Parade Marshall
August 28, 2010
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| The “Graffiti Warrior”, Lenore Pena, leads this year’s Valencia County Fair Parade as Parade Marshall. Pena and a few of her friends armed with the “weapon of choice", rode in back of her pickup truck Saturday during the 77th Annual County Fair Parade. Pena has led the effort against graffiti in the city for over 20 years and earned recognition for her work. | |
Feil and Ellermeyer Day
BELEN – Mayor Rudy Jaramillo has proclaimed Saturday, August 21, as “Feil and Ellermeyer Day” commemorating the centennial of the arrival of Paul Feil from Hamburg and William Ellermeyer from Hanover Germany. The two men were brought here to America by John D. Becker in 1910 to work for him in his mercantile business. After several years, Feil and Ellermeyer became close friends with Becker who helped them get into the mercantile business. The”Feil and Ellermeyer Mercantile Store” sold almost everything from apples and alfalfa to clothing and coffins. Feil and Ellermeyer continued to thrive in Belen until 1982 when it closed its doors for the last time.
Literacy Week Proclamed
BELEN – The week of September 5th through 11th has been proclaimed “Literacy Week” by Mayor Rudy Jaramillo. The Proclamation states that, “the ability to read is essential to personal freedom and to the functioning of a democratic society. Our society is dependent on an informal citizenry, and the ability to read is necessary to be informed, and as our culture becomes ever more technologically complex, literacy becomes even more basic to survival and the achievement of one’s potential.” Retired Belen Public Librarian, Dolores Padilla, was on hand at Tuesday night's Council Meeting to accept the Proclamation on behalf of the Literacy Council.
Posting Circulars and Handbills on Vehicles: Unlawful
BELEN -- Interim City Manger, Lucy Baca, wants to remind the citizens of Belen that it is unlawful for any person to distribute any commercial advertising such as show cards, posters, brochures, circulars or handbills upon any public street right away, personal property, or public building without the express consent of the owner or occupant of the property NMSA 3-1-4A, B & C. The City has received complaints recently of circulars and handouts being placed on vehicles parked in the parking lots at local business. The Belen Police will be actively enforcing this law.
USDA Obligation of Funding
Obligation of Funding Signing Ceremony, left to right; Michael Lopez, representing Senator Tom Udall, USDA Rural Development State Director,Terry Brunner, Undersecretary USDA Rural Development, Dallas Tonsager, Mayor Rudy Jaramillo, Belen Fire Chief Manny Garcia, Senator Jeff Bingaman, and Matt Munoz, representing Congressman Harry Teague.
BELEN – The USDA Rural Development along with local
officials and US Senator Jeff Bingaman held an obligation of
funds ceremony at the Belen City Hall for $500,500 in
federal funds to buy two fire trucks for the Belen Fire
Department. USDA Rural Development State Director Terry
Brunner, and City of Belen Mayor Rudy Jaramillo signed the
obligation paperwork in front of a small crowd of local
dignitaries that included; a representative from Congressman
Harry Teague’s office, US Senator Tom Udall’s office, State
Senator Michael Sanchez, State Representative Andrew
Barreras, and City Councilor Wayne Gallegos.
The USDA Rural Development is providing a $427,000 loan
and a $73,500 grant to purchase the two fire trucks through
its Community Facility Program. The program helps small
communities like Belen, obtain essential community buildings
and equipment such as fire trucks. The new fire trucks
include a 3,000 gallon capacity pumper/tanker capable of
pumping 1,200 gallons of water per minute. The other truck
is a heavy-duty brush truck. The multipurpose truck will be
used to respond to rescue calls, wild land fires, motor
vehicle accidents and general assistance calls.
Fire Chief Manny Garcia addressed the group saying that,
“In the 89 years history of our service we have not ever
received an appropriation of this amount. And today we do
make history for the city, the fire deptment and its
members. With this funding we are able to provide our city
most importantly, with two brand new fire trucks to provide
excellent service for them.“
The City will repay the loan over the next 10 years in yearly installments of $48,050 including interest from the Fire Protection fund. Both fire trucks will be ordered this fall with expected delivery within 12 months.
Coach Edwards Day Proclaimed
BELEN -- Friday, August 6th has been proclaimed James Robert Edwards day in the City of Belen. The City Council at last night’s meeting presented Coach Edwards with a proclamation. The Belen High School Coach a graduate of Santa Fe High School, and former Marine Sergeant led the Belen Lady Eagles to a district championship in 2005 and Medley Relay Team State Championship in 2008.
City Council Recognizes TLC
BELEN -- Mayor Rudy Jaramillo and Brenda Gurule, Director of the Belen Parks and Recreation recognized TLC Plumbing for their generous donation of $5,434.00 for the 2010 Independence Day Celebration. Jared Knight, Project Manager and local resident accepted the plaque on behalf of TLC. Knight concluded the presentation saying, “There’s lots of TLC employees that are within the Belen area including me, so we are glad we could help out.”
