The Zia Road Rail Runner station in Santa Fe took a small step toward reality Monday.
Santa Fe’s Public Works Committee approved a resolution formally asking the state Department of Transportation to open the train stop.
Separately, members also agreed to grant road impact fee eligibility to improvements around the station and the nearby intersection of Zia and St. Francis roads.
With this approval, the developers of the property surrounding Zia Station — SF Brown Inc. — can proceed with the improvements, at its expense, that are needed to open the station. In exchange, it will get future impact fee credits.
Along with the official city request to open the station, these improvements need to be in place before the state would approve the station’s opening.
In related news, it also appears the entire City Council will be able to vote on the issue when it goes before the governing body July 27.
Some residents of the neighborhood near the Zia Road station recently argued that Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and City Councilors Rebecca Wurzburger and Carmichael Dominguez should refrain from voting on items related to the site because of campaign donations they have received from SF Brown or its associated companies.
During the past election cycle in 2010, Coss got more than $2,000 from SF Brown’s companies, while Wurzburger and Dominguez each got around $750.
City Attorney Geno Zamora said Monday that city councilors should only recuse themselves from voting if they’ve gotten more than $1,000 within the past two years from someone involved in a particular matter. The threshold for mayors is $2,500, he said, referring to provisions in a recently passed ethics ordinance.
Councilor Chris Calvert cast the only dissenting vote of the night. Among other things, he said the impact fee credits awarded to developers should be “minus the value of the information they will get from the station being open.”
SF Brown has long planned a transit-oriented development around Zia with homes, offices and retail, but hasn’t yet submitted formal plans.
“He’s going to get that information before he puts one dime into the development and knowing that information is going to be invaluable,” Calvert said. Such information, for example, could include the number of riders who will be using that station.
Improvements needed before the station can open include sidewalks, parking and a transit drop-off area. Alternations to the nearby intersection could include widening or lengthening Zia’s left-turn lanes.
The estimated cost could be as much as $280,000.
Weekend service
In other Rail Runner news, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss said Monday that Santa Fe “could be willing to pitch in financially” to keep weekend service going “under the right set of circumstances.”
The Rio Metro Regional Transit District board recently decided to cancel weekend train service to balance a projected budget shortfall of $1.2 million. The ax comes down in mid- to late-August.
Coss said he and other local officials have spoken with board members about the issue and plan to do so again Thursday and at Friday’s board meeting.
“We want to look and see if (the city) can help, but we need some commitment,” Coss said. “The city and county taxpayers are already putting in $2 million a year (in gross receipts tax revenue) for this, so we’re hoping for some consideration of that.”
Coss said cancelling weekend service isn’t the only way to trim costs. The Rio Metro board could, he said, reduce some of the money it pays to Herzog Transit Services. Herzog, which has a $20 million contract to operate the train, gets $635,000 just to collect fares, as well as a $582,000 “management” fee, Coss noted.
It’s also worth waiting to see if money will come in from other sources, such as the federal government, he said.
Many in Santa Fe, especially people in the local business community, have objected to cutting weekend service. The Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, along with the Greater Albuquerque Chamber, has called the decision “surprising” and “premature.”
The chambers urged “all parties back to the table to creatively solve the dilemma” of the Rail Runner’s budget deficit, the chambers said in a joint statement.
Besides the $1.2 million hole predicted for this year, more than $5.4 million will be needed next year to balance the Rail Runner’s budget once federal funding dries up.
-- Email the reporter at khay@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-992-6290
