Commissioners, officers discuss nuisance issues

In a wide-ranging discussion with Tucumcari city commissioners, the code enforcement officer and police chief acknowledged the nuisance ordinance needs changes to eliminate confusion and get tougher against scofflaws.

Code enforcement officer Maria Carmen Gonzalez and Police Chief Patti Lopez sat with commissioners during a work session Thursday to discuss nuisance issues.

Gonzalez said some owners and landlords don’t take responsibility for neglected properties.

“I have to write that citation before they clean that place,” she said.

Lopez said if a property owner is deceased and the estate hasn’t gone through probate, the city cannot cite the tenant if it becomes a problem.

As a result, some abandoned homes have become targets for squatters. Lopez said police have to obtain a search warrant to enter such homes and suggested the nuisance ordinance be reworded to address that.

Commissioner CJ Oglesby said a property at 623 S. Seventh St. is abandoned, but its owner pays taxes on it. He said state police have searched the house twice, thinking a shooting suspect was living there illegally.

Regarding the abandoned and weed-choked Tucumcari Inn motel, Lopez said city officials cannot find its actual owner. She said it is scheduled to go on the delinquent property tax rolls by June, when it likely will be auctioned.

Commissioners said the motel probably is occupied by squatters and is a fire hazard because of overgrown vegetation. The Tucumcari Inn, they said, also leaves a bad impression because it is among the first properties seen in the city by westbound Route 66 travelers.

Gonzalez said the city can send summonses only to individuals, not to companies that own properties.

“Absentee owners, I think that’s a big part (of the problem),” Mayor Mike Cherry said.

Other topics of discussion:

— Gonzalez said ordinances about trees growing into power lines and causing other problems are “too complicated to understand” and need revisions. Contrary to popular opinion, she said Xcel Energy will not trim those trees.

— Gonzalez said also contrary to popular opinion, homeowners are responsible for keeping weeds trimmed in their half of their alleys. She said tall weeds make it difficult for trash trucks to maneuver.

She also said city Dumpsters, especially on the north side, sometimes lack covers or bottoms.

— Gonzalez said 95% of property owners who receive a summons for a nuisance respond. As for the rest, “they’re not going to do it because the city doesn’t clean their properties.”

— Gonzalez said fines for nuisance violations begin at $100 and top out at $500. “Our fines are very, very low,” she said.

— Gonzalez said the City of Clovis has a program where violators have five days to comply. After that, city crews clean the property and send the bill to the property owner’s water bill.

— Gonzalez said she sent Clara Rey of the Tucumcari Senior Center a list of seven houses eligible for a new cleanup program for senior citizens having trouble maintaining their properties.

— Gonzalez and Lopez both said they have no training in zoning regulations, so they are ill-equipped to deal with problems such as businesses operating in residential areas.

Action items

— Commissioners approved $121,000 from New Mexico Tourism’s Route 66 Centennial Grant Program for the city’s wayfinding plan.

Tucumcari MainStreet executive director Connie Loveland said the contract had not been received, but the commission authorized Cherry to sign it when it arrives.

Loveland said funds will be used to make 26 new signs, 14 large arrival signs and eight large custom signs to help guide travelers to the city’s attractions and services. Leighton Moon of Alamogordo helped design the signs with input from residents.

Loveland said the state didn’t fund three informational kiosks and replacement signs. She said she was applying for a $61,000 grant from T-Mobile to cover that.

— Commissioners approved in principle a $58,000 contract with Gray Digital Media of Amarillo, affiliated with News Channel 10, to run the city’s tourism campaigns through June 2025.

Gray account executive John Echols and other city officials, noting the contract had arrived just before the meeting, saw an error the city attorney overlooked that stated the pact was one year instead of the correct nine months.

The commission authorized Cherry to sign the contract when a corrected version arrives.

— Commissioners approved a resolution to participate in the statewide beautification campaign.

The city had planned to participate Friday, but delayed it to Oct. 25 because of poor weather in the forecast. Assistant city manager Renee Hayoz said two members from each city department, or more than 40 people, are scheduled to participate.

Hayoz said city manager Paula Chacon suggested cleaning litter from the off-ramps of Interstate 40, behind Lowe’s Market and from land between Sonic and Trigg Memorial Hospital.

Commissioner CJ Oglesby recommended cleaning around the grounds of the Tucumcari Recreation Center. Thorne suggested cleaning Route 66 “for the lodgers we rely on so much.”

Comments

During public comments, Robert Carr said he almost was run over by a semi-tractor trailer going down Main Street and that it is “almost a hazard.”

“That road downtown isn’t made for trucks,” he said.

He said Main Street shouldn’t be used as U.S. 54, but a couple of commissioners pointed out it no longer is marked as such, routing traffic to South Mountain Road instead. Commissioners speculated Google Maps or other navigation software is directing certain truckers to Main Street.

— Jonna Stanger, manager of the Tucumcari Farmers Market, expressed her appreciation to the city for supplying portable bathrooms this season.

She said vendors endured “a challenging year” because of hail, heat and grasshoppers. But she said the market also experienced “amazing” attendance numbers.

— Al Patel extended a welcome to new commissioner Thorne and reiterated themes from a previous comment about prosperity, opportunity and the city needing to work together.

— In her manager’s report, Hayoz said letters will be enclosed in water bills to inform residents about federal compliance with copper and lead pipe regulations.