Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Rio Rancho Governing Body Regular Meeting - September 24, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, September 24, 2026

BodyRio Rancho, New Mexico

SessionMeeting Portal

DateThursday, September 24, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:14:21

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

To order.

0:02

Councilman, will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

0:05

Thank you.

0:09

And to other people.

0:12

One nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

0:17

Please remain standing.

0:19

I'd like to uh take a moment to recognize our first responders and their commitment to our safety as well as those brave men and women who are serving abroad and locally and and near to us in the military.

0:37

Thank you.

0:38

You may be seated.

0:46

All right, a couple items of business.

0:49

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

0:52

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

0:55

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

0:59

Councilor Dabson.

1:02

Um present.

1:03

Councilor Lynentine.

1:05

Present.

1:05

Counselor Tyler.

1:06

Present.

1:06

Councilor Mann.

1:07

Present.

1:08

Councillor Colbright.

1:09

Present.

1:09

And Councillor Biggs.

1:11

Present.

1:12

All right, we'll move on then from their proclamations and awards of emerit.

1:17

We have none.

1:18

We'll move on to public forum.

1:21

Each comment will be limited to two minutes and no more than two hours in total will be allocated for public forum comments at any meeting.

1:28

Each speaker must state their name and address or Rio Rancho District for the record.

1:34

We have one, two, three, four, five people signed up, starting with Stephen Van Horn.

1:58

The back page is the announcement for a water task force that was held uh down at New Mexico Tech last week, September 16th.

2:11

I attended that with one other Rio Rancho resident.

2:16

Uh two significant things were presented at this task force uh for legislators on water.

2:24

And I thought they I should relate them to you.

2:27

First of all, they were told that water tables across New Mexico are dropping.

2:33

Now that's not a surprise.

2:35

But for Rio Rancho, my question would be is the council being given data right now about the aquifer and the water table, the levels of the aquifer.

2:49

Is it going down?

2:52

Especially since there's an additional draw with the city now taking water to the aquifer.

2:57

And um could the council make it public?

3:03

What is actually happening to the aquifer?

3:06

Number two.

3:08

Uh they said that the best thing that any municipality can do right now to improve their water systems and reduce water costs is to fix their water system leaks.

3:21

Uh they actually have some new technology that enables them to do this very significant advances.

3:29

And I wanted to ask the city if they're aware of this.

3:32

And I also wanted to bring up that as far as I know, current city policy, water policy, at least the last I heard from leaders, was the policy on leaks is just fix them as they occur.

3:46

This is contrary to what the experts are recommending.

3:50

Why?

3:50

Because it's reactive rather than proactive.

3:54

And um I I would ask the council to really look into this to consider what's available now and to consider going proactive in reducing leaks rather than reactive.

4:09

Thank you.

4:09

Thank you, Mr.

4:10

Van Horn.

4:11

Next up, Amanda Lundberg.

4:18

Um good evening, Mayor, Council members, and staff.

4:20

My name is Amanda Lundberg, Rio Rancho District 4.

4:24

At the end of August, I asked the city to make sure that the animal shelter had a presence at the Pooch Plunge, and they did.

4:30

So they brought two dogs, and from checking the Rio Rancho Animal Resources Facebook page, it appears that the baby they have both been adopted, so congratulations.

4:38

I stopped by and I met one of the dogs named Hank.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Cannabis Regulation███████████████████████████27%

Procedural████████████████████████24%

Land Use Planning████████████████████20%

Public Engagement████████████12%

Public Safety████████8%

Animal Welfare████4%

Water And Wastewater Management██2%

Technology and Innovation██2%

Community Engagement█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Rio Rancho Governing Body Regular Meeting - September 24, 2026

The City of Rio Rancho Governing Body met on September 24, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting covered routine consent calendar items, public comments on water infrastructure and surveillance, and public hearings on a master plan amendment, liquor license transfers, and a deeply debated home-based winegrower license application.

Consent Calendar

Approved unanimously (6-0) included the minutes of the September 10, 2026 meeting, two board appointments (Darryl Manning to Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful, Joseph Delmos to Public Infrastructure Advisory Board), and the final decision on the Maverik Gas Station Site Plan.

Public Comments & Testimony

Stephan vanHorn: Urged a proactive water leak detection policy, citing a state water task force recommendation to move from reactive to proactive maintenance.
Amanda Lundberg (District 4): Commended the city for bringing adoptable animals to the Pooch Plunge. Requested the creation of a formal volunteer and foster program for the city shelter, offering her services. Noted the Pat Finder page inaccurately listed no animals when 20 dogs and 2 cats were available.
Joaquin Montoya (DFLOC New Mexico): Criticized the city's Flock camera contract, citing Section 5.3 which allows data sharing without a warrant, and the lack of independent oversight for downloaded footage stored indefinitely on city servers.
Casey Robinson (District 2): Praised the governing body for a previous vote against a staff recommendation. Made critical remarks directed at a specific councilor.
Matt Griffin (30-year resident): Expressed strong opposition to the license plate readers, stating being recorded entering or leaving the city "does not feel free."

