County News:

Los Alamos County’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Evaluation and Oversight Committee will hold two public hearings at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 6 and Thursday, March 8 in Council Chambers for those applicants who have indicated that they are ready to move from Phase 1 (Study) to Phase 2 (Design/Construction).

The CIP Committee will consider Phase 2 applications on these dates for these projects:

• March 6 – Golf Course Improvements

• March 8 – White Rock Civic Center & Ashley Pond Pk Improvements

The applicant will present their Phase 2 applications to the Committee, along with a summary update of their Phase 1 completed activities. The Committee will have the opportunity to ask questions. After that, the floor will be opened to public comment for those individuals wishing to speak in support or opposition of the project. A clerk will record minutes of the meeting and the minutes will be posted on the County’s website after the meeting.

It is expected that each applicant’s presentation will last approximately 10 minutes, followed by approximately 20 minutes of Q&A and then public comment. There will be no official “scoring and ranking” of applications, which was the case with Phase 1 applications. The Committee will decide based upon the written and presented application, and public comments, whether they believe the proposed project is ready to move to Phase 2, and make their recommendations in public by the close of the meeting.

The Phase 2 project applications will be available no later than Thursday, March 1 to download on the County’s Community Development webpage at www.losalamosnm.us. The webpage also contains background information about the CIP process and the process that was used to move the above projects into Phase 1 status. Individuals can still download any application or the minutes of the meetings that were held by the Committee as background information on the above projects.

This is the next step in the CIP process – recommendations for approval will be forwarded from the Committee to the County Administrator. The County Administrator could then take action to send the project to the Council for their consideration and funding in the CIP budget. The Council will consider the overall CIP as part of their budget hearings when they consider the new FY 13/14 budget starting on April 16.

This concludes the Committee’s Phase 2 application hearings for CIP projects, which began in January. The Committee is advisory to the County Administrator, and holds monthly business meetings open to the public on the third Thursday of each month at 5:15 p.m. in Council Chambers.