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CITY OF TUCUMCARI MINUTES MARCH 22, 2007 The Tucumcari City Commission met for their
regular meeting on Thursday, March 22, 2007, 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 Clara Rey, Interim
City Manager; Marty Garcia, Finance Director/Assistant City Manager; Jeannette
Maddaford, City Clerk/Assistant Finance Director; Doug Powers, Community
Development Director; Yvette Fazekas, Grant Writer; Police Chief Larry Ham;
Police Lt. Ron Haley; Ron Wilmot, Convention Center Director; and Cathy
Estrada, Code Enforcement Officer. Mayor Mary Mayfield called the meeting to order and
Mayor Pro Tem Apodaca led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Associate Pastor Rick Haymaker of Father’s
Forge gave the invocation. Consideration of Additions/ Deletions
None Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Commissioner Lafferty and
seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the minutes of the March 8, 2007
regular Commission meeting. Roll Call: Apodaca
Mayfield Witcher Maestas Lafferty Abstain Yes
Yes No 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 Lafferty
Apodaca Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Items from Citizens
None Ordinances and Resolutions ORDINANCE NO 1044 - AN ORDINANCE ACCEPTING THE REPLAT OF
BLOCK 1 OF THE BUNKER HEIGHTS SUBDIVISION, ALSO KNOWN AS BLOCK 1, LOTS 1-4 OF
THE BUNKER HEIGHTS SUBDIVISION, QUAY COUNTY, NEW MEXICO WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS
OF THE CITY OF TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO.
Yvette Fazekas of Planning and Zoning presented Ordinance No. 1044
explaining that the four lots would be made into two lots if the Ordinance was
adopted. Plans are for the new Sonic
Drive In to be built at this location.
A Public Hearing was advertised in the Quay County Sun on
February 17 for the Public Hearing held on February 27. The Advisory Board recommended
approval. A motion was made by
Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve Ordinance
No. 1044 to accept the replat of Block 1 of the Bunker Heights
Subdivision. Roll Call:
Witcher
Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes City Manager’s Report Interim City Manager Clara Rey reported that
the New Mexico Transportation Commission held their quarterly meeting at the
Tucumcari Convention Center today and were hosted at a reception the evening
before with many Transportation Department Heads and dignitaries present. She thanked the Economic Development
Corporation, City and County staffs for making their visit such a success. Many
positive comments were received and they stated that they had never felt so
welcomed. Those that attended the Glenrio Welcome
Center groundbreaking were thanked for their support. An excellent turnout was present for the Transportation
Department’s program, groundbreaking, and reception. The Greater Tucumcari Economic Development
Corporation issued a press release regarding a proposal that Quay County communities
will submit an application to the New Mexico Racing Commission to obtain New
Mexico’s last racetrack permit. A joint
meeting will be held on Monday, April 9, at 6:00 p.m. at the Tucumcari
Convention Center, so the Commissioners were asked to mark their
calendars. On Sunday afternoon, March 18, 2007, Mayor
Mayfield and Rey met with Elmo Baca, a University of New Mexico Professor who
is also a business owner and contractor with the MainStreet Program, for a
meeting at the Tucumcari Railroad Depot to discuss plans for the Railroad
District Revitalization. Mr. Baca
brought some students from his class who will be working on the Railroad
District Revitalization Plan as a class project. The meeting was well attended by community members and a tour was
taken of the depot. There will be a meeting of the Tucumcari/Quay
County Regional Emergency Communications Center advisory group on Wednesday,
March 28, at 10:00 a.m. to review the Joint Powers Agreement and to discuss
consolidated dispatch items. The New Mexico Municipal League District 4
meeting will be held in Tucumcari at the Convention Center on Wednesday, April
4. The Commissioners were asked to make
reservations to attend to support the Municipal League as they do a lot to
support the City. The City received news of the Capital Outlay
Appropriations from the 2007 Legislature.
