City reaches shrine consensus

The Tucumcari City Commission reached a consensus in a public work session Thursday that shrines should not be allowed in the future at the Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery, but existing shrines will be allowed to stand unless they are damaged.

The ban on new shrines will be outlined in an ordinance, City Manager Britt Lusk said, and the city’s Cemetery Advisory Board will assemble the first draft of the ordinance and present it to the city commission at a later date.

Further, if shrines are damaged, Lusk said, they will be removed and placed in the cemetery’s office to be returned to families.

Thursday’s discussion was a continuation of deliberations at a Nov. 29 commission meeting on the issue of shrines. At that meeting, the commission learned the cemetery board had voted to recommend shrines no longer should be allowed.

District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya requested on Thursday the commission place an evaluation of Lusk on the agenda of a future special meeting and a make a discussion of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation (EDC) a subject of a future work session.

Lusk, he noted, has been the city manager for nine months “and we should have an evaluation,” he said.

On the economic development session, Lusk noted Patrick Vanderpool, the EDC’s executive director of the economic development corporation, is not a city employee.

Moya said the performance of the economic development corporation should be discussed anyway.

“We need to see if we’re getting our money’s worth” from economic development activities, he said.

The city allocates about $50,000 a year to fund the EDC.

In other action, the commission:

• Approved an agreement with the regional Non-Metro Agency on Aging that will fund $411,282.83 in meals for senior citizens through the Tucumcari Senior Citizens Center. Of that amount, about $91,400 is from federal sources, $160,267 from state sources and $55,000 from local funds.

• Approved design funds for two projects at the Tucumcari Municipal Airport. One would result in an “apron” off the runway that allows for loading and unloading of aircraft, along with a place to facilitate turning aircraft around. This project’s cost is estimated at $111,145. The other project is extending the building that houses the airport’s snow-removal and sweeping truck. The current building is not long enough to house the vehicle with attachments, project manager Ralph Lopez said. The cost of this project is $100,000. In both cases, 5 percent of the costs are in local funds, 5 percent in New Mexico Department of Transportation funding and 90 percent in Federal Aviation Administration funds.

• Approved a net of $39,466 in surplus funds in budget adjustments for January and February, reducing the budget for those two months to $2,518,538.

• Approved increasing the limit for the city government’s credit card to $10,000 from $5,000, in line with the city manager’s expense allowance. Moya voted against raising the limit to $10,000, saying it should be held to $7,000. Lusk and City Clerk Angelica Gray assured the commission they watch use of the card closely. The card is used for lodging and meals and other minor expenses when employees travel on city business.

• Granted a variance to allow Donald Best to build a car shelter that extends to the end of his property on Adams Street, beyond the 5-foot setback normally allowed.

In his city manager’s report, Lusk said the city was working on repairs and claims in the wake of high winds Wednesday.

Lusk also said the city will receive $250,000 in capital-outlay funds through the New Mexico Legislature. Capital-outlay funds are allocated to local projects from lists of priorities from each local government.

Mayor Pro Tem Todd Duplantis, District 5, said a group of citizens is ready to apply again for a Recycling and Illegal Dumping (RAID) grant from the New Mexico Environment Department to fund a tire-recycling facility in Tucumcari. Duplantis said the group would apply for about $300,000.

District 2 Commissioner Amy Gutierrez said she had heard some city employees had been told to clock out of work but were ordered to remain on the job, which Lusk said would be illegal. Lusk said he would look into the allegation.