MINUTES

CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING

JULY 10, 2007

The Tucumcari City Commission met for a special meeting on Tuesday, July 10, 2007, at 1:30 p.m. Members present constituting a quorum included Christopher Maestas, Antonio Apodaca, and Mary Mayfield. Commissioners Jim Witcher and Jim Lafferty were absent.

City staff present at the meeting were John Sutherland, City Manager; Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk/Assistant Finance Director; Clara Rey, Administrative Assistant; Doug Powers, Community Development Director; Mike Cherry, Fire Chief; Alex Madrid, Street and Sanitation Superintendent; Max Jimenez, Parks and Cemetery Superintendent; Pat Petrak, Laboratory Director; Ricardo Martinez, Assistant Wastewater Superintendent; Steve Stephenson, Airport Superintendent; Mary Ann Molinas, Library Director; and Ramona Baca, Purchasing Agent.

Mayor Mayfield called the meeting to order and Commissioner Antonio Apodaca led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Introductions

Mayor Mayfield welcomed everyone and thanked them for being present for the check presentation. Jennifer Martinek of HDR Engineering whose engineering firm has worked on the Tucumcari Waste Water Project for many years introduced Ryan Gleason, State Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Department. A brief biography was given noting that he was appointed to this position by President George W. Bush taking office in May 2006. 

Mr. Gleason explained that Rural Development is authorized to administer 87 different programs and they use thirty-five to forty of the programs in New Mexico on a regular basis. Some of the different programs he mentioned that program money was available included city library renovations, utilities, broad band, electricity, farm loans, assisting businesses get loans, etc. He reported that utilities is the flagship program, water and wastewater system funding is being presented at this meeting as they understand how important water is to our state. They help communities to better utilize the water they have and work with wastewater systems to improve the environment. 

Mr. Gleason noted that New Mexicans have the two most powerful Senators on the United States Senate Energy and Resources Committee from New Mexico. In addition New Mexico has two national energy labs in the state; oil and natural gas located in two regions of New Mexico; and our area is involved in wind energy. Rural Development has grants to help with the renewable energy development. So New Mexico can be considered the energy state. He congratulated the elected political leaders who take a leadership role in fixing up a system that is in dire need. 

Next representatives from the United States Senators Offices were introduced. Callie Gibson, Aide to Senator Pete Domenici, read a letter from the Senator congratulating the City of Tucumcari and emphasizing the importance of the upgrades due to Rural Development being able to make the resources available.

Lynn Ditto, Aide to Senator Jeff Bingaman, stated that she remembered when Tucumcari started talking about their need for this project. She noted that without the dedication of the Tucumcari officials and staff and the dedication of the staff of Rural Development USDA, this would have never happened. She stated that the bits and pieces of this puzzle had been put together over the years, but now the biggest piece was being added to bring it to completion. She read Senator Bingaman’s letter sending greetings to everyone and extending gratitude to State Director Ryan Gleason and the State USDA Rural Development staff. He stated that the community needs the infrastructure to handle the demands of growth as the roads lead to Tucumcari with the proposed Racino and other economic ventures. He stated that he was happy to have earmarked some of the funding to get the process started and he looks forward to seeing the completion of the new Wastewater facility.

Mr. Gleason talked about the partnerships required to pull these projects off due to New Mexico not having the resources in any one single entity to accomplish the entire project. He stated that he looked forward to the completion of the project and the celebration.

Ed DuBois of HDR Engineering presented the project which will be done in several stages. He showed pictures of the deficiencies of the current system and then listed the improvements that will be made to the facility. He noted the City has done a good job of making the facility last. A future phase will be the change of the actual biological process to produce affluent water for watering and irrigation which is needed in New Mexico due to water being such a valuable resource.

Check Presentation

The meeting concluded by Ryan Gleason signing the check for $2,183,000 and presenting it to the Mayor. Pictures followed.

Adjournment

The meeting concluded with refreshments and a tour of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca to adjourn the special meeting. Time noted 2:05 p.m. Roll Call:

 Apodaca Mayfield Maestas

   Yes    Yes    Yes

    ______________________________

    Mary Mayfield, Mayor

ATTEST:

____________________________

Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk