Cannabis could work in Tucumcari's favor

Tucumcari could be poised to prosper from newly legalized marijuana, at least one city commissioner and City Manager Mark Martinez agree.

Two factors work in Tucumcari’s favor, District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya said Thursday during a regular Tucumcari City Commission meeting.

One is Tucumcari’s location near the Texas border. The other is its convenience to Interstate 40, Moya said.

As an owner of property on historic Route 66, Moya said he has received inquiries about possible retail locations for the sale of legalized cannabis. He said locations in downtown also may be attractive as retail cannabis dispensaries.

Martinez agreed about the potential benefit of legal cannabis sales to the city.

In addition, he said, “some people came down from Colorado two or three weeks ago looking for agricultural land and a place for a dispensary.”

He added, “It’s a good industry and legal.”

It is important, however, the city stay ahead on developments as the state sets up a regulatory, licensing and standards-setting infrastructure over the next year, Martinez said.

Locally, “there are multiple ordinances we would have to pass” along with “legalities and personnel concerns” to deal with, Martinez said.

Moya called for a work session among commissioners to begin discussion on what needs to be done.

“We should not procrastinate,” he said.

Also, at a public work session before the regular meeting Thursday, the commission heard a report on 2020's activities of Tucumcari MainStreet from Connie Loveland, its executive director.

Loveland highlighted Tucumcari MainStreet’s involvement in efforts to establish a brand for the city and promotional activities designed to attract tourism and businesses.

MainStreet has contributed more than $16,000 to the city’s branding efforts, about $9,700 of which is reserved to ensure downtown, its focus, receives particular attention, according to Loveland’s report.

Tucumcari MainStreet has also has assembled a new visitors guide for the city and a social media campaign.

Tucumcari MainStreet also is working with Leighton Moon, a public relations and advertising agency in Alamogordo, on promotional materials, Loveland reported.

Tucumcari MainStreet is conducting a study of zoning, nuisance and dangerous building laws, and code enforcement with a goal of better understanding of the regulations and improved building code enforcement. The $5,600 for this study is covered mostly by New Mexico MainStreet funds.

Downtown is plagued with abandoned properties and dilapidated buildings.

Other MainStreet activities include:

• Work on VFW Building Design Assistance, including volunteer work in cooperation with New Mexico MainStreet;

• Assuming responsibility for the Tucumcari Railroad Museum in the city’s historic rail depot;

• Helping distribute $5,000 in grants and donations to help downtown businesses adapt to COVID-19 restrictions;

• Receiving a state MainStreet Resiliency Award for continuing downtown redevelopment work during the pandemic.

In all, Loveland reported, Tucumcari MainStreet used $41,141 in MainStreet services.

In other matters, the city commission:

• Approved an agreement with Fusion IT, a services branch of Clovis-based Plateau, that Martinez said will help solve problems related to security of the city’s computerized services and allows the Tucumcari Police Department to maintain its own computers instead of borrowing them from the Quay County Sheriff’s Department.

The improved security will help the city avoid a repeated fault noted in recent financial audits from the state, city finance director Rachelle Arias noted. The professional services contract would call for the city to pay $3,500 per month, Fusion IT information services manager Stephen Rickman told the commission.

— Approved an agreement to develop a notice of intent for a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with CDM Smith, an Albuquerque engineering firm. CDM Smith’s water expert Robert Fowlie told the commission the plan would focus on removing pollutants from storm water before they damage the city’s wastewater treatment facility.

• Authorized the city to participate in an agreement that allows students in Clovis Community College’s emergency medical technician program to complete ride-along requirements in the program by working with Tucumcari Emergency Medical Services.

• Approved budget adjustments to be reported to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration that includes $46,327 in changes, due mostly to the city’s increased support for the “Bands of Enchantment” television series, and payments to the Quay County Detention Center..

• Learned from Martinez the city has gained access to broken-up paving materials, called millings, that can be used to fill potholes, but the city’s pothole repair machine breaks down frequently.

• Discussed a proposal from Tony Yabel, who wants to lease about 200 acres of city land along Interstate 40 near Tucumcari Municipal Airport to grow crops. Commissioners seemed to agree leasing the land would require a bidding process.

• Discussed the still-undetermined fate of a pontoon boat that had been parked and abandoned on a city street about four years ago and now is sitting on land the city is borrowing for that purpose. Commissioners agreed that issues related to holding the boat’s owner accountable for abandoning the craft, and disposing of the boat should be discussed in a work session.