By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton City Commissioners met Tuesday evening June 22, 2021 for their final regular meeting of June where they approved bids and renewed agreements.
Commissioners approved the event form for Run to Raton to be held July 22-25 on First Street.
Commissioners approved the renewal of contracts for billboards located around the area with Lamar and added the billboard with Linmark Outdoor Advertising for the billboard at the Armex complex. The billboard at the Armex will be used for directing traffic to downtown after the north exit is closed to southbound traffic. At that point the Highway 72 exit will be the first exit into town.
Commissioners approved amendment #1 for the annual renewal of the MOU with the Center for Community Innovation for the operation of the visitor’s center. The center has been open now for about three weeks and have already seen about 800 visitors so far. The center is operating with only 13 volunteers and is looking for more as they had 25 volunteers pre-covid.
After 32 years the Municipal League has requested an update to the Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Raton and the New Mexico Self Insurers’ fund.
Commissioners approved the contracts for solid waste tipping fees and transportation of the waste to the Arthur Regional Landfill/GGH Wagon Mound LLC. The tipping fee is $27.50 per 5000 tons. The only bid for transportation was Arthur Rolloff at a cost of $225 per load to get the waste to Wagon Mound. Raton sends one truck per day Monday thru Friday.
Commissioners approved the contract with Springer Electric to put three phase power into the armory at the airport. The cost will be $40,801 of which most will be for the 300 KVA transformer at $14,633. The kicker is the transformer is 22 to 26 weeks out for delivery.
Commissioners approved the contracts with Envision IT Solutions for IT services. The city portion will be $2589 per month with the police department being 2669 per month and Raton Fire Department at $1332 per month. Mayor Pro-Tem noted its less expensive to do it this way than to have to clean up a mess after something happens.
In the financial report commissioners heard that the city GRT is 2.07% below budget for May. City Treasurer Michael Anne Antonucci noted that the city has done a good job at holding expenses down and will delay payment on some expenses until the next fiscal year. Antonucci noted the gas tax revenue is up $10,000 over one year ago at $19,203 and that Lodger’s tax is beginning to see a rebound and is only 17% down from pre covid rates. (Link to May 2021 Financial Report)
Budget Adjustment #16 is mostly line-item changes to close out the fiscal year. Antonucci is expecting to have only one more adjustment to officially closeout the fiscal year. (Link to FY21 Budget Adjustment #16)
City Manager Scott Berry noted that after six years of work the Great Blocks project has come to a close. He noted it was the first one in New Mexico and the first one completed. The Aquatic Center is operational and will be fully open with no restrictions on July 1. The Senior Center window project is complete. Officials had the pre-construction conferences for the CDBG project in downtown Raton, the Depot and Whittier/Byron Street projects which will begin in late July.
Berry also noted in his report that the Ports to Plains economic impact study has been completed, all 250 or so pages, which will be posted on the city website. The study is just one step in extending I-27 further north. It is hoped that I-27 will be routed up through New Mexico rather than going through Oklahoma and into eastern Colorado.
The next regular city commission meeting will be held July 13, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. It is also noted that City Hall will be closed July 5, in observance of the July 4th holiday.
