|
CITY OF TUCUMCARI MINUTES JANUARY 25, 2007 The Tucumcari City Commission met for their regular meeting on Thursday, January 25, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers. Members present constituting a quorum were Christopher Maestas, Jim Lafferty, Antonio Apodaca, and Jim Witcher. Mayor Mayfield was absent. 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; Police Chief Larry Ham; Lt. Ron Haley; Yvette Fazekas, Community
Development; Cathy Estrada, Code Enforcement Officer; and Howie Tucker, Golf
Professional. Mayor Pro Tem Apodaca called the meeting to order
and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Pastor Wesley Stewart of the Temple Baptist Church gave the invocation. Consideration of Additions/ Deletions There were no additions or deletions. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and
seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the minutes of the January 11, 2007
regular Commission meeting. Roll Call: Lafferty Apodaca Witcher Maestas Yes
Yes Yes
Yes Approval of Vouchers A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded
by Commissioner Lafferty to approve the vouchers. Roll Call: Apodaca Witcher Maestas Lafferty Yes
Yes Yes
Yes Items from Citizens Dora Scott appeared before the Commissioners to give
some compliments and to express some concerns over the treatment of a homeless
man, her treatment at a local grocery store, her treatment by the local police,
and the city turning off her water. She
asked that the City take note of customers that pay their utility bills in a
timely manner and when they don’t, perhaps a policeman should be sent to check
to see if there is anything wrong rather than turn off the utility. She noted that she has a niece who recently
moved to Tucumcari who loves the town and she hopes she will stay. She asked that someone be put in charge of
the homeless man as he works hard but needs help with health and welfare issues
due to being misunderstood as a result of his mental illness. Ordinances
and Resolutions RESOLUTION
2007-03 A RESOLUTION DETERMINING THAT CERTAIN STRUCTURES ARE RUINED, DAMAGED,
AND DILAPIDATED WITHIN CITY LIMITS OF TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXCIO SO AS TO BE A
MENACE TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE OF THE MUNICIPALITY – LOT 1
BLOCK 9 SOUTHWESTERN SUBDIVISION. Cathy
Estrada, Code Enforcement Officer, reported that letters had been sent to
advise the owner that the house was a hazard, but had not received any
response. She had followed all the
steps as required by the statutes and the City’s Code, so her next step was to bring
it before the City Commissioners so an advertisement could be authorized for
publication in the newspaper of the pending action before the District Judge
who would rule whether the property was a health and safety issue. It was noted that each of these steps allow
the owner to take care of the problem.
Also the publication would make the public aware, so if they knew how to
contact the owner or their relatives, they could. Mayor Pro Tem stated that he knew the family. Commissioner Lafferty noted that the City
has made it a priority to clean the City and Cathy Estrada has worked diligently
on this project and since the landowner did not respond, the City needs to move
forward. Commissioner Apodaca stated
that he did not like to see the City compete with businesses that do demolition
work. City Manager Primrose said that
the City planned to advertise for Requests for Proposals for contractors that
are licensed to do demolition, so the City would have someone on contract with
the City that could take care of City properties as well other properties
within the City as needed. Commissioner
Witcher noted that the City Commissioners have talked in the past about trying
to clean up the City and this is just two pieces of property out of hundreds
that need to be addressed. He assured
the Commissioners that this is just the next step in long line of steps that
are required to either get the property taken care of by the owner or through
the court and action on either side will not happen immediately. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher
and seconded by Commissioner Lafferty to approve Resolution 2007-03 which gives
Barbara Parish or her agent ten days after the publication of the resolution to
commence removal of the structure or file a written objective with the City
Clerk. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca
Yes No Yes No RESOLUTION
2007-04 – A RESOLUTION DETERMINING THAT CERTAIN STRUCTURES ARE RUINED, DAMAGED,
AND DILAPIDATED WITHIN CITY LIMITS OF TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO SO AS TO BE A
MENACE TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE OF THE MUNICIPALITY – LOT 21
BLOCK 34 ORIGINAL TOWNSITE. Cathy
Estrada reported that all the steps had been followed and she had not heard
from the owner. Commissioner Maestas
reported that the owner had told him that he was in the process of ordering
material for the roof. Commissioner
Lafferty noted that this property was in a different situation in that the
property is on Main Street where the City has a MainStreet Project started, the
property owner is local, and the building has not been burned. Also the owner told him that the roofing
material for the Children, Youth, and Families building was the same roofing
material for the building on Main Street, he had just increased his order to
accommodate the roof repair on Main Street.
Also he was going to board up the building until he could get it
repaired. A motion was made by
Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Lafferty to table the
Resolution for six months in order to give the owner time to fix the roof and
make the building safe. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca
No Yes Yes Yes RESOLUTION 2007-05 - A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COMMISSION, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO ACCEPTS ADDITIONAL FUNDING AND PARTICIPATION IN THE 2006-2007 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM PROJECT SP-4-07 (963) AND ASSURES THAT SUFFICIENT LOCAL MATCHING FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE. Yvette Fazekas of the Planning and Development Department reported that the Transportation Department had received notice that the City of Pecos would not be able to utilize the State funding, so it was offered to Tucumcari. City Manager Primrose stated that this money is for the Rankin Street water line project and the City would be able to provide the 25% match. A motion was made by Commission Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve Resolution 2007-05 for the Cooperative Agreement matching funds. Roll Call: Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Witcher Yes Yes Yes Yes City Manager’s Report City Manager Richard Primrose stated that the City’s thoughts and prayers are with Mayor Mary Mayfield. Also Doug Powers’ mother is in the hospital and Robert Pacheco is going through health problems, so the City’s thoughts and prayers are with them as well. A big thank you was given to the Economic Development staff and the Tucumcari Quay-County Chamber of Commerce for hosting Quay Day in Santa Fe on Tuesday, January 23, at the Inn of Loretta. There was an excellent crowd, with many dignitaries present. Primrose noted it was good for the cabinet secretaries to get acquainted with the faces from Quay County in order that the City and County could approach them for help when needed. It was noted that the quarterly report from the department heads was handed out to the Commissioners. He stated that many of the department heads had worked long hours this past quarter with the snow, etc., and he appreciated them getting their reports in on time. It was reported that Mayor Pro Tem Apodaca had asked the City Manager to talk to Deputy Secretary Montoya of the Transportation Department about having their meeting in Tucumcari in March. Michael Baldwin of the Department of Finance and Administration, DWI Program, contacted the City about being the fiscal agent for the local DWI Program as the County of Quay had declined to be the fiscal agent. He noted that during his visits to the last County Commission meeting, dispatch services were discussed and Primrose told the County to get in touch with Police Chief Ham, so the problems could be worked out with the rural fire departments. Bids and Contracts Yvette Fazekas reported that two bids were received for landfill fencing materials, one from Tex-Mex Supply, Inc. for $66,936.91 and the second from American Fence Co. from Albuquerque, New Mexico for $83,712.06. Fazekas recommended the low bid of Tex-Mex Supply, Inc. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Lafferty to award the bid from Tex-Mex Supply, Inc. for fencing materials. Roll Call: Lafferty Apodaca Witcher Maestas Yes Yes Yes Yes A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the Agreement between the City and Tex-Mex Supply, Inc. for the fencing materials. Roll Call: Apodaca Witcher Maestas Lafferty Yes Yes Yes Yes Yvette Fazekas presented the three bids for the landfill fencing installation. Bids were received from American Fence Co. of Albuquerque, Daniel Construction of Tucumcari, and Marty’s Roofing of Tucumcari. Fazekas recommended the low bid of $64,251.13 from American Fence Co. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to award the bid to American Fence Co. for $64,251.13. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the Agreement with American Fence Co. for the landfill fence installation. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes Yvette Fazekas presented the Governmental Services Agreement between the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department Contract No. 07-521-0422-0242 for the Releaf Program. The scope of work will be for the planting 22 trees with the installation of a drip irrigation system and a weed barrier at the Wails Park/Playground. The Agree- ment provides for reimbursement of $4,492 for services rendered and a $2,049.50 in-kind match with the project to be completed by October 1, 2007. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the Agreement with Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department for the Releaf Program. Roll Call: Maestas Witcher Lafferty Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes Yvette Fazekas presented the Second Amendment to the Transportation Department Cooperative Agreement SP-4-67 (963) that included $12,567 in additional funds for the Rankin Street Waterline Project. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the Second Amendment to Cooperative Agreement, Project SP-4-67 (963). Roll Call: Lafferty Apodaca Witcher Maestas Yes Yes Yes Yes Old Business Mayor Pro Tem Apodaca acknowledged the Planning and Development Advisory Board minutes of November 28, 2006. New Business Marty Garcia, Finance Director, gave the Department of Finance Municipal Financial Quarterly Report covering the second quarter of 2006-2007. He stated that most of the expenses were at or below 50% and the revenues have remained constant as per budget as of December 31, 2006. He noted that the gross receipts tax is $81,000 less than last year and this includes the increase in construction gross receipts due to the First Street Project, so he concluded that the loss is from the different categories of gross receipt tax revenue. He noted that the Gross Receipts Tax budget is done on a three-year average and the City is still above the three-year average. Commissioner Lafferty reported that several months ago, he had brought a proposal to the Commissioners asking that someone be hired who would establish job descriptions, develop employee evaluations, and establish a wage scale plus review the City’s personnel policy. The City Manager stated that when this was brought up earlier, there was no available money for the study. Since that time, the worker’s compensation premium was less than what was budgeted which will provide for a one time source of money to allow the hiring of a human resource management consultant. A motion was made by Commissioner Lafferty and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to allow the City Manager to move forward with advertising for a Request for Proposals for a Human Resource Management Consultant. Roll Call: Apodaca Witcher Maestas Lafferty Yes Yes Yes Yes Executive Session A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Lafferty acknowledging that only limited personnel matters pursuant to the Open Meetings Act 10-15-1(H)2 were discussed during the closed meeting held on Saturday, January 20, 2007, and no action was taken. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes Items from Commissioners Commissioner Witcher thanked Cathy Estrada and Chief Ham for all their hard work in getting the City cleaned and regretted that not more action was taken. Commissioner Maestas stated that he knew Mrs. Scott came to Tucumcari some thirty years ago. He asked for follow up on her as she is being neglected somehow, someway and would like to see a powwow with agencies that might help. Commissioner Lafferty gave a pat on the back to Cathy Estrada for a good job. He said he did not want any of his comments to be taken as a negative to what the City is trying to do in cleaning up the City. He noted that the City of Tucumcari has many properties and it is really important that the City be put on the same hook as the citizens. He noted that there was some property on Railroad Avenue that needs attention. He noted that it would be easier for him to defend his stand on this issue as a Commissioner to the citizens, if the City is held to the same standard. He stated that he would like to see the Commissioners move forward with a list of candidates that are going to be interviewed for the position of City Manager. He noted that all the finalists have been notified and they had no problem with their names being made public. He stated that the Municipal League Attorney said that this is an acceptable practice, so he asked for input from the other Commissioners. Commissioner Witcher acknowledged that the City Commission would be meeting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 3, 2007, to interview the finalists for the City Manager’s position. It was a consensus that the names be released by the City Manager. Primrose stated that he was not included in the Executive Session, so he did not know the names. Adjournment Mayor Pro Tem Apodaca stated that he would like to revisit Resolution 2007-03 and 2007-04, which was tabled for six months. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas. Time noted 6:52 p.m. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Yes Yes Yes Yes ___________________________________ Mary Mayfield, Mayor ATTEST: __________________________________ Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk |
