Two eyesores draw no takers

The Quay County Treasurer's Office last week held its biggest auction in at least a decade for tax-delinquent properties, selling more than one-third of those tracts.

What also was notable were two that didn't sell - both commercial properties that have deteriorated into eyesores in Tucumcari.

County treasurer Patsy Gresham said Thursday said 20 tax-delinquent properties of the 58 on the block were sold during the June 14 auction.

She said that netted slightly more than $5,000 for the county, plus another $8,700 in interest, penalties and fees to the state.

Gresham said previous county tax auctions typically offered no more than 20 properties. She acknowledged the number offered this year was pent-up due to the lack of an auction in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even so, she said it was the biggest such auction in Quay County in more than 10 years in terms of number of tracts sold and the returns.

"We also sold a few properties for a bit higher than the opening bid. That's unusual," she said, adding those were in residential areas.

Gresham said a total of 69 properties originally were listed for sale, but taxes were paid on 11 of them shortly before the auction began.

One tract that didn't sell was the long-closed Tucumcari Truck Terminal property on the west edge of town, off Route 66. The 20.2-acre tract owned by Ortegas Shell Plaza Inc. came with a minimum bid of $96,600. It drew no takers.

Patrick Vanderpool of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corp., who has been trying to do something with the property for years, said the biggest issue with the defunct truck stop is contamination from above-ground fuel lines.

He said a recent inspection by the New Mexico Environment Department revealed there still were contaminants on the property, despite the fact it's been closed since at least the mid-1990s.

Vanderpool said a now-retired federal environmental official about a dozen years ago estimated it would take $4.5 million to clean up the property. Vanderpool said some contaminants may have evaporated over time, but recent inflation likely will make such a cleanup still expensive.

"You wouldn't want to assume the liability on that property," he said, noting the city has rejected the owner's offer to donate it for that very reason.

Vanderpool said it's likely the property will be high on a priority list in the late summer or fall for cleanup funds.

For now, the Tucumcari Truck Terminal attracts weeds and graffiti. The only other evidence of activity there is the occasional trucker who pulls to the edge of the parking lot to take a nap.

Another prominent property that didn't sell was the long-closed Hardee's restaurant on the southwest corner of First Street and Route 66. That had a minimum bid of $39,900. It is owned by Jim-O-Lette, a Texas corporation.

The building, which briefly became a fried-chicken restaurant after Hardee's closed there, at one point was put up for sale in 2004 after it shuttered for good.

The only activity now at the Hardee's are out-of-town peddlers selling souvenirs, honey, beef jerky and other items on the weekends, plus the occasional homeless person who camps out under the canopy.

Gresham said "it's a shame" those properties didn't sell to someone who can do something with them.

"Those properties are not on the tax rolls for all practical purposes, so the county is missing out on collecting taxes that should go to the entities for whom we collect taxes. It's too bad we can't make something happen with those commercial properties," she said.