The City will be receiving $650,000 for the landfill; $100,000 for the
swimming pool; and $94,500 for the Senior Citizens Centers to address code
compliance issues. A joint meeting between the City Commission,
the Planning and Zoning Commission, and Consensus Planning, Inc. will be held
on Thursday, April 5, at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall to review and discuss the first
draft of the proposed new ordinance regulations. Interim Manager Rey thanked the many
individuals and businesses by reading a list of those that donated time and/or
funding to help get the Baseball Fields ready for high school baseball. She reported that they worked long, hard
hours even into the night. A budget schedule was handed out to the City
Commissioners and it was noted that the Department Heads had been working on
their budgets in preparation of the City Commission budget work sessions. New Business Wayland Oliver of Engineers, Inc. gave an
update on the progress of the City’s new landfill and stated that they were
involved with the permitting process and now they were overseeing the
construction. An Opinion of Probable
Costs of the Landfill as of February 2207 was handed out. He noted that increases have resulted due to
the time expended in litigation, but now the probable cost is
$1,258,674.50. The liner is scheduled
to be installed next week with a geo-synthetic clay being placed on the ground
prior to the liner being installed, then a two-foot layer of cover sand prior
to being ready to receive solid waste.
He estimated the landfill would be open by the end of the year if
everything goes as expected or it could be in 2008. He stated that the old landfill could hold the waste until the
new landfill is ready. Originally June
2007 had been predicted as the opening date, but that was pushed back because
of a loan which was going to require an environmental assessment which had a
nine-month process, so a different type of loan was chosen. Also another delay is a result of the
Environmental Department expecting a baseline on the ground water prior to
accepting any waste and this is a seven-month process and the process has
begun. Mr. Oliver explained in answer
to Commissioner Lafferty’s question, that the liner would be installed and held
down temporarily with soil at a cost less than $10,000 and will be trenched and
anchored with excavated soil that is on site which was approved by the
Environment Department. In answer to
Commissioner’s Maestas’s question, Mr. Oliver stated that one cell would last
seven to ten years depending on the type of waste and the dirt cover. It was reported that the Snow Company had
been contracted by the City to install the liner and an independent inspector
was hired by the City to make sure that it is done correctly. Mayor Mayfield asked why the amount
estimated for the sand has increased from $30,000 in November to $262,000 in
March. Oliver stated that Engineers’
Inc.’s estimate in November was based upon finding a natural source in the
area, but due to the silt in the area’s soils, it did not pass, so the sand was
required to be washed prior to placing on the liner. It was brought to light that the standard was set by the State
and it was the engineer’s responsibility to determine that the sand meeting the
State regulations, is readily available, and find it at an acceptable
price. After testing the site and
various pits in Quay County, it was found none met the standard. Since that time, a 10% variance was received
rather than the original 5% from the Environmental Department, so there is the
possibility that the cost will go down for the cost of the sand. The Environment Department has also given
additional stipulations that have to meet such as a percent of clay and a
permeability requirement. Commissioner
Lafferty stated that he has a concern that when the process started, loans,
grants, legislative appropriations were acquired to meet the costs of the
project and recently the costs have sky rocketed. He stated that it is hard to get a handle on the situation no
matter how much money the City acquires.
He noted that if the landfill does not come together, the City might
have to haul their trash to Wagon Mound which will cause the price to go up for
the citizens of Tucumcari. He asked
what assurance the City would have that this project will come together. Franklin McCasland of the Greater Tucumcari
Economic Development Corporation requested funds from the 1/8% Economic
Development Gross Receipts which had been approved by the EDC Board. He reported that the Eastern New Mexico Art
Space had completed an application for start up funding of $12,500 and felt
that their endeavor tied into the MainStreet Program. Also he requested $5,000 as reimbursement for the expenditure for
the Santa Fe Quay Day where legislatures and Cabinet Secretaries met for a very
beneficial meeting. Another $1,000 was
requested to replace the meter at the Ethanol Plant due to being damaged or age
and EDC said they would take care of it.
Commissioner Apodaca noted that this request is within the scope of what
the Commissioners had dedicated the 1/8% Gross Receipts Tax, i.e., business
expansion, recruitment, and retention.
So these expenses are legitimate and Quay Day really paid for itself ten
times over or more. A motion was made
by Commissioner Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Lafferty to approve the
request from the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation for $18,500
from the 1/8% Economic Development Tax.
Roll Call: Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Franklin McCasland stated that he would like
to give the Commissioners and public some information. He noted that City Commission had approved
the Economic Development Corporation to do a feasibility study on a race
track/casino. He stated that they had
been holding on to the study until the timing was right and now the Legislature
has approved one more race track/casino permit for the State through the Indian
Gaming Compact. Therefore, EDC is
moving forward with the application. He
gave the following information as to how the feasibility study compares with
Hobbs’ new racino. The feasibility
study said that Quay County’s casino would generate $263 million in gross
revenue and of that revenue the net profit would be $22.5 million
annually. Of this net profit, 25% would
go to the State; 20% to the horsemen in purses; one-quarter of one percent
would go to compulsive gambling programs; and that would leave $11.5 million to
go to the track owners. An additional
study of the racetrack estimates $9.5 million revenue during the racing season
of 50 days with a net profit of $1.4 million.
The net profit from the casino would be $ll.5 million plus the race
track $1.4 million would give $12.9 million to be allocated to operation
expenses $7.7 million and $2 million to debt service. This would leave $3.2 million to be distributed between the
entities in Quay County. The study
shows that two million people are expected to attend the racetrack and casino
during the first year. Hobbs had 2.2
million people attend their facility in the first year. EDC’s study showed to employ 150 full time
employees and Hobbs employed 176.
During the racing season EDC’s study expected 375 employees and Hobbs
employed 450. Our study projected $40
million spent in Quay County’s local economy and Hobbs showed $54 million
spent. This project was made available
by the confidence shown by the City Commission in the Greater Tucumcari
Economic Development Corporation. He
stated that they are doing everything they can to bring jobs to the community
and they are diligently trying to recruit a new EDC Director who has the
experience and expertise to carry on what has been accomplished so far. Commissioner Witcher noted that the
feasibility study figures were conservatively low which is good a sign that the
project will be better than estimated.
McCasland noted that there are five racing permits and two are owned by
public entities. One public entity is
San Juan County and receives $2 million dollars annually to their general fund
and the other is owned by the New Mexico State Fair and is in the State Fair
Commission’s name. A copy of the
feasibility study was requested and McCasland stated they he would provide
pertinent copies since it is a huge book. Ron Wilmot, President of the Quay Council for
Arts and Humanities, gave the Lodgers’ Tax Recipient report stating that the
moneys received are used exclusively for advertising in Quay County. He stated that the performing arts had 6,680
people in attendance so far this season.
There were three outreach programs to the Tucumcari Public Schools and
two to the Grady Schools. There have
been 330 artists in Tucumcari contributing to the economy. Richard Primrose, President of Rotary,
distributed a handout as part of the Lodgers’ Tax Recipient Report for
2006-2007. He stated that the Rotary
spent the $2,500 for advertising for the Rotary Air Show. Due to the tragedy during the 2006 Air Show,
the group had discussed discontinuing the Show. Huge support was received to continue the Air Show, so the next
2007 Air Show will be held September 19.
Many of the acts that were scheduled to perform the day of the Air Show
sent their money back and the Rotary Club distributed it among the non-profit
clubs in the community. Doug Quarles, representative from the New
Mexico MainStreet Group, presented a request for the City to donate the usage
of a sign at the corner of Route 66 Blvd. and Second Street, which is under the
Lowe’s sign. It consists of an old
arrow that says “downtown”. He thought
that it could be renovated to help pull tourists downtown. On top of the sign, he may put Historic and
underneath put MainStreet and then maybe make a directory of Main Street
businesses or put a generic listing of the types of businesses downtown on a
six by six foot panel. He reported that
he had cleared the sign renovation with Lowe’s Grocery. He stated that he would do all the work and
expense on the sign, but the City would maintain all the rights on the
sign. A motion was made by Commissioner
Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca to approve the request by the
MainStreet Group to allow them to renovate the sign as long as they get a
permit. Roll Call: Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Marty and Monica Villanueva appeared before
the Commissioners about purchasing the property at 923 East Turner as they were
given a 120 day right of first refusal to purchase the property which had a
lien on it with the understanding that the equipment would be kept behind a
solid six foot fence. The Villanueva’s
came to ask the Commissioners if they would waive the requirement for the fence
since the lot is on the corner, which makes it difficult to pull the truck and
trailer in and out. Also she stated
that all that was kept on the lot is a truck and trailer. Yvette Fazekas pointed out that there are
fence height restrictions on residential property. Mrs. Villanueva asked that additional time be given, so they
could get the property rezoned Commercial and get the fence requirement waived. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and
seconded by Commissioner Maestas to give the Villanueva’s 120 days to apply for
a zoning change with Planning and Zoning Commission. Roll Call: Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Lafferty Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Next on the agenda was the appointment of a
