Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The following were actions taken by Tucumcari city commissioners Thursday at their meeting:
• Approved a reduced allocation for the city’s senior citizen services from the North Central New Mexico Area Agency on Aging. The amount was reduced from $219,598 to $207,188, reflecting state budget reductions, Tucumcari Senior Citizens Center Director Clara Rey told the commission.
She said the city will not cut services to seniors, which include meals at the Tucumcari Senior Citizens Center, home-delivered meals and transportation, but some offerings may be reduced.
• Approved a four-year contract with the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation instead of the two-year contracts that have been approved previously. In the contract, the city will pay $58,000 per year for economic development services.
City Manager Jared Langenegger said the contract was extended this year, because of the economic development corporation’s recent achievements, which have included expansion of the Tucumcari Mountain Cheese Factory.
Pat Vanderpool, the EDC’s executive director, also mentioned the EDC’s involvement in workforce development and in regional economic development planning with Guadalupe, DeBaca and Torrance counties, as well as Quay County.
• Decided the city will not take possession of Tucumcari’s National Guard Armory. The National Guard had offered the building to the city, but commissioners decided the city’s budget could not support the cost of roof repairs and other improvements.
• Added 30 days to the deadline for Consensus Planning, an Albuquerque landscape architecture firm, to design improvements in the downtown area under a $50,000 Metropolitan Redevelopment Area grant from New Mexico MainStreet. Curb and drainage improvements were added to the design duties, City Manager Jared Langenegger said, making the 30-day extension necessary. The new deadline is June 30.
• Named District 5 Commissioner Todd Duplantis as the commission’s liaison to the city’s library board and planning and zoning board.
— Compiled by Correspondent Steve Hansen