Quay County Sun - Serving the High Plains

The Tucumcari City Commission is one meeting away from approving a donation of three baseball and softball diamonds to the Tucumcari Municipal Schools district after preliminarily approving the agreement Thursday.

Three fields would be given to the district, including the diamond used for high-school boys baseball and two diamonds used for girls softball games.

The Little League fields to the southwest of those diamonds will remain city property. The school district plans to build new baseball and softball fields, and add parking and a building that would host a kitchen and restrooms on the site.

The resolution approved Thursday for preliminary approval is one of the last steps to finalizing the agreement, which is expected at the commission’s Feb. 25 meeting.

The commission also approved planning and engineering for repairs and improvements to a runway at Tucumcari Municipal Airport.

The commission approved the $56,717.56 design phase unanimously. The city will pay 5% of the cost, estimated at about $3,000. The rest is paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration (90%) and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (5%).

Also approved was a liquor license for Tucumcari’s Allsup’s Convenience Store to the store’s new owner, B&W Gas and Convenience based in Beverly, Massachusetts. Yesway, a convenience store brand owned by B&W Gas and Convenience, purchased all of the stores in the Allsup’s chain, based in Clovis, in November 2019.

Tony Aragon, a Tucumcari resident, appealed to the commission for permission to plant trees at the cemetery to replace trees killed by bark beetle infestations and at a corner of the cemetery that has no trees. Aragon said he seeks to shelter graves of family members.

Commissioners said they would put the matter on a work session agenda before the commission’s Feb. 25 meeting.

Other matters the commission discussed Thursday included:

• An examination of the city’s response to a 2017 evaluation of Tucumcari Police Department practices and policies. District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya said there never was a follow-up on the 2017 report, and he said he does not think the police department has taken action on the recommendations. Moya asked the matter be taken up at work session.

• A re-opening of the Tucumcari Public Library, the Tucumcari Historical Museum and possibly the city’s Route 66 museum with Quay County’s upgrading to yellow level from red level, reflecting improvements in COVID-19 incidence and rate of positive test results, City Manager Mark Martinez said. The yellow level eases restrictions imposed at the red level, allowing for the re-openings with limits on occupancy and continuing masking and other precautions.

• A meeting with newly elected U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez in which she said the city and its businesses may be eligible for up to $1 million in additional COVID-19 relief aid, Martinez said.

• A visit from an independent film crew shooting movie scenes in Tucumcari. Martinez said police, fire and ambulance crews ensured safety at the shooting locales, and the crew said they were impressed with the city’s welcome, Martinez said.

• Moya and District 2 Commissioner Paul Villanueva said they had received calls from residents complaining about illegal trash dumping and asked for increased police patrols to prevent it.