Posts Tagged ‘Dona Ana County’

The City of Las Cruces Public Works Department and URS Corporation will hold a public meeting for the Jackrabbit Interchange (I-10/US 70) Study Project on Thursday, December 10, 2009 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the Picacho Middle School, W. Picacho and N. Motel Blvd.

Study Team members will provide project information and results of the Phase A investigations.  There will be an opportunity to view proposed alternatives and speak with team members during the open house from 6:30-7:00 p.m.  A presentation on the project will be given at 7:00 p.m., followed by questions and comments.

Background

A study is being conducted of the I-10 / US70 interchange (Interchange No. 135, commonly referred to as the “Jackrabbit” Interchange) to investigate and identify recommended geometric and operational improvements, and to accommodate future traffic growth and the planned High Mesa Road.

The origin of this study is based on recent and ongoing growth experienced in and around the City; evolving land development activity; and pending changes in the regional transportation network. Separate initiatives are presently underway to evaluate improvements to other segments of I-10 serving the City, dispose of large tracts of BLM land destined for new development, and advance planning for High Mesa Road which will access I-10 at or near the Jackrabbit interchange location. Expansion of the I-10 Industrial Park and the Las Cruces International Airport are also anticipated. The desire of the City of Las Cruces, the Las Cruces MPO, Dona Ana County, and the New Mexico Department of Transportation to respond to and plan for the effects of these influences creates the need for this study.

If you require special accommodations please contact Denise Weston at Parametrix by calling (575) 522-7400 or by emailing dweston@parametrix.com.

During the month of October, MVEDA invested considerable time on its target marketing and prospecting efforts.   Early in the month MVEDA conducted a prospect visit to Washington, D.C. where we met with several site consultants and companies involved with federal contracting efforts.   During the month, MVEDA also attended two trade shows: the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in Las Cruces which focused on the commercial aerospace industry; and Solar Power International in Anaheim where over 2,000 companies exhibited.  At both shows, MVEDA sponsored invitation only events where we had the opportunity to engage and develop relationships with companies within each respective industry.  At ISPCS, MVEDA sponsored the conference’s opening reception which received significant attention, and at Solar Power International, MVEDA and Verde Corporate Realty Services co-sponsored an event hosted by the New Mexico Partnership where over 250 company representatives attended.  New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson also attended this event and spoke to the audience about the continued opportunities for solar energy development and manufacturing in New Mexico.

To date during the current fiscal year, MVEDA has created 36 new leads, representing over 3,190 jobs thereby indicating a very healthy pipeline of future projects.   Renewable energy and manufacturing & logistics projects represent the overwhelming greater percentage of our leads.

November marks a critical time period for MVEDA in our prospecting activities.  Economic development recruiting efforts normally have a minimum sales cycle of six months.  Given that we have only eight months left in our fiscal year, this means that we have only two months left to develop new leads that may have a chance of closing prior to July 2010 when our new fiscal year begins.  Therefore, MVEDA will be concentrating significant efforts on getting current leads and prospects to the finish line.

The open projects that MVEDA believes have the greatest likelihood of closing this fiscal year include;

• Project Windtower, an alternative energy manufacturer,
• Project Alimentos, a food processing company, and
• Project Roadrunner and Project X, both alternative energy developers.

If realized, these four projects represent over 200 jobs to Dona Ana County and over $300MM in capital investments.

In its monthly board meeting of October 21, 2009, the MVEDA Board of Directorsadded two new board members.  Kendall Wallin, Business Banking Manager with Wells Fargo Bank, was elected to fill the unexpired term of Jim Easley. Easley is in the process of relocating to Albuquerque to assume another position with Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo Bank is a Platinum MVEDA Partner.

Gilbert Apodaca, President of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, replaces Rachel Garcia-Banegas as the Chamber’s representative to the MVEDA Board.  Apodaca is the Administrative Director for Memorial Medical Center.  Memorial Medical Center is also a Platinum MVEDA Partner.

