? All right.
Yes, we can hear you.
Uh thank you uh so much for the
introduction. Thank you, mayor, and
counselors for allowing me to join
virtually. Uh, as was mentioned, I'll be
presenting about the New Mexico CPACE
program. This is a relatively recent
program in New Mexico. Um, so we'll move
through a number of slides and then I'm
I'm happy to open it up uh for any
questions uh at the end. So, going on to
our second slide. So, as was mentioned,
CPAC stands for commercial property
assessed clean energy. Uh it's an
alternative source of financing for
improvements to commercial properties.
Um and it covers both the direct and
indirect costs related to improvements
that are being made on a property that
fall within four categories of
improvements. So those categories are
reducing uh energy or reducing water
consumption uh generating renewable
energy or building resiliency. And so
building resiliency could look like
storm water management, wildfire
resiliency, all those types of measures
would fall within the building
resiliency uh category. Uh so eligible
properties include any privatelyowned,
commercial, agricultural, industrial or
multifamily property of five or more
dwelling units. So that's where you'll
see we have a slight overlap with
residential. If it's a multif family
property of five or more dwelling units,
then CPACE uh can be utilized to to help
fund improvements. Um and this also
includes any properties that are owned
by notfor-profit organizations.
Moving to the next slide, um you'll just
get a sense of where there are active
programs throughout the the US. Um New
Mexico is one of our more our more
recent programs to join. Uh I think
there's over 32 at this point uh states
that are involved including and and
Washington DC. Um and then moving on to
the next slide. Um in terms of how the
program is established, the first step
is that a state would authorize C pays
through a statute. This was done in New
Mexico in 2023 through House Bill 228 uh
through the improvement special
assessment act. Um, and then through
this statute, it then stipulates that
counties and municipalities are required
to opt into the program if they would
like it to operate within their
jurisdiction. Uh, and for counties, this
would be through an ordinance and then
for municipalities it could be through a
resolution. Um, and so I'm happy to
share that Donna County uh did opt in
through an ordinance at the end of last
year. Um, and so, uh, one of the the
requests for the city council of Los
Cusus would be to see if, um, the city
council would be open to passing a
resolution, uh, for this program, uh,
for the city. Um, and then, as was
mentioned, I work for Adilante
Consulting. So, we were contracted by
the state's economic development
department to serve as a statewide
program administrator for the CPACE
program. So, this is a program of the
state's economic development department.
Um, we were contracted for four years
with the possibility of renewal. We have
about two and a half years left um on on
that. And I should mention that we're
we're based in Albuquerque. Um, and
typically we are we are able to to
travel to different parts of the state
as well. Um, in terms of where CPACE
funding comes from, moving on to the the
next slide. Um it's helpful to identify
that the private sector is where the
funds are provided. So there's no uh
necessity for public dollars or subsidy
for this program. Uh it's also important
to note that we aren't relying on
federal funding. Um and so really our
program is self-sufficient in the sense
that we receive our funding solely from
closing fees. So whenever a transaction
closes utilizing CPACE financing, uh
there's a program administrator fee that
is paid. Um and that is really how we
sustain our program. Uh all other
services that we provide prior to
closing are are free to to any type of
stakeholder.
Moving on to the next slide. Um and I I
apologize. I don't know how easy it'll
be to see this uh on a large screen, but
this uh hopefully gives a sense of the
application process. So very early on uh
we connect property owners to capital
providers and they agree on terms. They
agree on the interest rate, the length
of the payback period and and other
aspects of of the the loan amount. Once
they have agreed on those terms, they
would then submit their application to
us and we typically respond, you know,
within 10 business days. Um, oftentimes
it's it's quicker than that uh to let
them know if there's any outstanding
documentation
um or if their application meets um the
requirements set out by the statute.
Again, we're not trying to turn anyone
away. As long as they meet the
requirements of the statute, um then
they would be uh approved. And in the
top right corner, we've just highlighted
uh there are additional documents, but
we just highlighted some of the key ones
that would be uh required. So, this
includes our project application form,
which has a checklist included. Uh,
leanholder consent, and I'll get to why
that's a key piece of of CPACE
financing. Uh, and then there is a
certificate of eligible improvements
that's completed by a third party,
typically an engineer, and they're the
one that certifies that the improvements
being made on a property meet the
requirements of the CPACE program. So
once we've had a chance to do this
review the documentation and approve an
application, we would then notify the
designated representative at the county
level. Typically this has been the
county manager. I believe that's the
case for Donna Anna County. U and so
it's the county manager that would sign
off on the closing documents um that
would kind of finalize the transaction
and this would be in between the county,
the property owner and the lender. Um
and then a special assessment lean would
be recorded on the property. Um once
those transa the transaction is
complete, those documents are signed. Um
the lender would then disperse all of
the funds upfront to the property owner.
Uh and the lender themselves would be
responsible for billing and collecting
the funds. The reason I want to
highlight this is because in earlier
instances of this program in other
states um the way that it was uh repaid
was actually through the property tax
bill, but this typically uh was quite a
burden to local government and counties.
