Minutes

City Commission Meeting

March 10, 2005

 

 

The Tucumcari City Commission met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 10, 2005 at 6:00 p.m.  Members present constituting a quorum included Mary Mayfield, James Witcher, Christopher Maestas, Bettie Ditto and Antonio Apodaca.

 

City staff present at the meeting included Richard Primrose, Rachel Hicklin, Marty Garcia, Clara Rey, Doug Powers, Mary Ann Molinas and Mark Radosevich.

 

Approval of Minutes

 

A motion for approval of the February 24, 2005 and March 1, 2005 minutes was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Ditto.  Roll Call:

 

Witcher       Maestas       Ditto       Apodaca       Mayfield

  Yes              Yes            Yes           Yes              Abstain

 

Approval of Vouchers

 

A motion for approval of the vouchers presented for payment was made by Commissioner Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Witcher.  Roll Call:

 

Maestas       Ditto       Apodaca       Mayfield       Witcher

  Yes          Abstain        Yes                Yes               Yes

 

Ordinances & Resolutions

 

Mayor Mayfield called on City Manager Primrose to present Resolution 2005-07 – A RESOLUTION DETERMINING THAT CERTAIN CITY OWNED PROPERTY AND VEHICLES ARE OBSOLETE AND NO LONGER OF USE TO THE CITY AND AUTHORIZING SAID ITEMS TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION.

 

City Manager Primrose presented the Resolution and added that this is one of the things that Commissioner Maestas had requested.  He added that he talked to all Department Heads and they have gone in and looked at all of their equipment and vehicles and determined what they no longer can use.  Attached to the Resolution is a list of all items that will be sold by sealed bid.

 

Commissioner Apodaca questioned if the items such as the air hockey table from the Recreation Department were already replaced.

 

City Manager Primrose advised that the items were replaced with grant funds.

 

A motion for approval of Resolution 2005-07 was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher.  Roll Call:

 

Ditto       Apodaca       Mayfield       Witcher       Maestas

 Yes           Yes                Yes               Yes             Yes

 

City Managers Report

 

City Manager Primrose reported that as far as everything is going right now, the City’s landfill application should be deemed complete by tomorrow.  After it is deemed complete, public hearings will be scheduled.  If all goes as planned, the City should have a landfill permit by the end of August or September.

 

City Manager Primrose advised that the bid opening on the First Street project will be held on March 18, 2005.

 

City Manager Primrose reported that he received a letter from Jennifer Martinek advising that she had returned from Washington, D.C. where she had presented the City’s requests and concerns.  Ms. Martinek has been working with Dan Albert of Senator Bingaman’s office.

 

City Manager Primrose reported that work at the wastewater treatment plant is going well and all of the screw pumps at the treatment plant have been removed.  City Manager Primrose then called on Doug to give the Commission an update on the CDBG presentation.

 

Doug advised that he and Lisa did the City’s CDBG presentation yesterday on the east central water and street improvement project.  The Council will meet in Tucumcari on March 24^th in order to allocate the CDBG funds.  He added that he will try to set up a luncheon for the Board while they are in Tucumcari.  Doug went on to say that the City has received approximately Seven Million Dollars in CDBG funding through the years.

 

City Manager Primrose added that the City has been fortunate in getting the amount of CDBG funds that we have.

 

City Manager Primrose advised that he has received calls from both Senator Harden and Representative Moore advising that they are still working on the City’s capital outlay requests.

 

Bids & Contracts

 

Mayor Mayfield called on Doug to present the approval of contract for 2004/2005 Co-op Improvement Project for project number SP-4-05(965).

 

Doug presented the contract with Versatile Construction Company and advised that this was for the co-op project on Leonard Street.  Total bid including tax is Seventy-two Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-seven Dollars and twenty cents.  Doug explained that this is a standard contract that has been used previously for other projects and felt that it would not require the Attorney’s review and approval.  He added that he spoke to Mr. Smith of Versatile Construction and they would like to start work on the project soon.

 

A motion for approval of the contract with Versatile Construction Company for the 2004/2005 co-op improvement project was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas.  Roll Call:

 

Apodaca       Mayfield       Witcher       Maestas       Ditto

  Yes                Yes               Yes              Yes            Yes

 

New Business

 

Mayor Mayfield called on Doug Ewing to present the Lodgers Tax Board funding recommendations.

 

Mr. Ewing advised that the Lodgers Tax Board has recommended the following funding recommendations:  Mother Road Rally - $4,000.00 for advertising and promotion of the 2005 motorcycle rally.  Reallocation of $4,000.00 from the 2004/2005 lodgers tax budget from the sign project to the Chamber of Commerce Rodeo for printed ads and flyers.  Payment of Convention Center rental cost of $1,250.00 for 2004/2005 Chamber of Commerce Route 66 festival.

 

A motion for approval of the Lodgers Tax Board funding recommendations was made by Commissioner Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Witcher.  Roll Call:

 

Mayfield       Witcher       Maestas       Ditto       Apodaca

  Yes               Yes               Yes            Yes           Yes

 

Mayor Mayfield called on Mary Ann Molinas to present the appointment of County representative to the Tucumcari Public Library Advisory Board.

 

Mrs. Molinas advised that the County Commission has recommended that Judy Ross be appointed to fill the county representative position on the Library Board.

 

Mayor Mayfield then appointed Judy Ross as the County representative to the Library Advisory Board.

 

Mayor Mayfield then made the following appointments to the Airport Advisory Board:

 

Mickey Birch, Pete Kampfer, Stanley Jennings, George Evetts and Don Cihak.

 

Mayor Mayfield then called on Interim Chief Mark Radosevich to make a presentation on the Police and Animal Control Departments.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich spoke of current staffing for the police and animal control departments.  Under the current budget, the police department has eighteen commissioned officers, five communications staff, one support staff, two animal control staff and one code enforcement staff.  Currently the police department has five vacancies for the position of police officer which he hopes to fill soon.  The animal control department has two full time positions, however this will be reduced to one full-time and one part-time position.  Interim Chief Radosevich then reported that the animal control officers responded to 2,800 calls in 2004.  He added that code enforcement is also in his department which employs one full-time employee.  This employee is responsible for receiving complaints from citizens on abandoned or dismantled vehicles along with complaints on trash and debris and unsafe structures.  He added that the community has some expectations with regard to removal of structures, however the City cannot meet this expectation due to the costs involved.  Interim Chief Radosevich then advised that there are five full-time dispatchers at the police department.  This position is a high stress position which is usually under recognized.  The dispatchers handled a total of 5,199 calls last year.  He added that they have been talking of a consolidated dispatch center, in order to consolidate the dispatching of all emergency calls with the exception of the State Police.  He added that the primary site for this consolidated dispatch center would be at the Police Department, however it would require some building modifications in order to accommodate this.  He added that the State will not fund all the cost involved with a consolidated dispatch center, so the City and County will have to pay for the additional costs.  There is a possible funding source that has been identified which would require the County to implement a special tax to help offset the costs involved.  The consolidated dispatch center could be fully functioning within eight to twelve months.  Interim Chief Radosevich added that he is evaluating the current specialized enforcement programs that the department is participating in and determining which programs the department will continue to participate in.  He added that the reason for this is that additional equipment and training is needed in order for our officers to continue to participate in these programs.  Interim Chief Radosevich then spoke of the changes that have taken place at the Police Department, from training, reporting and work schedule changes to more community involvement and an increased presence of officers at the schools.  Additionally they are doing follow up with victim complaints so that the victims are aware of how their case is proceeding and whether there are any new developments on the case.  Interim Chief Radosevich went on to say that he has implemented an employee development training that is done on a monthly basis to assure that the officers are meeting their training requirements.  Interim Chief Radosevich then spoke with regard to the current condition of the departments vehicles and advised that the City should purchase three vehicles per year to replace the old vehicles in order to keep up with the take home vehicle program.  He then gave the Commission statistics on the number of calls and the types of crimes that took place in 2004.

 

Mayor Mayfield questioned if the Police Officers used stun guns, and if so, whether they were trained in the proper use.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich advised that they do not have any stun guns.  He added that he has applied for a grant to purchase a new tazer that would be helpful for the officers to use.

 

Mayor Mayfield commented that she had a concern on chemicals going down the interstate and whether we have the proper equipment to respond to a chemical spill.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich advised that Tucumcari has two major threats in the area, one is with the chemicals coming through on the interstate and the other is with chemicals being transported through the railroad.  He advised that there has not been any recent training except for basic training that the officers received while at the academy.  He added that he could not find any record of any recent training in the area and is not aware of any equipment that has been provided to the officers in this area.  He went on to say that the Police Department has only received seven copies of the emergency guide book which lists chemicals and the proper types of evacuations on chemical spills.

 

Commissioner Witcher commented that traditionally our Fire Department handles a lot of these calls and takes care of the cleanup.  He added that there has been coordinated training that involved, fire, EMS, state police and county.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich commented that this is correct, however it is a team response and the uniformed officers will arrive first, then EMS and fire.  He added that there are a number of people that would be involved in this type of incidents from the hospital staff to public works that would lay out barricades.  He added that with the turn over rate at the police department, there could have been excellent training in the past, however unless it is continual not everyone would have had this training.

 

Commissioner Apodaca questioned if there was anything established by ordinance that would require police officers to pay the city back for their training if they leave within a certain time period after they are certified.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich replied that he was not sure if this could be done.  He went on to say that according to the City’s personnel policy, city employees are required to serve a six month probationary period, which he feels should be increased to a one year period as the police officers are required to get certified within one year of their employment.

 

Commissioner Apodaca questioned if the budget stays the same in the Police Department for next fiscal year, if the officers could be given a pay raise in order for their salaries to be competitive with other entities.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich commented that this was also of concern to him and added that he felt that a moderate increase might be able to be given to the officers if they are able to control the amount of overtime.  He added that they have advertised for part-time police officers and dispatchers which would help in eliminating some of the overtime paid.

 

Commissioner Ditto questioned the deficiencies in the new police building and asked what type of funds would be involved with this.

 

Interim Chief Radosevich commented that they are working with the contractor and architect to correct the present problems.  With regard to the consolidated dispatch center, the cost would be minimal and would be within reach.  He added that the only way that the consolidated dispatch will work is for the county to pass the emergency services tax.

 

Commissioner Apodaca commented that some day without compromising the officers, he would like to see a small elite and well trained police force.

 

City Manager Primrose advised that a mandatory disaster training class has been scheduled for all city employees and will be conducted by Andy Baldridge of the State Police.  In addition a community wide training class has been scheduled for anyone in the community that is interested in attending.

 

Items from Commissioners

 

Commissioner Apodaca commented that he would support Commissioner Ditto with regard to her previous suggestion on merit increases for employees.  He added that he would be in support of a merit system which would reward employees who are required to hold a certification and that are the hardest to keep in the field.

 

Commissioner Apodaca commented that he read an article about the gross receipts tax in the Albuquerque Journal titled “Confused”.  He added that he has been confused as to how the sales tax is going to work and this article explained how the tax will work.

 

Commissioner Ditto thanked Commissioner Apodaca for his support and added that first there needs to be very stringent job descriptions in order to be fair in allocating wages.

 

Commissioner Maestas commented that he was against a merit system.

 

Commissioner Maestas requested that the city’s monthly article in the newspaper include information with regard to the type of items that cannot be dumped in the alley such as mattresses and other large items that do not fit into the trash dumpsters.  He added that there continues to be a problem with people dumping large items in the alleys.

 

Commissioner Maestas commented that City staff is doing a good job in repairing the potholes with the new pothole machine.  With this new machine, the patch should last at least one year.

 

Mayor Mayfield thanked everyone for attending tonight’s meeting.

 

Adjournment

 

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

Attest:                                                                          Antonio Apodaca, Mayor Pro-tem

 

 

                                               

Rachel Hicklin, City Clerk