Planning & Zoning: Connie Baca Retires
BELEN -- The City Council recognized outgoing Planning & Zoning Board Member, Connie Baca. Baca resigned from the board in April of this year after 11 years of dedicates service on the board. Appointed to the P&Z Board by former Mayor Ronnie Torres in 1999, Baca was one of the original board members. Max Cordova, Projects Manager, for the Belen Schools was appointed to replace Baca on the P&Z Commission in June.
Our Lady of Belen Celebrates 217 Years
Our Lady of Belen 217th
Fiesta Celebration is coming soon on August 13th,
14th, and 15th. Come and join us. We
will have free entertainment all weekend that will include
Bandalegre from Pecos on Friday Evening Gonzalo
and his band on Saturday Evening and New Mexico’s Band of
the Year, Cuarenta Y Cinco from Española on Sunday.
1st Prize in our annual raffle will be $5000.00, 2nd Prize will be $2000.00, 3rd Prize will be $700.00, 4th Prize will be a recliner. Promotional Carnival Wrist Bands for a cost of $15.00 for unlimited rides on Friday night only. Booth Vendors welcome. Call 864-8043 or 615-5713 for more information.
Graffiti Warrior
BELEN -- Lenore Pena is painting the town.
Pena, the city's safety risk manager, is leading the way in an effort to help rid the city of its graffiti problem since layoffs depleted the recreation department in April. Read more of this story in the latest issue of the Valencia County News-Bulletin, Saturday, July 24, 2010.
If you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood that could result in graffiti, call the police at 966-2680 or the police tip line at 966-COPS (966-2677). To have graffiti removed click here.
Summer Reading Program Winners
BELEN
-- The Teen Summer Reading Program came to an end July 22nd
with a pizza party at the Belen Public Library. The teens
participated for seven weeks in events held at the Library
which included movies, t-shirt designs, acrylics, karaoke,
rock band and other activities. Teens were give one ticket
for each event they participated in. Reading was also how
teens were awarded the most chances in the drawing. Teens
were awarded 1 ticket per 150 pages read.
First prize was a Mountain Bike won
by Samantha Moss, second prize was a $30.00 Wal-Mart gift
card won by Niya Bhingi Wallenborn, third prize was a $20.00
Wal-Mart gift card won by Treena Kirkland, and forth prize
was a Artemis Fowl Collection won by Nathan Gale.
Pictured above; from left are Nathan
Gale, Niya Bhingi Wallenborn, Samantha Moss and Treena
Kirkland. The bike was donated by the local Bethlehem Lodge
# 56 of the Masons. Funding for the program, the celebration
and the other prizes were provided by the Friends of the
Library.
YES: Is Affordable Housing
BELEN-- The Director of Housing
Development for YES Housing Inc., Michelle Den Bleyker,
addressed the City Council Monday night to update them on
the purchase and renovation of the old La Hacienda
Apartments located at 400 N. 2nd St. The 50+
year-old apartment complex has fallen into disrepair and has
been a subject of repeated calls to the Belen Police
Department and the City Council for the criminal activity
that has taken place there over the years.
YES Housing Inc. originally created
by YDI in 1990 to improve communities by providing poor
disenfranchised children and families a good home in safe
neighborhoods. The YES Housing Inc. has established itself
as an affordable housing provider in the Southwest. The
company based out of Albuquerque, NM is developing
affordable housing throughout New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
YES Housing Inc. has just completed a project in the Dils
Addition of Belen, a single family house that was foreclosed
on last year, has been remodeled, and will be sold as
affordable housing in the next few months. Funding for this
project was through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program
(NSP).
The New Mexico Finance Authority has
committed $1.7 million dollars of NSP funding for the
purchase and renovation of the La Hacienda Apartments. Den
Bleyker expects that it will take approximately 6 months to
renovate the 22 unit apartment complex which consists of
electrical and plumbing upgrades as well as bringing the
units up to current code and ADA compliance. When complete
the apartment complex will be managed by a third party
property management company.
For several years the apartment
complex has had several complaints against it. And with the
full cooperation of the Belen Police Department and interim
Police Chief Dan Robb, the City Council is hoping for the
best when the revamped apartment complex opens next year.
City Planning Director, Andrew Di Camillo said, “With Chief
Robb and myself, we are going to enter into an abatement
plan with the new management company so that they have
really for the first time a resource here with the police
department with our office to do their tenant screening and
if that doesn’t work and they have tenants that even though
they screened aren’t working out, they will now have a
resource through the chief, the police department and
planning zoning, so we will make sure that those apartments
don’t return to what they were.”