Planning and Zoning Board Member from the extra-territorial area around
Tucumcari. A motion was made by
Commissioners Apodaca and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to appoint Danny
Aragon to the Extra Territorial Zone Position on the Planning and Zoning
Board. Roll Call: Mayfield Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes A request was presented by Jeannette
Maddaford on behalf of the Tucumcari Historical and Research Institute to move
the F-100 Super Sabre from the Museum to the Tucumcari Airport due to the plans
by the Historical Institute to do an expansion project on the Museum
grounds. Steve Stephenson, Airport
Manager, expressed an interest in having the plane moved to the Airport for its
continued display. Also men who work
with airplane rescue had contacted him and they had offered to move any planes
at no cost to the City. Commissioner
Maestas asked if Stanley Jennings had been contacted about the move of the
airplane and it was explained that he had agreed to the move if the plane was
fixed up and properly displayed. It was
noted that Altrusa is considering funding the asphalt pad for the airplane as a
community services project. A motion
was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Lafferty to
approve the move of the F-100 to the City Airport as long as the plane was
placed in front of the Airport where people could readily view the plane. Roll Call: Witcher Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Executive Session A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and
seconded by Commissioner Lafferty to go into Executive session for the purpose
of discussing pending or threatened litigation pursuant to the Open Meetings
Act 10-15-1(H)7. Time noted 7:00
p.m. Roll Call: Maestas Lafferty Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Return from Executive Session. Time noted 7:10 p.m. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher
and seconded by Commissioner Apodaca that only pending or threatened litigation
were discussed pursuant to the Open Meetings Act 10-15-1(H) and no action was
taken. Roll Call: Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas
Lafferty Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes Items from Commissioners Commissioner Witcher stated that since the
Commissioners have decided to have job descriptions, evaluations, etc. for the
employees, maybe it would be a good idea to develop job descriptions for the
Commissioners so each knows the policies and procedures of a commissioner; a
guideline of what a commissioner can and can not do. He would like to see it in City records. Commissioner Maestas attended the State Area
Agency on Aging Advisory Board meeting in Albuquerque where he is a
representative on the Board. He stated
that it was very informative and educational.
He stated that he would like to see the Dura-Patcher returned from the
County, so some of the City’s potholes could be patched. Commissioner Lafferty stated that he would
like to give the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation (GTEDC) a
pat on the back for the direction they are taking with the Racino. The City of Tucumcari contracts with the
GTEDC to use the gross receipts tax to bring in new industry and create new jobs
to help the community with economic development. He stated that this effort will take everyone being positive and
he encourages his fellow Commissioners to help. He asked Clara Rey to see if the April 9 meeting with GTEDC could
be changed as it is the night of the Tucumcari Historical and Research
Institute Annual Meeting and Dinner. He
reminded the Commissioners that and Executive Session will be held on Saturday,
March 24, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. to interview candidates for the position of the
City Manager. The interview schedule
will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Commissioner Maestas noted that he would not be present for the
interviews on March 24 as he would be out of town, but acknowledged that he had
telephoned the three candidates and visited with them. Mayor Mayfield thanked Quay County, Tucumcari
Economic Development Corporation, and all the City staff for their hard work
and diligence in hosting the New Mexico Transportation Commission for their
District Meeting along with the Department of Transportation staff. She noted that the better we do our
hospitality, the more they do to help our community and this is so vitally
important to this area. She stated that
Tucumcari puts on a “class act” when they entertain and she enjoys getting
accolades, but acknowledged that it is the staff that does the hard work and
she appreciated the staff for their dedication. She noted that Transportation Commission could have spent their
money on another tourist information center in another area of the state rather
than at the Glenrio Visitors Center, but the Transportation Department wanted
to help this area. She urged all her
fellow Commissioners to attend the New Mexico Municipal League District Meeting
in Tucumcari on Wednesday, April 4, at the Convention Center as the League help
Tucumcari in Santa Fe and this is a good networking event to meet people from
other areas. She stated that the
Commissioners have made some very good decisions tonight for the growth and
development of Tucumcari and the City is on the right road. Adjournment There being no further business, a motion to
adjourn was made by Commissioner Lafferty and seconded by Commissioner
Witcher. Time noted 7:20 p.m. Roll Call: Apodaca Mayfield Witcher Maestas Lafferty Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes ______________________________ Mary
Mayfield, Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________ Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk |
