By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton City Commissioners met Tuesday evening June 25, and heard from Raton Police Chief John Garcia for a department report then took care of other city business.
Commissioners heard from Jerald Kimble and Jerri Brackett about noise in Raton. Kimble said he had complained about loud noise in south Raton on State and Brilliant Streets. Brackett complained about a motorcycle with loud pipes that starts up every morning about 6:00 a.m. waking up the whole neighborhood. Berry noted the problem with the noise ordinance is proving how loud or at what decibel level the noise is. The Municipal Judge has thrown out noise citations since the officer couldn’t prove how loud the noise was.
Chief John Garcia prefaced his report noting that the officers cannot be a victim of the noise therefore the reporting party needs to be the one to come to court, however the judge wants to know just how loud the noise is. Garcia went on with his report noting that Safe Wise announced that Raton was the #2 safest city in New Mexico. Garcia also noted that while serious crime is down in Raton that there hasn’t been a murder in the city in the last three years but Aggravated Assault was on the way to be below last year’s record high of 68. Other crimes are on the decrease and DWI arrests are on track to beat last year. The same is true for narcotics cases too.
Garcia also noted that the department is down three officers as well as two dispatchers. There may also be a change in the school resource officer. The department will also be in need of replacement vehicles and the dispatch center upgrades are in the works with new equipment and radios.
Commissioners heard about a request for rezoning a tract of land near the old race track from a mobile home subdivision to a residential zone. The request was tabled until the city could have another public hearing on the matter. (Link to Woodrow Rezoning request)
Commissioners also approved the MOU between the Colfax Senior Citizens and the city of Raton. The MOU is necessary since the senior center is a city owned building.
Commissioners approved the street closure for the VFW Street Dance on the 4thof July. They also approved the Lodger’s Tax advisory board recommendations for the Gate City Music Festival for $13,655 for advertising, KBKZ/KCRT for $5,632.20 for advertising and KRTN for $7,254.14 for advertising.
Envision IT Solutions was awarded an IT services contract to help the city with their IT issues. The agreement is to upgrade city equipment and provide protection for data. Envision IT also provides services for other New Mexico municipalities.
The city had requested $150,000 for street improvements from the NMDOT for repaving project on Kearney Ave. NMDOT however only provided $50,000 so city manager Scott Berry said we will repurpose the money and do chip sealing and crack sealing on several streets in town. (Link to Street Projects)
The MAP Project which NMDOT provided $190,167 of the $253,556 project will be used for pavement rehab, construction, drainage and miscellaneous improvements.
Commissioners approved extending a New Mexico Environment Department grant subsidy that the city has spent about $170,000 of the $250,000 loan. The $80,000 will run out in August 2019 and the city wants to extend it a year to August 2020. The money is being used for the transfer station construction.
Commissioners heard from City Treasurer Michael Ann Antonucci about the May 2019 financial report and Budget Adjustment #18 for FY19. The GRT is once again below budget projection by 4.35%. Antonucci noted that the small cities assistance was enough to cover the shortfall this year. Also, city expenses are below budget. The budget adjustments are mostly line item changes to help close out the end of the fiscal year. (Link to Financial Report May 2019) ( Link to Budget Adjustment #18)
Commissioners also approved writing off bad checks that were either uncollectable or so small they are not worth taking the individuals to court to collect.
Berry noted in his report that the city will be submitting documents to FAA and state aviation for projects at the airport. He will be attending the NE regionals planning meeting for NMDOT to express the city’s concerns about Second Street.
Commissioners will meet again on July 9, for their next regular meeting and may have a quorum at the economic development presentation by Better City LLC June 27, at the Raton Convention Center.
