Nuisance ordinance showdown postponed

A showdown over parts of Tucumcari’s nuisance ordinance was at least postponed Thursday as the Tucumcari City Commission tabled a public hearing and final vote on eliminating language involving mesquite and dangerous buildings.

Without detail, the proposed changes also include repealing of “conflicting prior ordinances” and “all ordinances or parts of ordinances previously enacted and in conflict” with the current nuisance ordinance.

The ordinance was given a first reading on June 10.

District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya, who proposed the changes, said Thursdayhe wanted to delay the changes, because suspending the ordinance would deny the city the authority to deal with abandoned vehicles.

In addition, he said, he does not want “people without engineering degrees licenses condemning buildings.”

The changes that were postponed would eliminate the term and the definition of “mesquite” from the ordinance’s definitions of terms, eliminate “mesquite bushes” from a list of prohibited “items, conditions or actions,” and eliminate the current ordinance’s outlawing of maintaining or allowing continued existence of dangerous buildings.

Language under challenge makes unlawful “failure to repair, remodel or renovate” a dangerous building, permitting a building to remain dangerous, and either occupying or permitting occupancy of a dangerous building.

The challenged language defines “mesquite” as "the untended growth of mesquite bushes,” which are described as “naturally suited to grow to extremely high levels in density and number if left unchecked.”

The definition makes an exception for “mesquite bushes which are cultivated or tended in such a fashion as to exhibit the natural beauty and uniqueness of the bush.”

Moya asked the commission to schedule a work session for more study of the ordinance, and Aug. 12, the date of the commission’s first regular meeting of the month, was chosen for discussion of the nuisance ordinance.

The nuisance ordinance has been a source of friction since it was passed in July 2016. Moya tried to scuttle the ordinance before it was passed over his “no” vote.

Moya has since expressed his support of the ordinance but has complained often that its enforcement seems unfair to many who have received notifications of non-compliance when some city properties are in poor condition.

The nuisance ordinance was the center of Tucumcari business owner Keith Hayes’ unsuccessful attempt to recall three of the four commissioners in 2017. After receiving notice that some of his construction company’s properties were not in compliance with the nuisance ordinance, Hayes obtained petition forms and collected enough signatures to command a recall election for three of the four sitting commissioners.

All three commissioners subjected to that recall election retained their seats, including Moya, Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield in District 3 and then-District 2 Commissioner Amy Gutierrez.

In other matters that came before the commission at Thursday’s meeting:

• The commission officially named Deputy Police Chief Pete Rivera the interim police chief. David Lathrom resigned the post, effective Wednesday.

• A re-opening plan for the Tucumcari Senior Citizen Center received commission approval. Director Clara Rey said the center should allow seniors to gather for meals on Aug. 2 but with strict COVID-19 restrictions in place, including masking while not eating, leaving immediately after the meal and sanitation routines. Ride services allowing more than one passenger should resume on that date as well, she said, but only for fully vaccinated seniors. Other facilities in the center should open Sept. 7.

• The commission approved an agreement for about $287,000 in engineering services for wastewater system infrastructure improvements on the east side of the city, including a new lift station near the KOA Campground near the city’s easternmost exit from Interstate 40 and evaluation and replacement of sewer lines between the lift station and the intersection of Hancock Avenue and Park Street. Damage to the system in that area could be harmful to the city’s wastewater treatment plant, City Manager Mark Martinez said. Funding for the project comes in part from a $300,000 New Mexico State Legislature Grant.

• Contracts for design and construction of runway improvements at Tucumcari Municipal Airport received approval. The total cost of the improvements is $528,000, of which $475,281 is in Federal Aviation Administration funds, with the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the city contributing shares of $52,809 each for the remainder.

• The commission appointed Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield to represent the city on the Eastern Plains Council of Governments, with District 4 Commissioner Christopher Arias as alternate. The commission approved payment of EPCOG annual dues of $1,878.

• In his city manager’s report Martinez said last week’s wind and rain caused flooding and downed branches at the Tucumcari Memorial Park Cemetery, which were cleared by Park Department crews, as well as mosquito problems. The city will spray for mosquitoes when conditions are right, he said.