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Minutes City Commission Meeting February 9, 2006 The Tucumcari City Commission met for their regular meeting on Thursday, February 9, 2006, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers. Members present constituting a quorum were Christopher Maestas, Bettie Ditto, Antonio Apodaca, Mary Mayfield, and Jim Witcher. City staff present at the meeting were Richard Primrose, Jeannette Maddaford, Clara Rey, Doug Powers, and Pete Rivera. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Mary Mayfield. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and Pastor Derek Owens of the First Assembly of God Church gave the invocation. Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held January 26, 2006. Roll Call: Ditto Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Approval of Vouchers A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the vouchers presented for payment. Roll Call: Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Ditto Yes Yes Yes Yes Abstain City Manager’s Report City Manager Richard Primrose reported that last month Representative Brian Moore had talked to the City about acquiring the vacant Laurel Hills Nursing Home, but now it has come to light that Mental Health Resources will be using the building. Word was received that the New Mexico Finance Authority had approved funding for the balance of the new city ambulance. Another bit of good news was the approval of the planning grant for $30,000 to hire a professional to develop a new subdivision and zoning ordinance. Commissioner Witcher inquired if this would include enlarging the city limits. Community Development Director Doug Powers did not know how far the money would stretch, but acknowledged that the City needed to advertise for Requests for Proposals and get a professional hired to determine how much could be accomplished. Mayor Mayfield reminded the group that a joint meeting should be held with the County to determine their wishes concerning this matter. The Community Development staff was thanked for applying for these grants and being successful. A Justice Assistance Grant for the Police Department equipment amounting to $13,753 is being advertised in the newspaper for public comment. Primrose pointed out that information was included in the Commissioners’ packets on the Justice Grant if they wanted to make comments as to how to spend the money prior to the deadline of February 17. It was noted that the City Commissioners and Manager had traveled to Santa Fe several times in the past few weeks and he appreciated their involvement in the legislative process. He reported that Senator Harden and Representative Moore were staying in close contact so they can represent the needs of Tucumcari. Fire Chief Mike Cherry is in Santa Fe this week to support a bill that would increase fire department funding by 20%. Some of the fire department funding comes from property and vehicle insurance premiums which goes to the State General Fund. The legislation calls for a higher percentage to go to the fire departments rather than the General Fund. The quarterly financial statement as of December 31, 2005 was distributed to the Commissioners. Finance Director Marty Garcia, who is on his way to Santa Fe, will be at the next Commission meeting to go over the report and answer any questions. Rock Island Street is close to being finished. Doug Powers reported that the asphalt is down and the contractors have a few valve adjustments and some clean up to do. Primrose reported that he has met with the Transportation Department and Qwest several times about moving the Qwest line. He will know a timeline on moving the Qwest phone line and getting the First Street Project started again by the next Commission meeting. Items from Citizens Jim Lafferty, District 5 candidate, stated that in order for him to campaign as an individual, he must point out topics that are important to him as a candidate, i.e., financial stability, employee situations, etc. and he is in no way insinuating that the Commissioners are not doing their job or have done anything wrong. He felt that the integrity of the Board is more important than his being elected to office. He asked the Commissioners to come to him if anything he says or prints does not show a positive attitude toward the Commissioners and the City as a whole, as it is definitely not his intent. Bids and Contracts Clara Rey presented Amendment Number 1 to the 2005-2006 Cash In Lieu of Commodities Contract and Notification of Grant Award for an increase of $13,916 for the purchase of agricultural commodities and foods produced in the United States for senior meals at the senior sites in Tucumcari, Logan, and House. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca to approve Amendment Number 1 to Contract 05-48 Cash In Lieu of Commodities Contract. Roll Call:
Mayfield Witcher Maestas Ditto Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes New Business Doug Ewing, President of the Tucumcari Lodger’s Tax Advisory Board, submitted two recommendations for funding from the existing Lodger’s Tax cash reserves:
