A near full- house and a full agenda greeted the Raton City Commission for their Tuesday, April 13 regular meeting, and the Commission took action on several items with far-reaching implications for Raton’s future.
The Commission unanimously committed to a loan agreement of $1,350,000 to Raton Public Service Company for a partial settlement for the buyout of the contract of Twin Eagle Resource Managment. Twin Eagle had earlier sought to sell the RPS contract to a third party and the RPS Board thought it was in the best interest of the City to terminate the agreement prior to its expiration. After negotiations and litigation, a total buyout of 2.7 million was agreed upon. The 1.3 million loan from the city is to be repaid in five years, and coupled with $350,000 from RPS funds will satisfy the agreement. City Manager Scott Berry noted that the NM Finance Authority would not finance the loan and borrowing from a private institution, made the interest rate charged prohibitive. Board President Kathy McQueary noted that the RFP for a new power provider for the city went out earlier on Tuesday to 8 different providers and they are confident that they will find a a source that will save money for Raton ratepayers.
Mayor Neil Segotta said after the vote of approval, that it “does make me nervous about taking such a big chunk out of the general fund, but in the long term it will help ratepayers.”
The City was recently awarded $700,000 by the state in Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) funds for construction of a building for the purpose of economic development. The city issued a Request for Proposals for commercial/business occupancy of a new construct-to-suit building facility for economic development and community service purposes, and received one proposal from Ramel Farms, LLC. The proposal is to develop steel frame commercial greenhouses for the production of fruit, vegetables and greens in a manner that is environmentally sustainable and would allow for year-round crop production in the City’s Armex Building.
Kayvan Khalatbari represented Ramel Farms and addressed the commission saying that they would also use some of their own money in bringing the agriculture-based business on line that would eventually include sub-tenants and possible offshoots of compost, brewing, hemp production and also farming of protein-rich crickets….millions of crickets… that are measured not in numbers, but pounds. It might include a wide range of products, such as baking flour developed from crickets and other protein-rich edibles. Ramel Farms also are looking at purchasing the old Santa Fe Trail Traders building and are looking at other properties in Raton. Khalatbari said that it is realistic to expect from 20 to 30 jobs to begin with and these would be good jobs, with full benefits and a wage from 18 to 25 dollars an hour.
The Commission unanimously approved the RFP award for the construct-to-suit building for community economic development and will introduce an ordinance at the May 11 meeting to approve and adopt the agreement with Ramel Farms, LLC.
Geoff Petersen and James Dingwall gave a presentation on a proposal for the NENM Education Foundation dba Center for Community Innovation, on an economic development and business support system called SkillSharp. Directed at business owners, the suite includes Udemy for Business, Cell-Ed for entry level workers and Typsy a resource for the front-line workers in restaurants and hotels which is launching in May.
Petersen said the Center is trying to fill the void of workforce training and development, as the state’s work force development office closed in Raton and Petersen he has tried to rekindle interest with the state, but they have not committed anything and “we’re kind of on our own.”
The Center was asking for a commitment of $1,500 per month from both the city’s of Trinidad and Raton. The commission voted to delay action until the April 23, meeting and Petersen said they are hoping for a July launch.
In other action the Commission approved using settlement funds from the VW Mitigation Trust Fund and the NM Environment Department and a 33% City match to award CCGI Holdings dba Blink as the low bidder for the construction of two commercial grade dual port pedestal mount electric charging stations at a cost of $13,982.30. The stations will be put at the north end of the multi-modal park on First Street.
The Commission also agreed to commit 10% of a total cost estimated at 1.6 million for a project to improve the frontage road between the Clayton Road (Hiway 64) and Hiway 72. City Manager Berry said projections are for up to as much as 30% more traffic in the next few years, and this will help attract businesses along the frontage road. Commissioner Lori Chatterly made a motion for the 10% match, up from an original 5%, saying it just makes sense with Hiway 72 road to Sugarite is not going to be getting any attention for the next few years as the I-25/Hiway 64 interchange is the next big project.
During his report, City Manager Scott Berry spoke highly of the Ramel Family Farms saying that they not only create jobs, but create a culture of entrepreneurship. Berry also announced that Jessica Barfield has resigned as the City’s Economic Development Director, effective at the end of April. “She’ll be hard to replace…she brought results.”
The Commission also approved an FAA grant totaling $304,832 for runway rehab at the Crews Field Airport on runways 2-20 and 7-25. The city’s match is $15,242.
The next meeting will be on April 27 at 6 pm and will be broadcast on KRTN AM 1490.
