ALAMOSA — Residents wishing Foster Avenue paved will likely have to pay for it through a Special Improvement District.

The dusty road, which runs parallel to Craft Drive behind a new housing development on the west edge of Alamosa, is often used as an alternative route from the Alamosa Elementary School. Receiving complaints from residents about the condition of the unpaved road, the Alamosa city council on Wednesday discussed its options during a work session preceding the council’s regular meeting.

A Special Improvement District (SID), paid for by property owners along the unpaved street, seemed to be the most logical solution. Residents can petition the city to pursue an SID or the city can pursue it without a petition. Either way, registered voters who are property owners along the street would eventually have to vote on whether to approve an SID — and pay for the paving over time.

“They would need to vote to issue a debt,” explained City Manager Heather Brooks.

The election would only involve property owners who are eligible to vote and who own property along Foster Avenue that would be included in the SID. The majority of property owners who were registered voters would have to approve the SID.

City staff will talk with property owners and see if there is enough interest to move forward. Brooks said creating an SID is complicated and time consuming so staff do not want to spend a great deal of time on it if the residents along the road are not interested in it.

Alamosa Public Works Director Mark Wright said paving the road would be a worthwhile project, and although the staff does not really have time to work on it, if the council made it a priority, “we will work it in.”

Brooks said it would take some time because there are so many parts of the project that would have to come together, but as long as people did not expect the road to be paved next year, staff could begin working on the process. 

City staff will also check out the annexation agreement the housing development corporation made with the city when the subdivision first went in, specifically to see if funds were required to be set aside for future paving.

Councilman Charles Griego said he thought subdivisions like that were required to set aside money for roads.

Alamosa County would also likely have to be involved, since not all of the street is in city limits. Paving Foster Avenue from Chico Street to West Tenth (the street running by Alamosa Elementary School) would cross the city limit line. Property owners on the east side of Foster are also in the county.

Currently the city and county jointly maintain the road, Wright explained.

Some of the property owners with the largest percentage of land abutting the street are in the county. For example, RMI of Alamosa is listed as the owner of about a third of the frontage along Foster Avenue. Henry Southway owns another 21 percent lying outside the city limits along Foster Avenue and he and Leroy Martinez own another 14 percent on the west side of the street in the city limits. Several individual families in the rural development housing subdivision would only account for about 1 percent each of the frontage.

The City of Alamosa is also a property owner along Foster Avenue, with 8 percent of the frontage. “We would be paying our portion as well,” said Brooks.

Councilman Jan Vigil said one of the property owners along Foster Avenue, Ernesto Lopez, told him he had visited with property owners along the street and they were in favor of pursuing an SID. Vigil said Lopez and other residents are concerned about the safety of the children along that road.

Brooks said she sometimes drives on Foster to get to the elementary school. “It kicks up dust. It’s a mess,” she said. Councilor Liz Hensley agreed. She said she also uses that road sometimes to get to the elementary school with her grandchildren.

When asked if there was a compound that could be placed on the road to control the dust, Wright said magnesium chloride is used for that purpose, but there is no one in the San Luis Valley that has that capability right now other than the Forest Service, which is not currently working with other entities in that regard.