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CITY OF TUCUMCARI
REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
APRIL 26, 2007
The Tucumcari City Commission met for their regular meeting on Thursday, April 26,
2007, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers. Members present constituting a
quorum were Christopher Maestas, Antonio Apodaca, Mary Mayfield and Jim Witcher.
Jim Lafferty was absent.
City staff members present were Clara Rey, Interim City Manager; Marty Garcia,
Finance Director/Assistant City Manager; Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk/Assistant
Finance Director; Doug Powers, Community Development Director; Police Chief Larry
Ham; Alex Madrid, Street and Sanitation Superintendent; and Cathy Estrada, Code
Compliance Officer.
Mayor Mary Mayfield called the meeting to order and Commissioner Witcher led the
group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Deacon Ray Aragon of St. Anne’s Catholic Church
gave the invocation.
Consideration of Additions/ Deletions
None
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas
to approve the minutes of the April 12, 2007 regular Commission meeting. Roll Call:
Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Yes Yes Yes Yes
Approval of Vouchers
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca
to approve the vouchers. Roll Call:
Mayfield Witcher Maestas Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes
Items from Citizens
None
Ordinances and Resolutions
ORDINANCE NO. 1045 - AN ORDINANCE VACATING THAT CERTAIN EIGHTY
FOOT (80’) AND SIXTY FOOT (60’) STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY AND SIXTEEN
FOOT (16’) ALLEY RIGHT-OF-WAY BETWEEN BLOCKS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 OF
THE HURLEY HEIGHTS ADDITION AND BLOCKS 3, 4, 9, & 10 OF THE DUDLEY
HEIGHTS ADDITION TO THE CITY OF TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. Doug
Powers Community Development Director noted that he and Marty Garcia were also
representing the Tucumcari Public Schools as their capacity as School Board Members
concerning the above mentioned vacation of street right-of-ways and alley right-of-ways
under which the Tucumcari Elementary School was built. All neighboring landowners,
utilities, etc. were contacted prior to the Planning Commission public hearing and there
was no objection. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by
Commissioner Apodaca to approve Ordinance 1045. Roll Call:
Maestas Apodaca Mayfield Witcher
Yes Yes Yes Yes
RESOLUTION 2007-14 - TRANSFER OF AMBULANCE TO THE QUAY FIRE/EMS
DEPARTMENT BY THE CITY OF TUCUMCARI was introduced by Interim Manager
Clara Rey who reported the City has an older ambulance that is no longer useful to the
City and the City wishes to transfer it to Quay Fire/EMS Department. A motion was
made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca to approve
Resolution 2007-14 allowing the transfer of the 1988 Ford Econoline 350 ambulance to
the Quay Fire/EMS Department. Roll Call:
Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Yes Yes Yes Yes
RESOLUTION 2007-15 – A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COMMISSION, THE
GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO, GIVING
NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION THAT THE CITY ACCEPTS
PARTICIPATION IN THE GRIP2 PROJECT AND ASSURES THAT SUFFICIENT
LOCAL MATCHING FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE AND MUNICIPALITY’S
READINESS. Community Development Director Doug Powers reported that several
months ago the Commission approved a resolution on the GRIP2 Project to pave Adams
Street from Main Street to Route 66 Boulevard including the side streets between Adams
and First Streets. In order to get the City’s project moved ahead and funded in the first
year, this is one of the steps. Next Monday, he will attend a District IV Transportation
Department meeting in Roy to go over the application process in hopes of moving
Tucumcari’s project up in the ratings. This project will require a 20% match that will be
covered by engineering fees and in-kind match. The City has been approved for
$697,140 with the City’s match being $139,440 and the rest would be covered by the
Department of Transportation. Mayor Mayfield acknowledged the time Doug Powers
spends going to meetings trying to get the City’s projects approved on the GRIP. She
noted that the Commissioners appreciated his efforts in getting funding for the City and
traveling to keep Tucumcari in the forefront of people at the State level. A motion was
made by Mayor Protem Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve
Resolution 2007-15. Roll Call:
Mayfield Witcher Maestas Apodaca
Yes Yes Yes Yes
RESOLUTION 2007-16 A RESOLUTION REGARDING APPROVAL OF NEW
MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM COOP MARKETING PROGRAM
APPLICATION was introduced by Doug Powers, Community Development Director,
who stated that he was filling in for Yvette Fazekas who handles this grants for the Coop
Marketing Program. The application for matching funds for the billboards is $20,000,
which will be matched by lodger’s tax funds. A motion was made by Commissioner
Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve Resolution 2007-16. Roll
Call:
Witcher Maestas Apodaca Mayfield Yes Yes Yes Yes
Interim City Manager’s Report
Interim City Manager Clara Rey asked Doug Powers to give a report on the Community
Development Block Grant Allocation Meeting that he and Lisa Andrada attended in
Ruidoso. Of the 30 cities and counties that received funding, the City of Tucumcari was
funded for $475,000 out of the $500,000 application for the East Side Sewer
Improvement Project. He reported that it had been a team effort with Commissioner
Apodaca, Commissioner Maestas, and Marty Garcia all attending meetings in support of
it.
