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/4932?view_id=2&redirect=true
Observer Corps Report – County Council – October 6, 2026
Regional Cell and Internet Outage, MRA Funding for Pig and Fig Bakery, Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) Cleanup Workshop
The session was attended by Chair Randall Ryti, Ryn Herrmann, and Councilors Theresa Cull, Melanee Hand, Beverly Neal-Clinton, and David Reagor. Councilor Havemann was absent.
Regional Cell and Internet Outage
Jerry Smith, Broadband Manager, and other County Staff briefed Council on the recent regional cell and internet outage. The September 24 outage exposed communication limits while County emergency systems and first responders largely remained operational.
Outage Cause and County Response
Smith attributed the outage to a road grader damaging Lumen fiber near the old Buckman Road area across the river. Service was down for roughly 20 hours. Smith cautioned that, “This information is best effort. Lumen doesn’t share, doesn’t make the information public.”
Cody Ulrich, Deputy Emergency Manager, said the County used the emergency alert system Everbridge, the AM 1610 radio station, road signs, and A-frame signs to provide information to the public during the outage. Everbridge reach was limited while cellular and internet services were down. The AM radio station was the most effective public channel.
Kate Stoddard, Consolidated Dispatch Manager, emphasized that 911 service remained operational. She said that the analog 10-digit non-emergency line and responder radios also remained available. She noted that community residents without a backup wireless program or satellite connectivity may not have been able to call 911.
Network Redundancy
Smith provided updates on two major fiber projects intended to provide redundancy: the San Ildefonso fiber line and the County’s Atomic Fiber project. The Atomic Fiber project is currently under construction in White Rock and is expected to be complete throughout the County in three years. The separate 11-mile San Ildefonso Pueblo fiber line has been installed from White Rock to Pojoaque High School but splicing, testing, electronics, and a County-Pueblo MOU remain outstanding.
Smith said that Atomic Fiber will be the first user of the Pueblo line. As phases of the Atomic Fiber project are completed, that chunk of the network will be made available to customers to take advantage of having network service over redundant lines.
Smith noted that no existing providers––such as Verizon, Comcast, and Lumen––have yet committed to using the second line, which is owned and operated by San Ildefonso. Lumen discussed a possible agreement with the Pueblo that, if achieved, could provide redundancy for services dependent on Lumen. He said that, if Lumen has two lines, that would solve a lot of the outage problems.
Smith said that the County is also exploring a third route to provide additional redundancy. One opportunity is provided by LANL’s power project, which will bring another power line into the County. Smith is also investigating an alternative route along NM 4 and US 550 through the Jemez Mountains. Neither of these is a firm project or has funding.
Remaining Gaps
Ulrich identified employee communication checklists, a Microsoft Teams coordination channel, and better readiness planning at County buildings as lessons learned from the outage. Linda Matteson, Deputy County Manager, added that the outage also revealed a capacity issue with public WiFi made available at the White Rock Library, which limited the number of people who could connect to the service there.
Ulrich emphasized the need to encourage community members to learn how to do Wi-Fi calling on their cellphones and to use the satellite messaging function if available.
MRA Grant to Pig and Fig Bakery
The Council unanimously (6–0) approved a Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA) project agreement for Pig and Fig Bakery in White Rock. The business requested a $106,000 grant to remodel underused commercial space and expand its services. The project is expected to generate more than $360,000 in taxable construction activity, along with additional gross receipts tax revenue from food and beverage sales over the three-year agreement.
Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) Cleanup Workshop
Danielle Duran, Intergovernmental Affairs Manager, and Councilors Ryti and Herrmann reported on the 2026 ECA Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Virginia. This annual conference focuses on issues relating to legacy waste and new nuclear activities, and efforts by the DOE for cleanup and community support.
Duran highlighted the workshop’s alignment with the current Administration’s priorities, particularly nuclear waste cleanup and repurposing DOE property for economic development, including data centers. This shift in priorities is also reflected in the proposed renaming of DOE Environmental Management (EM) to DOE Nuclear Restoration and Revitalization (NRR).
Duran reported that DOE-EM and the New Mexico Environment Department are moving forward with restarting the interim measures to address the hexavalent chromium plume. Initially, pumped groundwater will be applied to land until colder weather arrives. Afterward, the plan is to reinject treated groundwater away from the plume, rather than back into it as has been done in the past.
The Governor and Lieutenant Governor of San Ildefonso also attended the ECA workshop as guests. Duran, along with Councilors Ryti and Herrmann, emphasized the unprecedented collaboration between the County and the Pueblo on addressing the hexavalent chromium plume. Both parties agreed to jointly advocate for progress on the hexavalent chromium plume with their congressional delegation in Washington, D. C. The Pueblo expressed willingness to explore future partnerships on other policy issues and environmental cleanup efforts to strengthen our collective voice.