By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton City Commissioners met Tuesday evening, December 12th with a lengthy discussion on the MOU with the Raton Chamber of Commerce and how to fund the visitor’s center after tabling the animal control ordinance and before hearing the final capital outlay requests.
Before going into the MOU discussion Chamber President Dee Burks went over a few stats concerning the volunteers who have seen over 41,870 plus visitors the last two years (From Sept 2016 through Sept 2018). The volunteers have put in 6232 hours with a point of light value of $153,868. The five-member board has helped staff the Visitor’s Information Center (VIC) 30 hours a week for those two years at a cost of $75,551. That is a total of $229,419 that has come to the city in volunteer work at the VIC.
Of concern in the MOU are things like landscaping that some special master gardeners do but need the city crews help with to keep the VIC looking good for first impressions. Burks wants to see a paid staff member at the VIC to help cover when a volunteer needs a potty break or one isn’t available to work at that time and to have two people present to help handle situations. The concern here is that it needs to be the type of position that will be covered by Lodger’s Tax funds.
The other big concern is cleaning and maintenance issues and who is responsible for what costs. Burks came up with a bare minimum cost of about $2430 a month to staff and cover expenses on the VIC. The MOU will be a living document going forward so it will be easier to make changes as needs arise. Commissioners postponed a decision on the MOU until the next meeting so they could better digest some of the costs.
Commissioners approved the final draft for the Capital Outlay requests including the $1.5 million-dollar request from Raton Water Works for the Lake Maloya Dam project. The requests include downtown street improvements at $400,000, replacement of Police Department equipment at $200,000. Number three on the list is $300,000 for storm drain rehab and another $200,000 for public works equipment replacement. The final items on the request are for $500,000 for asphalt millings recycling and $250,000 for an airport hangar. (Link to Capital Outlay Requests)
The question about the Lake Maloya project is how to request the funds. Should they be requested along with the New Mexico Dam Safety Bureau or go to the legislature which could affect the other requests. Since water is so important the consensus was to work through the New Mexico Dam Safety Bureau but try to get our state senators and legislators on board with the request. Commissioners also feel this project can’t be piecemealed together and that it needs to be fully funded. It is also noted that this is a fully construction ready project that the Raton Water Works Board has already paid for the design work to be done. (Link to Lake Maloya Capital Outlay Request)
Commissioners opted to go in with the November election extending their terms by 21 months for the first election cycle. City Clerk Michael Anne Antonucci will prepare the paperwork and get things rolling in order to meet a January 30 deadline of getting the new ordinance to the Secretary of State. The opt in to the November election will save the city about $5000 and free up staff that has to dedicate their time to the election for other business. (Link to Election Option #2)
Commissioners approved budget adjustment #6 that moves monies around for equipment maintenance and fire department training items. (Link to Budget Adjustment #6)
Mayor Pro-Tem Lindè Schuster has been appointed to the governor elect’s transition team on transportation reported City Manager Scott Berry. He also mentioned the meeting with Amtrak and other officials concerning the Tiger Nine grant which will be moving forward.
Construction projects are moving forward and should be mostly complete by Christmas. The Great Blocks project will be mostly complete with the exception of landscaping and the watering system charging while the Brilliant Street water project still has a few water hookup to do.
Commissioners will meet again on December 17 for a strategic planning meeting at the Raton Convention Center and again on December 18 to interview economic development proposers in an executive session. The next regular meeting will be on January 8, 2019.