Three Belen Citizens Awarded for Valor
BELEN-- Fire Chief Manny Garcia
recognized 3 outstanding citizens during Monday’s City
Council meeting. Receiving Citizens Award of Valor
are Gary Stevens and Randy Gettings for their valiant effort
and bravery by helping to extinguish a residential fire
on Esperonza Dr. earlier this spring. They alerted the
occupant and kept her safe, while fire fighters went to work
extinguishing the blaze.
Because of their valiant efforts and quick response the home
suffered minor damage, according to Chief Garcia. The third
recipient of the Citizens Award of Valor was Marcella
Lindsay for her efforts by stabilizing a critical patient
after a one-vehicle roller over on I-25. When EMTs arrived
on the scene, Ms. Lindsay who is studying to become a nurse
was already in the van providing aid the victim.
Thank You! Moose
BELEN – Parks and Recreation
Director, Brenda Gurule, presented a special award to the
Governor of the Belen Moose Lodge, James St. Clair and
Administrative Secretary, Toby Jaramillo at Monday's City
Council Meeting. Last spring the
Summer Recreation Program was going to be cut due to staff
reductions and funding priorities. To make the program more
self-sustaining, registration fees where raised to $75.00
per child. When the Belen Moose Lodge heard about this, they
contacted the Mayor to see what they could do to help.
“Through their generosity, we were able to fund our summer
recreation program and sponsor kids that would never be able
to afford it.” said Brenda Gurule. The local Moose Lodge
donated $3000 to sponsor children that would otherwise not
be able to afford to attend this summer’s recreation
program.
Camino Project: Will it Affects Arroyo Flows?
BELEN-The second phase of the Camino de Llano project continues. It is not scheduled to be completed until December 2010. In the mean time city officials and business owners along the construction route are wondering how this road realignment will affect the water flow when the monsoon season kicks in.
"There is better control for curb and gutter," said Dan Hogan, project engineer in a copyrighted story in the Valencia County News-Bulletin, Wednesday, July 14, 2010. "It's less likely to flood the Holiday Inn Express hotel and the Rio Grande diner. But the water is basically going to go where is has gone in the past."
Last year the city purchased a 14-acre section of property just north of Camino del Llano between the Belen Highline Canal and Christopher Road. The city hopes to use a portion of the land for a retention pond. It is also the same piece of property that the city has talked about donating for a new hospital site, see Belen's Healthcare Hub.
According to Hogan, workers have installed new culverts and a 60 inch storm drain that will eventually drain into the retention pond when the city has obtained additional funding to complete this portion of the project. Hogan went on to say in the News-Bulletin story, that a rush of flood waters down Camino del Llano can lead to an overflow of the Highland Canal before it creeps into the homes of Belen residents below the canal. "...the nice thing about the 14 acres is that they address two major arroyos", said Hogan.
Councilor Wayne Gallegos said, "It's important for officials to keep the flood issue as a priority for the city. You need to put projects in phases until you can get it done." He went on to say that Belen is not a rich community and officials will try to come up with the money to complete the project
Excerpts from Brent Ruffner/News-Bulletin, July 14, 2010
Latest ARRA Project: Reinken Overpass Pedestrian Crossing
BELEN-Local, state and federal dignitaries got together Wednesday, June 23rd for the ground breaking of the $3 million dollar America Recovery and Reinvestment Act project for the Department of Transportation. The New Mexico Mid-Region Council of Governments and DOT started construction of a Pedestrian Crossing on Belen's Reinken Ave. overpass.
The
crossing will transport New Mexico Rail Runner Express foot
traffic from the east side of the railroad tracks to Belen's
downtown district. "Visitors to Belen will be able to walk
over to the Harvey House Museum, the Doodle Bug Park,
restaurants, the library and Anna Becker park", said Mayor
Rudy Jaramillo. This project will be the start of the
revitalization of Belen, Jaramillo went on to say. The
pedestrian crossing consists mostly of a series of stairs
and ramps on both the east and west side of the Reinken Ave.
overpass. A foot bridge 17-feet above Reinken Ave. will be
built on the west side of the overpass to allow pedestrians
to cross over to the south side of Reinken Ave. making it
safer for visitors to cross the busy street. "Solar panels
will be installed to help light the structure at night", said
Planning and Zoning Director Andrew DiCamillo.
Construction is expected to continue
all summer long with little or no impact on traffic and
should be completed later this fall. Below are two artist
renditions of what the bridge will look like when complete.
