City OKs engineering plan for Third, Fourth streets

Tucumcari doesn’t have the money to make improvements on Third and Fourth streets near downtown, but it approved an engineering pact so it can be ready when the funds arrive.

City commissioners during their meeting Thursday approved a $133,277.65 proposal from Stantec Consulting Services in Tucumcari to provide engineering services to eventually repair those streets.

The engineering would cover Third Street from Main to Aber, plus Fourth Street from Main to an alley between Aber and High.

The city received $319,000 in state capital outlay funds last year for street repairs.

Costs were too high for that, so city manager Paula Chacon said an engineering plan would make it “shovel ready” if the state awards money from its Transportation Fund later this year.

“It shows we’re proactive and trying to move forward,” she said.

Project manager Ralph Lopez said the state didn’t award the city money from its Transportation Fund last year, but he was hopeful it would in 2024 so that the work could be completed.

Both streets in that area are littered with potholes and crumbling asphalt.

Other action

— Commissioners approved a change order for street and water-line improvements in the Aber Addition that would save $2,500 in state funds.

The measure was approved with a stipulation proposed by Commissioner Jerry Lopez that the locations be corrected. It states the work will be done in the 1100 and 1200 blocks of East Laughlin Avenue. The actual site is in the 1000 and 1100 blocks. Project manager Lopez acknowledged an error in the document.

— Commissioners approved a loan agreement and promissory note for the wastewater reuse project.

The deal includes a $1.4 million no-interest loan and a $1.81 million grant from the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund to pipe treated wastewater to vacant land north of town so the city can comply with federal environmental regulations.

Chacon said the city is rebidding the first two phases of the project because costs came in 30% higher than expected. By packaging both phases, she said she hoped it would generate cost savings.

— Commissioners tabled approval of a $20,000 change order to renew a 20-year permit for the landfill.

Chacon said Parkhill engineers were unable to use five-year, state-approved plans prepared by other in 2015. She assumed the plans couldn’t be used because of changes in regulations.

She said the application must be submitted by May so the permit could go into effect before the current permit expires in 2025.

Commissioner Renee Hayoz said she wanted Parkhill representatives to talk about the changes.

— Commissioners approved the appointment of Hayoz to the C.W. & Dee McMullen Community Foundation committee after she volunteered to serve on it.

Committee member Edward Perea resigned from the committee after moving from the area. The foundation awards grants to a variety of nonprofit agencies each year.

Commissioner comments

During commissioner reports, Lopez said he wanted a work session to toughen nuisance ordinances on derelict properties because of an influx of tourists that will arrive in 2026 during Route 66’s centennial.

Lopez said several abandoned motels along the city’s Route 66 corridor have become eyesores.

“The whole community looks terrible,” he said. “It’s embarrassing.”

Mayor Mike Cherry agreed: “We have ordinances and policies. We need to follow them.”

Cherry suggested liens be placed against owners of derelict properties who failed to clean them up.

Police Chief Patti Lopez said the derelict motels belong to out-of-state owners.

Chacon suggested devoting at least one work session a month to re-examining ordinances.

Chacon said she also was consulting with Paws & Claws Animal Rescue of Quay County on amending animal ordinances.

— Responding to questions from Lopez, Chacon and City Clerk Angelica Gray said they were committed to reopening the city pool by May 1. It would be the first time the pool had been open to the public since 2019.

The city last year received a state recreation grant of more than $200,000 to repair the pool. Chacon said among the items she will buy include a handicapped chair, pool cover and chlorination system.

— Responding to questions from Commissioner CJ Oglesby, Chacon said some funds from a $2 million state recreation grant would be used for asbestos abatement at the Tucumcari Recreation Center.

— Hayoz, an administrator for the Quay County Family Health Center, said her clinic would schedule a date at City Hall to offer free flu shots to city employees.

— Hayoz passed along concerns about a lot between Circle K and Donut Pro that contains tall weeds and an apparently abandoned vehicle.

— Commissioner Jonathan Brito said the library was organizing a Dr. Seuss birthday party at the county fairgrounds on March 2. He said the library seeks vendors for the event.

— Cherry praised the water department that “worked through adversity” in recent weeks. Department workers had been busy repairing several main leaks.

Public comment

During public comments, Anthony Kent said he wanted some sort of memorial or acknowledgement to late Tucumcari native Alice Faye Kent Hoppes, a key civil rights activist in New Mexico.

Hoppes, born in Tucumcari in 1939, died in 2003 of cancer at age 64. She served on the African American Affairs Office under Gov. Bill Richardson and was president of the NAACP chapter in Albuquerque.

Kent said Tucumcari’s north side once contained a substantial Black community. He said he had wanted a memorial to her at Sands Dorsey Park.

“There’s nothing in this town that acknowledges her name,” he said.

— Haley Place praised the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement for a recent drug bust that confiscated about 5,000 fentanyl pills.

“We have mothers not losing their kids because of this,” he said.

Manager’s report

During her city manager’s report, Chacon said was examining an option to hire an engineering firm as a city grant writer.

She said the city has budgeted the position since 2017 but officials inexplicably didn’t pursue hiring one for years. She said in one case, the city received no qualified applicants.

Chacon said because of an engineering firm’s experience, hiring it as a grant writer might be the best use for the $41,600 in budgeted funds.

— Chacon said a program compatibility problem in updating the city’s visitor guides had been resolved, and they would be printed soon.

Work session

Commissioners spent more time discussing possible updates to its personnel policy with Chacon and human resources director Jacob Thurman.

Hayoz, noting employees are required to give 30 minutes’ notice for an absence, wanted that increased to an hour. Other commissioners agreed with that.

Commissioners also discussed how to deal with pension payments for employees who work during holidays and liability regarding non-employees riding in city vehicles.

Chacon said she would email policy changes to commissioners so they could hold a first reading of it at their February meeting or hold another work session.

— Police Chief Lopez said she found an Arizona grant writer specializing in rural communities who could obtain a grant up to $131,000 to help buy laptops and software for the police department.