Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Officials with Quay County and the City of Tucumcari are hoping for a federal disaster declaration that would make private property owners eligible for aid in addition to local agencies after last month's flooding and hail damage. Tucumcari city commissioners during their regular meeting Thursday unanimously approved a declaration of disaster that seeks state assistance. The declaration was similar to one that Quay County commissioners approved the same week. County manager Daniel Zamora said...
Tucumcari city commissioners on Thursday approved the purchase of five new vehicles, plus vehicle cameras, for the police department. A purchase of cameras for the police building itself was put on hold until it’s determined whether a local vendor would bid on the project. Another purchase of body cameras for officers was tabled until the city manager determines whether cannabis sales-tax revenue legally can be used for them. During a work session, Police Chief Patti Lopez presented bids of five Dodge Durangos from Stellantis Dodge of Kansas a...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday tabled Tucumcari MainStreet’s request for $3,000 in lodgers tax funds to help set up a streaming and advertising app with a local radio station. Board member Michael Carlson said the proposal was “vague.” He said it would be helpful if the written plan — which contained just a few sentences — would have more detail on the app’s advertising and events it would promote. Carlson moved to table the matter until the board’s next regular meeting on July 5, which was approved. Connie Loveland, exe...
The Tucumcari City Commission during a special meeting Wednesday approved a preliminary 2023-2024 budget that gives $1-an-hour raises to employees, with a $2-an-hour raise and a $5,000 retention bonus to police officers. The brief discussion and motion from Commissioner Mike Cherry and fellow commissioner Christopher Arias, who attended by phone, followed a three-hour work session earlier in the day. The budget passed unanimously, with Commissioner Paul Villanueva absent due to illness. Commissioners gathered during the work session to go over...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved a declaration-of-disaster resolution after flash flooding severely damaged numerous county roads, with more rain forecast to be on the way. The declaration seeks to pave the way for state and federal funding for help cover the county's expenses for emergency repairs to washed-out roads. The resolution states that an intense storm on May 25 brought up to eight inches of rain in less than 12 hours in parts of the county. "The resulting 500-year flood,...
The Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce appeared Wednesday to reach an agreement in principle with Mayor Ralph Moya to provide $40,000 in lodgers tax executive funds to cover the chamber’s operations for the upcoming fiscal year. The city commission likely will act officially on the request at its next regular meeting on June 8. During the city commission’s previous regular meeting on May 25, commissioners did not act on the chamber’s request for $47,000 in executive lodgers tax funds, with $12,000 to operate the Tucumcari Visitors Cente...
The Tucumcari Public Schools board last week during a special meeting approved a 2023-2024 budget that includes about a $2 million reduction in its cash balance, primarily so the district can finish its ongoing ballpark redevelopment project. The budget projects a beginning cash balance of nearly $3.67 million that will be reduced to about $1.2 million by the end of the fiscal year. Much of the cash will be used to complete renovations of the high school baseball and softball fields, including the construction of dressing rooms and a...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees on Wednesday night during a special meeting approved an $8.61 million preliminary budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and several budget adjustments in the current year. The financially stressed college faced a June 1 deadline to submit its budget to the state. The board had been scheduled to approve it during its regular meeting the previous week, but officials said they needed more time to complete financial data. The budget adjustments and preliminary budget are subject to approval from the...
TUCUMCARI -- A jogger encountered the pack of five dogs shortly before they fatally mauled a Tucumcari man in February, and two men approached the bloody scene when the victim still was alive. That’s according to a state police report, which also showed the victim died of blood loss after the attack. The 21-page report was issued by New Mexico State Police agent Eric Fouratt. The Quay County Sun obtained the report last week through a public-records request submitted shortly after the Feb. 1 attack near 11th Street and Gamble Avenue. Mary O...
Quay County's manager said he might request a state disaster declaration after flooding Thursday night and Friday damaged roads and destroyed a multimillion-dollar bridge days from its completion. In Tucumcari, a severe hailstorm that night damaged innumerable vehicles and roofs, and the torrential rain that came with the storm caused widespread flooding. Several buildings closed at least temporarily due to large hailstones tearing through roofs, allowing rainwater to pour inside. Sinkholes and...
The Tucumcari City Commission approved lodgers tax funding aid requests for events in the next fiscal year but declined to act on whether to allocate funds for the main operation of the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, citing the lack of a recommendation from the city’s lodgers tax board. Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved these promotional fund requests as recommended by the lodgers tax advisory board: — Fired Up festival, $6,900; — Chamber of commerce events, $7,500; — Wheels on Fire, $10,500; — Rattler Reunion,...
An Xcel Energy crew and a sporadically used power generator on the city’s north side on Thursday afternoon effectively ended Tucumcari’s power outage after about 19 hours. Shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, a severe storm 17 miles north-northwest of Clovis in Curry County knocked out 20 H-shaped structures that carried a main electrical line from Clovis to Tucumcari, reported Xcel spokesman Wes Reeves. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for that area shortly before the outage. Flooding in the afflicted area hampered Xcel workers...
Mesalands Community College delayed approving its 2023-2024 fiscal year budget and latest budget-adjustment requests on request of its interim president. Allen Moss was granted a special board of trustees meeting for 5:30 p.m. May 31 to approve those items. He said there “still is a little work to be done” with Mesalands chief financial officer Blanca Pauliukevicius on next year’s budget and budget adjustments before they are approved. Moss stated in his written report about the budget: “We will have the best we can manage at his point with he...