And so in newer iterations of the
program and many other states are
revising their their legislation, um one
of the closing documents that gets
signed off on and that the county
manager um gets to to um kind of
authorize uh ensures that the
responsibility for building collection
uh goes directly in between the lender
and the borrower and and so the county
doesn't have to play a role there. And
then after the set uh term period once
the repayment is complete uh then the
county uh would uh record a release of
special assessment lean uh for that
property. So one piece that I I would
really like to highlight um because you
may be wondering from the perspective of
a city uh so really the city's only
responsibility would be passing the
resolution that allows the county's
ordinance to apply within your
jurisdiction. Um and then outside of
that there's no real responsibility
uh responsibility to the city. Obviously
we we encourage collaboration especially
with uh departments of economic
development uh so that we can work uh
collaboratively to really promote the
program to various commercial property
owners uh within your jurisdiction. Um
but when it comes to reviewing
applications that would fall just on us
as the program administrator. And then
when it comes to signing off on closing
transactions, again, that would fall on
the county. So, uh, the hope really with
how the program was designed, uh, by the
state's economic development department
was to really minimize, um, the role
that the the county and the the city had
to play. Um, of course, if any
information,
you know, is requested, we're more than
happy to provide that uh on an ongoing
basis. And we do like to share any
projects that are in the works um with
with the city as well. So hopefully that
gives a sense of of the general
application process. Um, just moving on
to the next slide, it captures some of
the typical measures funded by CPACE.
And we'll we'll see these again repeated
because we have a few case studies from
transactions that have closed that we
will we'll kind of cover. You'll you'll
see the same few kind of popping up over
and over again. But a lot of the typical
ones are lighting upgrades, uh HVAC
systems, boilers and hot water heating
systems, building envelope and
insulation. Uh different water
conservation methods including lowflow
plumbing fixtures is a very popular one.
Um and then renewable energy could be
solar, could be micro grids, EV charging
stations, uh would be all uh eligible
for CPACE. And then we kind of talked
about resiliency as well, but that um
allows you you'll you'll notice that
these are very large uh categories that
can include a lot of different types of
improvements uh for properties.
And then in terms of the benefits of
CPACE, um so general benefits, it can
finance up to 100% of direct and
indirect costs. I will say with the
caveat that for larger projects, um
typically lenders will want to only do a
certain percentage of capital stack. So
for larger projects that might look like
25 30% of the capital stack. Um but in
theory, it could cover up to 100%. um
offers fixed interest rates uh up to 30
years to repay. So quite a lengthy uh
repayment period. Um something I found
very interesting was that it has a
three-year look back period. So if
there's been a recent renovation to a
property and it's within three years of
the application being approved uh and
there's eligible improvements included,
then that can be refinanced um by CPACE.
And some of our case studies will will
highlight this. Um, and so a a key
aspect of CPACE is that it's it's the
placement of a special assessment lean
on a property. And so it's secured by
this property lean, there's no personal
guarantee required. And because it's
secured by a property lean, um, it can
also be transferred uh, upon sale. Um,
and uh, another key piece is that it's
nonacelable in the event of uh, default.
So looking at it from the perspective of
property owners and developers, it's
really about overcoming the upfront cost
of a potential project, increasing the
property value, ideally lowering the
operating costs through energy
efficiency improvements to such an
extent like the goal is always to
outweigh the costs that have or the
payments that have to be made for CPACE
financing. That is not always the case
on every project, but that's what we're
always aiming to do. Um, and then as I
mentioned, because it's a special
assessment, it is transferable upon
sale. So, um, the property owner has
that flexibility.
Uh, in terms of benefits for county,
municipal governments. Um, we really do
speak about this as an economic
development tool. um allowing projects
to come to fruition, particularly ones
that have got stuck that can't utilize
typical types of loans um to to finish
off their project. Um can you know lead
to job creation uh ideally enhancing the
local uh building stock value uh within
a particular jurisdiction uh reducing
the carbon footprint of buildings within
a particular uh jurisdiction and
improving their their resiliency. Um and
then I would say to a lesser extent it
really depends on the type of project
and and how large it is but in some
cases it has also increased the property
tax payments uh for certain properties.
And then from the perspective of capital
providers again going back to this being
an improvement special assessment that's
placed on the property. This gives uh
capital providers providers very um very
strong security for their investors. And
so this allows them to offer, you know,
competitive rates and to to be able to
offer some of the benefits of CPACE
financing on on these uh projects. Um
and then of course increased collateral
value and cash flow.
And then um benefits for existing
leanholders. And the reason lean holders
are are important and I'll go back to
where we mentioned this for the project
application. So if there's a lean holder
on a property, they do have to provide
consent uh for CPACE to be utilized.
And the reason for this is because CPACE
is an improvement special assessment.
The seniority of leans would be property
taxes and then after property taxes and
the like it would be the improvement
special assessment which is CPACE and
then it would be the senior lean holder
and and and whatever follows. And so
that's important to note um that uh any
lean holder would be allowing CPACE um
to to have that spot uh ahead of them.
Uh again,
when there is a case of default, uh it
can be accelerated. Um and so really all
that needs to be paid um by whoever, you
know, takes on the property at that
moment is what is due at that moment in
terms of the the payments.
Um so anyway, the the type of of of
pitch I guess that uh an existing lean
holder would receive um is that it
really enhances the property value,
improves the building's longevity. If
you look at CPACE financing across the
US, the transactions that have happened,
uh there's a very low level of default
and so they're really seeing their
collateral improved without an increase
in their credit risk. Uh and again, it
has to be done with their consent. So
they're not cut out of the equation. And
if a lean holder does not provide
consent, then CPACE will not be utilized
on that uh particular property.
And typically these conversations I
should add uh are really had in between
um the the lender uh and the lean
holders and if required the program
administrator were happy to to be part
of the conversation but the lenders
really have a lot of experience of
having these conversations with leanh
holders and explaining the benefits and
and how there's not a significant risk
to cpace financing being attached.
Um, so some of these frequently asked
questions relate to items that we've
already talked about. Um, the so I won't
spend a lot of time on them, but this
one is an excerpt from the statute
around the seniority of lean holders.
