The Rio Rancho City Council closed out a marathon meeting Wednesday night by voting to contribute $1 million toward a road extension project linked to a planned hypersonic missile manufacturing facility outside city limits, but only after adding safeguards requiring formal agreements on emergency response and road construction before releasing funds.
The governing body approved three related resolutions supporting Project Ranger in a 5-1 vote, with Councilor Karissa Culbreath casting the lone dissenting vote on all three measures. The approvals came after extensive debate about emergency response protocols and community engagement, with councilors expressing frustration that Rio Rancho was not included earlier in the planning process led by Sandoval County.
Two amendments were introduced to the intergovernmental agreement, both of which were unanimously approved, that require written memoranda of understanding before the city releases its $1 million contribution. The first amendment mandates an MOU establishing which agency has authority over fire safety aspects of the facility, including plan review, fire code enforcement, annual inspections and emergency response protocols. The second requires an MOU detailing the complete Paseo del Volcan construction plan, funding sources and timeline.
The facility would be established by Castelion Corporation on approximately 1,000 acres in unincorporated Sandoval County, about three miles west of the city. Co-founder and CFO Andrew Kreitz described it as “a scale production site for solid rocket motors” and “a final assembly site for all up rounds. That means whole missile from tip to tail.”
Kreitz said the facility would conduct static fire tests but stressed, “We will not be launching missiles. We are not going to be doing flight testing. We’re not going to be launching missiles into the air and over people’s homes or anything like that.”
Councilor Bob Tyler proposed postponing the vote to allow additional community meetings, but Kreitz said the company faces pressure from federal customers to move expeditiously.
“The requirement, to be honest, comes from our customers, and it comes from our customers at the highest level, inside the administration and Department of Defense, inside Congress,” Kreitz said.
Tyler expressed deep frustration with the process. “I think the project’s a good project. I don’t disagree that it’s something that is great for the nation. It’s great for the city, it’s great for the county. I do disagree on how it came about,” Tyler said, adding that he could not support the project until safety questions were fully answered and residents in his district who could be impacted by the facility have a chance to meet with Catelion officials and share their concerns.
Rio Rancho Fire Chief James Wenzel outlined significant emergency response concerns, stating that in the event of an incident at the facility, crews could remain on scene for 18 hours or longer. He noted the response would require assistance from Albuquerque Fire Rescue, New Mexico State Police hazmat units, and potentially the 64th Civil Support Team from Kirtland Air Force Base.
Wenzel also warned that increased response obligations could affect the department’s ISO rating, which impacts insurance rates for city residents and access to funding. He explained the facility’s remote location, requiring response from Fire Station 2 in North Hills, would significantly stretch resources and affect “unit hour utilization,” the metric for how often units are unavailable to respond to other calls.
The city’s $1 million contribution will help fund the extension of NM347/Paseo del Volcan from Unser Boulevard to Rainbow Boulevard. Combined with $1 million from Sandoval County and $5 million from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, the funds will support construction of the 1.8-mile extension. However, current funding only covers the first phase to Meadows Boulevard, leaving the final segment to Rainbow Boulevard and the city limits without secured funding.
Castelion has committed to creating approximately 300 full-time jobs over five years with average compensation of $100,000 per year, plus company stock ownership and full benefits. The planned capital investment totals $119.8 million over five years.
The council also authorized the city manager to negotiate water and potentially wastewater services for the facility, marking an exception to the city’s 2009 policy limiting utility service to properties within municipal boundaries. Addressing water concerns, Kreitz said, “We do not use water input in our processes, which means that the one thing that the region does not have an abundance of, which is water, we don’t really need.”
Sandoval County Deputy Manager Eric Masterson is committed to working with Rio Rancho on emergency response coordination, saying: “Should a large-scale emergency occur in that location, it is the county’s responsibility to deal with that long-term situation.” He pledged to help return Rio Rancho resources to the city as quickly as possible and bring in subject matter experts from around the state if needed.
Sandoval County is offering $4 million in local economic development funds, while the New Mexico Economic Development Department is contributing $5 million in state funds. The Sandoval County Board of County Commissioners has unanimously approved 12 separate actions related to Project Ranger since June.
The council scheduled a follow-up report for its Dec. 18 meeting, when Castelion representatives will update the governing body on additional community outreach efforts and progress on developing the required MOUs.
Rio Rancho chose profit over people? Shocking!