By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton City Commissioners met Wednesday July 22, 2026, for a special meeting to discuss zoning issues and ordinance amendments as well as conversation about the FY27 budget.
City Treasurer Michael Anne Antonucci is working to finalize the FY27 budget with grant money changes being the last items to be closed out. There have been some other grants that have come in since the beginning of the month such as the E911 grant that will be added to the FY27 budget. Antonucci indicated the city is now operating on the interim budget after DFA approval and she will have the final budget completed by the next city commission meeting July 28.
The final budget adjustments for FY26 were postponed to the July 28 meeting.
Commissioners heard about the single bid received for the Phase 1 Railroad Depot project which was in the amount of $1,489,989.00 that was almost $300,000 over the amount of money available for the project. Public Works Director Jason Phillips recommended that due to the high bid that the project be sent back to the architect to reduce the scope of the work and rebid the project. Phillips noted that the project is somewhat complicated due to some possible asbestos issues and there will be a lot of structural work that needs to be done before the roof work can be attempted.
Commissioners then began the discussion on changes to the zoning regulations regarding data centers. It should be noted that the city cannot stop a private business from coming into Raton but they can govern where and how it is done within the city limits.
The regulations began with defining what a data center is and sizes of such a facility which also include power usage to determine the size of the facility. The city is looking at the ordinance that the Santa Fe County commission is proposing and the moratorium that Socorro County has proposed to give them more time to consider any proposals.
The discussion included making sure the definitions are worded to meet the size of Raton. Several of the proposals that were looked at included a board of adjustments, a committee that would be created to deal with any proposals. It was questioned that the board of adjustment could also be included as duties for the zoning board. Discussion about how the city is currently structured would put the board of adjustment under the zoning board or the zoning board would have the same duties as the board of adjustment when having to deal with any proposals for a data center.
Discussion also included water usage and how the facility would use water cooling. Commissioners did not want to see cooling using an evaporative system but only a closed loop system for cooling. How much water availability was also a concern and how the city could measure that capacity versus how much will be used in the future by such a facility.
Power was another part of the conversation and what steps it will take to get the power needed or even if Raton has the capacity to provide the power needed. RPS and Raton Water Board have their own process to approve or not approve what is needed. Any requests for utilities will have to go before the utility boards to get their approval before it even comes to the zoning board and then the commission for a final approval.
Sound levels were also discussed and how far away from any residential areas or other structures the facility might be located near. A quarter mile was determined to be the minimum that any facility could be to residents.
Wastewater was also discussed and how it should be handled and how it will be disposed of meeting while EPA guidelines. Water quality and impurities will also have to be addressed with their wastewater to determine if it may be discharged locally or will have to be trucked to a special facility for disposal.
Discussion about how and when generators can be used. It specifies that generators can only be used during a loss of power and when doing maintenance that would require the use of a generator and not be used as additional power generation. The language should include what an emergency is and how it will affect the facility’s use of a generator.
Decommissioning the facility was also discussed and can the city require, to what extent, the company would be required to do. How much of a plan does the city need to require or can require? Can the city require the business to put back so much money to demolish a building once the facility is vacated? Also, if the facility is vacated what will be left and can the city require any hazards material be removed before the facility can be donated for another use. A community benefit agreement with the company needs to be looked at as well as to employment and a possible profit-sharing agreement.
Mac McGarry, Code Enforcement Officer told commissioners that ironically once they got the regulations written that they used AI to try and break the regulations as written. Mayor Lori Chatterley noted this is a good start and that after the changes that were talked about have been implemented and further discussed the document will be sent to legal for their opinion. Below is a link to the initial draft regulations which will be updated as changes are implemented.
Link to the DRAFT Regulations Governing Data Centers. Not a final document
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