City resolves to rid town of dangerous properties

Three dilapidated houses and a collapsed building in the downtown area of Tucumcari are destined for leveling, the Tucumcari City Commission decided Thursday.

Owners must begin demolishing the buildings themselves within 15 days of receiving notice from the city, according the four resolutions the city the commission approved Thursday .

In addition, the owners of the offending properties must complete demolition or demonstrate progress toward demolition within 30 days after beginning the process, the resolutions say. Otherwise, the city will do it for them and where possible, require owners to pay for the work.

The house locations are 423 W High St., 623 S. Second St. and 502 S. Fifth St. The former business building is located at 101 W. Main St.

Commissioners have discussed priority properties for demolition in public work sessions before regular meetings for the past month.

All have expressed hope that demolition of these properties will begin a process of ridding the city of abandoned houses and other unsightly, unused and dangerous properties in Tucumcari.

There are dozens of such properties scattered throughout the city, and what to do about them has been discussed and debated in commission meetings and election campaigns within the past 10 years.

In other action, the commission:

• Approved a five-year contract with Axon, a Scottsdale, Ariz., firm for remote computer (“cloud”) storage of data from body cameras that will be provided to Tucumcari police officers. Police Chief David Lathrom said the company will provide the cameras free with the cloud contract. The advantage of storing video from body cameras on the cloud, he said, is that evidence cannot be manipulated if officers do not have access to it. The contract cost is $28,530 over five years at $5,700 per year.

• Authorized an application for $2.9 million in New Mexico Water Trust Board financing to cover cost of higher-capacity water lines to accommodate business growth in the area of Mountain Road and Interstate 40. The funding would include $1.7 million from the Water Trust Board, matched by a $1.16 million no-interest loan to the city which would be paid back over 20 years at an annual expense of $290,000, Langenegger said.

• Approved a contract to install a new roof on the Princess Theater as a first step in reviving the historic theater on Main Street downtown. Restoring the theater is a key element of plans to spruce up the downtown area. The $65,585 contract was awarded to Commercial Roofing, LLC, of Albuquerque. Funding will come from the city’s $400,000 contingency fund, Langenegger said.

• Approved taking an option to buy property on which to re-use for irrigation water treated at the Tucumcari Wastewater Treatment plant. The property, located north of the treatment plant, will help the city comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules that prohibit treated water from re-entering streams.

• Approved $15,000 to $20,000 to purchase wall murals, provided the city approves of a mural that artist Seamus Wray is painting on the wall of the Fire Department administration office on Center Street downtown. Wray is painting the first mural free of charge, Wray said.

• Heard a request from Daniel Zamora, president of the Tucumcari Disc Golf Association, for city workers to mow some deep grass areas of Tucumcari’s disc golf course at Five Mile Park in time for a state-wide disc golf tournament at the new course on Oct. 14-15. Volunteers have cleared grass and weeds around obstacles on the course, he said, and marked paths between holes marked by raised baskets and the next tee-off platforms.