BY LWV OBSERVER CORPS

Editor’s note: Members of the League of Woman Voters of Los Alamos Observer Corps have been providing LWV members with reports on certain meetings in the County for many years. These reports have been included in the LWV’s monthly newsletter and now, at the invitation of the Los Alamos Reporter, will also be submitted to the Reporter for publication. The video of the full meeting may be seen at https://losalamos.granicus.com/player/clip/4563?view_id=2&redirect=true

2025 Regional Development Corporation (RDC) Annual Report, Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA) Commission, Waste-to-Energy Plant

The session was attended by Councilors Randall Ryti (Chair), Theresa Cull, Melanee Hand, Ryn Herrmann, Beverly Neal-Clinton, and David Reagor. Councilor Suzie Havemann was absent. 

Regional Development Commission (RDC) Annual Report

Pat Vanderpool, Executive Director of the RDC, and Deborah Breitfeld, Economic Regional Development Coordinator, presented the RDC Annual Report for 2025. Council took no action. 

What Is the RDC?

Vanderpool explained that RDC is a regional non-profit economic development organization in Northern New Mexico with seven counties and eleven tribal entities in its service area. RDC partners with Los Alamos County and works on its behalf within the four-county service area of Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Taos counties. 

RDC provides grants for manufacturing, technology, tribal, and micro-businesses annually throughout its service territory. Its Business Retention and Expansion program provides technical assistance and resources to help existing businesses grow. Additionally, RDC has an extensive workforce development program in partnership with six educational institutions. 

Highlighted Accomplishments in 2025

• RDC Direct Investment Program: RDC awarded 71 grants totaling $409,594, resulting in 90 new jobs and $1.7 million in increased revenue in Northern New Mexico. The awarded grants included 11 small businesses in Los Alamos County. 
• Participated in Los Alamos Day and Broadband Days during the 2025 Legislative Session. 
• Hosted the LANL Supplier Event in July in partnership with LANL’s Small Business Office to recognize small businesses supporting LANL. 
• Engaged in Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation (LACDC)’s monthly partner meetings. 

Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA) Commission

Council discussed the merits and drawbacks of setting up a citizen commission for the Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas (MRAs) in White Rock and the Town Site. County Manager Anne Laurent summarized the background for these two MRAs, including the passage of ordinances, adoption of MRA plans, and potential for public-private partnerships and tax increment financing. 

The establishment and existence of an MRA authorizes the use of public financing to address areas of blight. Laurent discussed the tools enabled by the MRA such as public-private partnerships and Tax Increment Financing Districts. 

Laurent emphasized that the MRAs in Los Alamos County primarily involve privately owned parcels. Participation in the MRA is purely voluntary. Being located within the boundaries of an MRA does not obligate the property owner or the governing body responsible for approving the use of public funds for public benefit to move a re-development project forward or seek public financial support. 

Laurent said that no MRA applications have been submitted since the recent opening of the application process. However, the County anticipates a few in the next months. 

Proposal for a Citizen MRA Commission

Council currently serves as the decision-making governing body having authority over the MRAs. Its function is to consider requests for the use of public dollars on a case-by-case basis. 

Council debated the creation of a citizen MRA commission. Expressing his support for this idea, Councilor Reagor recommended that such a commission include business people with experience in contracting, retail, and financing. 

During public comment, County residents Lisa Shin and James Wernicke also urged the Council to ensure that local business owners have a seat at the table to strengthen transparency and trust. Wernicke emphasized that the citizen commission would be enriched by the experience of local entrepreneurs in navigating the local business environment. Shin argued that a citizen MRA commission was needed to ensure independent oversight and to garner public input. 

Councilor Herrmann reiterated the concern about the potential for limited transparency and public engagement with Council serving as the MRA Commission. Laurent said that public input would continue to be encouraged by Council, just as was done for the UbiQD LEDA project at the Council meeting on January 6, 2026. She noted that there are also procedural notifications to property owners within the MRA. 

Challenges of a Citizen MRA Commission 

Laurent said that the County’s recommendation—supported by the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation (LACDC) and Los Alamos MainStreet support—was that Council continue to serve as the MRA governing body for efficiency in moving applications forward. 

A separate citizen MRA commission would serve solely as an advisory board to Council, said Laurent. She noted that its review of applications would entail an additional step for any MRA project requesting public funding because any public-private partnerships must still go through Council. In addition, a citizen MRA Commission would not replace the necessary function of County staff to review applications for completeness and to develop partnership agreements that conform with applicable laws prior to Council’s consideration of approval. 

Laurent said other communities use citizen boards to prioritize public amenity improvements or redevelop public parcels. If the MRA includes publicly owned land, the commission is used as a steering committee for visioning the re-development of the public lands. However, the County’s MRAs do not include a lot of public property. 

Laurent also noted the time-consuming nature of filling a citizen board and the need for professional expertise in areas such as commercial real estate, commercial development, banking, law, affordable housing, or licensed design professionals. In our relatively small community, finding specific professionals with the time and without conflicts of interest to serve on the commission is limited. 

