What once used to be a landfill decades ago, is now a large holding pond the city of Belen is constructing to help with flooding issues by catching water runoff from the arroyos from the mesa during the monsoon season.
Bobbi Chandler News-Bulletin photo
BELEN—They say progress takes patience, and by the looks of the many projects happening in the Hub City, some will need to continue to practice tolerance.
The city is in the midst of working on or getting ready to start at least 15 infrastructure projects — some larger than others, and some that have been waiting to begin for decades.
One project that has been in the planning stages for more than 15 years is taking longer than expected and having a greater impact on residents than others. That’s the West Aragon Road project, which is a total replacement of aging water and sewer lines, new sidewalks, curb and gutters, drainage as well as new pavement from Main Street to Mesa Road.
Steven Tomita, the city’s community services director, told the council the project is slated to be completed by either June or July, but delays continue to occur because of supply issues.
The total amount of the project is costing $3,726,000, with funding from a federal highway Transportation Alternatives Program, capital outlay funding from the New Mexico Legislature, city of Belen match, a loan/grant from the Rural Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program and from Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
As the project continues, so do the headaches for nearby residents. Rebecca Sisneros Saiz told the councilors and mayor that her son, who lives on Cavalier Road with his family, has had to deal with regular water outages for a while, and it’s taking a toll.
“He has a lot of anxiety and mental anguish not knowing when the water is coming back on,” Saiz said. “He also has pets, and not able to get water to their pets is hard.
“It’s a really dire situation, and it’s been difficult for these families,” she said. “I know they’re working on it, but it’s been hard.”
Belen City Manager Roseann Peralta said they knew the project was going to be a challenge, and thanked the residents for their patience.
Peralta said the reason for the many water shut offs is because as crews work on the water and sewer lines, they are literally crumbling away.
“The existing lines are cracking and breaking,” Peralta said. “We’ve done everything we can to push the contractors to make these breaks repaired as soon as possible … but it seems to be failing at every point.”
The city manager said the engineer on the project told her they are working on a couple of more tie-ins, including one major one at Mesa Road, which is now about a month out.
“With the funding we have, we’re looking at different areas to install new valves,” she said. “We’re addressing the infrastructure problems, and that is one of my items I’m pushing forward to make sure we have a good system for the community.”
Work continues on Aragon Road as the residents and businesses nearby try to be patient with the ongoing water shut offs due to the replacement of water and sewer lines under the road. The project is expected to be completed in June or July.
Peralta said when the water is off, residents in the affected area are welcome to take showers at the Belen Community Center, and the fire department has been passing out water bottles.
“It’s been a mass web of lines,” Tomita said of the aging infrastructure below Aragon Road.
Tomita told the council the water lines should have been completed by the end of February, and the sewer line work is beginning in March.
“We’re also working the pond at Cavalier and Aragon, which will be a drainage detention pond,” he said. “It will hold water to prevent over capacity on Main Street, which has always been a problem.”
Another project the city has been planning is Aragon Road from Mesa Road to the frontage road, which will be in two phases.
The project, which will cost $1,140,000 from a New Mexico Department of Transportation grant with a $60,000 match from the city of Belen, will include paving the now dirt road.
“We will control water coming down the road and have a controlled discharged into the Highline Canal,” Tomita said. “The first part will be done by June. The next phase will be from Mesa Road to the Highline Canal, fixing sidewalks and more.”
Tomita expects the second phase of that project to be completed in the fall of 2025.
One of the larger, and more visible projects, the city has been undertaking is the construction of the Aragon Pond located off the frontage road. The project is costing $1,900,000, which was funded through capital outlay from the New Mexico Legislature.
“All the earth work is completed and we’re working on structures to pick up water and put it in the storm drain pipe, and then it will discharge from the structure into the Highline,” Tomita said.
Tomita said the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has been holding off on working out an agreement with the city for the use of the canal, although they did approve a permit.
Another detention pond that has been in the works for many years is the Mae Read Pond, which is designed to collect water runoff from the arroyos on the west mesa. The city has received $1,735,000 from the Legislature to complete. Tomita said the project is out for bid.
The city of Belen is also moving forward with the Belen MainStreet Partnership’s Great Blocks on Main Street Project in downtown Belen.
The nonprofit was awarded $1.69 million in capital outlay funding for pedestrian improvements at First and Becker streets north to the bridge. The work also includes widening of First Street, new sidewalks, a new entry into the Belen Harvey House Museum property, park benches, shade structures, landscaping, drainage improvements and lighting.
Tomita said the culvert that runs along First Street is collapsing, so some of the funding will have to be used to replace it.
One of the less costly projects is the city’s drainage master plan, which is estimated to cost $510,000, which was given to the city by the Legislature.
“This is moving along a little slowly,” Tomita said. “The state engineer’s office came down and said we needed to speed it up.”
Some of the issues the city needs to include in the plan are drainage flood conditions and flood protection methods from the west mesa basin.
The completion of Well No. 9 was funded by a $325,000 grant from USDA, which will supplement the pump with Well No. 8, which is in need of a design to be completed.
Several other projects are in the works, including:
• North interchange reconstruction: The interchange design won’t be completed until 2026, because they have to redesign the whole interchange to include an impact analysis. The city will also have to hold public meetings and workshops. The cost of the design will be $565,000, which is from capital outlay. The Legislature also funded another $1.1 million for construction, but Tomita said it will cost a lot more than that.
• Third Street rehabilitation: The city received $1,690,000 from NMDOT for this project, which is in the final design stage and will got out to bid soon.
• Camino del Llano: There are different funding sources for this project — $85,440 from federal highway COOP, with a city match of $14,560; $457,970 from NMDOT MAP funding with a city match of $152,657.
• Picard Avenue: NMDOT has given the city of Belen $491,250 to help resolve the drainage issues on the residential street.
• Wastewater Treatment Plant: $2 million has been given to the city to reconstruct the plant. The city council also approved a loan resolution at the Monday, March 3, meeting for a $1,190,000 loan through the USDA for the project.
• Belen Police Department headquarters: The city of Belen purchased two neighboring buildings on Castillo to renovate into a new police station. The renovation design is completed, and the project should go out to big early this spring. The $2.5 million project is funded through a voter-approved mill levy.
• West Reinken Road: The project, which will be from Main Street to Mesa Road, will include repaving of the road and a portion of the sidewalk to be in compliance with ADA. There will also be new curbs and gutters. Tomita told the council to expect to have the final design in May. The city has received $161,825 from federal highway TAP funds, with a $27,577 in city matching funds for the design of the project. The city will then need to look for funding for the construction portion of the project.
