NW New Mexico News

Thank you to everyone who attended the City of Carlsbad-Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan meeting on Wednesday. The local ICIP establishes planning priorities for anticipated capital projects, which means street and road improvements, water and sewer improvements, public facility improvements and public safety improvements. These capital projects often require the assistance of federal and state funds.

The City develops a draft plan and asks for public feedback before finalizing its plan. If you didn’t make Wednesday’s meeting, you can still provide written feedback to abtesta@cityofcarlsbadnm.com or submitting a comment card to City Hall- Attention Angie Testa, 101 N. Halagueno St. Carlsbad, NM 88220. Comments are due by June 16. In addition to being a part of the official record, we always welcome all feedback.

There was a good discussion at Wednesday’s meeting. Ideas we received were related to sidewalk improvements, street safety concerns, recycling, solar power and MainStreet enhancements. In some instances, such as concerns about National Parks Highway, we may pass on these remarks to the New Mexico Department of Transportation, who handles the highway.

You can view our current ICIP by visiting our web page www.cityofcarlsbadnm.com and clicking on the “Municipal Services” tab. Currently, last year’s project ranking is posted online. Top listed priorities include improvements to the Dark Canyon Bridge, Double Eagle replacements and critical sewer expansions. There are other key listings such as improvements to the Riverwalk Recreation Center.

The City is not able to open restaurants or other specific private businesses, but it certainly our hope to continue to develop the infrastructure of our community in a way that means more private businesses will want to open here.

All comments we receive will go into the ICIP’s record and the upcoming year’s new list will be developed. . City Council will approve of a final ranked list in August. Thanks again to everyone who participated in this process.

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We would like to welcome our new intern, Coby Gentry, who is an incoming senior at the Early College High School and has been a member of our Student Advisory Committee. Gentry has hit the ground running at City Hall and has already provided some great assistance with planning our Independence Day celebration, as well as other activities. Gentry tells us he wants to run for office at some point, and he’s also interested in a degree in criminal justice.  We look forward to working with Gentry throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway

Original source can be found here.