Sanchez: Belen interchange work will continue

February 16, 2010

Sen. Michael Sanchez said today that work on the North Belen interchange that’s intended to provide access to the west side of Interstate 25 will continue, despite “misleading and inaccurate” claims about how the interchange reconstruction project is supposed to be funded.

“We’re going to talk about who’s telling the truth and who isn’t telling the truth about this project,” Sanchez said, opening up a heated discussion with a group of around 10 Belen business owners at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

While facing a busy afternoon on the Senate floor, for nearly an hour Sanchez listened to the concerns of the business owners, who the day before had mobilized and arranged the showdown in reaction to claims that Sanchez was trying to pull state funding for the interchange project.

Sanchez said the state’s $3-million appropriation for the interchange improvements will be spent on the interchange for what he and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) call a first phase of the $7-million project.

He said the developer, Coast Range Investments, promised it would contribute an additional $4 million to the project and is responsible for paying to complete the work. If the developer can’t come up with the money it said it would make available for the project, the work will stop.

“Coast Range was going to pay for everything. They said no state money would be used,” Sanchez said of the company’s original commitment. “But that next legislative session they asked for capital outlay money. They continue to come to the legislature to ask for capital outlay money, and they’ve gotten capital outlay money.”

Sanchez said he put the governor’s capital outlay appropriation for the interchange improvements in a bill to be considered for cuts to both highlight his concerns about the developer’s broken promises and to hold the governor accountable for capital outlay committed to projects that aren’t viable.

“For projects that were on hold, not working, not ready to go, we put them into this solvency plan. For whatever reason the governor chose not to put some of his projects in,” he said.

Sanchez said the interchange reconstruction project isn’t viable because the developer isn’t contributing the $4 million it said it would put toward the project.

“They’ve said they’re not going to put it in. They’re not going to live up to the agreement that they had reached. The governor knows about it. The highway department knows about it,” he said.

According to Max Valerio, deputy secretary for NMDOT programs and infrastructure, officials with Coast Range Investments have told the state they don’t intend to pay for the second phase of the project.

“It appears the $4 million from the developer is not going to be there,” Valerio said, noting he hasn’t seen any documents formally committing Coast Range Investment’s $4 million to the interchange reconstruction.

He said NMDOT and Coast Range Investments have entered into discussions to “salvage” the project by setting it up in two phases, with the second phase to be completed if the developer comes forward with its $4 million.

“It would be completed if they came forward with their money,” Valerio said.

Joe Trujillo, one of the owners of Fat Sat’s Bar and Grill near the North Belen interchange, said the state failed taxpayers on the project by starting construction on the interchange without the money in place.

“You’re telling me that the state went on a promise and signed a contract? It doesn’t make sense to me,” he said to NMDOT officials, telling them they have a lot of explaining to do.

Trujillo was angered by Sanchez’s actions on the issue, too, saying Belen needs the interchange reconfiguration to be completed so new industrial development can come to Valencia County.

“It’s got so much potential for businesses to come in,” he said.

Norbert Moya, another Belen business owner at the meeting, said he was opposed to the state putting additional tax money to develop Rancho Cielo’s 6,000 acres.

“I don’t want to see our taxes going into a piece of land when we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. If someone wants to invest in a piece of land like that, that should be private money not taxpayers’ money,” he said.

Sanchez pushed back on accusations from reps. Elias Barela and Andrew Barreras who suggested Sanchez is killing 600 jobs by not supporting Rancho Cielo. Sanchez said he’s in favor of Signet Solar locating in Belen and welcomes the creation of 600 jobs by that solar technology manufacturing company.

“People seem to think that I somehow cost the City of Belen 600 jobs,” Sanchez said. “Well, Signet Solar came to me last year and I told them they have my blessings to come in, but I warned them at that point about the developer, because I didn’t have as much faith in the developer as they did to complete the project.”

Sanchez lambasted comments by Belen Mayor Ronnie Torres, who last week described Sanchez’s actions on the interchange project as “disgusting” in the Valencia County News-Bulletin.

Sanchez said what’s disgusting is how a certain unnamed city official appealed to the governor to take up to $5 million away from the Village of Los Lunas to pay for the interchange reconstruction, a secretive action he said has a paper trail.

During a break from the House floor, Barreras said he would introduce an amendment to strip the interchange money from the bill that lists the projects the state could cut.

“We might be forced to vote to kill the bill, because we don’t want that project to go away,” he said.

Sanchez suggested the amendment would be useless since the money is being used for phase one anyway, plus the bill doesn’t allow money committed by third-party contracts to be cut. The interchange work is under contract, which is why construction is underway.

Sanchez said he was happy to talk with anyone about the issue and won’t hesitate to stand up for what he believes in.

“I’m not afraid to tell the truth about anything that I do or anything that I’m involved in,” he said.

The business owners who met with Sanchez today will meet with Coast Range Investments tomorrow morning in Belen.

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Posted in: Budget Economy Infrastructure Rancho Cielo