County to receive money for road improvements

Quay County's road superintendent told county commissioners Monday it will receive $1.5 million from the state to make safety improvements to the intersection of U.S. 54 and Airport Road northeast of Tucumcari.

Road superintendent Larry Moore said the design for the troublesome crossroads would be finished later this year, and bids would be let during the winter.

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2022.

Moore said improvements would include turn lanes, plus extra lanes for accelerating and decelerating.

The intersection has become more accident-prone in recent years, partly because navigation systems offer Airport Road, aka Quay Road AI, as a shortcut to and from Interstate 40 for many motorists. A Quay County Sun count of vehicles during a weekday in March 2020 showed Airport Road south of U.S. 54 had six times more traffic than north of the highway.

Former commissioner Sue Dowell repeatedly pleaded with local and state officials to improve the intersection, citing residents' complaints about accidents or close calls there.

One of the commissioners said Monday the state next ought to set its sights on safety improvements at U.S. 54 and Mine Canyon Road, also northeast of Tucumcari.

Moore also reported the State Historic Preservation Office on July 26 approved a proposed construction of a new bridge on old Route 66 between San Jon and Endee after months of delays.

Wayland Oliver, project engineer from Stantech, said he hoped to get a copy of a signed easement from a landowner near the bridge this week, which was one of the last obstacles for the project. Oliver said after the meeting he didn't know when bids would be let for the bridge.

The county would replace Bridge No. 1625 over Trujillo Creek with an adjacent low-water bridge. The 1931 timber bridge would be bypassed and barricaded but left standing for the enjoyment of Route 66 travelers. The county in 2019 received a state grant of $3 million to build a new bridge there.

In other business from Monday's meeting:

• County manager Daniel Zamora, speaking on behalf of absent county treasurer Patsy Gresham, said the annual auction for properties for unpaid taxes would be Sept. 16. Gresham stated in a letter the county had collected more than 96% of its 2020 taxes by the end of July and almost 99% over the past 10 years.

"We collected $109,000 in taxes, including significant delinquent taxes, from 2 taxpayers," Gresham wrote. "We have collected delinquent taxes on several mobile homes - some as far back as 10 years. ... I have worked individually with two significantly delinquent taxpayers to collect all taxes due for one, removing the property from the State's Auction List, and most taxes due for the other. This second taxpayer paid enough to avoid reverting their commercial Property to the State."

• The commission approved amendments with Securus Technologies and Summit Food Service contracts for the Quay County Detention Center. Securus is converting to a newer booking system at no cost to the county. The Summit pact reflects its participation in a statewide pricing agreement.

• The commission approved two resolutions presented by Finance Director Cheryl Simpson that reflected a $863.67 payment that arrived July 1 but was posted in June. It affected the fourth-quarter financial report for fiscal-year 2021 and the fiscal-year 2022 final budget.

The commission also approved a $100,000 loan agreement for the Bard-Endee Fire Department to buy a wildlands firetruck.

• The commission went into closed executive session to discuss threatened of pending litigation, personnel matters and real-estate matters.