Kind of reading um halfway through uh
the special assessment lean shall have
priorities superior to all leans,
claims, and titles except a lean for
general ad valorum property taxes or an
improvement district lean that is
co-equal to property taxes. So just so
that we can see the the legal language.
Uh another question that we often get
from local government is if there's any
liability. And so throughout the statute
and the ordinance and a lot of the
documentation, you'll notice that
there's language similar to this that
ensures that a county or you know other
types of government is not liable in any
way for the debt of the property owner,
is not a third party obliger, is not
pledging or lending its credit to the
property owner or the capital provider.
Um, again going back to the application
process, it's really just the county
that will um sign off on those closing
transactions and be entering into those
contracts from so from the perspective
of a city um would not be engaging and
would just be required to to kind of
pass that um initial resolution.
Um, I mentioned this as well, but uh in
terms of billing and collection, this is
done directly by the the lender and uh
our guide book has uh stipulations on on
what that would look like. Um,
moving on to the responsibilities of the
uh program administrator. Um so our key
responsibilities especially over this
past first year uh has been supporting
interested counties and municipalities
to opt in through legislation. We do
have sample legislation for both
ordinances and resolutions that we can
provide interested um local government.
Um of course processing project
applications um is a large chunk of what
we do. We also provide educational
outreach services. uh happy to answer
any questions from stakeholders who want
to learn more about CPACE. Um and then
for any jurisdiction that has opted in
um and when transactions are closing, we
provide semiannual reports on their uh
CPACE financing loan portfolio. Um
and uh something that I had mentioned
earlier was just about the closing fee.
Maybe I should share a little more
context there. So, the the closing
transaction fee um for the program
administrator would be 1% of the total
transaction costs, but then it's capped
at 25,000. And so that fee would not be
paid out of pocket by the applicant, but
it would be paid for by the lender and
that amount would just be rolled into
the total uh financing amount that they
would then have to repay. So, it's
really not an obstacle to the applicant.
Um and that cap of 25,000 is to ensure
that it's a it's a manageable amount um
ideally but then also allows the program
uh to be sustained.
Uh the next slide is on updates for New
Mexico. This is my my favorite slide
because I think it's shown how much has
happened since um we really were brought
on board in in February of 2024 and we
we launched in April, so just over a
year ago. Um, and so counties that have
opted in so far, I'd mentioned Donna
Anna, but we also have Bernalo, Santa
Fe, TA, uh, Los Alamos, and then most
recently San Juan and and San Miguel
counties um, opted in. And then
municipalities that have opted in
include Albuquerque, TA, Santa Fe, and
Farmington. Uh, so far we've closed four
transactions. The first one being in
September 2024, and we'll be sharing uh,
those case studies of those transactions
with you. Um, one thing that I wanted to
highlight is a lot of the lenders that
we're currently working with are
outofstate lenders who have a lot of
experience with CPACE financing, but
typically they're looking to finance a
kind of mid to large scale projects. And
so that by that I mean around a million
and upwards. Um, which I think we're
very appreciative of. Um but we're also
trying to learn how we can support
transactions that are under a million uh
for all types of um property owners uh
for commercial properties. Um and so
currently we're working with a number of
local financial institutions and credit
unions to see if there's an appetite to
serve this um this other segment of the
market. Um, one entity for those who are
familiar with the New Mexico Climate
Investment Center, which is a a green
bank that serves the whole state, um,
they they have been very excited and
have come on board as an official uh,
lender for the CPACE program. And so
they are typically looking at
transactions, I forget their exact
minimum, but I want to say it's in the
200,000 range. Um, and then they'll go
up, I think, as as high as uh, $2
million if I'm not mistaken. So, uh,
we're glad to have them on board and
we're also, um, looking to to build
other local partners that can support,
um, the small to midsize projects.
Uh, so, moving on to the four case
studies, and again, this is really
drawing from our current lenders who've
been supporting larger transactions. Uh,
the first transaction that closed last
September was Bishop's Lodge. For those
who are familiar in in the Santa Fe
County area, I do want to say that this
is um an unusually high uh transaction
for CPACE. Uh there have been higher,
but this is definitely on the high end.
So this was 76 million over 25 years. Um
they were able to recapitalize on energy
and water efficiency improvements that
were made uh during a renovation that
began in 2021. So again, this is
utilizing that three-year uh look back
period. Um and they were also utilizing
the funds for improvements still to be
made at that point uh which included a
wastewater treatment facility. Uh moving
on to the second slide for that case
study. Uh some of the improvements that
were made and you'll see these um
repeated because these are really the
common ones are interior and exterior
lighting, high efficiency HVAC and
domestic hot water, high performance
building envelope, low flinging pl
lowflow plumbing fixtures and this large
wastewater reclamation desert
landscaping facility. Um so those were
some of the the key u elements. You'll
you'll notice that those two categories
of energy efficiency and uh reducing
water consumption, you you'll see those
replicated for a lot of these case
studies. Those seem to be the most
popular, uh categories that are
currently being utilized. And then the
third slide just indicates some of the
resulting annual utility savings. And
so, um, you'll notice electricity over
600,000 kilowatt hours. Uh, water over 5
million gallons, uh, being saved
annually. Uh, cost savings was at 66,000
annually,
uh, over the course of 25 years. So, the
second transaction that we closed also
in Santa Fe County, they've been very
busy, um, has been the Modern Elder
Academy Event and Retreat Center. Um
this was a more typical transaction of
10 million over uh 30 years. Um again
this was a new construction that had
just been done and was you utilizing
that three-year look back period. uh
very similar improvements on the next
slide which I um I won't go through all
of them but I will highlight that they
also integrated solar PV arrays uh solar
powered entry gates um and they also had
a liquid waste disposal facility that
was uh put in place and that fell under
the resiliency um category
uh and then their third slide just
indicates again some of these resulting
annual utility savings uh which I won't
read through all of them But um feel
free to to look through. Um then our
third uh case study, this one was in the
town of TA uh TA County, 5 million over
25 years. Um this was again a refinance
of a restoration project on a boutique
hotel. Um it's an interesting project in
the sense that many lenders um they
reached out to many that were not
comfortable lending uh $5 million in
such a rural area. And so this was
really a case where CPACE was able to to
step in and and lend their support uh to
this project uh which I know their their
town council was very passionate about.
Um and so again, very similar
improvements that were made um uh during
during that renovation. And then the
third slide kind of again indicates some
of the resulting annual utility savings
with their life cycle cost savings
coming in at $940,000.
And then our our fourth transaction was
uh more of a unique one. We're we're
hoping to see more of this um because
this was our first new construction. it
wasn't utilizing the three-year look
back period. It's currently underway in
the city of S in the city of Santa Fe,
Rancho Santa Fe Apartments. Um, and this
was also our first multif family
property uh transaction. So, this was
just under 16 million over 27 years. Um,
and we'll be financing again focusing on
on energy and water efficiency
improvements. Um it's 156 unit garden
style apartment development that also
includes a communal pool and and
clubhouse.
Um so again very similar improvements on
the second slide that uh we can just
kind of pass over and then uh the
resulting utility annual utility savings
are are included as well for your
information. So hopefully this gives a
sense of some of the transactions that
have closed. Uh again, we haven't yet
had a chance to um demonstrate how CBASE
can be utilized on smaller to midsize
projects. That's something that we're
really excited to do in the in the
coming year. Um the next slide just kind
of indicates our website. We're happy
for anyone to go there. Our application
process is is laid out hopefully in in a
concise way. We also have all of our
sample documentation, our our sample
legislation can be found on our website.
Uh, and probably most importantly, um,
our contact information, which is also
on the next slide, can be found on our
website, and we're always happy to hear
from anyone, um, and and happy to
explain more about the the program and
see if it's the right fit. We always say
that CPACE won't be the right fit
necessarily for um, every project, but
in some cases, uh, we hope that, uh,
it'll be what allows a project to to
come to fruition. And that's definitely
something that we've seen uh in the
project in Santa Fe City and the project
in TA as well. Um and so our last slide
just kind of indicated our our general
request to the city council uh which was
to pass the necessary resolution uh
which um is is our sample legislation
indicates you know demonstrates sorry
that it's it's a a very brief resolution
that allows Donna Annis County um to
apply within Los Cru's city limits. Uh
and we have a copy of a possible
resolution that could be looked at and
adjusted. And we also have a copy of
Donna Anna's ordinance um that the city
could could review. So that's kind of
our request. Um but I'm also happy to to
talk about anything related to CPACE or
answer any questions that you all may
have and thank you for your time.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Chris.
Anything else you were going to add?
No, not today, Mayor. Thank you.
Okay. U members, any question? Uh,
councelor Flores.
Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for the
presentation. Um, I'm just curious who
uh how did uh PACE start? Who funds does
the states that agree to have uh PACE in
their state? Do do they contribute to
their earnings? How how
who founded this? How long how long ago
was it?
That's a great question. I I would have
to get the exact date. It's been going
for over 10 15 I I think even over 15
years. Um I think the earlier states
were on the east coast that have been
utilized CPACE um in terms of the role
of government. So the states do pass a
statute that allows the program to
function and states vary a little bit
about how that opt-in process looks. Um
in some states municipalities and
counties can opt in separately. Um but
the way that it was laid out in in New
Mexico's legislation is that um both
county and municipality would have to
allow it to to be established.
Um but in terms I think you were maybe
also asking about funding. Uh so
government doesn't provide any funding
for CPACE. Again the only funding the
the
So how does how does CPACE uh exist? I
mean you have people all over the
country I'm sure working. I'm really
curious about that. who who's
who pays you? I mean, I'm I'm just
curious. I don't mean to be
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's a great question.
Um, so if you're if you're talking from
the perspective of the the program
administrators, uh, such as ourselves,
it's from closing transaction fees.
So, whenever Yeah. Whenever a
transaction closes, and again, you'll
have a range. New Mexico, we have um a
lower threshold uh, which we're capped
at 25,000. other states will will go
higher than that. Um and so that's
really our our source of funding.
So does PACE become a um leanholder, one
of the lean holders?
Yeah. So it I mean it would be termed as
a special improvement assessment that's
on the property. Um so it it it's seen
more more closely to property taxes.
Um and and that's how it it would kind
of operate. they they don't have the
collateral for example if it goes into
default of of trying to take the
property over the only thing that CPACE
is due is whatever payments are are due
at that moment on the property and not
what is due in the future.
Okay. And then um the success rate has
been
um 100%.
That's a great question. We have a few
national associations. Um it's been a
very low percentage of defaults. I don't
have the most accurate number. I'd be
happy to follow up with our national
association and get that number for you.
Um, obviously we're we're just starting
out in New Mexico. Um, so we haven't run
into any difficulties yet, but I if if
it's helpful, I can find uh what numbers
they would have at a national level.
I think it'd be great to uh send to our
city manager and then maybe he can um
you know look at that. We can look at it
individually. How soon do we have to
move on this resolution? And is it
incumbent upon us to uh every city that
participates has to even though the
county has already well actually they
haven't signed on yet, right?
The county has signed on. They signed on
uh yeah in November of 2024.
Um I I don't think we don't necessarily
have a project in Los Cusus that's
urgently trying to close. So we're we're
flexible on the timeline. Our hope is to
opt in as soon as possible so that we
can really communicate it uh to property
owners within your jurisdiction. And to
answer your other question, um the city
would be required um to to pass a
resolution for it to be utilized within
Los Cruus. So right now it could be
utilized in other parts of Donana
County, but not in in Los Cruus.
So um Okay. So the the city really isn't
engaging in any potential loss in in
this endeavor,
right?
Yeah.
Okay, that's what I wanted to get at.
So, thank you very much and thank you,
Mayor.
Thank you. Any other questions?
Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, council.
Yeah, just a question kind of my stick
all the time. what is what is outreach
going to look like specifically to some
of the um um businesses that might
partake?
So, uh Mayor Council Mccclure, great
question. So, what we want to do, what's
great about this program is as next up
we'll be talking about our MAS. And so,
a lot of the people that are going to be
redeveloping in those areas might
benefit with the especially these maybe
like the Boys and Girls Club if they're
going to be doing a lot of commercial uh
energy efficiency programs. We want to
make sure we advocate to all the people
that are in uh MAS as well as probably
put that on our website. That way, not
only just the large companies know, but
maybe some of the smaller ones once we
can start working with those smaller uh
businesses, we can go ahead and make
sure that we're helping them out as too.
But uh I know right now we want to get
this in place for the MAS to help get
the redevelopment going as well as other
uh multif family uh developments here in
Los Cruus as well.
Thank you,
Mayor Pro.
Thanks, Mayor. Um, thank you both for
the presentation. Uh, education and
outreach was one of my questions as
well. So, I'm glad to hear that. Um, I
think the other I I think this is really
great. I think it's important. I think
it's yet another economic development
tool in our toolbox, especially for the
MAS. I think um these are the very like
meeting the moment kind of options that
we should be taking advantage of. So, I
appreciate staff bringing this and I
absolutely support a resolution. I think
one of the only sort of pieces that
really caught my eye around this was the
that you all haven't worked with small
to midsize projects yet. So, what I
obviously to me that feels like an
important emphasis. I don't think Las
Cruises is going to have a bishop's
lodge um type of project. I mean, maybe
hopefully, never say never. Um but you
know I think in the sort of shorter term
I want to be realistic about what it how
we can really leverage this and how
folks um and entrepreneurs in the city
can leverage this. So um is there what
can you sort of how can you speak to
that?
Yeah. So, we're really trying to draw on
experience from uh states like Minnesota
and Colorado who've had a lot of success
supporting small to midsize uh projects
and they've brought a lot of local banks
and um especially credit unions on board
to support. Um so, those conversations
are ongoing. We've partnered with um an
organization called Electrify
and and what they do is they they really
uh try and originate transactions uh
particularly smaller transactions and
they'll bring them almost ready to go to
those credit unions. Um and so we're
really hopeful that our collaboration
with them will generate some leads and
and bring projects. And I think as we
close transactions and credit unions see
that it's feasible, that it works well,
um then they'll be more likely to to
continue doing that. Um but for the time
being, I think our most active
partnership is with the climate uh
investment center. I know that they're
just getting started, so it's not
they're not at their full amount of
funds that they're they're hoping to be
able to to loan in the future. Um but
we're actually working with them and
looking at a project in a different part
of the state. Uh and in the end one of
the property owners um decided not to go
with CPACE but the benefit of the
climate investment center is that they
don't just in um offer you know CPACE
loans they'll they'll offer different
types of loans and I think they were
able to to support their project to come
to fruition. So I think you know if
CPACE is not the answer we'll do our
best to try and connect them also to
other organizations that can offer you
know other mechanisms and and the
climate investment center has been a
great partner for that. That's great to
hear. Um, thank you for that. Um, I
mean, yeah, I think in if there could be
language in our resolution that
specifically talks about like
prioritizing, you know, small to midsize
projects, I think that's really
important. Um, my next question may be a
bit naive, so excuse me if um, it comes
off that way. I'm curious if there's
already, let's say there's already a
project, and this hypothetical I don't
I'm not talking about anyone in
specific. there's already some sort of
project moving in Los Cusus and perhaps
they've already taken on some debt doing
some of these uh adjustments. Is there
an opportunity for that project to still
go back and um apply for CPACE uh once
the resolution is passed?
Yeah, I think um if I'm understanding
correctly, it would be possible as long
as it meets the requirements of the
program. So either there's going to be
improvements that will be made or there
were improvements that were recently
made within three years. Okay.
Um
and I know this is like a completely
different category of building, but for
Bishop's Lodge because it was such a
significant amount, they were actually
able to remove a current uh lean holder
on the property because of that amount.
Uh and they were able to just transition
to more favorable financing terms.
Um so I mean that could still apply for
a smaller transaction. Uh, for example,
if if there was enough improvements that
were eligible that covered a certain
amount of cost, it might, you know, help
them in terms of opening up um where
they have where they had debt
previously.
Amazing. Thank you so much. I appreciate
it.
Anyone else?
Okay. No, thank you again. This seems to
be a great opportunity for save saving
and and everything else. I just had the
question on um it says contracted by New
Mexico economic development and as far
as like construction industry division
and everything else that takes place is
what what is the regulation? Who
regulates this in the event that
something may uh go south and they
contact the city? I mean, who who's
who's overseeing who regulates
and what what type of regulation would
this be? Like if if this like if it were
to go to default, is that the concern or
Yeah, either default or a customer has a
question or concern maybe not receiving
the savings that they thought they were
entitled to and have questions on that.
Where where where is that uh
investigated or regulated?
Yeah. Yeah. So if there's any concerns
with the contractual agreement, I would
say come to us as the program
administrator and the you know state
economic development department and we
can help look into that and then see if
we need to draw in local government for
you know um any consultation there. Um
obviously early on we'd have a
conversation with the lender as well and
try and resolve any disputes. Um and
then in terms of default that would be
the responsibility of the lender. uh and
they would typically work, you know,
with the county and follow the laws of
the land. Um but some of the
documentation they sign off on uh gives
them the rights to kind of pursue based
on the laws of the land um what what
they're entitled to through throughout
those proceedings.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Eric.
Okay, seeing no other questions. Thanks.
We'll move on to item 3.2, plan
prioritization for the metropolitan
redevelopment areas. Uh Blair
All right. Good afternoon, mayor and
city council. For the record, my name is
Blair Flores and I'm with the city
economic development department. This
afternoon, I will be presenting on the
prioritization of our four newly adopted
metropolitan redevelopment areas. The
outcome of this prioritization will
determine which area will enter the
planning phase next.
A metropolitan redevelopment plan um
occurs once an area is officially
designated a metropolitan redevelopment
area. The local government develops a
plan that identifies how conditions of
slum or blight will be addressed, aligns
with the community's comprehensive or
general plan and outlines the proposed
actions such as land acquisition, zoning
adjustments, public infrastructure
improvements, and other redevelopment
strategies.
Earlier this month, the Alpo and Salano
MRA plan was officially adopted. The
final phase of planning is now underway
for the West Picacho and Motel MRA. We
anticipate having a draft plan for
public review in September. It will then
be presented um during a city council
work session in November and the final
adoption is projected to be in December.
We have four newly designated areas. the
Amador Proximo and south Apadaka and
liftup east of Solano neighborhood and
mosquite.
All current MAS were identified in an
MRA designation report that was
conducted by Groundwork Studio that was
completed in October, I'm sorry, in
2023. This included research, data
analysis, fieldwork, and public outreach
that identified priority areas within
the city's infill district. It assessed
both physical and social economic
conditions. Um, which areas needed
redevelopment potential or met
redevelopment potential and the city's
capacity for evaluation.
This will help us guide the prior
prioritization and the economic
development team categorize the
following MAS by two factors greatest
need and maximum return on investment.
The MRA identified as having the
greatest need is the Mosqu area. There
are 52 businesses which makes up about
17% of the total businesses of the four
newly designated MAS. The key industries
in this area are other services, retail
trade, agriculture, forestry, and
recreation. The estimated annual tax rev
is 1.6 million, the city portion being
about 388,000.
The population is 2,335.
This does reflect a 1% decline since um
2010.
The second greatest need is the Amadore
Proximo and South area. There are 39
businesses which reflect about 13% of
the total businesses. The key industries
are construction, specialty, retail, and
manufacturing. The estimated annual tax
revenue is 1.3 million with the city
portion being about 745,000.
The business uh growth is the lowest in
the city. It only had two new business
license issued from 2022 to 2024.
The population is in decline. It's the
highest among all four areas. That is a
22.1%
decrease since 2010.
Next, um maximum return on investment is
the east of Solano neighborhood that has
149 businesses which represents about
49% of all businesses across the four
MAS. The key industries being health
care, social assistance, administrative
support services and education.
The the estimated annual tax revenue
being 4.47 million and the city portion
being about 1.07
million. The business activity is strong
in this area um and high in
entrepreneurial activity. The growth,
the population growth is 33% increase
since 2010, the highest among the four
MRAs.
Next we have the Apadaka and Liftup
area. This area comp is comprised of 62
businesses which is about 20% of um the
total businesses. The key industries are
other services, retail, trade, finance,
and insurance. The estimated annual tax
revenue being 4.5 million and the city
portion being about 1.8 million.
There are uh 85 new businesses added
between 2022 to 2024
and the population uh decrease of 1%
since 2010.
Now, I'd like to share staff
recommendations.
Staff recommends prioritizing one high
need area followed by one high impact
area. This balanced approach helps
ensure that our tools generate both
strong economic returns and meaningful
community equity. Our proposed order
would be Mosquite, Apadaka and Liftoff,
Amodor, Proximo and South and then east
of Solano neighborhood.
That is the end of our presentation and
I open it up for discussion.
Okay. Thank you, mayor. Uh, council
clerk.
Oh, I was just going to say I like the
sound of that as but I have district one
bias here. Sorry. But I think mosqu
specifically needs a lot of care. So, I
think that's a great plan.
Awesome. Thank you, Councelor McClair.
Anyone else?
Councelor Krenth.
Um, thank you. I thank you for this. Um,
I I just had a quick question. This is
like a very complicated multivaried
analysis that I think is like I'm very
interested in, but also know that I
could not possibly comprehend the number
of things that you guys are considering
as a part of this. But I do have one
question that um sort of the order
begs in my mind. So when we so when we
designate MAS right now we're starting
with a $100,000 which is like all of the
work that's going into all of these
analyses and everything that we're
trying to figure out. Um, but when we
designate the MASS specifically,
does the revenue that comes back go into
a specific pool of money for that MRA or
is it all MRA? Like all the MRA money
goes into a big pool to be redistributed
through the MAS generally.
Uh, mayor councelor Karan. So each area
will collect its own GRT and then that
money will be reinvested into that
specific MR.
Okay, that specific one. Okay, thank
you. That that helps me understand more
the context of how the potential revenue
would be distributed or or concentrated.
So anyway, thank you. I have I really
appreciate y'all's analysis and critical
thinking about how this can work and how
we can maximize everyone's efforts. So
thank you.
Thank you,
Mayor.
