Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A second change order to the Center Street water tank project was approved Thursday by the Tucumcari city commission to remove asbestos from the work site.
“A layer of asbestos was found underneath the old water tank as it was being removed,” said Mark Martinez, project manager.
Martinez said the asbestos was mixed into a layer of tar that was under the original water tank. He said the removal of the hazardous material is necessary for the project to be completed.
Martinez said with the removal of the asbestos, the project cost will now be $38,336.97 (including gross receipt taxes). He said the new total does not exceed the project's estimated cost, adding that several cost saving steps during the process have allowed the city to keep the project under budget.
The commissioners approved a $19,957 contract with Occam Engineering Inc. for an engineering study to replace the wastewater line at the KOA campground.
The line runs directly under Interstate 40 and will require the study to replace the collapsed portion, said Jared Langenegger.
Langenegger said a portion of the wastewater line collapsed earlier in the year and was repaired, and it is necessary to replace the line to prevent future collapses.
The following was other action taken at the meeting:
n Commissioners approved a contract with Sierra Valley Contractors, LLC., for $489,638.89 for the building of Cell 3 at the Tucumcari Landfill.
n Commissioners approved the ENDWI grant for $10,150 for the Tucumcari Police Department. The grant will be used to pay for overtime and operations cost, including the ENDWI campaign and Click It or Ticket.
In other city news, a commercial advertisement campaign promoting Tucumcari has had success in different region, according to David Brenner, director of the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board.
Brenner said the advertisement promoting Tucumcari has been running for 81 days and has had 174,178 impressions. He said the video appears on Google search and as a YouTube advertisement.
Brenner said in regions like Dallas, the ad only had an interaction rate of 10 percent. He said the higher 20 percent of interactions came from areas along Route 66.
“There were 34,843 viewers who did not skip the advertisement and watched the entire video,” Brenner said.
The video is having the desired result in getting Tucumcari’s name out there among tourists, said Robert Lumpkin, mayor pro-tem.
Brenner said that the commercial project had a budget of $34,010.40 with a one-time $2,000 set-up fee.
“This project has promoted Tucumcari to 34,000 new potential tourists,” Lumpkin said.