Alamogordo City Commission to Consider Subdivision Overhaul, Airport Fee Hikes at Tuesday Meeting

The Alamogordo City Commission convenes tonight for its regular meeting, with commissioners set to take up a rewrite of the city’s subdivision regulations, a new rate schedule for the Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport, and the dissolution of a decades-old senior volunteer advisory council.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Donald E. Carroll City Commission Chambers at City Hall, 1376 E. Ninth Street. Mayor Sharon McDonald will preside, joined by Mayor Pro-Tem Joshua Rardin and Commissioners Baxter Pattillo, Stephen Burnett, Warren Robinson, Al Hernandez and Mark Tapley.

Tonight’s Agenda at a Glance

Following roll call, an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance, approval of the agenda, the city manager’s report and a public comment period, commissioners will take up eight items:

Consent Agenda

1. Approve minutes of the June 23, 2026 regular meeting.

2. Approve statements related to the executive closed session held June 23, 2026.

3. Resolution 2026-24, dissolving the Senior Volunteer Programs Advisory Council. (Roll call vote required)

4. Resolution 2026-25, accepting a $325,000 Municipal Arterial Program cooperative agreement with NMDOT for 1st Street rehabilitation. (Roll call vote required)

5. Grant funding of $565,246 from the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging for senior programs.

6. A $44,161 agreement with the New Mexico Economic Development District’s Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging for the Nutrition Service Incentive Program.

Unfinished Business

7. Ordinance 1724, for adoption and final publication, repealing Chapter 22 (Subdivision Requirements) and adopting updated subdivision regulations in Chapter 20, the Land Development Code. (Roll call vote required)

New Business

8. Resolution 2026-21, approving the FY 2027 Rates & Fees Document at the Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport. (Roll call vote required)

The meeting will then close with adjournment. Below is a closer look at the items expected to draw the most discussion.

Consent Agenda

Six items are slated for the consent agenda, where they are typically approved together without individual discussion unless a commissioner asks to pull one out. They include approval of minutes from the June 23 regular meeting and related executive session statements, along with several funding items:

• A resolution dissolving the Senior Volunteer Programs Advisory Council, a body created in 1993 to oversee the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Foster Grandparent Program and Senior Companion Program. City staff say volunteer participation has declined steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic, along with state funding tied to service levels, prompting the city to end its Senior Volunteer Program contract with the New Mexico Aging & Long-Term Services Department effective June 30.

• A $325,000 cooperative agreement with the New Mexico Department of Transportation to help fund rehabilitation of a portion of 1st Street, with the state covering $243,750 and the city contributing $81,250.

• Roughly $565,000 in grant funding from the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging to support senior programs in fiscal year 2027.

• A $44,161 agreement with the New Mexico Economic Development District’s Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging for a Nutrition Service Incentive Program, which funds congregate and home-delivered meals using U.S.-grown food.

Unfinished Business: Subdivision Code Rewrite

Commissioners are expected to give final approval to Ordinance 1724, which would repeal Chapter 22 of the city’s subdivision requirements and replace it with an updated set of subdivision regulations housed in Chapter 20, the city’s Land Development Code. The ordinance, brought forward by Community Development Director Shelley Dowhanik-Baron with planning firm Bohannan Huston, requires a roll call vote for adoption.

New Business: Airport Rate Increases

The commission will also consider Resolution 2026-21, which would approve the fiscal year 2027 rates and fees document for the Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport. Airport Manager Troy Orr’s staff report says the Airport Advisory Board reviewed the proposal in April and recommends raising leased-land rates by 2.7%, in line with federal Consumer Price Index data, and increasing commercial landing fees to 40 cents per 1,000 pounds per aircraft landing. City ordinance requires the commission’s annual sign-off on airport rates.

Fallout from Last Meeting Still Fresh

Tonight’s session follows a contentious June 23 meeting in which commissioners voted 5-2 to approve a city manager employment agreement with Robert Stockwell, ending a monthslong, largely closed-door search process. Mayor McDonald and Commissioner Robinson cast the dissenting votes, both saying their objection centered on the process rather than Stockwell’s qualifications. Commissioner Pattillo, who led the effort, told the commission he had been in informal talks with Stockwell since July 2025 and that the city charter does not require a formal application process for hiring a city manager — only a vote of four commissioners. In addition last meeting had a heated exchange between former Mayor Susan Payne and Commissioner Josh Rardin where Rardin singled out Payne on a payment issue, and Rardin claimed investigative reports would never be released though Payne encouraged IPRA requests to have them released. She alluded that at least one of those investigations implicated Rardin negatively. Rardin claimed they will never be released. Multiple IPRA’s have been filed concerning their release and a threat of more litigation could result in their failed release. 

At that same meeting, the commission also adopted its Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2028-2032, identifying the top five capital projects for state submission, and approved a $83,068 change order for new apparatus bay doors on a fire station construction project, over Commissioner Hernandez’s objection.

As always, the meeting opens with a public comment period; residents wishing to address the commission must sign up in advance of the start time with the City Clerk and are generally given three minutes to speak. The full agenda packet is posted on the city’s website, ci.alamogordo.nm.us.

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