Yes, go ahead.
Thank you so much, Blair, and the rest
of the team. I um
Oh my gosh, I have lots of feelings
about this. I know there's often
criticism about not making decisions
based off emotion, but quite frankly,
reading this report, I felt a lot of
emotions. Um, and I think the like deep
sadness I feel for some of these areas
comes from like the realization of the
like systemic neglect of some of these
communities and the like correlation
between, you know, like high poverty
rates, unsafe conditions, all of that
just should tell all of us that the
safest communities are the communities
with the most resources and not the ones
with the most enforcement. And these
communities
probably is vice versa. Probably has
high enforcement and low resources. And
I think we should take a serious uh sit
on that seriously because um it's what's
created I think some of these
conditions. It's sort of this like
perpetual cycle. And to me these MAS are
an intervention. And I I it's why I I'm
like so supportive of these mechanisms
for economic development and
revitalization because this is like this
is really what we need. So, I'm glad
that we're here thinking about um
adopting these. Again, even if we just
adopted all of them and started working
on them in the sort of prior
prioritization that you've uh proposed,
I agree with that. Right. Like
Albuquerque has all of these uh like 20
or whatever designated. I don't see why
we can't just do that ourselves. and
then um obviously you know understanding
staff capacity and all of those things
um that we start working on them
staggered I'm very supportive of going
in that route um and so I just yeah I
want to say thank you oh the other thing
I wanted to note is that in this report
most of these areas if not all of them
had high vacant and abandoned properties
and so here is my pitch one once again
for an ordinance that holds uh folks
accountable and if it's not about
accountability and punishment It's about
supporting owners who may not have
access to capital try to do something
with their properties. Um, so, uh, I
will not lay off that horse. What is it?
I don't know. Whatever the saying is,
it's fine. I will continue to
pound the pavement on on that uh, issue.
So, I really do appreciate all of the
work that you all have put into this and
I'm looking forward to um, voting on
this in the future. Thank you, Mayor
Prompo.
Anyone else?
No, thank you. Great. Um, that's exactly
what we need is to help to redevelop and
take care of the places that have been
neglected before. And I also with Mayor
Prom, I agree. And this is a great
opportunity for vacant and abandoned
buildings. I know that legal and
community development is working on the
NAT program and to get that, but this is
an opportunity to do some incentives
that we can uh partake with Marian
Council. We meet people halfway. We can
get rolloffs. We can do other things. We
can get uh mono emano. We can get a
contractor to go in there and clean up
these areas because I know there's a lot
of individuals that are um live out of
town and are the owners of a lot of
these properties and they're hard to
reach and get a hold of and they don't
drive by it every day. So, it's up to us
to to do that and this is a perfect
opportunity with the MAS to clean up our
city and to enhance it. So, definitely
support it. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
Next is item 3.3, GEOB bond quarterly
update. Uh,
David Sidio, Jimmy Moreno.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. David
Cidio for the record. interim assistant
city manager and I'm here to introduce
Jimmy Moreno who is the interim
assistant director for public works. He
has presented before to council but it's
been a while but I wanted to introduce
him and he will be giving you the
quarterly update for the go bonds. Thank
you.
Thank you David. Good afternoon mayor
council.
My name is Jimmy Moreno. the interim
assistant director for public works. Uh
I'll be presenting on the geo bund
update, quarterly update. Uh also have
Natalie Green here who is the housing
and neighborhood revitalization
administrator.
She will also be helping me present on
this as well.
Just a reminder on the questions that
were presented for the general
obligation bond uh that were approved,
the new fire station number nine, the
East Messa public recreation complex
continuation,
affordable housing as well as park
improvements.
uh for the new fire station number nine.
Uh total funds were 12.13 million. Uh
we're continuing uh construction uh with
that project. Uh currently we have
increased from 15% from the last update
to 35% of total construction. Uh
estimated completion date is still on
track for end of March uh 2026
completion. Uh currently they are
they've completed the apparatus bay
concrete uh uh pour. They've also uh are
continuing to work on the CM CMU wall
construction. They are almost complete
with that. Approximately 30% left on
that construction. Uh they have also
started the uh structural steel
component uh installation with that. So
they're start starting to move on the on
a lot of the vertical uh construction.
Uh here's a few pictures. You can see
some of the uh supports uh going up. Uh
the CMU wall uh continuing as well.
That's the uh bay concrete apparatus bay
concrete pour placement there. Uh and
then some of the trust work uh along
with the steel work uh that's that's in
the fire station.
Uh again, we are uh still on schedule to
meet the end of March 2026 uh completion
uh date for this project.
Okay, moving on to uh the park
improvements.
Uh construction has started uh middle of
May for the uh uh for the laorona
portion. Uh they're currently working on
they have demoed the existing bathroom
and are moving on to placements of the
uh flat work some of the concrete that
doesn't meet ADA. In addition, they will
uh now start construction also on the uh
bathroom holding tank as well.
Uh as mentioned in the last update,
there was some new scope that was added
to Laorona.
uh that's currently in design. The
wayfinding
uh also uh the procurement of the uh
play equipment uh and safety surfacing
uh is also in in process and then also
to mitigate the storm water uh at that
playground uh on the north end.
Uh currently we are uh on schedule to
meet uh end of year uh end of calendar
year completion for these improvements.
So, uh, we're on schedule for that.
Okay. Next is the East Messa public
wreck, uh, reation complex continuation.
Uh, phase one, the the last portion
that's left there is the play
playground, uh, uh, equipment. Uh,
uh, currently that is, uh, 60% complete.
