CITY OF TUCUMCARI
MINUTES
MAY 10, 2007
The Tucumcari City Commission met for their regular meeting on Thursday, May 10, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers. Members present constituting a quorum were Jim Witcher, Christopher Maestas, and Jim Lafferty. Mayor Mary Mayfield and Mayor Protem Antonio Apodaca were absent.
City staff members present were John R. Sutherland, Jr., 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; and City Police Chief Larry Ham.
City Clerk Jeannette Maddaford called the meeting to order. Reverend Gay Wellborn of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church gave the invocation. Commissioner Maestas led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The floor was opened for nominations for Acting Mayor Protem. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to appoint Jim Lafferty as Acting Mayor Protem for the May 10, 2007 meeting due to the absence of the Mayor and Mayor Protem. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
Consideration of Additions/ Deletions
Acting Mayor Protem Lafferty noted the addition of the Executive Session to the agenda. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the amended agenda. Roll Call:
Lafferty Witcher Maestas
Yes Yes Yes
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the minutes of the April 26, 2007 regular Commission meeting. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
Approval of Vouchers
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the vouchers. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
Items from Citizens
None
City Manager’s Report
City Manager John R. Sutherland, Jr. reported that with the capable assistance and advice of Clara Rey he had prepared some comments. On May 1, 2007 he joined the City and since that time he had made it his first priority to meet all of the city staff and his goal is to meet with them in the places where they work and he is determined to visit all of the work sites, see and learn about projects both current and past, see first hand the City’s assets, both capital and human, and become familiar with the operational resources of the City of Tucumcari. He stated he was most fortunate to have a department head meeting scheduled on his first day of work. He has learned so far from this effort that resources are stretched pretty thin, but despite that all the employees have been very positive and goal oriented. He extended his sincere thank you to the city staff for their sincere dedication, service, and commitment to work hard. He thanked everyone for the warm welcome that has been extended. He stated that the visits are important as the front line service workers are the key to the City’s success. The employees come first with him. After the initial series of meetings, he will begin a second round of meetings with department heads in his office with the purpose to be the study of the organization structure, wage and salary structure, and the associated job descriptions. No meaningful results can be obtained without a plan and the second series of meetings will give him a chance to assess the existing operational plan. Next he called on Doug Powers to report on his activities and successes during the last couple of weeks.
Community Development Director Doug Powers reported that he had been busy the last couple of weeks. Yesterday he went to Santa Fe to submit the Grip 2 application with Tucumcari being the seventeenth proposal to be submitted which brought the requests to the 30 million dollar mark. Later, Rick with the Department of Transportation called to ask him some questions on the Adams Street project for Grip 2. While in Santa Fe he hand delivered the Coop Marketing Grant to the Department of Tourism for the billboards, which was not due until next week. Also he has been working on the swimming pool. He thanked Marty Villanueva of Marty’s Roofing for getting the bathhouse shingled within two days. There has been a big clean up effort inside the bathhouse on the sinks, water fountain, toilets, etc. Aquatic Pools were in today scrubbing the tiles and scrubbing down the pool. Hopefully next week, he plans for the pool to be full of water. Also yesterday, he reported that he stopped by the Solid Waste Bureau to talk to Dan Fuqua about the sand samples for the landfill. Powers went over the test results with Fuqua and he opened it up for all four samples (two from Hayes and two from Versatile), so the City will not be stuck in a sole source situation so the City can proceed with the liner scheduled for this month with 700-800 yards of sand needed to hold the liner. He stated that seemed like things had gone good this week and had come together.
A budget work session was held on May 7 and as a result of that work session, several members of the management team have been hard at work revising the budget. He recognized Marty Garcia for reviewing the budget and making changes. A second work session has been planned for Tuesday, May 22, 2007, at 6:15 p.m. A document will be ready for the Commissioners that meets all of the priority needs of the Commissioners. He thanked Clara Rey, Jeannette Maddaford, and very especially Marty Garcia for their attention to details and helpful dedicated efforts to bring the new guy up to speed. The Attorney General’s Office is conducting meetings around the State on the Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records. The meeting in Tucumcari is planned for Friday, June 1, 2007, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Fort Bascom Room of the Convention Center. He received a called from a citizen who wanted him to know what an outstanding job one of the City’s refuse drivers did when he hand loaded some extra trash lying around her trash bin. She felt he went above and beyond the call of duty and did it without a request from her. The Police and EMS have responded to several deaths in the past few weeks and thanked them for their professionalism and calm in those cases. Finally he wanted everyone to know how pleased he is to have the opportunity to serve the City of Tucumcari. He found this is a community of people who love their City and are determined to see it succeed and he is thrilled to have the opportunity to help them.
Bids and Contracts
Doug Powers presented an additional Services Contract with HDR Engineering for the Headworks at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Due to the problems encountered following the March 24 rain and hail storm, the City will look at installing submersible pumps and deepening the pit where the sewage comes into the Wastewater Treatment Plant to keep the pumps from cavitating. The Agreement includes a full-time inspector to be present due to the technical nature of the project and to make sure the equipment is installed properly, so the City will not have the problems experienced in the past. Powers pointed out that the chlorination building that was going to be funded through RUS has been switched over to the headworks project for a cost of $83,071.56. Commissioner Witcher asked if it had been determined what caused the problem. Powers stated that an exact cause had not been established, but they were progressing to make that determination. He felt that it was many factors such as the heavy flow of rain water and hail that was coming in from the storm and the Plant could have lost power, then once the pumps got under water, they shut down causing the whole system to be lost. Commissioner Lafferty asked about the headworks being rebuilt previously and Powers said it had been part of the original project. Lafferty asked why it was being redone and Powers said because it did not work due to our pits being too shallow and the pumps having to work so hard that they cavitated. Once the pumps started sucking air, it chewed up the pumps. He stated that these two-year old pumps looked like they were ten years old. Commissioner Lafferty asked if there was any recourse against the previous engineer. Powers stated that there is basically a one-year warranty and during that time there were no problems. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the additional Services Agreement with HDR Engineering for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Headworks. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
Old Business
Commissioner Lafferty acknowledged the Museum Board minutes of May 7, 2007.
New Business
Doug Powers presented the Department of Finance and Administration Special Appropriations Project Grant Agreement to plan, design, construct, and renovate the swimming pool. A Capital Outlay award of $100,000 was received from the 2007 Legislative Session to address the ADA requirement of the bathhouse and install solar panels to heat the pool. If approved, he will contact the Local Government Division to place the project on the fast track. Commissioner Lafferty stated that when this request was originally submitted to Representative Moore, it was requested that this money be allowed to pay on the swimming pool loan. Powers stated that this type of money could not be used for a repayment. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the Special Appropriations Grant Agreement for $100,000 with the Department of Finance and Administration. Roll Call:
Maestas Lafferty Witcher
Yes Yes Yes
Police Chief Larry Ham welcomed the new City Manager and commended the City Commission on their selection of Mr. Sutherland, stating that they “made a wise decision”. The Chief presented the CDWI Grant application for funds amounting to $2,969.00 for enforcement activities to reduce DWI. The City Police will collaborate with the Quay County Sheriff’s Department to complete two saturation patrols per quarter, one checkpoint, and purchase video equipment and tapes. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the CDWI Grant application for the 2007-2008 fiscal year through the New Mexico Traffic Safety Bureau. Roll Call:
Lafferty Witcher Maestas
Yes Yes Yes
Lodgers’ Tax Advisory Board Commission Liaison Jim Lafferty presented the 2007-2008 Lodgers’ Tax promotion contracts for the 2007-2008 fiscal year on behalf of Ross Harmon, President of the Advisory Board. He noted that $44,869 was budgeted for billboards and $4,000 budgeted for the Museum, leaving a balance of $4,613 for contingencies. The following promotion contracts were recommended for approval:
Chamber of Commerce $30,00
Mesalands Museum 4,000
Quay Council for Arts and Humanities 3,000
Rotary 2,000
Rattler Reunion 1,500
Kiwanis 1,000
Mother Road Rally 500
Ranch Horse Clinic 500
Doug & Sharon Quarles 678
Total $43,178
When asked about the Quarles allocation, Commissioner Lafferty explained that it would be to produce a three-fold flyer with a map giving the location of the murals in Tucumcari as well as the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and the Tucumcari Historical Museum. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to approve the recommended Lodgers’ Tax Promotional budget. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
City Manager Sutherland recommended that the Economic Development Services Agreement be continued with the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation at the same funding level as in previous years and it was agreeable with EDC. A motion was made by Commissioner Maestas and seconded by Commissioner Witcher to approve the Economic Development Services Agreement with the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation with one change to the second paragraph of the Section entitled, Term, to change the wording from the “the death of the Provider” to “the demise of the Provider” contingent upon the advice of the attorney. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation Board Chairman Franklin McCasland gave an update on the selection process for the new Economic Development Director. He reported that the EDC Board had interviewed three candidates and Patrick Vanderpool was chosen as the new Director. He is currently working in Pampa, Texas and has many years experience with Senator Pete Dominici’s Office and in the New Mexico Economic Development Office. McCasland noted that Vanderpool comes to Tucumcari with a lot of expertise and knowledge. He will begin his duties in Tucumcari on June 1. He is married and has four children. McCasland also mentioned that EDC appreciated the support and being able to serve the City of Tucumcari for four more years, as there are a lot of exciting things happening in Tucumcari and Quay County.
Next on the agenda was the appointment of three Museum Board Members. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to reappoint Danny Wallace, Lynn Moncus, and Ray Spencer to the Museum Board for a two-year term to expire May 31, 2009. Roll Call:
Witcher Maestas Lafferty
Yes Yes Yes
Commissioner Lafferty took a moment to recognize a new member of the media. Kathryn Bugg introduced Vicki Wallace who will be helping KTNM with meetings and the morning show. It was noted that she has lived here a year and a half and works for Dr. McCausland during the day. Her husband George is Executive Director of the Quay Council for Arts and Humanities and they own Viorge Designs on Monroe Street.
Executive Session
A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas to go into Executive session for the purpose of discussing limited personnel matters pursuant to the Open Meetings Act 10-15-1(H) 2. Time noted 6:30 p.m. Roll Call:
Maestas Lafferty Witcher
Yes Yes Yes
Return from Executive Session. Time noted 6:43 p.m. A motion was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas that only limited personnel matters were discussed pursuant to the Open Meetings Act 10-15-1(H)2 and no action was taken. Roll Call:
Lafferty Witcher Maestas
Yes Yes Yes
Items from Commissioners
Commissioner Witcher welcomed John Sutherland and thanked him for his work. He stated that he was looking forward to a bright future for Tucumcari.
Commissioner Maestas also welcomed Mr. Sutherland to Tucumcari and stated that he thought the Commissioners made the right choice.
Commissioner Lafferty also welcomed John. He stated in visiting with staff members, all he hears is positive comments and he thinks the City is on the right track. He also said thank you to the staff for stepping up and helping through the Manager search and selection process.
Adjournment
There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Witcher and seconded by Commissioner Maestas. Time noted 6:45 p.m. Roll Call:
- Witcher Maestas Lafferty
- Yes Yes Yes
______________________________
Mary Mayfield, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________
Jeannette Maddaford, City Clerk
