Los Alamos County · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in Los Alamos County public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
WWII Heritage City designation
Design Local, the county's consultants, will present a Historic Preservation Master Plan that could guide how Los Alamos protects and celebrates its historic sites for years to come. This is a first look — no decisions are being made yet.
Canyon Road median redesign
The county is weighing design options for the Canyon Median, landscaping many residents drive past daily. Superintendent Wendy Parker presented options but no decision was made yet.
Anti-harassment training rollout
A new mandatory anti-harassment training was rolled out — all employees take it every two years, supervisors annually.
Bear-resistant cart shortage and wildlife conflict
A resident reported bears destroying trash can lids and asked for more funding for bear-proof carts; the manager said more carts arrive October 14.
Construction dust and tree protection on private development
Councilor Cull raised complaints about dust from the North Mesa construction site during a drought. Staff said code requires dust mitigation on larger projects but doesn't specify methods like barrier fencing, and the tree mitigation policy currently applies only to county projects — a countywide version may come next year.
Temporary sign regulations amendment
Council is revising the temporary sign code after court limits on restricting sign content; options would open more right-of-way locations during election season, and public input will be sought.
Los Alamos Airport site plan changes (hangar demolition and road relocation)
The airport hangar redevelopment — demolishing 13 hangars, moving Airport Road, and building new aprons and taxi lanes — won't be decided until December 9.
Myrtle Street Pickleball Court
The Board heard where the Myrtle Street pickleball court project stands. Pickleball players in town are watching this one closely.
IPRA/eDiscovery Software Modernization
The county pulled over 4.2 million records and spent over $800,000 on outside IPRA help in three years. A new five-year, $3.4 million AI-assisted contract with CDS aims to speed up records requests, cut outside consultant costs, and reduce legal risk — with human review still required before release.
Voter Convenience Center Relocation
Because the Betty Ehart Senior Center is closing for renovations, Election Day voting for Precincts 17-23 moves next door to Mesa Public Library for the November 3 general election — subject to District Court approval.
Youth programming gap for sixth graders
A parent flagged that sixth graders, kept on elementary campuses but considered middle schoolers, can't access middle-school library programs like anime and manga clubs.
Library software migration
The library's system migration is going well, with staff training set for the week after Labor Day and go-live still scheduled for September 3.
Proposed reduction of Health Council membership to 11
Staff proposed shrinking the council from 15 members to 11 and standardizing terms to January–December to ease scheduling and administrative burden. Members tabled action to November, after the election, when two related charter amendments could change the calculus.
Lab security and surveillance concerns
A resident raised concerns about heavy surveillance around the lab and ski hill after a weekend lockdown, urging the council to prioritize resident safety over GRT revenue.
Ambulance Billing Write-Offs
A routine annual cleanup: about $31,800 in utility bills more than four years old that liens and collections couldn't recover get written off, with the county performing slightly better than the national average for similar utilities.
Betty Ehart Senior Center renovation
A $3.64 million task order with All Rite Construction moves the senior center HVAC replacement forward, with the total project budget now $9.12 million.
Abiquiu and El Vado hydro condition assessment
A tariff fee on steel fabricated in Mexico added about $87,000 to the draft tube replacement project, which the board recommended funding from electric production reserves.
De-accession Policy Overhaul
Nine artworks, including the broken water fountains and Dino World, are now ranked on a multi-year priority list so each gets focused review instead of spinning wheels. Working groups will tackle them one at a time.
Equestrian and Livestock Working Group Final Report
The Los Alamos 4-H Club wanted a banner on the Oppenheimer and Groves statue for National 4-H Week. The board allowed temporary green lights but refused the banner, worried it would set a precedent for every group asking the same thing.
Diamond Drive pedestrian crossing at Sycamore
The Transportation Board reported the county has agreed to add a crosswalk with high-intensity flashing beacons at Diamond and Sycamore, linking bus stops and the Pajarito Complex area — a spot where crossing on foot has been hazardous.
Annual ESB Update and Climate Action Plan Alignment
Quarterly update on the county's path to carbon neutrality by 2050: EV fleet conversions, the 170-megawatt Foxtail Flats solar project with battery storage, EV chargers at the library, and a planned food composting program RFP.
Integrated pest management update
Two and a half years after adopting the IPM plan, the county is redesigning medians and exploring a five-year crack-seal rotation to cut weed growth without heavy chemical use. But hiring and keeping entry-level parks and streets workers remains hard, largely due to the housing shortage.
EV charging and composting program buildout
Two DC fast chargers are going in at Mesa Public Library by October, county fleet chargers come next, and food composting is pivoting to hiring a contractor to handle commercial food scraps and residential yard trimmings after obstacles to building a county site.
Stormwater Environmental Regulation
State proposals for total maximum daily loads in the upper Rio Grande — E. coli, PCBs, temperature — would add monitoring and discharge requirements to the county's wastewater permit at its 2027 renewal.
Wastewater Treatment Plant UV Disinfection System
New Mexico is proposing pollution limits for the Upper Rio Grande watershed covering aluminum, E. coli, PCBs and more, which will mean more monitoring and discharge requirements when the county's wastewater permits renew in 2027.
Sports field line painting by county crews
Youth soccer, baseball, softball and lacrosse leagues want the county to take over painting field lines, freeing volunteer coaches and potentially making fields tournament-quality. They gathered 200+ petition signatures and say better fields could draw sports tourism.