Uh, it's approximately 6 to 8 weeks left
uh, for that completion and for that
installation. Uh so by our next uh
quarterly update that actually should be
completed. Uh as far as the phase 2 uh
construction uh just be begun on that.
That's why it's 5%. They're clearing and
grubbing
uh the areas that that are going to go
for the installations as part of phase
two which includes the basketball
courts. Uh the restroom at the 10acre
park street furniture uh also the mustgo
lighting and then uh access to the
public uh art space. So that's uh
currently has started construction in
their initial phases
and we are uh on schedule to have a end
of uh calendar year 2025 completion for
for these improvements as well.
Okay, now I'll turn it over to Natalie
Green.
Thank you, Jimmy. Natalie Green for the
record. Uh just some updates on Three
Sisters. Uh we just wanted to give some
leasing updates. 60 out of the 70 units
are occupied. So that's about 86%
currently leased. Um 97 of them are
pre-leased, so they're just finalizing
the rest of the units, but it should be
at 100% occupancy by the end of the
month, which is only a couple more days.
Um and uh when we had these photo shots,
so there's kids playing in the
playground. We were really excited to
see all all the things.
uh Padrina Senior Apartments. Um it is
at 85% completion. Uh we are still
trying to finalize the West Wing so we
can get Tempos's. All of those units
have been pre-leased. So 33 of those
applicants are approved for occupation.
There's a couple that are still pending
their verification and interview
process. And then there is still 16 open
additional units. So they are taking um
applications for those. Uh we will be
bringing forward an additional funding
award um from from the state of New
Mexico through the city. You'll see that
next week. And then uh save the date for
sometime the last two weeks of October
we'll be doing uh the ribbon cutting and
by then it should be uh pretty much
occupied um and definitely 100%
complete.
uh Peach Tree Canyon
uh apartments is under construction. So,
um all six of the buildings have started
framing. There's one that's still kind
of lagging behind, but the rest of them
are done, including the pool pool house
and the clubhouse. Um right about here
is where the pool will go. And so,
they're um have actually expanded the
size of the pool. So, they'll be getting
a larger pool. It's at 38% completion.
um they have completed using all of
their ARPA funding. Um and then Peach
Tree Phase 2, which uh we'll also be
bringing for you uh next week, will be
starting construction after they finish
closing. I think our current closing
date is sitting around September 9th.
And then here's the video. And these
videos and pictures are all shot by
Chuck from public works. So kudos to the
public works team and Chuck
Oh, and I'm forgot to mention for
Padrina, we are doing a site visit
tomorrow should any of the councilers
wish to join us to tour Padrina in the
afternoon.
Uh, Amadore Crossing, we have finally
secured all of the funding that we need
for construction. Uh, three of those
funding sources are pending council
approval and the budget adjustments, but
all the funding is secure. Um the
contractor is working on excavating and
setting pipe and then um they'll start
to work on the electrical conduit and
back filling all the trenches.
Arcadia uh 4 is uh this purchase of the
subdivision. So we have uh resolved all
the back and forth between the different
attorneys and that is scheduled to come
before you next week. Um we have also
received funding from the state of New
Mexico to help um with this purchase.
So, you'll you'll learn more about that
one next week. And just some upcoming
projects. Um, a couple of the projects
that you'll start to see move forward.
We're in pre-development for Royal
Crossing. That is a low-income housing
tax credit, 147 units. Um, near Three
Crosses Hospital, North Main, and Solano
area. Um, so we're working on that
project. Bases has received um all of
its funding or most of the funding from
the state. the remaining will come from
us and then they are just finalizing
their design. So, they're going to move
forward with um construction soon. Uh
Skylark's subdivision also received some
funding of the state from the state of
New Mexico. So, you'll see that come
forward next week as well. And then um
we will likely have some additional GO
bonds or remaining GO bonds. So, we our
goal is to increase the revolving loan
fund to um drive up some of our single
fam single family home ownership
programming. So, you'll see that come
forward um in the next couple of months.
And with that, Jimmy and I will stand
for questions.
Thank you, Natalie. Jimmy, any
questions?
Um Natalie, again, remind me Skylark,
where's the where is it location? Uh
Skyllark is on Central and Skyllark
Lane.
Okay.
So, it's on the East Mesa. It's about a
half a mile from Mesa Grande. So, it's
by Ma Mesa and Central.
Okay.
And it's a small single family 32 unit
um subdivision.
Okay. And the Peach Tree uh six
buildings, how many units total?
Uh phase one is 144. uh alto together
with phase two will be 288 units.
Okay. Okay. Great.
All right. Bill,
mayor, I was just going to tell Jimmy I
didn't recognize him without his public
works uniform.
Mayor Counselor and Mayor Pro Tim Beno.
My apologies, but I promise you it is
Jimmy. I promise.
Yeah. No, with that uh Jimmy uh question
um on a couple of things. the Laorona
Park like there was a picture there of a
damaged bench like what causes that?
Uh mayor counselors
uh hopefully nobody got injured with
with that hit. I don't know what would
cause that. Usually it's vandalism,
somebody you know running into
something, that sort of thing.
Okay. and the pouring of station nine.
You were in uniform there that early,
correct,
mayor, counselors? I was not. That that
was placed actually before the heat, so
it was about 5 in the morning, but we
did have public works uh inspectors out
there.
No, thanks. Good job, Jimmy. And
congratulations on your appointment.
Thank you, mayor.
Um I think that was it. That's the last
one on our agenda. So, uh, we'll stand
for a motion to adjurnn.
Move to adjourn.
Second by Flores.
Thanks.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
work session. Councelor Mccclur,
yes.
Councelor Matise is absent. Councelor
Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Flores,
yes.
Councelor Bencoml,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.