5-mile water line receives first approval

QCS Managing Editor

The Tucumcari City Commission Thursday gave preliminary approval to a $2.2 million expenditure of state finance authority grant funds to build a five-mile water transmission line from wells at Five Mile Park into the city’s drinking water system.

The new line will replace an older transmission line and provide greater capacity than the existing line, Community Development Director Vicki Strand told the commission.

City officials have been working for over a year to secure the grant from the state’s Water Trust Board.

The ordinance authorizing the expenditure received a first reading on Thursday. It still faces a public hearing and approval on a second reading before it is enacted.

The commission also approved resolutions that will result in improvements on Whitmore Avenue from Park Street to U.S. 54 and Lake Street from Main Street to Hancock Avenue.

The Whitmore project will include resurfacing, drainage improvements, new sidewalks and traffic controls. The cost of the project is $290,000, with more than $217,500 coming from the state department of transportation, and $72,500 coming from the city, mostly in the form of “in-kind” contributions that include labor.

The Lake Street project will consist of installing “chip seal” pavement on the roadway, which is a less expensive paving material than asphalt, according to Ralph Lopez, a grant writer with the city’s community development department. The cost of the project is $44,980, with the state department of transportation picking up $33,735 in costs and the city providing the remaining $11,245 through in-kind contributions.

The commission also approved engineering contracts with Forsgren Engineering of Albuquerque for engineering work on both projects. The Whitmore Avenue project’s engineering will cost $63,200. The Lake Street project’s engineering will cost $4,400.

The commission also gave preliminary approval to an ordinance adding synthetic marijuana products to the list of illicit drugs that can be neither sold or possessed in the city. Such “synthetic cannibanoids” are often sold as “potpourri,” “incense,” and “bath salts.”

In addition, the commission gave preliminary approval to a franchise agreement with the Southwest Public Service Co., owned by Xcel Energy, which continues to give Southwest the exclusive right to sell electricity services in the city. The franchise agreement, as the existing agreement does, would be valid for 25 years.

The commission also passed resolutions declaring the week of Sept. 17 to Sept. 23 as Constitution Week in the city and declaring the month of September as KENW Public Broadcasting Month. KENW, based at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, provides public broadcast programming over the air to Quay County.