LA Mesa Trail ADA accessibility
The trail rehabilitation adds guardrails, a wider switchback, and a connection to the assisted living community at East Park — a big win for residents with limited mobility. Estimated at $1.2 million, already in the budget.
Street light maintenance and LED conversion
Public Works is finally fully staffed on signal/street light electricians and has fixed 21 of about 60 backlog work orders; nearly 1,000 lights will convert to dark-sky LEDs.
Revenue transfer process and county charter question
A charter question on this fall's ballot could end the practice of transferring 5% of gas and electric revenues to the general fund and having Council send them back to utility projects. Staff explained it would simplify accounting and give utilities more flexibility, but would change budgeting.
APP Funding Ordinance Revision
The current ordinance takes 1% (or half a percent for roads) from capital projects to fund public art, but it's unclear how to apply that to bond-funded projects. Staff and Finance are working on clearer language, possibly with a set annual budget instead.
Artwork deaccession or relocation
The county can't reach the artist of the aging "Dino World" piece (from 1998) despite months of trying, including a social media plea. The board may vote to deaccession it at the September meeting once the new policy process is clear.
Summer Concert Series contract
A new seven-year, $1.37 million deal with Sancre Productions keeps the popular series running while easing sponsorship demands on local businesses. Costs rise sharply each year, which two councilors found hard to justify.
Biosolids composting operation
The county turns wastewater biosolids, horse manure, and yard trimmings into compost instead of hauling waste 80-120 miles to landfills. About 250 dry tons of finished compost are produced yearly and distributed free at the eco station. New EPA rules on PFAS and microplastics could affect the program.
Climate Action Plan working groups
The board's working groups haven't met, and the discussion of how to organize them was pushed to September. That delays board work on parks priorities.
White Rock traffic communication failures
An old concentric-neutral cable failed near Aragon and Grand Canyon, blacking out much of White Rock; crews replaced it in three hours. Separately, about 60 street lights are out while newly hired staff work through the backlog.
Wildlife-activated warning signage
The county is researching signs that light up only when wildlife is nearby, using cameras and AI or possibly LiDAR. A wildlife study from the county manager's office will guide where signs go — and staff hope to avoid the privacy concerns raised about flock cameras.
Green bike lanes and cyclist safety
The county's first green bike lane marking went in at Sullivan Field, with a survey coming. A bike box at West Road and Diamond Drive is in the works, and board members want real physical protection — not just paint — between bikes and cars.
Central Avenue crosswalk visibility and parking
Crews are adding crosswalks at 20th Street, Battebrow, and Main Street, widening crosswalk striping, and tightening centerlines so drivers make tighter, safer turns. The point is to make people walking more visible on the county's busiest pedestrian street.
North Mesa roundabout capacity with new development
A board member worried about roundabout congestion once the new North Mesa housing opens. Staff said a traffic study found the roads and roundabout have adequate capacity — though they joked about 8 a.m. as the exception.
Plug-in solar policy
Cheap plug-in solar panels are coming whether the utility likes it or not. Staff recommends no interconnection agreement, no export credits, and heavy public education, treating it as buyer-beware while watching UL 3700 certification and possible state legislation (SB 157).
Historic Preservation Advisory Board 2026 Work Plan
The board was scheduled to review its 2026 work plan, which sets out what historic preservation work Los Alamos County will prioritize this year. This shapes which historic sites and districts get attention and support.
Wastewater systems condition and capital plan
Sewer backups keep occurring at a steady rate, driven by old clay pipe at the bottoms of neighborhoods, root intrusion, and cheap flapper-style backwater valves that fail 40-50% of the time. Staff plan a fall RIP-loan program to replace problem lines and a public education campaign.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park Land Withdrawal
The Interior Department is considering revoking or shrinking the 10-mile buffer protecting Chaco Culture park, and the council voted 4-2 to send an opposition letter. One resident argued the change is largely symbolic because little exploitable oil and gas exists in the buffer.
Type B buffer variance denial
The owner wanted to skip required landscaping along the residential edge of the food-truck lot, arguing existing trees and a 65-foot setback already screen neighbors. The commission disagreed — no hardship, so no variance — meaning new plantings must go in unless a full buffer exists.
Expanded Recycling Services Study Rejected
Councilor Hand reported council voted 4-3 against directing the board to study expanding single-use plastics recycling, mainly because the board already has too much on its plate.
Microsoft Enterprise Agreement and IT infrastructure
The $2.5M three-year deal covers M365, server licensing, a Teams Calling phone upgrade, AI capacity under a forthcoming governance policy, and room upgrades. Councilors probed Linux costs, desktop phone reduction, and network failover.
Proposal for a local AI policy group
A resident asked the county to create a balanced community task force on AI policy, outside the lab, to weigh both skepticism and usefulness — and to use AI tools to tackle local problems like the LAMC maternity crisis.
Regional transit funding
The Council authorized seeking $7.27 million in federal rural transit funds for FY2028 to keep Atomic City Transit's buses, operations, and equipment running, and separately endorsed the regional transit district's FY2027 budget.
Library board vacancies and recruitment
Three seats open at the end of August; two members have reapplied and two candidates are in the pipeline, so the board is recruiting one more volunteer ahead of August interviews.
Digitizing the Los Alamos Monitor newspaper collection
A board member who works as the Historical Society's archivist proposed exploring a partnership to make the library's digitized Los Alamos Monitor searchable online through newspapers.com, instead of only on-site. Staff responded enthusiastically.