Comments by Councilors

Councilor Tyler: Addressed concerns about the treatment of citizens at a recent PZB meeting, apologizing to the public and stating the body would work to rectify the board members' actions.
Councilor List: Celebrated the opening of the Goatheads merchandise store, noting the excitement around the new professional hockey team.
Mayor Wymer: Echoed the excitement about the Goatheads hockey team, noting the sold-out first game.

Public Hearings

Item 5: Resolution R68 – Paseo Gateway Master Plan Amendment

Staff Presentation: Amy Rincon, Director of Development Services, explained the amendment expands the plan boundary to the east to include antiquated platted lots and updates land use, park acreage, and zoning to comply with current standards. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval at their August 25, 2026, meeting.
Discussion: Councilors asked clarifying questions regarding commercial and residential boundaries. City Manager Matt Geisel confirmed no commercial expansion was occurring.
Vote: Motion to approve carried 6-0.

Items 6 & 7: D59 and D60 – Walgreens Liquor License Transfers

Staff Presentation: City Clerk Noel Davis presented two applications for Walgreens (2101 Northern Blvd and 1941 Southern Blvd) for transfer of dispenser liquor licenses due to a parent company merger. Note: A procedural error occurred where the initial description and vote for D59 were incorrectly applied. The item was re-called and voted on correctly upon a point of order by Councilor Culbreath.
Vote: Both D59 and D60 were approved 6-0.

Item 8: D61 – Vita Brevis LLC (Matthew Chaplin) Winegrower License

Background: Matthew Chaplin, a retired deputy police chief and Rio Rancho homeowner, applied for a small-scale artisan winegrower license to operate in his garage. The request followed a staff denial, a city manager upholding, and a Planning and Zoning Board reversal deeming it permissible under home artisan business codes.
Applicant Presentation: Chaplin detailed a limited operation (under 1,000 gallons per year, 210 square feet, no on-site sales or customers). He highlighted extensive state and federal approvals (TTB permit), neighborhood outreach with letters of support, and voluntary safeguards. He showed photos of the secured indoor space via Zoom.
Council Positions:
- Councilors Tyler, Mann, Lenentine: Opposed. Primary arguments included the risk of setting a precedent for other commercial home uses ("floodgate"), safety concerns (fermentation byproducts, traffic), and the belief the business belongs in a commercial district.
- Councilor List: Supported. Argued the council has the flexibility to judge secondary impacts and that the limited spatial scope of this application was unlike a larger operation, mitigating the floodgate risk.
- Councilor Culbreath: Supported. Emphasized the licensing process provides greater city oversight (fire marshal review, home occupation permit) than if the applicant operated purely as a hobbyist under the 200-gallon personal limit.
Vote: Motion to approve D61 failed. 1 Yes (Culbreath), 5 No (Dapson, Lenentine, Tyler, Mann, List).

City Manager Comments

Matt Geisel: Announced the Fall Community Cleanup (Saturday), Western Hills road reconstruction project beginning Monday (funded by NMDOT, estimated 6 months), and upcoming community events including the Galloping Goat Pumpkin Patch and the Fall Festival on October 24.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned following the City Manager's report.

Meeting Transcript

To order. Councilman, will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you. And to other people. One nation under God with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing. I'd like to uh take a moment to recognize our first responders and their commitment to our safety as well as those brave men and women who are serving abroad and locally and and near to us in the military. Thank you. You may be seated. All right, a couple items of business. 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. Councilor Dabson. Um present. Councilor Lynentine. Present. Counselor Tyler. Present. Councilor Mann. Present. Councillor Colbright. Present. And Councillor Biggs. Present. All right, we'll move on then from their proclamations and awards of emerit. We have none. We'll move on to public forum. Each comment will be limited to two minutes and no more than two hours in total will be allocated for public forum comments at any meeting. Each speaker must state their name and address or Rio Rancho District for the record. We have one, two, three, four, five people signed up, starting with Stephen Van Horn. The back page is the announcement for a water task force that was held uh down at New Mexico Tech last week, September 16th. I attended that with one other Rio Rancho resident. Uh two significant things were presented at this task force uh for legislators on water. And I thought they I should relate them to you. First of all, they were told that water tables across New Mexico are dropping. Now that's not a surprise. But for Rio Rancho, my question would be is the council being given data right now about the aquifer and the water table, the levels of the aquifer. Is it going down? Especially since there's an additional draw with the city now taking water to the aquifer. And um could the council make it public? What is actually happening to the aquifer? Number two. Uh they said that the best thing that any municipality can do right now to improve their water systems and reduce water costs is to fix their water system leaks. Uh they actually have some new technology that enables them to do this very significant advances. And I wanted to ask the city if they're aware of this. And I also wanted to bring up that as far as I know, current city policy, water policy, at least the last I heard from leaders, was the policy on leaks is just fix them as they occur. This is contrary to what the experts are recommending. Why? Because it's reactive rather than proactive.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com