By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Special Meeting
Raton City Commissioners began their June 23, 2026, long evening with a special meeting to go over possible zoning and ordinance amendments to deal with the potential of a high utility user or data center coming to Raton. The commission began with an informal discussion on ordinances including a dark sky ordinance for Raton. The city has some regulations on lighting but not anything real comprehensive.
The next item of discussion is related to data centers noting that Los Lunas is using zoning regulations to control data centers. There are other communities across the country that are doing the same thing rather than using ordinances to control those entities. It was noted that there isn’t a community in New Mexico that has a data center specific ordinance. What communities have any form of regulation it is being done by zoning regulations. According to the New Mexico Municipal League it was noted that a community cannot prevent a business from coming in but they can be heavily regulated by ordinance or zoning regulations as was the case for cannabis sales or grows.
Code Enforcement officer Mac Gerry noted that communities have gotten into trouble with data center occupation is when a community doesn’t have an ordinance in place that defines exactly what a data center is and how it is regulated by ordinance or zoning. Does electric usage determine size of a data center or is there some other criteria to determine the size of a data center. It was noted that the new Lumen Regen facility could use as much as 1.8 megawatts of power. Other considerations include noise and lights as well as how they would produce their own power using a generator or a self-sufficient generation system. The State of New Mexico has now regulated that new construction will be required to provide electric car charging ports going forward.
Raton will begin the process of setting up an ordinance and will bring it back to the commission for review then have it looked at by legal experts to make sure the city is on the right track. Part of the ordinance will also require utility checks for compliance and limits of usage. It was reported that the Tesla charging station in south Raton used 18% of the total of Raton power usage for the Memorial Day weekend, that equaled to the electric usage of 40 homes.
Another topic was the short-term rentals and how they could fit into lodger’s tax. Raton has about 40 short term rental properties that could contribute to the lodger’s tax.
Regular Meeting
Mayor Lori Chatterley read a proclamation supporting the United States 250th birthday and took a picture with all the commissioners and some Raton residents.
Natalie Trujillo spoke about ferrel cats at property on Woodrow and noted that the cats are damaging the property. Melissa Colangelo was also complaining about the cats and the damage they are causing. There are a couple of residents nearby that are feeding the cats that are causing the problem. Colangelo noted that six skunks had been trapped in the area as there is a lot of cat food to attract wild animals too.
Local residents again spoke against data centers during the items from citizens present. It was noted that over 300 residents have signed a petition against the data center.
Mainstreet Director Patricia Duran told commissioners that a $5000 award has been giving to the City of Raton for the Santa Fe Trail Balloon rally. Duran is hoping to use the money to expand and grow the balloon rally.
Commissioners approved the introduction of an ordinance dealing with water and sewer rates and amending Ordinance #1018 and repealing all other ordinances and regulations that conflict with Ordinance #1018. See a complete list of the rate structure here 2026 W&S rate increase ordinance. Mayor Pro-Tem Mark Honeyfield noted that Raton Water Works is meeting needs but is looking at the rate increase to help with expenses. Commissioner Linde Schuster noted that this rate increase has been looked at for close to two years and feels it is finally time to implement the increase. Lloyd Wakefield told commissioners that the department is seeing rising expenses and he doesn’t want to see a rate increase, but it is time as expenses rise. He noted that Raton rates are about 35% below the rest of the state. Public hearings will be held at future city commission meetings.
Commissioners held the final public hearing for the ICIP and finalized the document in preparation to send it to the state legislature. The ICIP is a document used for capital funding and the legislature requires the document when municipalities ask for capital funding. The top five projects include the Lake Maloya Dam, drainage and storm drain improvements, RPD patrol car replacement, public works equipment purchases and wastewater treatment plant improvements. Commissioners approved the ICIP to be sent on to the state.
Angie Ortega presented a report on the Learning Lab project and how it has fared over the last year. The lab has had 15 students enrolled in the program since April of 2025 and 15 more students in an after-school program. While many of the students participated in local events attendance was an issue with about half the students having chronic truancy issues at school and at the lab. The lab plans to work more closely with the Juvenile Probation Office to get those students more involved in their learning.
Angie Ortega presented the report on New Hope Family Counseling continues to provide restorative justice programs for students 9-17 years of age. The program helps students who have justice issues work through those issues and become more productive students. The program has seen as many as 170+ students through the end of the 3rd quarter this year. The program is seeing a non-re-offending success rate of 75% with students this year. Ortega was especially happy with the results that the community projects made with the kids.
