Annual ICIP OK'd

The next Tucumcari city commissioner from District 4 will be appointed from applicants for the position, the Tucumcari City Commission decided Thursday.

The appointee will serve out the remaining two years of a four-year term left vacant with the death July 17 of District 4 Commissioner Robert Lumpkin.

Commissioners agreed the city’s current tight finances made a special election, estimated to cost more than $5,000, undesirable.

The commission also approved its annual Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP).

The plan serves as the basis for requests for capital outlay funds from the New Mexico Legislature and qualifies the city for many state-funded grants.

The city’s top five priority projects in the ICIP include:

n The reuse water project for wastewater. This project will include the purchase of land that will be irrigated with treated water from the city’s wastewater treatment plant . The watering will allow the city to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that prohibit dumping of treated wastewater into streams. The city plans to request $2.6 million for this project for use in 2020, $2 million for use in 2021 and $1 million for use in 2022, according to a city government spreadsheet. The project’s total cost is about $5 million.

n The Second Street rehabilitation project. This project will include repaving Second Street from Railroad Avenue to Historic Route 66 Boulevard, as well as sidewalk improvements and replacing concrete roadbed in downtown. The city plans to request $500,000 in each of 2020 and 2021, and $475,000 in each of 2023 and 2024 to fund the $2.9 million project, according to the spreadsheet. The city already has funded more than $500,000 of this project.

n Waterline replacement in the Aber Addition on the city’s northeast side. The city plans to seek $500,000 for use in 2020 to finance this project.

n East Route 66 wastewater system improvements. The city plans to seek $500,000 for use in 2020, $550,000 for 2021 and more than $136,000 for 2022 to finance the remainder of this $1.6 million project. The city has accumulated $413,000 toward the cost of the improvements.

n Water-tank rehabilitation and replacement at various locations. The city plans to seek $1.1 million each year from 2020 to 2024 to finance this $5.5 million project. The city has not raised any money for this project, according to the spreadsheet.

The commission also decided to seek extensions on grants for two road projects from the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Ralph Lopez, project manager for the city’s community development department, said bids for work on the projects exceeded 10 percent of estimated cost, which will delay work on the projects.

The commission approved logos designed by Griffin and Associates, an Albuquerque marketing firm, for the city. Griffin is developing a marketing plan for the city under a $50,000 contract.

Lodgers’ Tax Committee chairman David Brenner presented the logos and said they would be used in advertising to promote the city to tourists.

The commission also appointed Vicky Ann Maestes to the city’s library board and named Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield as the commission’s liaison with the lodgers’ tax board.

City Manager Britt Lusk announced the city conducted spraying for mosquito abatement last week.

He also announced the city is opening Coronado Park for residents who want to dump tree limbs and greenwaste from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday in response to damage from heavy winds during an Aug. 17 storm.