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| Left to right; Interim City Manager, Mary Lucy Baca, Councilors Lorenzo Carrillo, Jerah Cordova and far right Mary Aragon listens to Mayor Rudy Jaramillo, State Senator Michael S. Sanchez, and State Representative Andrew Barreras. Representatives from Congressman Harry Teague and US Senator Jeff Bingaman's office also addressed the crowd of 40 county and city officials. | ||
City of Belen's Healthcare Hub
LOS LUNAS-On June 16th Councilor Jerah Cordova and Planning, and Zoning Director Andrew DiCamillo went before the Valencia County Commission and took their two minutes under citizen’s comments to pitch an alternate site for the proposed hospital. "The site we are offering is near a clustered medical facility akin to a health commons already. If we can donate the land, we have every intention of doing so," Cordova said in a copyrighted story in the Valencia County News-Bulletin, Saturday, June 19, 2010. "Second, we are interested in a complete, comprehensive study of all the sites offered for this project. And finally, we are not opposed to the Rio Communities site or any other site in the Belen area."
The 14 acres of land is located north of
Camino del Llano on Christopher Road, directly east of the
Presbyterian Urgent Care Center. DiCamillo said, “A hospital located
in Belen would be an economic boon and allow us to get us back on
our feet. It will be triple the impact of Solo Cup before they
closed. He said the city has already invested $10 million in
infrastructure in the area. The property is serviced by two 8” water
lines and an 8” and 10” sewer line is located along Camino del
Llano. High speed Qwest fiber optic as well as Comcast fiber is
located at the curb. The Public Service Company has three phase
power available, more than adequate for a hospital and the New
Mexico Gas Company has gas lines running to the property. DiCamillo
in his proposal went on to say that traffic signaling infrastructure
is already in the ground at the corner of Camino del Llano and
Christopher road.
"The location is three minutes from the
county's only public airport. The nearby medical offices are already
part of the Rio Metro transit system, it's four minutes from the
Rail Runner and we have Belen High School nearby for a partnership,"
DiCamillo said, referring to the high school's medical curriculum
and career academy.
Valencia Health Commons is the hospital advisory board that is reviewing and scoring the proposals for an alternate site. VHC is also in the process of reviewing proposals for a health care provider. County Commissioner Georgia Otero-Kirkham sits on the board of VHC and will take the City’s proposal back to the VHC board. County Commissioner Pedro Rael responded to Cordova's comments noting that the city could not donate the land without violating the state’s anti-donation clause, but also said, "This locale is very palatable compared to the current one. This is much, much better. Don't give up the ship." Click here to read the full proposal.
Excerpts from Julia M. Dendinger/News-Bulletin, June 19, 2010
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Download and read your own copy of Belen Rail Runner Station Infrastructure and Development Plan. This document was compiled from a workshop held September 23, 2009. The plan looks at the Pedestrian Bridge, 1st Street Reconfiguration, Harvey House Plaza, 2nd Street Plaza, Becker Avenue. between 3rd and 1st Streets, Arrival Park, Commercial Redevelopment East of the Station and Reinken Avenue Reconfiguration. Click here or the picture at the left to read the plan. |
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| An artist rendition of Doodle Bug Park located at Castillo and 2nd Street. The project will feature structures that mirrors the two historic brick buildings on the northeast and northwest corners of Becker Avenue. The park will contain flexible areas for wall mounted art throughout the plaza. New plantings will reinforce the style implemented at the pedestrian bridge landing on 1st street and at the Harvey House Plaza. | |
Newsletters
- City of Belen Newsletter
Volume 5 Issue 3 September 2008
Fourth Street gets new pavement, Delgado Street gets much needed utility work and phase II of the Community Center is complete.
- City of Belen Newsletter
Volume 5 Issue 2 July 2008
Brand New City Fire Truck -- On May of 2008 the Belen Fire Department received its new fire pumper truck purchased from monies provided by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Foundation and Rancho Cielo.
- City of Belen Newsletter
Volume 5 Issue 1 March 2008
Your Tax Dollars At Work -- Thursday, March 27, 2008 marked the Grand Opening of the newly renovated and expanded Public Library.
Briefs
-
Resolution 2010-17,Local Government Road Fund, hardship match waiver, For
Becker Ave Improvements between 1st and 2nd Streets. Passed.
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Resolution 2010-18,Local Government Road Fund, hardship match waiver, For
Becker Ave. Improvements between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Passed.
-
Lease Agreement for the Belen Art League. Passed.
-
Resolution 2010-19, Information Technology Security Policy Passed.
-
List of items for Auction. Passed.
- Construction is under way on the
Camino de Llano Project. The 3.6 Million Dollar
project is expected to last a year.
Construction will take place at various locations along Camino de Llano to the top of the mesa. There will be disruptions of water services for those residents in the immediate area as well as road closures as necessary. For more information contact the Utilities Director, Robert Rimorin, 505-966-2735.
- The City Council appointed Max Cordova
of Belen as the newest member of the city's Planning & Zoning
Commission.
- City Council to consider a Water
Amnesty Program. The idea of a resolution was presented at a
City Council Meeting August 2nd
- The City Council approved Resolution
2010-16 "Grant Application to FAA". The resolution is requesting
$91,200 for Apron Rehabilitation at the Belen Alexander
Municipal Airport.
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