MVEDA is governed by a board of directors representing both the private and public sectors. Institutional members represent the City of Las Cruces, Dona Ana County, New Mexico State University, Dona Ana Community College, the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, and White Sands Missile Range. Private sector board members represent a wide diversity of business and industry. They serve 3-year terms and are elected by the board.

The City of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County will host the fourth round of Vision 2040 public input meetings the week of October 19, 2009.  All residents of Dona Ana County and Las Cruces who are interested in long range planning and improving their community are encouraged to attend.

These meetings will be led by our consultants at Peter J. Smith & Company.  The primary focus will be a presentation of current draft Vision 2040 documents.  Participants will be asked to provide their comments on the draft documents, as we chart a preferred course for our region.

The meeting schedule is as follows:

Monday, Oct. 19^th, 5pm-8pm; Hatch - Hatch Community Center, 837 W. Hall St.

Wednesday, Oct. 21^st, 10am-1pm; Las Cruces - Dona Ana County Gov. Center, 845 Motel Blvd

Wednesday, Oct. 21^st, 5pm-8pm; Chaparral - Chaparral Middle School, 290 E. Lisa

Thursday, Oct. 22^nd, 9am-12pm; Vado/Del Cerro - Del Cerro Community Center, 180 La Fe Ave.

Thursday, Oct. 22^nd, 5pm-8pm; Las Cruces - Sonoma Elementary School, 4201 Northrise Dr.

Vision 2040 is a long-range, regional comprehensive planning project that is evaluating the needs of the region for the next thirty years, and identifying ways the City and County should act to meet those needs. Specific topics will include population growth and land use, transportation and infrastructure, environmental issues, affordable housing, economic development and many others.

In addition to the public meetings, the City and County are seeking written comments on draft documents.  These documents include the Vision 2040 Regional Plan, City of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County Comprehensive Plans, Inventory, and Appendix.  These documents are available for download from http://vision2040.nmsu.edu/documents.html.  Hard copies will also be available for review soon at the following locations:

• Munson Senior Center
• Mesilla Park Community Center
• Benavidez Community Center
• East Mesa Recreation Center
• City Hall
• City Office Center
• Mesilla Town Hall
• Doña Ana County Planning Office
• Hatch Community Center
• Radium Springs Community Center
• Doña Ana Community Center
• Del Cerro Community Center
• Anthony Water Offices
• Chaparral Water Offices
• Sunland Park Planning Offices
• Organ Community Center
• Rincon Community Center

The public is encouraged to submit comments on these documents by Friday, October 30th.  Written comments may be submitted online at http://vision2040.nmsu.edu/Comments.html, by e-mail to ahume@las-cruces.org, or by mail to Andy Hume, PO Box 20000, Las Cruces, NM 88004.

For more information, e-mail ahume@las-cruces.org, visit http://vision2040.nmsu.edu/or contact Andy Hume, at 575/528-3047. The TTY number is 541-2182.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding additional public scoping meetings to seek input and discuss with the public a proposed study expansion area for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project.

Three open-house public scoping meetings along the expanded study area will be held in the following New Mexico communities. All meetings will be from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Las Cruces, October 26, 2009 - Court Youth Center, 402 West Court

Alamogordo, October 27, 2009 -First National Bank, 414 Tenth Street

Chaparral, October 28, 2009 -Chaparral High School, 800 County Line Drive

The project is a proposed 460 mile high capacity 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line (or two parallel lines) across New Mexico and Arizona. The project proponent, SunZia Transmission LLC, is proposing to transport electricity generated by power generation resources, including primarily renewable resources, to western power markets and load centers. The BLM is the lead Federal agency which will oversee the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will identify environmental impacts and evaluate alternatives for the project.

Numerous comments during the initial public scoping meetings included requests to consider alternative routes. Suggested transmission line corridors for consideration in New Mexico are potential routes south of the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in Dona Ana County and along the eastern boundary of the WSMR in Otero and Lincoln counties. These corridors in the New Mexico area could provide alternative routes between the Midpoint Substation site near Deming, and the proposed SunZia-East Substation termination site in Lincoln County

A map of the proposed expansion area and more information regarding the project are available on BLM-SunZia Transmission Line Project website.