Next Step

Laurent said that, if Council wishes to delegate some of its review responsibilities to a citizen MRA commission, then a future action item must be put on the Council agenda. An ordinance would need to be drafted to define the commission’s authority within the bounds of existing laws. Administrative staff and legal counsel support would be required. 

Waste-to-Energy Plant

Mozart Devco LLC presented its plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in North Central New Mexico. Steve Stringer, a 35-year White Rock resident and Mozart team member, gave a brief overview of the project. Stringer introduced Mozart co-founders Mark Rutledge and Michael Dwinnell to provide more technical details and to explain how the County could be an important partner in this endeavor through diversion of municipal solid waste via what is called a feedstock agreement. 

Rutledge said that the waste-to-energy plant, expected to operate in 36 months, will process 200 tons of municipal waste daily and generate 10 megawatts of carbon-free baseline electricity. The plant will be located on Ohkay Owingeh tribal lands, just northwest of Española off US 285, with a footprint of 12–15 acres. 

Los Alamos County produces between 60–80 tons of trash per day, said Rutledge. By trucking this trash 20 miles to the Ohkay Owingeh plant instead of shipping it 90 miles to the landfill in Las Lunas, he estimated that the County stands to save nearly $1 million annually in hauling and tipping fees. 

Rutledge emphasized that the planned waste-to-energy plant is not a research and development project but rather an established technology in North America and around the world. “We have a global footprint,” he said. “We’ve also chosen proven and bankable technology partners to design the waste to syngas module and the power generation module.” 

Stringer said that the plant will process carbon-based trash, including food, grass, plastics, and rubber. The plant will not burn the trash but rather will gasify it into syngas (synthetic gas), a combustible mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. The syngas is then run through fuel cells to generate commercial electricity. 

Rutledge explained that the plant will be connected to the Jemez Mountain Electric Cooperative grid. 

What happens to the carbon? Power generation will not be the plant’s only product; Devco also plans to capture carbon dioxide emissions and monetize carbon-dioxide products. “We are partnering with one of the leading carbon sequestration and utilization consulting firms in the world, Armored Ducks, for developing our treatment of the carbon byproducts, and the technologies of growing markets that we can employ.”

Rutledge said that he found graphene to be the most interesting item on the list of byproducts. “The potential uses for graphene are immense, and the market for such will only be limited by supply for the foreseeable future,” he said. “The upside potential is tremendous, so it’ll be a very interesting one to keep an eye on.” 

Rutledge summarized the many benefits that he expected the waste-to-energy plant could bring to the region. The plant will produce clean power to supplant fossil fuel-based energy production. It will create well-paying jobs in the region. “And lastly, this venture is in alignment with State policies on economic diversity and energy policies,” he concluded. 

Council Discussion

Councilor Neal-Clinton asked how the County could measure the success of the project. Rutledge was confident about the success of the project. The primary benefit to the County will be cost abatement of handling municipal solid waste. “I would expect that you will see the benefits immediately upon commercial operation….”

Rutledge added that another measure of success will be the plant ability to operate sustainably for many years. 

Neal-Clinton asked how the County could adjust if the plant is not successful. Rutledge said that Mozart had a feedstock agreement already in place with the North Central Solid Waste Authority for a good portion of the waste that it will need. 

Councilor Cull inquired about the County’s liability regarding waste sent to the project and the potential for back charges. Occasionally, the County finds things in the waste that comes from the Laboratory, she said. Rutledge replied that Mozart will have a screening process on its end for things that shouldn’t go into the plant and will arrange to haul that material back to the County EcoStation. Public Works Director Eric Martinez added that the County’s EcoStation also has radioactive detectors that screen waste coming from the Laboratory before it gets into the waste stream for transport. 

Councilor Cull expressed concern that the County might not be able to deliver the amount of municipal waste that it initially promised. “If we initially say we’re going to contribute 60–80 tons,” she asked, “what happens if we implement some kind of waste reduction methods up here and we can only promise 40–50 tons?” Rutledge said that would be addressed in the agreement negotiated between Mozart and the County. 

What’s Next?

Devco plans to undertake several tasks over the next few months. 

• Schedule or present project details to the Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB) and the Board of Public Utilities (BPU). 
• Negotiate the feedstock agreement terms with Los Alamos County, including reject handling, tipping/haul charges, and flexibility for waste reduction plans. 
• Coordinate with Jemez Mountain Electric Cooperative on substation/line interconnection requirements and any line upgrades needed to support the planned ~10 megawatts interconnection. 
• Evaluate carbon sequestration, utilization, and monetization options (including capture methods and downstream uses such as graphene or sequestration) and present recommended options to the stakeholders. 

Devco hopes to be able to return to Council with project details and draft feedstock agreement before the end of the year. 

For more information about activities and membership in the League of Women Voters in Los Alamos, go to https://my.lwv.org/new-mexico/los-alamos