The Tucumcari Public Schools board last week approved a resolution to pursue a $3 million bond referendum in November to pay for various district improvements. Regina Gaysina, director of the municipal finance department at RBC Capital Markets in Albuquerque, said during the board’s May 15 meeting she recommended the district call a two-mill and general-obligation bond election. Paired with the issuance later this year of a education technology note estimated at $700,000, Gaysina said that would stabilize the district’s property tax rate of...
Tucumcari Public School’s superintendent and school board members voiced support for the city police chief’s proposal to seek a federal grant that would help pay for a school resource officer. District superintendent Aaron McKinney said during the board’s May 15 meeting that Tucumcari Police Chief Patti Lopez is seeking a $125,000 grant that would cover 50% of the cost of a school officer for three years. The district’s share of the cost would be 25%, or about $62,000, during that period, with the city covering the other 25%. McKinney said the...
The Quay County Commission with little discussion approved its 2023-2024 preliminary budget that includes raises for most of the county’s 79 employees. Many of the budget’s details were recommended by county manager Daniel Zamora before Monday’s meeting, including during a work session the week before. The budget anticipates $15.7 million in expenditures and an ending cash balance of a little over $7 million. Finance director Cheryl Simpson said payroll will see a big increase, with employees receiving a raise of at least $1 an hour, plus...
Tucumcari residents may have noticed a brighter lighted "T" on the north face of Tucumcari Mountain last week after the sun went down. That's because five members of the Rotary Club Tucumcari last Tuesday replaced 34 solar-powered lights that outline the "T" on the mesa. The effort took about three hours. Robert Hockaday, who led the club's previous installation of the lights in December 2020, said last week they were due for replacement because their lithium-ion batteries wear out after about...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board at a special meeting Wednesday voted to recommend approval of all requests for financial aid as submitted from events and entities for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The recommendations will go on to the city commission, which can accept, reject or modify them. The board scheduled the special meeting to hear from city officials about the upcoming budget before making a decision on funding. Board members in general were swayed by information from city finance director Rachelle Arias, who pointed out the...
More than 330 people attended the annual Diamondback Booster Club Athletic Banquet last Monday, but two who were not present were on the minds of many. A small memorial table near the Tucumcari Convention Center stage was set for Tucumcari High School freshman athlete Jayden Gloms, who died in a vehicle accident at Five Mile Park in January. Amid flowers and candles stood a framed message that stated: "Reserved for Tucumcari High School athlete Jayden Anthony Gloms." A poem with it read: "I'm...
Tucumcari city manager Paula Chacon said repairs on the city’s closed municipal pool were continuing and didn’t dismiss the possibility it would reopen in time for its traditional Memorial Day weekend start. Chacon said during her report to the city commission Thursday a plumber still was working on issues at the pool and that Nick Griego & Sons Construction of Clovis would perform plastering work to remedy leaks there. She said she and other city officials were working with the state’s purchasing cooperative to expedite work at the pool....
Quay County’s manager suggested $1-an-hour raises for most employees and $2-an-hour pay hikes for sheriff’s deputies and road workers during a budget work session Monday for the forthcoming fiscal year. Daniel Zamora recommended the bigger raises for the county’s highway department, which has been struggling to fill positions for months, to make its pay more competitive. That would bring the pay for workers with commercial driver’s licenses to $16 an hour. The pay could be as much as $19 an hour for a mechanic’s position. Commissio...
Conchas Lake saw a mild increase in its levels during the past month, but not enough for the Arch Hurley Conservancy District’s board of directors to allocate water. District manager Franklin McCasland reported during the board’s May 9 meeting the elevation of Conchas Lake reached 4,162.7 feet that morning, nearly a foot higher than the previous month. The district typically needs the lake to reach 4,174 feet before it can release water from the lake into its canals. The lake received 3,246 acre-feet of inflow during April, with 2,224 acr...
ALBUQUERQUE - For once, it wasn't the Longhorns' day. District rival Melrose - especially starting pitcher Dathan Yeary - dashed Logan's dreams for a third straight Class 1A baseball title and an undefeated season by seizing a 10-run lead at one point during a 13-7 victory Saturday at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex. The victory was especially sweet for the Buffaloes (12-5), the No. 3 seed in the tournament, after the top-seeded Longhorns conquered them three previous times du...
Filling a months-long vacancy for District 3 on the Tucumcari City Commission will take a while longer. Because of what he characterized as a “misunderstanding,” Mayor Ralph Moya said during a special commission meeting last Wednesday the city again would take applications for the open seat through 4 p.m. May 17 and advertise it in the Quay County Sun. After that, Moya said the commission would place filling the vacancy on its May 25 meeting agenda. Moya said even those who submitted applications for the position earlier this year must re-...
At least two Tucumcari city commissioners said during a work session last Wednesday they wanted to give at least $1-an-hour raises to employees during the next fiscal year. Commissioners held the session to discuss the fiscal-year 2024 budget. The commission scheduled another work session for 3:30 p.m. May 23, which is when city manager Paula Chacon said she would have more solid financial data after meeting with all city department heads. City finance director Rachelle Arias told commissioners the city’s coffers were looking “pretty favorable...