Suzann Mullenix, Senior Program Coordinator, and Corinne Metcalf, Senior Olympic
Games Coordinator, will be working on their local Senior Olympic Games to qualify for
nationals. They will be going to the County Commission and the School Board to ask
permission to utilize their facilities.
There will be a parliamentary procedures workshop at Mesalands Community College if
anyone is interested in attending. Jeannette Maddaford will try to attend.
The budget work session has been changed to May 7 and 8 at 5:00 p.m., so the new City
Manager may be included.
The Quay County Gaming Authority meetings are being held with documentation placed
in the Commissioners’ boxes so each is informed as to what is happening.
Quarterly reports for the first quarter were handed out to the Commissioners.
Commissioner Witcher noted that during Interim City Manager Rey’s term, there have
been some major catastrophes in the area and in the City and she has put in a lot of hours
and he wanted to publicly thank her. The other Commissioners echoed his sentiments.
Bids and Contracts
Mayor Mayfield noted that the Commissioners had been involved in the negotiations for
the employment contract with John Sutherland. Commissioner Maestas stated that the
contract was a very good contract. A motion was made by Mayor Protem Apodaca and
seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the Employment Contract with John
Sutherland, City Manager. Roll Call:
Maestas Apodaca Mayfield Witcher
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Interim Manager Rey noted that the bid award for the City Fuel Supply and the City
Propane was awarded at the April 12, 2007 meeting and now the two contracts are
brought to the Commission for approval. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher
and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the City Fuel Supply Contract with
Bell Gas Company doing business as Tucumcari Oil Company. Roll Call:
Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas
Yes Yes Yes Yes
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas
to approve the City Propane Supply contract with Cortez Gas Company doing business as
Tucumcari LP Gas. Roll Call:
Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Old Business
Mayor Mayfield acknowledged the Planning and Zoning Board minutes of March 27,
2007 and the Library Board minutes of March 20, 2007.
New Business
Interim Manager Rey reported the committee has evaluated the proposals submitted for
the Economic Development Services. She reported that the committee recommended
going into negotiations with the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation
(GTEDC). Commissioner Apodaca asked the amount proposed. It was reported that
GTEDC had proposed $100,000 and were paid $83,000 for their prior contract. A
motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Mayor Protem Apodaca to
approve entering into negotiations with the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development
Corporation for Economic Development Services. Roll Call:
Mayfield Witcher Maestas Apodaca
Yes Yes Yes Yes
A Request for Proposal was advertised for a Human Resource Management Study. One
proposal was received in the amount of $41,492.67, so direction is needed from the
Commission whether to go with the proposal, enter into negotiations, or reduce the
services included in the proposal. Commissioner Witcher noted that the amount is quite
a bit more than anticipated, so he would like to wait until the new City Manager arrives
and get his opinion. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher to table the decision
on the study. Motion died for lack of a second. Commissioner Apodaca stated that he
believed that a well-qualified City Manager was hired, plus the City has an excellent staff
on board, so he did not think it was necessary to hire a consulting firm to develop job
descriptions, job analysis, personnel policies, performance evaluations, etc. He thinks
the staff does not need to reinvent the wheel because the information and data is available
and can be put into a working document. He stated at first he thought it was a good idea,
but now he thinks the City will have good leadership and experience under the new City
Manager, so he thought the idea of hiring an outside consultant should be dropped. A
motion was made by Mayor Protem Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to
drop the request for proposal for personnel consulting services. Commissioner Maestas
agreed with Mayor Protem Apodaca by stating that the Commissioners have hired a well-qualified City Manager, together with the excellent staff or a university person, the City
should be able to come out with a good document. Mayor Mayfield stated that she
appreciated the Commissioners’ honesty, but she would be less than honest if she was not
forthcoming, but she has thought from day one that the City needs direction in where we
are going with personnel, who needs training, who needs cross-training, are the salaries
up-to-date. Currently we have no evaluation process for the employees. There is not
rhyme or reason as to how raises are given and she is concerned where we are going with
personnel. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Apodaca Mayfield
Yes Yes Yes No
Cathy Estrada, Code Compliance Officer, reported that she had been receiving calls
complaining about the condition of the Welcome to Tucumcari signs on the east and west
ends of Tucumcari Boulevard. She also noted the information on the signs was outdated.
In visiting with Finance Director Marty Garcia, he had indicated that the City was
financially able to get the signs refurbished and that the money could come out of the
Legislative Contractual Services line item. Rudy’s Signs gave a quote of $700 per sign
and she shared two examples for the Commissioners to choose from after showing the
disrepair of the two existing signs. Each individual club with emblems on the signs
would be given the option of redoing their own emblem or pay Rudy $50 per emblem for
repainting. Commissioner Maestas asked that Yvette Fazekas of Planning and Zoning be
contacted to make sure the signs meet the sign ordinance. It was pointed out that the
signs were existing signs and had been approved by Planning and Zoning. A motion was
made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to allow the
expenditure to repaint the signs at a cost of $1,400 and chose the first example,
“Tucumcari Welcomes You” with the windmill in the scene and includes the Tucumcari
lettering trimmed in red without the words, “Where Legends Begin”. Roll Call:
Maestas Apodaca Mayfield Witcher
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Finance Director Marty Garcia gave the Department of Finance and Administration Third
Quarter Report for 2006-2007. He apologized that the Department of Finance and
Administration recap was not completed, but would have it to the Commissioners as soon
as possible. He reported that Gross Receipts Tax for the third quarter was 9.77% over for
the three-year average with part of that contributed to retail and services categories. Last
quarter the tax was down and now it is up. A 30% increase was budgeted for energy
costs throughout the City and not that much of an increase was experienced, so the
General Fund was doing fairly well due to savings in energy costs and personnel. He
pointed out that the Water Fund was down due to consumption/sales. If this continues,
the Water Fund will have to be looked into during the budget. The other funds are
maintaining. The sand for the landfill will be rebid and should provide substantial
savings as sand meeting the Environment Department’s standards is available in the local
area.
Items from Commissioners
Commissioner Witcher noted that he had been told that bonuses could not be given to the
City employees, so he asked the Interim City Manager to look into what else could be
done. A legal opinion was obtained that said a salary adjustment could be utilized, such
as money that a department has not used at the end of a year could be allocated for a
salary adjustment. He would like the new City Manager and department heads look at
what they need. With the money they could get something for the department, but
mainly he asked that it be for salary adjustments in some form. He asked that it be
considered before the end of the year, i.e. at the budget work session.
Mayor Protem Apodaca stated it had been reported that employees may have to pay a
percent of their health insurance cost, but instead, he would like to see some of the
money Mr. Witcher was talking about be applied toward the employees’ health insurance
premiums. He said it would not be logical to give 3% toward a salary adjustment and
then increase the expense to the employees 3% for their insurance premium.
Commissioner Maestas asked when the pool would be opening. Doug Powers stated that
he was aiming for Senior Week the last of May. He stated $100,000 Legislative Capital
Outlay was received for the pool which will be used to put solar panels on the bathhouse
which would raise the temperature of the pool. In the fall, the balance of the money will
address the ADA requirements in the bathhouse.
Mayor Mayfield stated how much she appreciated the City employees and wanted to tell
the people sitting in the audience how much she appreciated them being part of the
process.
Adjournment
There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Mayor Protem
Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Witcher. Time noted 6:40 p.m. Roll Call:
Mayfield Witcher Apodaca Maestas
Yes Yes Yes Yes
______________________________
Mary Mayfield, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________
Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk
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