A motion was made by Commissioner Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Ditto to approve the disbursement of the $475 per month to Bentley Outdoor Displays for two billboards and table the request for the mural until next meeting. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Ditto Apodaca Mayfield Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Next on the agenda was the Lodger’s Tax Recipients’ quarterly reports. All recipients expressed thanks for the funds and for the opportunity to give a report on how the funds had helped their organizations. John Mahill, Treasurer of the Kiwanis Club, itemized the events Kiwanis sponsor as well as the other organizations they support. He noted that the Lodger’s Tax funds are used to put on the High Plains Junior Rodeo in July, but the funds were not received until October, so he asked if the funds could be disbursed earlier this next year. He also reported that $1,700 from the prior funding cycle was spent on 100,000 copies of a cartoon map Kiwanis developed and distributed along Interstate 40 from state line to state line with the highest distribution at the Glenrio Welcome Center. Judy Hiner of the Quay Council for Arts and Humanities handed out posters developed by Kim Andrews of the Chamber using her graphic design skills and software for the Commissioners’ review. She summarized $3,000 in fall expenses covered by the Lodger Tax funds and said the Council needed the balance of their $5,500 allocation for the spring season. Commissioner Ditto inquired about signage that would tell the traveling tourist of the scheduled events. Hiner related that a motel manager had come up with the idea of placing the next event on their marquee in exchange for tickets for the motel guests as a type of signage. Norma Jean Crellin of the Tucumcari Rattler Alumni Association related that the $3,000 allocation is spent entirely on the Rattler newspaper at a cost of $5,191.11 to advertise the Rattler Reunion slated for the first full weekend every August. Tucumcari Rotary Club President Will Cantrell reported that the last 16 years the Rotary has put on the Air Show. He thanked the City in general and the Lodgers’ Tax Board specifically saying that the money went to Tucumcari businesses for services to put on the Air Show. He noted the various organizations that Rotary helps in the community. Commissioner Apodaca thanked the Rotary Club for their donation to a Veterans Park monument, saying that it had been ordered and would be installed around May 1. The Mesalands Dinosaur Museum was represented by Craig Currell and Dr. Axel Hungerbuehler who reported that the City of Tucumcari is getting a bang for their buck in the Lodgers Tax money allocated to the Museum. Since it opened May 6, 2000 to January 31, 2006, 74,111 paying patrons have visited the Museum, which includes visitors from 45 countries and 54 states and territories. The first year the Museum opened, there were over 12,000 visitors compared to this year’s 15,000 visitors. He did state they noticed their first decrease in December 2005 during the First Street construction project. After the construction finished, the attendance jumped 20%. In the surveys filled out by the visitors, 80% said they visited the Museum because of the billboards they saw along the highway. Based on the results of the surveys, the majority of the advertising budget must be spent on billboards, so that is why the entire allocation of Lodger’s Tax money goes toward billboards. Every three years the skins on the billboards are replaced. A new design was revealed that will be installed March 1 to catch the spring break traffic and to coincide with the Museum’s change to summer hours. Extremely complimentary comments were read from the visitors who signed the guest book. Items from Commissioners Commissioner Maestas inquired about when the street sweeper would be put into operation again. The City Manager reported that he talked to the Street Department Superintendent Alex Madrid and they are working on it. Commissioner Ditto complimented all the cooperation that is received in the City that has made it successful and growing. She noted that she had learned in the last several days that people were disappointed in her due to things that had not been accomplished and she said that she was disappointed in herself too. But she wants to be encouraging for the future and knows that great things are about to happen in Tucumcari and we are blessed with the wonderful cooperation the City has experienced. She asked for some information about the Father’s Forge contract that was approved during the last Commission meeting when she was in Santa Fe. She said her constituents were questioning what the building would be used for, as it was not stated in the lease agreement. City Manager Primrose stated that through their non-profit status he knows what type of organization they are, and would be glad to add the information to the contract. Pete Kampfer, Economic Development Director, stated that he and others in the audience disagreed with Commissioner Ditto’s statement about her performance. He explained that Father’s Forge is a faith-based operation and its charge is to create seeds for churches. This organization came from Amarillo and approached him. The nature of the enterprise is primarily geared toward cowboys in matters of retooling for jobs. There will be four people employed with one ordained minister. Kampfer reported that he did due diligence and checked the history of the organization and found they pay all their bills in Amarillo, etc., so he saw they would meet the obligations of the lease and they would not be in competition with other businesses in Quay County. Commissioner Witcher stated they would not be in competition with the other churches, as they would be doing a lot of counseling and training people to do specific jobs. Kampfer noted they initially wanted to do $50,000 worth of improvements to the building in the first five years, but EDC thought that $25,000 was more realistic. Kampfer said they were being held accountable. At the last meeting, Kampfer noted that he gave an economic impact study report to the Commissioners. Also the individuals have made a commitment to buying homes, paying taxes, purchasing supplies, etc. in the community. Commissioner Ditto noted that it is probably a lack of information in the news media that makes people confused. Also she said she had reports of a local company in Tucumcari looking at the building three or four times but did not come forward with any plans and they were not aware of anything in the works. Kampfer reported that over the past year he has shown the building to 30 different people 30 different times. He stated for the record that the only group that he was aware that was interested in the building was the local cheese factory, but they were uncooperative in telling him what they would use the building for and to what degree of commitments they would make. It was difficult to work with them on a professional basis to get the necessary information to take a proposal to the City. Kampfer offered to answer questions from anyone. Commissioner Ditto asked Kampfer if Five Mile Park would be getting any funding. Kampfer indicated they would. Commissioner Witcher reported that a regional director recently inquired why Tucumcari does not take down the ugly signs of businesses that are no longer in business. City Manager Primrose said he would have the Code Enforcement Officer work on this. Mayor Pro-Tem Apodaca stated that he respectfully disagreed with Commissioner Ditto’s statement about her not being effective. He noted that Ditto has been involved in a significant number of infrastructure improvements, also the airport improvements, set up the foundation for future economic development, and she has been a great Tucumcari ambassador at the state and national level. Mayor Mayfield said that Mayor Pro-Tem Apodaca spoke for all the Commissioners concerning Commissioner Ditto. Mayfield also noted that Apodaca was missed in Santa Fe this year as a number of people had asked about him. She thanked the City Commissioners, Manager, and staff that went to Santa Fe, as they were a force to be reckoned with when it came to asking for money. There being no further business, a motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca to adjourn the regular meeting of the Board of City Commissioners. Time noted 7:10 p.m. Roll Call: Maestas Ditto Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ____________________________________ Mary B. Mayfield, Mayor ATTEST: __________________________________ Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk |
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CITY OF TUCUMCARI MINUTES DECEMBER 14, 2006 The Tucumcari City Commission met for their regular meeting on Thursday, December 14, 2006, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers. Members present constituting a quorum were Christopher Maestas, Jim Lafferty, Antonio Apodaca, Mary Mayfield, and Jim Witcher. City staff members present were Richard Primrose,
City Manager; Marty Garcia, Finance Director/Assistant City Manager; Jeannette
Maddaford, City Clerk/Assistant Finance Director; Clara Rey Administrative
Assistant; Doug Powers, Community Development Director; Chief Larry Ham, Police
Chief; and Howie Tucker, Golf Professional. Mayor Mayfield called the meeting to order. Jim Witcher led the Pledge of Allegiance and
Pastor Eugene Morgan of the Calvary Apostolic Church gave the invocation. Consideration of Additions/ Deletions There were no additions or deletions. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Apodaca and
seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the minutes of the November 30,
2006 regular Commission meeting. Roll
Call: Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Lafferty Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Approval of Vouchers A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and
seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the vouchers. Roll Call: Mayfield Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Items from Citizens There were no items from citizens. City Manager’s Report City Manager Richard Primrose reported that the
Street Department has begun digging the hole for the landfill and are trying to
do as much of the work as possible. The
Parks Department will be putting up the fencing around the landfill. Commissioner Lafferty and City Manager Primrose
attended a shoreline management meeting with Interstate Stream Commission in
Albuquerque on December 12. Doug Powers, Community Development Director,
reported that there would be a bid opening on Monday, December 18, 2006, for
the paving of Adams Street funded through the Transportation Department Municipal Arterial Program. Powers also attended a Pre-bid Conference for the
sidewalks on First Street. On Monday,
Powers will travel to the Transportation District 4 Office in Las Vegas for a
final review of the plans for the curb/gutter and sidewalks on the north side. Mayor Protem Apodaca asked about the water quality
following the Environmental Department finding uranium in the water earlier in
the year. Mr. Primrose explained that
that metro wells were being used and they are well below the maximum level set
by the Environmental Department.
Apodaca asked what would be done when the water usage increases. Mr. Primrose explained that the water would
be blended with the water from other city water wells, which would keep the
uranium below the limit. Bids and Contracts A Lease Agreement with the Unity Group was presented
to lease city property at 1424 South Sixth Street. A motion was made by Commissioner Apodaca and seconded by
Commissioner Maestas to approve the Lease Agreement with Unity Group,
Alcoholics Anonymous, for a four-year period from January 1, 2007 through
December 31, 2010. Commissioner Witcher
commented that the Unity Group does an outstanding job working with the
community, court system, and public at large and they do a good job maintaining
the property. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Old Business Chief Larry Ham presented additional information
concerning the Agreement for Animal Control Services that had been on the
November 30 agenda. He stated that
during the last two weeks he had reviewed statistics for the past year, with a
breakdown month by month by type of animal and area. Through November 2006 52 dogs and 11 cats had been brought to the
animal shelter by Logan. Chief Ham
noted that he had been concerned about the age of the Animal Control Officer’s
vehicle, but was assured by the Officer that during the last three to four
years he had not had to make one trip to Logan. The first 20 animals are covered by the base fee $500. He recommend approval. Mayor Mayfield asked that the second
sentence in Paragraph No. 3 be stricken as it required pick up of vicious
animals. Commissioner Witcher asked
that similar contract be done with other entities throughout county including
Quay County. Commissioner Lafferty
asked that Logan receive a statement for the last twelve month period for the
animals over twenty per the prior contract.
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner
Lafferty to approve the Agreement for Animal Control Services with Logan
effective December 1, 2006 for a four-year period with the second sentence in
paragraph No. 3 removed. Roll Call: Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Items from Commissioners Commissioner Maestas wished everyone a Merry
Christmas and hoped everyone enjoyed the holiday. Commissioner Lafferty stated that he was good with
the contract that was passed to accept the animals from the Village of Logan
and they have an obligation to the City to meet the billings for the year. Commissioner Witcher wished everyone a Merry
Christmas and asked everyone to keep Christ in the season. Commissioner Apodaca reported for the record that he
traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico and gave a speech welcoming the soldiers from
Company 703 home from Iraq on December 3 and it was a real nice ceremony. Mayor Mayfield stated for the news media that the
Mayor Pro-tem was invited by the Mayor of Las Vegas to attend the ceremony to
welcome the National Guardsmen back who had been stationed in Iraq and that he
did an excellent job representing the City of Tucumcari. Mayor Mayfield reported that she had attended
the Eastern Plains Council of Governments meeting on Wednesday, December
13. A comprehensive seven county
economic development plan was given to the EPCOG Board, so the Mayor was having
Tucumcari’s Economic Development Director review the plan. She wished everyone a happy holiday and
reminded everyone to remember the reason for the season. Also she wished everyone health and
happiness throughout the New Year. Adjournment A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and
seconded by Commissioner Apodaca to adjourn the meeting. Time noted 6:20 p.m. Roll Call: Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ______________________________ Mary
Mayfield, Mayor ATTEST: ______________________________ Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk |