OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Rio Rancho Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting – September 15, 2025

Meeting Portal — Monday, September 15, 2025
BodyRio Rancho, New Mexico
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, September 15, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 29:11

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

I pledge an agency via the United States of America.

0:05

And to the Republic for which it stands on individual liberty and justice for all.

0:29

They were emailed to everyone.

0:31

Has everyone had a chance to look at them?

0:35

Any changes, additions, or corrections?

0:40

May I have a motion to accept them?

0:42

I make a motion to accept the minutes.

0:46

Second.

0:50

Roll call.

0:52

Commissioner Romero, do you approve?

0:56

Commissioner Herrera.

1:03

Commissioner Herrera, do you approve the minutes?

1:06

I thought she was on.

1:09

Oh, yeah.

1:10

Commissioner French Barger.

1:12

Yes.

1:13

Commissioner Leading.

1:14

Yes.

1:15

Commissioner Marsh.

1:16

Yes.

1:17

Commissioner.

1:18

Can you hear me?

1:19

Yeah.

1:20

Do you approve the minutes?

1:21

Connie, yes.

1:22

Thank you.

1:23

Thanks.

1:24

Minutes for July 21st have been approved.

1:28

Thank you.

1:29

Next, we'll have the staff presentations, reports, and comments.

1:32

First is projects update from Diane Sony, Projects Division Manager.

1:38

Good evening, Ms.

1:40

Chairwoman, Commissioners.

1:44

I'm not telling you anything new.

1:46

This is going to be very similar to our last two updates.

1:50

We're just still going through the process of hopefully wrapping up campus park phase two.

1:55

We've had some warranty type items and some changes as we saw some of the original design elements as it related to drainage and a couple of ADA ramp sections that we've needed to go back and modify.

2:11

And so we're in the process of doing the change orders for that and all of the rest of our procurement and actual implementation of that.

2:18

So my hope is that by the end of September we will see everything complete and in campus park phase two will be officially done.

2:50

Pretty extensive.

2:51

They have really deep footers and they're pretty robust, so that'll be interesting.

2:56

Once those get put in, they'll be able to do much more quickly on the site.

3:02

And our hope is to still have it substantially complete by the end of this calendar year.

3:07

That means that it should be at final completion within 45 calendar days of substantial completion.

3:14

So certainly by February of 2026, hopefully everything will be done, open, and ready for the public to use.

5:00

But that takes even more time, and so we're going to see if there's an existing larger contract that we can piggyback off of and utilize that previous IFB that other agencies have done.

5:07

We're looking at what's called an omnia contract, also a state contract at this time, possibly CES, but because it's state funds, there's a little bit of problems with that.

5:18

So probably a different or agency.

5:32

This was the second of our 2024 bond money.

5:39

So the first project that we completed were the basketball courts at Star Heights.

5:44

That was a great replacement.

5:46

We replaced the asphalt courts that were cracked and just constantly needing repair.

5:51

We had repaired them multiple times, replaced them with concrete, so those should last a long time.

5:57

And then the second one was to add this structure and we'll place the playground at Vista Sandia.

6:04

It's one of our older structures.

6:06

And we have all of the materials delivered.

6:27

And so right now they're still trying to finish up projects that were going to be done before the end of the school year or the summer before the start of the school year.

6:35

So they're trying to get those completed as they need to be because school's back in session, and as soon as they're done with that, they will start on our project.

6:45

We also have the metal star heights shade structure.

6:49

This is really old COVID CDBG money, community development block grant money.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████70%
Procedural█████████14%
Environmental Protection████6%
Community Engagement███5%
Public Engagement███5%
Summary of Proceedings

Rio Rancho Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting – September 15, 2025

The meeting was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the approval of previous minutes and a series of staff reports on projects, facilities, aquatics, and upcoming events. No public comments were received.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (July 21, 2025): Unanimously approved by roll call vote. Commissioners Romero, Herrera, French Barger, Leading, Marsh, and Connie voted in favor.

Discussion Items

  • Projects Update – Diane Sony, Projects Division Manager:
    • Campus Park Phase II: Warranty items and design changes (drainage, ADA ramps) under change orders; expected completion by end of September 2025.
    • Sports Complex Lighting: Little League fields now lit, extending play into fall; used regularly by Little League and other groups.
    • Rio Rancho Boski Fuel Reduction: Funding from Bernalillo Forestry District for three approaches: goat grazing (to remove invasive kochia seeds), wood removal (cutting dead wood into 4‑foot lengths, chipping, stacking at Willow Creek lot – not available to public until contractor finishes), and cutting/spraying salt cedar and Russian olive resprouts. Work expected by end of month/early October, goats after wood removal.
    • Keep Rancho Beautiful Fall Cleanup (September 13): Over 500 volunteers registered; collected over 2 tons of bagged trash (final roll‑off weights pending). Upcoming Boy Scouts cleanup October 25; Sandoval County Free Landfill Day for Rio Rancho residents on September 20.
  • Parks & Facilities Update – Charles Fernandez, Superintendent:
    • Staffing: 7 vacant positions (1 started today, 4 in process).
    • Irrigation: Reduced watering times due to cooler nights.
    • Weed control: Pre‑emergent spray applied in some parks; manual weeding continues.
    • Completed projects: Painted 3 pickleball courts (2 at Mariposa, 1 at Leon Grande); repainted basketball court at Leon Grande; removed a large dead cottonwood at Enchanted Hills Park.
  • Deputy Director’s Report – Noah Trujillo:
    • Aquatics: Rio Rancho Aquatic Center undergoing $3.2 million renovation (new HVAC, dehumidification, stucco, paint). Project started September 15, ends late October; Rainbow Pool open as alternative.
    • Events: Pooch Plunge completed; Food Truck Fiesta at Cabezon this weekend; Fall Festival October 18 at Campus Park (with Event Center); Winter Fest moved to Saturday, December 6.
    • Basketball League: Registration open, close to 300 registered (deadline October 17); expected 475 participants; using Rio Rancho Public Schools gyms.
  • Director’s Report – Connie Peterson:
    • Back to School Rummage Sale (August 9, 2025): 60 sellers, community event promoting sustainability.
    • Kids’ Zone Preschool: Licensed program at Savannah Grande Recreation Center, staffed by certified teachers, flexible schedules (half‑day, full‑day).
    • Upcoming events: Fall Festival, Winter Fest; all event photos on Facebook.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes of the July 21, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously.
  • No formal votes were taken on projects; all updates were informational.
  • Meeting adjourned at 6:29 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

I pledge an agency via the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands on individual liberty and justice for all. They were emailed to everyone. Has everyone had a chance to look at them? Any changes, additions, or corrections? May I have a motion to accept them? I make a motion to accept the minutes. Second. Roll call. Commissioner Romero, do you approve? Commissioner Herrera. Commissioner Herrera, do you approve the minutes? I thought she was on. Oh, yeah. Commissioner French Barger. Yes. Commissioner Leading. Yes. Commissioner Marsh. Yes. Commissioner. Can you hear me? Yeah. Do you approve the minutes? Connie, yes. Thank you. Thanks. Minutes for July 21st have been approved. Thank you. Next, we'll have the staff presentations, reports, and comments. First is projects update from Diane Sony, Projects Division Manager. Good evening, Ms. Chairwoman, Commissioners. I'm not telling you anything new. This is going to be very similar to our last two updates. We're just still going through the process of hopefully wrapping up campus park phase two. We've had some warranty type items and some changes as we saw some of the original design elements as it related to drainage and a couple of ADA ramp sections that we've needed to go back and modify. And so we're in the process of doing the change orders for that and all of the rest of our procurement and actual implementation of that. So my hope is that by the end of September we will see everything complete and in campus park phase two will be officially done. Pretty extensive. They have really deep footers and they're pretty robust, so that'll be interesting. Once those get put in, they'll be able to do much more quickly on the site. And our hope is to still have it substantially complete by the end of this calendar year. That means that it should be at final completion within 45 calendar days of substantial completion. So certainly by February of 2026, hopefully everything will be done, open, and ready for the public to use. But that takes even more time, and so we're going to see if there's an existing larger contract that we can piggyback off of and utilize that previous IFB that other agencies have done. We're looking at what's called an omnia contract, also a state contract at this time, possibly CES, but because it's state funds, there's a little bit of problems with that. So probably a different or agency. This was the second of our 2024 bond money. So the first project that we completed were the basketball courts at Star Heights.

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