OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Rio Rancho Governing Body Meeting Summary - June 11, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, June 11, 2026
BodyRio Rancho, New Mexico
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, June 11, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:21:35

Transcript — Verbatim
0:44

A couple of items of order.

0:46

Please silence all electronic devices while attending the governing body meeting.

0:50

For the record, I will announce the names of the governing body members.

0:53

When I say your name, please acknowledge your presence by saying present.

0:57

And just to acknowledge we do have several of our governing body members here virtually.

1:02

We'll start with Councillor Dabson.

1:04

Present.

1:05

Councilor Lennon Tine.

1:07

Present.

1:07

Counselor Tyler.

1:09

Present.

1:10

Counselor Culbreth has been excused.

1:13

Councilor List.

1:16

Present.

1:18

Thank you.

1:20

Today at five o'clock, the governing body met in a session, a closed session in accordance with section 10-15-1 H eight and SA 1978 meetings for the discussion for the purchase acquisition or disposal of real est real property or water rights by the public body to disclose the potential purchase of certain water rights by the city.

1:45

No action was taken at the session.

1:49

Moving on to the agenda item, I would like to propose to move the second item of the ordinance to the top of the agenda agenda to be heard following comments by counselors and public forum if there are no objections by the council.

2:08

All right, we will move on then.

2:10

We have no proclamations and awards of merit.

2:12

Move on to public forum.

2:15

Each comment will be limited to two minutes with no more than two hours in total to be allocated to the public forum comments at any hearing.

2:25

I have Mr.

2:26

Stephen Van Horn signed up to speak.

2:28

Mr.

2:28

Van Horn.

2:36

Good evening, Ms.

2:37

Mayor, Counselors.

2:39

I wanted to draw your attention to the consent calendar and say that I'm very pleased to see so many appointments and an attempt to fill boards and panels.

2:52

That is appreciated.

3:01

And I want to say publicly that I think this board is actually just a facade.

3:09

Years really.

4:50

Thank you, Mr.

4:51

Van Horn.

4:52

Next up, Mr.

4:53

Tom Dixon.

5:00

Hi, Counselors and Mayor.

5:01

I'm Tom Dixon.

5:02

I live on Dream Dancer here in Rio Rancho.

5:05

I'm just going to speak off the cuff tonight.

5:08

A little bit about there was some vandalism done to mailboxes on Dream Dancer and Cielo Grande just last week.

5:18

And I wanted to propose a theory to you.

5:22

And my theory is that what would motivate someone to break into these mailboxes with a crowbar?

5:31

And I can only think that they're seeking, if they're if they're a drug addict, they're seeking either money or checks or their daily drug habit, or they're seeking uh documents that'll produce that'll uh enable them to uh have identity theft.

5:50

Um those are my that's my main theory on this.

5:53

Um a little while, about five months ago, a little while back, about three months ago, Nighthawk and Cochapelle were vandalized in the same way.

6:02

It took five months to get them repaired.

6:06

Um what I'm hoping this council and mayor can do, um, and I I spoke to the police um not too long ago about this.

6:15

That uh I I'm aware that you can go online and report your observations, and I wear I'm aware that the police have their hands tied, and that it's the duty of the postmaster and the FBI to um investigate something like this.

6:29

But I'm asking if the police here in Real Rancho can step up their surveillance of that part of town, Dream Dancer, Cielo Grande, Nighthawk, Cochapelli, those streets that are getting vandalized very systematically uh with their post office because if the police can observe it, uh just something simple.

6:52

A camera did catch the perpetrator, but they couldn't identify him he was in a dark hoodie.

6:58

But maybe someone investigating this could find the timestamp on that camera.

7:04

Uh and you know, there's only two things that motivate a human being pleasure and pain.

7:08

Maybe that maybe the real rancho police can lower the pleasure and raise the pain on whoever is doing this.

7:15

Thank you very much for listening.

7:17

Thank you, Mr.

7:18

Dixon.

7:21

Moving on to counselor comments.

7:25

Do we have any comments by counselors?

7:32

Hearing none, I I have a couple of things I'd like to bring up.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████████████████████30%
Procedural████████████████████████████28%
Arts And Culture█████████████13%
Parks and Recreation████████████12%
Public Safety██████████10%
Community Engagement███3%
Fiscal Sustainability███3%
Transportation Safety█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Rio Rancho Governing Body Meeting Summary - June 11, 2026

The Rio Rancho Governing Body met on June 11, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers, adjourning at 7:26 PM. The meeting included a closed session prior to the public meeting to discuss potential water rights acquisition (no action taken). The agenda included a second reading of a bond ordinance, a consent calendar, public hearings on zoning and a master plan, and approval of a ground lease amendment for the MAC. Votes were 5-0 initially, dropping to 4-0 after Councilor List departed following the consent calendar.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Stephan Vanhorn praised the number of board and commission appointments on the consent calendar but stated he believes this board is "just a facade."
  • Tom Dixon reported recent mailbox vandalism on Dream Dancer and Cielo Grande, suggesting drug addicts or identity thieves as motives. He noted similar vandalism took five months to repair and requested increased police surveillance in the area.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved unanimously (5-0): Minutes of May 28, 2026; Resolution R43 (disposal of property); Resolution R44 (accepting first amendment to State Capital Outlay for Idalia Road/Loma Colorado Blvd intersection improvements); Resolution R45 (budget adjustment to Utilities Operations Fund); Appointments: D15 (Governing Body members to NM Municipal League Policy Committee), D16 (Catherine VerEecke to CIPCAC), D17 (Viktoriya Sanchez to CIPCAC), D18 (Sa’ida Thomas-Bevoni to Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful Committee), D19 (Kai Udall to Investment Advisory Board).

Second Reading of Ordinances

  • O6 (General Obligation Improvement Bonds, Series 2026, $18,000,000): Presented by Director of Financial Services Stephanie Yara. Bonds are voter-approved, do not increase taxes, and will fund road improvements ($12.4 million), public safety facilities/equipment ($4.4 million), and quality of life facilities ($1.2 million). Maturity of 20 years, expected interest rate between 3.84% and 4.19%. Approved 5-0.

Public Hearings (Discussion Items)

  • O7 (Rezoning from R-1 to C-1, Unit 10, Block 33, Lot 98-A): The applicant requested postponement. Postponed to June 25, 2026, meeting by a 4-0 vote.

  • R46 and O8 (Rancho Alegria Master Plan and associated rezoning from M-1/R-1 to R-3): Presented together by Director of Development Services Amy Rincon and applicant Jim Strozier (Consensus Planning). The 66.25-acre property is south of Northern and west of Rainbow Boulevard. The plan proposes ~352 single-family homes, pocket parks, a pond with trail and dog park, and traffic calming features. Discussion centered on infrastructure adequacy (traffic on Northern/Rainbow) and park size/placement. Councilor Tyler expressed concerns about traffic and park sizes; Councilor Lenentine cautioned against fragmenting parks into small unusable spaces. A motion to postpone was made and carried 4-0 to the June 25, 2026, meeting.

  • O9 (Rezoning for MAC at Loma Colorado Tract P-1C-A to allow restaurants, bars, lounges, etc. as permissive uses under SU zoning): Presented by Director Rincon. The proposal adds food/beverage and a taproom to the existing sports facility. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval. Applicant Michael McDermott expressed support. Council praised the project. Approved 4-0.

