BetterBelen.com

MRCOG report shows public support for Morris

February 18, 2010

A report concerning where to place a new interchange and bridge in the Los Lunas area that was provided to the Valencia County Commission last night shows broad public support for locating the new roadway near Morris Road. The report, produced by the Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG), includes a compilation of comments by citizens [...]

Developer to delay Belen interchange work

February 18, 2010

Coast Range Investments, the company developing Rancho Cielo west of Los Chavez, said during a meeting with Belen business owners yesterday that the company won’t commit money to finishing improvements to the North Belen interchange that was expected to provide access to the west side of Interstate 25. The project has been in question since [...]

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 [...]

Business leaders, legislators fight for solar jobs

February 15, 2010

Less than a week after news broke that the State of New Mexico might halt improvements to the North Belen interchange, which when complete will allow development west of Los Chavez, Belen business leaders and legislators are fighting to save the funding. Last week the Valencia County News-Bulletin reported that Sen. Michael Sanchez asked for [...]

Governor highlights Belen solar facility

January 19, 2010

In his State of the State speech today kicking off the legislative session, Gov. Bill Richardson highlighted the 600 jobs Belen is expected to add when Signet Solar builds its solar manufacturing plant west of Los Lunas. The governor said: We have successfully recruited Fortune 500 companies like Hewlett Packard, Schott Solar, Fidelity Investments, who [...]

Citizens in bridge study say they have little voice

January 19, 2010

Several citizens involved in a study to determine where to place a new interchange and bridge in the Los Lunas area to relieve congestion on Main Street are saying they’ve had little voice in the decisions being made during the study process. “I don’t think a lot of the advice that we give or the [...]

Belen approves assistance agreement with Signet

December 08, 2009

The Belen City Council last night approved a $3-million project assistance agreement with a solar manufacturer and land developer, money the city is committing for infrastructure. Signet Solar plans to build a 75-acre, multimillion dollar manufacturing facility for commercial photovoltaic technology in what’s referred to as the Belen Energy Hub, an industrial park within the [...]

Barela: I fought for Belen’s 600 solar jobs

October 30, 2009

Rep. Elias Barela said yesterday he spent time during last week’s special legislative session saving Rancho Cielo from the chopping block, at the same time protecting 600 jobs that could be created during the first phase of that industrial, commercial and housing development. Somehow improvements to the North Belen interchange totaling almost $6 million got [...]

City accepts $3 million for Rancho Cielo

October 05, 2009

The City of Belen tonight accepted $3 million from the State of New Mexico to build infrastructure to support the development of Rancho Cielo west of Los Chavez. The economic development funds are the second infusion of cash for Rancho Cielo. Several millions of dollar has been provided by Gov. Bill Richardson and the state [...]

54 percent of Belen’s water was unaccounted for

September 25, 2009

The City of Belen records nearly 30 millions of gallons of water use in any given month, but in December approximately 54 percent of the total water use was lost, with the sources of the loss unknown to city officials at the time. “I would say three or four years ago, we noticed their unaccounted [...]