Thank you. I call this meeting to order. All councilors are present this evening with counselors Rogers and Grout joining via Zoom. I'd like to start every land use planning and zoning meeting with a land acknowledgement. The city of Albuquerque was established on the unseated traditional homelands of the Tiwa Pueblo people and the PBLO of Sandia and Isleta. As caretakers of the middle Rio Grande Valley, the Tiwa PBLO people nurtured and cared for its human and non-human inhabitants as well as the desert, mountain, and water ecosystems since time in memorial. Historically, the PBLO peoples have contributed to and guided the development of Albuquerque and New Mexico. and they continue to cultivate the cultural, spiritual, and socioeconomic life of Albuquerque and our land of enchantment. We also recognize that Albuquerque has long been a gathering place of diverse indigenous peoples, tribal nations, and pblo of New Mexico, and indigenous nations from around the world, and that this sacred space continues to be their traditional homelands. All right, this will be a hybrid meeting where all participants can participate in person or via Zoom. Uh we do not have anyone signed up to speak today but I will remind folks that you are welcome to sign up in advance um anytime you want to speak to uh the land use planning and zoning committee. So we will move on to uh agenda item A that is EC 367 transmitt of the BOSI assessment and update prioritization document. I move a receipt be noted. A second from councelor Champine. Any questions from counselors? Council Rogers. Yes. Just one question. Thank you, Madam Chair. I noticed in reading this document that it was finalized in December. Um, is there any reason it took this long to get to us? Is that typical? We're going to have Director Simon come down and answer that question. Good evening. uh chair and councelor Rogers. With me tonight is Colleen Langan, our so thank you very much for your time and attention to this subject. Uh councelor Rogers, the the full report uh the BOSI action update plan was completed a couple years ago. We transmitted that to council shortly after it was completed and uh and then we've done sort of uh at the council's request, one of the performance measures was to provide a sort of an updated status report on implementing the report. So we transmitted the original one and then what you received in this EC was a was a formal um EC with a little bit of an update as you requested. Wonderful. Thank you. which makes sense because I wasn't here then, which is why I don't remember it. So, thank you so much. I just it I enjoyed reading through it and it it hit home because my daughter just had to do one of these assessments at her school. Um, and so it was cool to read through it with her because she had just done one of one of the ones that was listed in here. So, it was I don't know if it was the BAMP or the bump or something like that, but it was um really cool to see it in this report. It helped make my job connect to something she knows as a teenager that she just did in school. So, it was really cool to see that. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Rogers. Councelor Champine. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, just a clarification. It says it's uh we're matching 250,000 requirement for the US Army Airs of Engineer project from Central to uh Avanita Doloresa. Hope I said that right. And bridge. You did. I did not. Did I? Yes. Oh, cool. Uh, what's the project that the engineers are coming to do? Yeah. Um, uh, Madame Chair, Councelor Champine, that is a a Bossi restoration and jettyjack removal initiative on that side of the river. It's sort of the southwest quadrant, if you will. Um, so the at at its core, it's uh jettyjack removal with restoration in hand. So, we've uh there's the federal program generally runs on a 35% local to 65% federal match. And we did make a commitment to the Army Corps last year that we would we would sit on our eggs and and keep a a match number there for them uh as they begin to do the more detailed planning for that project. So in general they go in they remove the js that are least impactful to remove uh and then we do bossi restoration behind that along with recreation improvements u as well. So it's sort of a win-win uh for the public and the ecosystem. Madam chair. And how many more jetty jacks do we have? I we were trying to start removing those when the Boski fire happened 20 years ago. Councelor, I I'll ask Colleen if she thinks we have a count. Um, you know, I don't know the number. I'll pan. A number of Jetty Jacks were removed. Um, but a lot of them still remain and so those are the ones being reassessed. Councelor, the uh the Army Corps has done sort of a full preliminary inventory and assessment of which areas in the Bosski are most um primed for a continued jetty jack removal. and they they essentially surveyed an area from uh basically Bernalo County a little bit further north into Sandaval all the way down to the end of the county. And so there's about I'd say three or four prime areas where there's still some like what I'd call a concentration of jetty jacks. And the area that we've identified here in the southwest quadrant is one of those four areas where uh we think we can make some progress. Sometimes removing the jetty jacks is um frankly it can be a little bit more impactful than it's worth as you these jetty jacks have been stationary for in some cases 60 years. Uh if they're it's like an impacted moler, you know, they're doing pull out. Yeah. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, councelor. Any other questions? Um I have a couple. Um thank you both for being here. So, it's my understanding from when we first got the uh BOSI um update in 23 that there were nine projects that were being considered and then there were they were scored and we chose six to move forward on and those are the six that are in the two-page priority um projects update that you provided at the beginning of this document today, right? Um yeah um councelor feverorn um they need you to move over to the you could come this way also sorry yeah there were actually many projects that were considered we had an e team that was comprised of a lot of different agency partners and we assessed many areas we we first assessed the actual bos action plan that had been um adopted um in 1993 and just kind of looked at where we had come from uh you know what was identified in here there had been major significant changes along the river uh since 1993 including bridges and just major changes. So a part of it was going back to this document assessing what we had accomplished and then reooking at the various uh major trail heads essentially and other uh areas that we could look at to make improvements. We did have a scoreeet and uh that was all uh conducted by the E team and so we identified nine projects and I believe it's seven projects that we had uh provided an update on because the the few projects below that um there wasn't much happening in those areas and they were lower priority. So that's why we only gave an update on the the top projects. Thank you. I I think there's only six just because that's um so the number one priority project that had the highest score and is also in your in your update is the San Antonio Oxbow. Um in last year we were told that we had enough funding to implement the site plan um but nothing beyond that. So, I see that we are starting construction on phase one of that and I'm just curious how that's funded and where the funds came from for that. Uh, councelor, again, it's a combination of funding. So, we have both city and state capital outlay dollars uh to do phase one of that project. And how much is phase one of that project going to cost? Um, councelor, I believe it's $935,000. Okay. Close. It's maybe a little higher. I think I just signed it for so 931. Okay. Um and then originally it was noted in the report that we did not have funding for management of this project after it was completed. I don't see any expansion of our open space division staff. So what is our plan for managing that area? councelor, we will do the best we job we can with what we are provided. Thanks. I I will point out I mean it says it I did this last year so I'll do it every year. Um in the original report it said since the city took on management responsibility of the BOSI the OSD has not had adequate resources yet has been innovative and has heavily relied on partners and volunteers. And it goes on to say that for the city to fully meet its obligations and support the BOSI, obtaining the resources outlined below is a top priority for the OSD. And below it lists out things like staff that you need. I did see that one of these projects is going to pay for a staffer um through the water utility authority. So that was great. Um, but again, you know, I think everyone that I've ever spoken to thinks that the Bossi is a gem of Albuquerque and is very, very important for our city, for tourism, for our own residents, for the wildlife who live here, for the health of the water system. Um, yet I don't see us prioritizing it in any way, shape, or form in the budget. And and again, with the budget that was sent down to the council again this year, those positions that are needed are not filled. So, um, just pointing that out. Then for the Atrisco Asakia Madre project, um, again, we didn't have funding for this last year. Um, but we're starting phase one. And so, can you tell me what phase one is, what that contains? Councelor, I think there's sort of two parts of this. We we when we refer to the Aiki Madre area, I think we're referring to both areas on the north side of central if you will and to and the south side of central for the purposes of this report. So again on the south side of central, the southwest quadrant, we are starting in on the boss restoration, fuels reduction, jetty jack removal and recreation improvements with dollars we have on the north side of central. It's um more identified with the multi- uh jurisdictional uh multi- agency partnership that has prepared a plan for this asakia madre uh area. So that's a project that we've been in close collaboration with the county on as well as the middle Rio Grande conservancy district. And for that project, there is phase one funding to implement um some recreation and site improvements north of central roughly about sunset in central and that funding has been mostly state capital outlay funding. Some of it's come through the middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and they're currently finalizing um 100% construction documents for the first phase of improvements there which essentially will be uh improved parking uh some interpretive signage and some minor recreational trail related improvements on the north side of Central. Thank you. And how much is that phase one going to cost? I'm going to forget that number. Do you recall? I don't remember off the top of my head. I don't know that that's actually been identified because we're at 65% construction drawings and so once we get to 100 then they start doing cost estimates. Okay. Um the things that we're saying we're paying for seem like they're more than the money we say we have identified. And that's why I'm curious if you could help me with like an estimate on that. That would be really appreciated. Um and then those were the two top priority projects. And then we had a second bucket of of, you know, level two priority projects. Um, Alama Southeast. Um, again, this one's mostly by the water utility authority, but can you talk me through what the city's Yeah. responsibility is on this one? A absolutely, counselor. So again, this is sort of a multi- uh dimensional uh effort here at in the Boske and in the trail head that is one of the most popular access points to the Bos at at at Alama in the river. So what's going on there? Uh number one, uh we have improvements to the trail head that comprises um a reorientation of the trail route through there, which is very congested, one of the most heavily used areas of the of the Po Delbosski trail. So, we're adding in sort of we're we're actually dividing some user groups up by putting a small bypass section of trail which will allow trail users to continue un uninterrupted through that area while separating out and slowing down other users like pedestrians or uh so that's one part of it. Uh a second part is the water utility authorities uh desire to power their uh initial pump treatment station there on the river edge which accesses our city's San Juan Chama water. Um and they we we're collaborating with them so that they can uh use solar power to um power about 40% of the electrical requirements of that facility. that is going to be done through a solar carport feature on the existing parking lot. So, they're responsible for sourcing that building that as part of the mitigation for covering over our beautiful parking lot with um uh a carport. Uh we are going to uh partner to restore vegetation at the trail head. So there's going to be an extensive replanting of native vegetation around the trail head and some restoration of bossy vegetation adjacent to the ditch and the trail head. Okay. Then a third element and I please jump in if I forget. Uh third element is going to be enhanced Bosi restoration closer to the pump station. uh which is going to include also interpretive materials for the first time which uh for the interested visitor will actually help better explain where some of our water comes from and how it enters the city system uh what that you know hydraologic story is. So all those three things are happening in the in the same place and then uh a little bit of extra will be on the north side of Alama and and the river is a picnic ground there. It's um a place where we've also are collaborating with the water utility authority and we're going to try to upgrade the amenities at that small day use area. Thank you. And so, um it's my understanding that all of those improvements, the the landscaping and the upgraded the picnic area would be paid for by the water utility authority. You are so sharp. Um most of them are with the exception of uh uh a good part of the trail work. We are covering, we are contributing to some of the trail work. And how much does the trail work cost? Oh boy, that total project is in the neighborhood of about $400,000 total. But again, we're covering that from some diverse sources. The water utility authority is contributing a lot of funds for vegetation restoration, the new Bosi plantings, the interpretive materials, the interpretive signs, and the new uh amenities in the picnic area. Thank you. And then the original write up to the Alama um work included that the county was going to develop um some long range work around the Alamina storm drain outfall and that it was going to construct a high or the preferred alternative at that time was a high flow bypass bioil and infiltration basin. Is that happening? Um councelor Feeblecorn it's happening um I believe but you know they're still in the planning phase. So, um, but the last time I spoke with county, their public works department, they still are on target for pursuing that project. Um, I don't really know where they are with it, but, um, we have definitely emphasized that when they're ready to start to, you know, dig into the planning a little deeper and, uh, do the project, we will be handinhand with them in implementing that. Thank you. And it wouldn't be and that would be totally their dime. Perfect. Okay. Um and then the next project was the um the Montano um Southwest project and is this completely dependent on general fund funding from the city? Madame Chair, we are using uh some of our Boske uh general obligation bond funds to do some of the postfire recovery work there. Uh, I also believe we have um reserved some funding from a state capital outlay grant for postfire recovery efforts and we hope to spend some of that there as well. And how much is that? Uh, let's see what we intended to spend there. Yes. Let's see. Um, we have reserved about $150,000 for the PBLO Montano area. Also uh we had some postfire work to do it at what we call the Poco Loco uh access point which is Rio Bravo in the river. So the the overall numbers 150,000 for those two sites and then another 105,000 106,000 from our uh general obligation bond that was I believe the 2023 bond. Okay. Thank you. Um and then the Pat Baka is the next project, the Pat Baka open space. And um in the original write up, it said we were going to have a swale and other water features there. I don't see that in this update. What's what's changed or is that just phase two? It it's a complicated story. Go ahead. Yeah, Council Feeorn. Um so there is actually two projects that is happening in that area. The major project that is dealing with storm water um is being managed by the department of municipal development and um I think through um meetings with the public and with MRGCD and the Army Corps that plan has changed a number of times. So there's still not a final plan. Um but they I I don't know the cost for that project and I think they're still figuring that out. They have they came to the open space advisory board. I don't know, maybe a couple of years ago to present one version of that and I think there was a request to change some things based off of feedback that they received and so they've gone back to the drawing board a few times and they haven't quite come back yet, but I know they're working on it. The second part of that project is um just doing what we can do on a lighter touch to deal with erosion. Uh so there's major head cuts along that property um because it's very very sandy soil. It's a large bluff, beautiful views, but the sandy terrain is an issue for us. And so, some of that erosion that's happening is due to the outfall, but a lot of it is just sheeting off from uh adjacent properties. So, we're going to be going in there and doing some um kind of lighter uh mitigation that will include smaller swells that will include uh some plantings. and we've been able to pay for a