For copies of the presentations on redistricting to be made to city council at Monday's work session, click here.

For a copy of a presentation to be made by Common Cause, click here.

For the presentation on a proposed intermodal transportation facility, click here.

For a copy of a presentation on a proposed natatorium, click here.

Sun-News report

LAS CRUCES - City council redistricting and updates on plans to build an intermodal transit facility and a proposed natatorium at the Las Cruces Regional Aquatic Center, will be the focus of city council review and discussion at Monday's 1 p.m. work session, at City Hall.

With U.S. Census data to be released by the end of March, city ordinance requires that the six city council boundaries be redrawn to create as evenly populated districts as possible. As it stands now, council Districts 5 and 6 - both in the rapidly growing east side of the city - have more residents

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than the remaining four districts.

It's been that way for several years, and city officials have acknowledged that. But the City Charter stipulates that council district boundaries can only be redrawn every 10 years, after new census data has been released.

The city has hired Research and Polling, Inc., of Albuquerque, to oversee the process of council redistricting, and company representatives will be at Monday's work session to provide an update of the process and to educate the council, city staff members, and interested residents about the process and guidelines of redistricting.

An initial redistricting plan is anticipated to be released to the council and residents in April, and another work session and public hearing are planned to present the results and listen to public comments about the findings.

But Las Crucen Bill McCamley, a member of Common Cause, has asked city administrators to make a presentation on a proposal for that organization to conduct the redistricting exercise.

"From what I understand, it will be a similar presentation to one he made to the (Do-a Ana) County Commission last week," City Manager Robert Garza said. "The gist of the proposal would be to allow a group of citizens to take on the task of redistricting. I don't know exactly how that would work, and it is worth remembering that the city does have a contract with Research and Polling to conduct the redistricting."

Also Monday, representatives of Huitt-Zolars, a company hired by the city to design an intermodal transit facility, will present results from a public design charette it conducted last week. The event allowed interested residents to comment and provide additional ideas of what the proposed facility should include, and what it would look like.

The city has plans to build an intermodal transit facility at the southwest corner of Alameda Boulevard and Lohman Avenue that would enable multiple forms of public transportation to meet and for people to transfer from one form of transportation to another.

"The process has reached a point where city council might be ready to consider seeking requests for proposal (RFP) to build the facility," Garza said. "It is within the realm of possibility that an RFP could be issued, and awarded, sometime within the coming year, signaling the start of construction."

The council will also receive a status update on the second phase of plans for the Las Cruces Regional Aquatic Center. That phase could include the construction of a natatorium, where competitive swimming events could be conducted. The city has received state funds to pay for a design study of the proposed facility, and ASA Architects, of Las Cruces, has been hired to design the proposed addition to the aquatic center.

"However, it is important that interested residents understand that while the city does have state funding for design, there has been no money earmarked yet for construction," Garza said. "But design of the proposed natatorium would put the city in a position where it could go forward with the project, if funding does become available at some point in the future."

Four conceptual designs will be presented Monday to the council, and estimated costs range from $5.7 million to $15.6 million.

If you go

•What: Las Cruces City Council work session

•When: 1 p.m. Monday

•Where: Council Chambers at City Hall, 700 N. Main St.

•TV/Internet: The work session will be televised live at 1 p.m. Monday on CLC-TV, Comcast Cable channel 20. It will also be webcast live at 1 p.m. at www.clctv.com. People watching the webcast should click on the "Meetings" link to access the web page, where a link to watch the work session can be accessed.