  • D20 (Second Amendment to the Substitute Ground Lease for the MAC): Presented by City Manager Matt Geisel. The city acts as landlord. Key provisions: allows food, beer, and wine service in a designated exterior area (tap room and outdoor seating); service hours (Mon-Thu 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 10:30am-9pm); up to 12 special event permits per year for beer/wine inside the building; compliance with noise and nuisance ordinances; administrative fine of $500 per notice for violations. Other amendments: tenant increases free programming hours for Rio Rancho citizens from 150 to 240 annually; quarterly reporting instead of semi-annual; updated permissible uses; utility/energy efficiency review by June 30, 2028. Approved 4-0.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes:
    • O6 (GO bonds): Approved 5-0.
    • Consent Calendar: Approved 5-0.
    • O7: Postponed to June 25, 2026 (4-0).
    • R46 (Rancho Alegria Master Plan): Postponed to June 25, 2026 (4-0).
    • O8 (rezoning for Rancho Alegria): Postponed to June 25, 2026 (4-0).
    • O9 (MAC zoning): Approved 4-0.
    • D20 (MAC ground lease amendment): Approved 4-0.
  • Next Steps: The postponed items (O7, R46, O8) will be heard at the June 25, 2026, Governing Body meeting. The city will proceed with bond sale between June 24-26, 2026. MAC will implement the lease amendments and work toward obtaining a tap room liquor license.
  • City Manager Updates: (1) Juneteenth celebration at Haynes Park on June 20, 2026 (10am-2pm). (2) Speed cameras will be deployed on NM 528 starting June 15, 2026, as part of NMDOT safety improvements (three cameras in red housings).

Meeting Transcript

A couple of items of order. Please silence all electronic devices while attending the governing body meeting. For the record, I will announce the names of the governing body members. When I say your name, please acknowledge your presence by saying present. And just to acknowledge we do have several of our governing body members here virtually. We'll start with Councillor Dabson. Present. Councilor Lennon Tine. Present. Counselor Tyler. Present. Counselor Culbreth has been excused. Councilor List. Present. Thank you. Today at five o'clock, the governing body met in a session, a closed session in accordance with section 10-15-1 H eight and SA 1978 meetings for the discussion for the purchase acquisition or disposal of real est real property or water rights by the public body to disclose the potential purchase of certain water rights by the city. No action was taken at the session. Moving on to the agenda item, I would like to propose to move the second item of the ordinance to the top of the agenda agenda to be heard following comments by counselors and public forum if there are no objections by the council. All right, we will move on then. We have no proclamations and awards of merit. Move on to public forum. Each comment will be limited to two minutes with no more than two hours in total to be allocated to the public forum comments at any hearing. I have Mr. Stephen Van Horn signed up to speak. Mr. Van Horn. Good evening, Ms. Mayor, Counselors. I wanted to draw your attention to the consent calendar and say that I'm very pleased to see so many appointments and an attempt to fill boards and panels. That is appreciated. And I want to say publicly that I think this board is actually just a facade. Years really. Thank you, Mr. Van Horn. Next up, Mr. Tom Dixon. Hi, Counselors and Mayor. I'm Tom Dixon. I live on Dream Dancer here in Rio Rancho. I'm just going to speak off the cuff tonight. A little bit about there was some vandalism done to mailboxes on Dream Dancer and Cielo Grande just last week. And I wanted to propose a theory to you. And my theory is that what would motivate someone to break into these mailboxes with a crowbar? And I can only think that they're seeking, if they're if they're a drug addict, they're seeking either money or checks or their daily drug habit, or they're seeking uh documents that'll produce that'll uh enable them to uh have identity theft. Um those are my that's my main theory on this. Um a little while, about five months ago, a little while back, about three months ago, Nighthawk and Cochapelle were vandalized in the same way. It took five months to get them repaired. Um what I'm hoping this council and mayor can do, um, and I I spoke to the police um not too long ago about this. That uh I I'm aware that you can go online and report your observations, and I wear I'm aware that the police have their hands tied, and that it's the duty of the postmaster and the FBI to um investigate something like this. But I'm asking if the police here in Real Rancho can step up their surveillance of that part of town, Dream Dancer, Cielo Grande, Nighthawk, Cochapelli, those streets that are getting vandalized very systematically uh with their post office because if the police can observe it, uh just something simple.

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