UPDATE: I have been contacted by readers who reminded me of two things: (1) Plans for improving North Horton have been around for a long time, but there remain questions about whether or not the project described is eligible for MAP. (2) After considering the furor over ill-advised paving projects in the past, a former Town Council directed P&Z to prioritize roads which required frequent maintenance, and for which it could be established had > 250 TPD (Trips Per Day). As I began my second time at P&Z in 2019, the Commission had just finished work on delivering a set of recommendations. No followup was possible in subsequent years because of the legal furor over acquisition of EPCOR. Following the reconstitution of government, the concept seems to have been lost or intentionally discontinued. I have summarized this and more feedback to the original post here.
Last night’s hurriedly called special meeting was explained as being required to generate a resolution to pave more of North Horton Road. It caught a lot of people by surprise.
1. Someone in the town office missed the deadline for a recurring event. 2025 begins year four following the reconstitution of government, so the deadline to apply for Municipal Arterial Program (MAP) funds could not have been a surprise. Town staff took the blame. The latest iteration of town government must be remarkably passive because in prior years elected officials have hovered over the process in such a way that the deadline could not have been missed. (Perhaps they and town staff are too busy managing current and threatened litigation?)
2. Former Councilor Linda Holle spoke in public comment where she asked some pertinent questions about how Horton was chosen. The replies from Murillo, Brennan, and Mulligan were delivered almost in unison. IT IS ALL ABOUT SAFETY. To be sure, Horton Road has long been a priority to fill two needs: A hard surface alternate route in case of emergency and to relieve congestion on NM 344. However, MAP funding was on an earlier agenda; why was Horton not specified then if it was an obvious choice? (Behind the scenes deal-making?)
3. Commissioner Rariden asked what measures are being taken in the meantime to make the road more passable pending completion of this project? He was assured that doing so is a waste of money. (If the situation is so dire, his question deserves a substantive reply.)
4. Commissioner Brennan expanded on the town’s plans: It seems there is a never before heard of component to meeting the MAP requirement of the town furnishing partial matching funding: The town will be allowed to furnish in-kind road work instead of handing over cash. He went on to discuss the possibility of starting with chip seal and maybe real paving down the road. This assumes that the town will be able to hire an oil truck as needed, have enough trained staff to run the town owned chip seal equipment, and that the town equipment will be ready to go after sitting idle over winter months. The window of acceptable temperatures for paving is narrow due to Edgewood’s climate. (Paving Horton was a campaign promise made by Brennan.)
5. Town staff assured the Commissioners that District 5 DOT staff has assured the town that the application papers will be accepted. However, MAP funds are limited, and priority will likely be given to those communities who submitted timely applications.
6. MAP funding is spread out in a sequence to (1) design, (2) engineer, and (3) build designated roads which are also required to join a state road. How will “in-kind” work be done for the design or engineering phases?
7. Approval of any sort is not guaranteed. If the town gets anything this year it is likely to be only partial. (Church Road has used MAP funds in the past, and has been a priority for paving for well over a decade, but it’s still not done. One reason, among others, is political deal-making among the governing body which diverted funding requests to pet projects.)
8. The people who will benefit are sure to be pleased at least until they find out how long it is going to take. Those in other parts of town will be angry that they didn’t get priority. The first, and for many years only road paving project, other than Frost Road and Dinkle Road, was Skyline Drive. It was a political albatross around the neck of the town council member who lived on that road when the chip seal was laid down.
9. In 2011, former Mayor Stearley’s fight with the council over which roads to pave resulted in some of the most tumultuous council meetings in the town’s history. The rancor generated by that fight likely contributed to his defeat by Brad Hill in 2012.
10. In the same vein, Hill’s successful diversion of State Legislature capital outlay money from Church Road toward paving a mile of East Venus Road which contained no houses may have contributed to his defeat by John Bassett in 2016. The town matching money put up for Hill’s East Venus project meant that when the wastewater treatment plant started showing problems, his ability to deal with the situation was made more difficult. The people who signed petitions in favor of the project and were assured that the paving of mile two would be coming soon are still waiting.
One of the deciding factors in the original vote to incorporate was improving roads. Progress has not been easy. Politicians come and go at regular intervals, and I have seen successive waves of rash promises about roads. Road improvements happen, but they always cost more (money and political capital), and take more time than anticipated.