contractor to design that. Um, I believe through the geo bond funds. And how much was that? Um, let's see if I can find that. I think that was previously. Sorry, give me just one second. Uh, 41,000 is what we've paid so far and that was out of I believe the 2021 go. Okay. Thank you. And then the last project is the water reclamation plant. Um this is a big one. I love this project a lot. Um but I I am worried again like what how is it being paid for? Um and our part of the project these numbers are adding up to more than we have available. So how are we paying for these this last one? Well, there's yeah there's two parts of this one. Of course is like any good construction project. there's the bricks and mortar and then there's the operating component. Right? So again in this case the war utility authority has paid for the outfall project itself and this wonderful restoration um concept and uh the good news from this one is uh the model that we've put together with the water utility authority for the management component and the water utility authority has agreed to fund one position to help us actually maintain the area um in you know every way so protection and looking after it and doing any restoration, additional restoration and vegetative work that we can do sort of an ongoing basis. And uh so that's a really great outcome for the outfall project. And that is reflected in the FY26 budget that's gone to council in about an $80,000 uh item that's been added into the open space budget to cover the the amount that the water utility has agreed to transfer to us on a regular recurring basis. Great. Thank you. I am excited that you get one of the two positions that you have been needing for several years now. So that is great news. Um last couple questions. I I read through all six of these project um uh explanations again today and think I have a pretty good handle on them. Yet we are spending staff resources to figure out where a new boat ramp would go. And a boat ramp was not discussed in any of those six priority projects. And so why are we why are we when we can't pay for these projects? Why are we spending time um looking for a boat ramp location? Uh Madam Chair, in this case we are working on an existing boat ramp. So uh some years ago the Army Corps worked with the city to construct a river access point at the southwest corner of Central and the river. Um that access point's very crucial to uh uh paddlesports on the river because it's at that one of those key crossing points at Central. And what's really helpful for the paddlesports is to have the river kind of broken up into short segments of a couple of miles. It makes for a lovely float. One of the like undiscovered wonderful things you can do in our city that many people don't know about, but you can take a very easy two to three mile float on the river. And putting on the river or getting off the river at Central is really a key point. So the uh ramp there deteriorated and it needs to be it needs to be fixed. So we're looking at a way to do it that's better than the way that the Army Corps did it. And uh and in addition, while we're doing that, uh we're looking at ways that we can support the paddle the paddle sports community by trying to help them um make it make it easier for people to get their gear to and from the parking lot to the river and backs. As you know, if you've ever done that in our city, it's kind of a a schle as we'd say, from any parking lot to the river edge. And if you're carrying a couple hundred pounds of canoe or raft and gear, it's it's a it's a real it can be a tough sledding there. So, we have some in kind of interesting concepts for how we can help people move their equipment more seamlessly to the river and back. So, it's just working with the existing situation there. And I do think uh it's very important we try to just maintain and slightly improve these paddlesport river access points at existing locations. Okay. Thank you. So, it's definitely existing. You are not looking for a new location for a boat access point. That is correct. Um, and so the fact that it was listed in one of the priority projects that didn't score well and is not on this list anymore, um, was looking for a new location, that is not happening. Well, let's see. I don't recall whether there may have been a little of of like uh canoes crossing in the night on this like we were working on these ideas and I'm not sure they were fully uh evaluated in the update but I I don't know Colleen can address that but at another point in time we were looking to see whether an improved access point at Rio Bravo was a good idea that's the last place that you can sort of exit the river before you cross into the Isleta reservation which and or else hit the Isleta dam. neither of which we want paddlers to do. So there again, as many spots along our wonderful river, you can get there and you can get on and off, but it may not always be easy. So Rio Bravo has a functional access point. It's not very functional. So again, it sort of exists and we were uh kind of in thinking about whether it needed enhancement, but it does exist already. I mean, I've used it. It's it works. Um, but I I do want to like that is that is one of the projects that did not score highly enough to be on the list um that you gave us the update on today. So, I want to make sure we're not spending resources and time developing yet another access point when it did not score highly enough to be included and we can't pay for the six things that are on the list right now. I think that's that's a true statement. Um, councelor Feebleorn, I could just uh expand a little bit. While we identified the priority projects and these ones ranked the highest, we also identified a number of just ongoing management and other things that we need to do in the Boske uh that were kind of larger issues. Um, so general recreation, education, restoration, you know, this is a beautiful green belt that goes through our city. We've really been looking at from the open space division how we can provide access to all of our community to green spaces. The river is a key location to do that. And so one of those things that we were looking at is how do we uh engage people all of our community in the Ballscape to feel comfortable to understand what an amazing resource it is. Um that includes you know bird watching. It includes getting on the river uh hiking whatever. So we're going to be doing that through interpretive signage and uh increased programs and you know river access was a part of that. So while we had again the ranked priorities we have overall management uh you know considerations that were kind of broader that we you know were considering. So anyways, I hope that helps. And so yeah, there's more needs, uh, financial needs, and again, we do a lot with with our existing resources to maintain those trail heads to, you know, uh, try to increase, uh, to better signage and increase trail access. Um, so we'll keep that work up along with these priority projects. Thank you. I again, we don't have enough money to do all the things. We have priorities. Um, I know that there are a lot of other priorities just in overall general management. I just don't think that a boat access point in addition to what we already have is one of those priorities, especially when we have a list of resources that you need and that you've needed since I took office and we've never gotten them to you. So, and counselor, sometimes it's a matter of being, you know, opportunist opportunistic and smart about where we can get financial support. So, you know, some things are um have more options funding than others. So, we will always look to maximize our opportunities to tap funding. Uh sometimes that may mean you're working on priority three before priority two doesn't mean we forget priority two. Totally get that. But we have six priorities and we can't pay for them. So, um that's all I'll say on that one. Um and then the last question is well second to last questions. um overall management. Thank you for that lead in because I would like to know where we stand. It wasn't in the update that you provided, but I'd like to know where we stand on the non-native vegetation management. You know, we have rules about if we get over 25%, we have to take action. Where are we on the the really the worst non-native um vegetation? Yes. Um Councelor Feeorn, I I realize now you guys were given just the priority project update. We did actually have some additional information that we can forward to your office that includes um updates on education, restoration, recreation, some of those other key points that we hit on as well as our operations and management. Um but as far as the invasive uh management goes with the plants, we completed that very large FEMA project that was 200 acres that we were able to complete uh targeting invasive plants. Um we continue this work uh all the time but it's you know a pretty uh large charge to manage all of the invasives. So it's just ongoing maintenance. We use again our volunteers and our staff to get in there and um you know constantly be trying to tackle those areas and um we have been actually able to complete um an uh resource I'm sorry a habitat action plan um that's identifying you know where we can not only tackle the invasives but where we could do plantings as well based off of depth to water and um precipitation. So, you know, we're we're putting all the science together and we're working with our partners to uh maintain things the best we can, but yeah, as climate change happens, the invasive plants are going to continue to be a major issue for us and uh so are the field woods that you know um increase every year, but we are doing our best with the resources that we have. Thank you. I I would love to see the rest of the report apparently if there was more than what we received. We received a two-page um update, but um I will leave it at that. If you could forward me the rest of that, that would be great. Any other questions? Councelor Councelor Bassan. Uh Madam Chair, two things because I'm not clear. There's more to the report or there's more information that we did not get. Uh I think we uh if there were there was one other page that I just had some uh management updates. I I'm not sure it's attached to the EC or not. I think it was I'm not sure why that occurred because I believe it was originally included in the EC, but it's it's just one page on the operations of of the divisions work in the Bosski and it's very easy to share with you. Okay. And then my second question, Madame Chair and Director, it was unclear to me when councelor Feebleorn asked multiple times, it's just simply yes or no. Please, are you going to be working on a new boat ramp? No. Thank you. It's an existing boat ramp. Any other questions, counselor? All right. Um, so we have a a move for receipt be noted and we have a second. So, uh, uh, we have to do a roll call vote because there's folks online. Go ahead. Councelor Passan, no. Councelor Champine, yes. Councelor Gr, yes. Councelor Rogers, yes. Councelor Feeorn, yes. That passes 4 to one. Thank you. Thank you both for being here tonight. Um, we're going to move on to agenda item B and that's councelor Grout. Thank you. Um, let's see. I don't have the agenda the scope the excuse me the script in front of me, but I believe EC2 uh 25381 is the mayor's appointment of Mr. Eric Nellis to the um EPC. Um, and I would like to move to um, accept this second. And just for clarity, that's a move to confirm and a second by councelor Rogers. Any questions counselors? I'll just say I'm very excited about um, this appointment. I haven't met him yet, but I do follow him on YouTube. So, um, great find whoever found him. Um, so we will um, You're welcome. Go to a vote. Oh, thank you. It was it council grat. Thank you. Um, all right. We'll go to a vote. Councelor Bassan, yes. Councelor Shampine, yes. Councelor Gr, yes. Councelor Rogers, yes. Councelor Feeorn, yes. That passes. All right. There being no further business, this Leps committee meeting is adjourned.