Gov. Lujan Grisham sets sights on free college

Council OKs $9.3M construction contract; officials expect to open facility in 2022

The Santa Fe City Council approved a construction contract Wednesday with Albuquerque-based Jaynes Corp. to build a long-awaited south-side teen center.

The roughly $9.3 million contract will be funded through city and state funds.

The 17,000-square-foot teen center will be built at Country Club Road and Valentine Way across from the Southside Branch Library, and will include a gym, performance space, game room and commercial kitchen.

City officials expect to break ground on the project in early fall and open in fall 2022.

The project has been in the works for nearly two decades.

Former City Councilor Carmichael Dominguez began pushing for the project as the city worked to develop the Tierra Contenta subdivision, but those efforts fizzled out. Plans were resurrected in 2009, but the Great Recession halted the project.

City Councilors Roman “Tiger” Abeyta and Chris Rivera, whose District 3 includes most of the south side, have said there is a need for the center due to the area’s growing number of families and children.

The council also approved a budget adjustment resolution allocating $4 million in gross receipts tax revenue to provide startup funding for the project.

In other news, the City Council approved a $700,000 settlement with the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The settlement will reimburse city employees who were improperly furloughed earlier in the pandemic.

The state’s Public Employees Labor Relations Board found the furlough to be in violation of the union’s contract.

The City Council also approved a settlement that will resolve a 2018 lawsuit accusing the state of botching gross receipts tax distributions to 44 counties and municipalities across New Mexico, including Santa Fe and Santa Fe County.

Under the agreement, Santa Fe will receive $2,695,891 of the $50 million settlement, though nearly $300,000 of the city’s settlement will go toward attorney contingency fees. The funds are expected to arrive in October.