Gayla Martinez talked about the Youth Heartline program which is a program that is to help kids in trouble and is also part of the CASA program. The program covers both Colfax and Union Counties.
A request to rezone property at 1301 Cedar Street comes back to the commission for the final approval. The property owned by Mark and Kathy Honeyfield is being rezoned to allow the city to place a digital sign on the southern portion of the property to be visible to traffic in both directions. The property is on the west side of Interstate 25 and will help promote events and other things in Raton. The request will change the property from MH1 to Commercial zone. The request was postponed to change some language in the request.
Three Lodger’s Tax requests were presented to the commission for approval. KRTN radio is asking for $7493.14 for 2470 radio ads, web site ads and Facebook ads, while Phillip’s broadcasting is requesting $6,970 for 820 total ads, 419 ads total plus bonus links to the website and radio coverage on two radio stations. The Dawson NM Association is asking for $6861.71 for newsletters, postage for newsletters, Dawson posters, t-shirts and bathrooms to promote the Dawson Reunion Picinic. $4837.71 will come from the contingency fund and $2,024 from the print advertising fund. Antonucci told commissioners that the requests by KRTN and Phillips Broadcasting are paid monthly so they can be more easily covered as the year goes on. Despite a shortfall in lodger’s tax the commission approved the requests. Antonucci will be looking at short-term rentals to include in the lodger’s tax that will help with the funding. It is estimated that Raton has about 40 short-term rental units. There was a question about the Dawson group reselling t-shirts, and it was felt that the policy concerning that issue needs to be addressed in the future. Commissioners approved all three requests with the commission approving the third option from Phillips Broadcasting which includes 1052 total ads with 521 bonus ads and radio coverage on all three radio stations, bonus visit Raton and the fall colors 81 ads for a cost of $8890.00.
Commissioners considered the lease renewal agreement with the Raton Trap Club who have a trap shooting facility on the airport property south of Raton. The club has used the facility since the 1960s holding at least two competitions per year. Commissioners agreed to renew the lease for another five years.
Commissioners acted on applications for the Financial Advisory Committee and the Lodger’s Tax Board. Commissioners approved Gail Seward to the Financial Advisory Committee and Cindy Montoya to the Lodger’s Tax Advisory Board.
The city received two bids for Crews Field Taxiway A pavement maintenance. Hi-Lite Airfield Services LLC bid $217,397.25 and American Road Maintenance bid $252,255.00. Based on the selection criteria Hi-Lite met the bid specs and was awarded the bid for the work at the airport.
Commissioners acted on the first renewal of the landfill disposal services agreement with Arthur Rolloff. The new tipping charge will increase from #33.28 per ton to $34.84 per ton. Jason Phillips spoke to the commission about the rate increase and noted that the solid waste department is also seeing some strain on their budget, especially with fuel cost increases. Commissioners approved the renewal.
Commissioners considered the purchase of 350 tons of cold mix asphalt from Northern Mountain Construction utilizing the state price agreement. The cost of the asphalt is estimated to be $40,250 plus GRT. Of that amount Raton Water Works will provide $15,000 to cover the cost of material used in street repairs after water and sewer line work.
The contract with Envision IT Solutions to provide managed IT services was approved. The cost of the contract is $1,130.06 per month for the Raton Fire Department. Raton PD will have a cost of $4321.14 per month and the City of Raton will see a cost of $4864.65 a month for their portion of the services provided. The city portion also includes RPS and Raton Water work stations.
Commissioners acted on the agreement for Vector Control Services with Colfax County to spray mosquitoes. The County provides the service county wide and the city piggy backs to have the employee spray within the city limits. The cost to the city will not exceed $5000 for the entire season. If residents have any concerns or a no spray in your area please call the city or the county as the county will begin spraying next week.
City Treasurer Michael Anne Antonucci presented the May 2026 financial report and the FY26 Budget Adjustment #12. The financial report continues to show an increase in GRT of 6.97% in May and this month had a slight increase in the gas tax. The budget adjustments showed line-item changes to reflect grant money changes and end of the year changes to finalize the budget for the fiscal year.
In the city manager’s report Segotta said the painting on the north underpass is nearing completion. Land Bank meeting was held in Albuquerque as was the Municipal League meeting. Work at Roundhouse Park is moving along with crack seal being completed and paving has begun.
A Raton ambulance received some hail damage coming back from a run to Albuquerque.
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