Crash leaves city with two ambulances

The City of Tucumcari is down to two operating ambulances after one was totaled last month in an accident, the city manager told commissioners during her regular report Thursday.

City manager Paula Chacon said the city’s insurer recently declared the ambulance a total loss after the Aug. 11 accident on Interstate 40 near the Texas border. She said the insurer would give a settlement of $38,000, plus salvage costs, on the 2016 model.

Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Moya, who presided over the meeting in place of absent mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield, said an estimated cost of $300,000 for a new ambulance was “a hardship” to residents.

He said he hoped the city would be able to transfer some of the ambulance’s equipment to lessen the price tag.

Later during the meeting, Chacon said two other ambulances were at least temporarily unavailable. One was awaiting work at Jack’s Truck Repair, and other was being re-lettered at a shop in Texico.

Prospects of when those tasks would be completed were uncertain, Chacon said after the meeting.

In the meantime, Chacon said one ambulance would be within city limits at all times. She said if both were out on other calls, other ambulances from Logan or San Jon could be dispatched.

About a year ago, a crash with a sheriff’s vehicle totaled the city’s only well-working ambulance. Three other ambulances were out of commission at the time.

The city scheduled an emergency meeting two days later to approve a proposal to buy a new, demonstration-model ambulance with a disbursement of funds from the state’s finance authority.

Other items from the city manager’s report:

• Chacon said an exit conference with Axiom CPAs and Business Advisors of Albuquerque for the fiscal year 2021 audit had been delayed due to the company’s error. She said the firm had requested data during the Labor Day holiday weekend that the city could not fulfill in time for the exit conference. The city’s audit is more than nine months late.

Chacon said once that audit is finished, the firm will make completing the FY2022 audit “a priority” by Dec. 1. The usual deadline to submit an audit to the state is Dec. 15.

Chacon said the firm would not add a finding to its report because of the error. Moya, irritated by the firm’s error, said the city ought to consider looking at its contract with firm “more closely.”

• Chacon said she has ordered additional speed-limit and “Children Playing” signs for South Fourth and Fifth streets to slow motorists there. She also said officers from the Quay County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police would add patrols. Several residents have complained about speeding on those streets.

• Chacon said she has scheduled meetings to streamline reconnections to the city’s water service for new homeowners. She said she would work with abstract companies so a home’s water could be restored at a home’s closing. A local real-estate agent said at an earlier meeting that reconnecting to city water was too slow.

• Chacon said the city’s mosquito spraying truck was down due to problems with its tank, and she was examining repair options for it. She said the truck hadn’t been used since 2020.

• Chacon said an animal control officer was “working to get control of the number of animals” at a residence on Barnes Avenue. A resident on that street at a previous meeting said the neighbor had 12 dogs, including one that had killed two other canines, which made her afraid to let her grandchildren play in her front yard.

• Chacon said she had hired a contractor to work on outstanding balances for the city’s EMS service. Moya previously had expressed alarm about the balances ballooning from about $80,000 to more than $300,000.

• Chacon said the city had received almost $1 million in state funding for the Aber Addition. She said the city would apply for a waiver on its $50,000 cost-share on the road project.

• Chacon said she had placed advertisements for openings on the city’s cemetery board, with no takers so far. The deadline to apply is Sept. 16. At least one commissioner said he knew of someone who would apply.

• Chacon said construction on the water tank project on South 11th Street had begun, and parts have yet to arrive for the Hoover Tank project.

Action items

• Commissioners approved a sewer cleaner truck with a vacuum system from Pete’s Equipment Repair of Albuquerque for $338,285.81. Assistant city manager Mark Martinez said the current truck was old and had mechanical issues, including a rusty tank. He said money for the purchase was available from the city’s water fund, and the truck can be used for some street pothole repairs.

• Commissioners approved the appointment of Michael Carlson, owner of Carlson Coffee Co. and CarlsonWay Farm, to the lodgers tax advisory board. The other applicant was past board chairman David Brenner, owner of the Roadrunner Lodge Motel.

• Commissioners approved the use of executive lodgers tax funds for renovations and repairs to the Tucumcari / Quay County Chamber of Commerce building. (See other story in this edition.)

• Commissioners approved changes to city banking signatories, adding Chacon and Tucumcari Police Cpl. Justin Garcia.

• Moya read and presented a proclamation declaring Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week. That would be the 235th anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Gigi Parker, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution who accepted the proclamation, thanked the city for its support and distributed several booklets containing the Constitution’s text.

• In a consent agenda item, commissioners approved road closures for the Fired Up festival on Sept. 24.

Discussion

• During commissioner reports, Christopher Arias talked about the Ogallala Commons youth training program that encourages people to stay in the city. He said the cost is between $1,700 and $3,800 per trainee, but other area entities such as the county, Mesalands Community College and TableTop Cooperative might share costs.

Chacon said “it’s a pretty good program,” but she needed to do more research before recommending city participation. Arias said many students in Tucumcari want to stay in the area, but “they felt they had to leave to go make a living.” He said the program would provide more avenues for those students to stay.

• Commissioner Paul Villanueva said he received a complaint about weeds in the sidewalk at Rock Island Street and Tucumcari Boulevard. Chacon said the property owner is responsible for keeping the sidewalk clear. Moya said the matter should be referred to a code enforcer.

• Moya asked about the status of performing a regular audit on one or several of the city’s motels for the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board.

He also asked whether an appraisal of city-owned land in the 600 block of East Maple had been accomplished. Moya suggested the city ought to sell its excess land.

• During public comments, Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corp. director Patrick Vanderpool said he likely would request a work session with commissioners to discuss state LEDA grants and other incentives to attract prospective businesses. He said there also may be a chance to establish an opportunity enterprise fund in the city.