By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton City Commissioners met Tuesday July 14, 2026, for their first regular meeting of July where they acted on agreements with the Raton Humane Society and work on Taxiway A pavement work.
Commissioners heard from the public once again on the data center with speakers voicing their opposition to a data center. The owner of Momma Ks Ice Cream shop, Kimberle Burke told commissioners that she has spoken to several people and a couple of families have told her that they were house hunting in Raton but have put that on hold and will not move here if Raton puts in a data center. She also noted that she has talked to a number of folks who are looking at putting their homes up for sale if Raton allows a data center to come to town.
Commissioners approved the Codification of Ordinance Number 1039 14th supplement. This is a housekeeping matter to keep Ordinance 940 up to date with changes made during the previous year.
The Raton Humane Society has been leasing the animal shelter in south Raton and were in talks to create a new lease agreement however Assistant City Manager Jason Phillips noted talks stalled and the Humane Society has requested that they be able to renew the current lease agreement for another five years. Commissioners approved the renewal.
The city is also entering into a service agreement with the Raton Humane Society to operate the Raton Animal Shelter. The City of Raton will compensate the RHS $59,988.80 to operate the animal shelter on the city’s behalf.
Molzen Corbin presented a task order proposal for the Taxiway A pavement project at the Raton Airport. The proposal provides for an engineer/architect to prepare the design of the repairs and to oversee the repair of Taxiway A the cost of the proposal is $54,083.91.
Commissioners awarded Stoven Construction the contract for improvements at the Raton Animal Shelter. The total grant funding received by the city for the project is $218,169. Dave Little with Alpha Design recommended the city take the base bid of $180,000 and add alternate add on #1 of $7,900 and Alternate add on #2 for $12,400 plus the GRT of $17,376 making the total cost of the improvements $217,676 to be within the grant funding. After hearing from Assistant City Manager Jason Phillips commissioners voted to add all four alternatives and add $13,331 for a total of $231,500. The base bid covered the construction of a new roof over nine outdoor runs and fence replacement. Alternate #1 will replace fence outside of the outdoor runs while alternate #2 replaces fencing at three of the covered outdoor kennels. Alternate #4 expands the metal inside the chain link fence of the base bid.
Commissioners acted on a Cooperative Road agreement for various street improvements and a Municipal Arterial Program agreement for work in 4th street and North 1st Street. The COOP agreement is for $150,000 with the city share at $37,500. The MAP agreement will bring in $416,995, the city portion $104,249. The city’s portion will come from the gas tax.
The COOP funding is for crack sealing and cold mix to do street repair as needed. The MAP funding will be for a pavement preservation project on 4th Street and a portion of North 1st Street from the north underpass going north.
The city agreed on an MOU with Miners’ Colfax Medical Center for a Rural Health Transformation project. The MOU is asking for the city’s help along with the county to work on five or six initiatives to bring more health care to Northeastern NM. Brian Cotter with MCMC noted in his presentation that the odds increase of getting the funding when the organizations work together to apply for funding. The state will have $47 million for these projects across the state, and this is the first year of a five-year program. MCMC has until July 27 to apply for the monies to help improve maternal care, behavioral health care, opioid use disorder, early childhood development and non-emergency transportation along with food disparities within the communities.
Commissioners acted on out of state travel for Synthia Molina to travel to Dallas for the Brownfield Conference. The Brownfield Conference reimburses the city for the travel cost, with the cost of the trip at $974.60 for five days.
Commissioners heard about an E-911 grant agreement. The agreement is for the city’s 911 services. The grant award is $258,439.
City crews are working on drainage cleanup after the big rains. Phillips noted that he is short handed as some employees have jumped ship. The north underpass work is basically complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 23 at 11:00 a.m. being held at Ripley Park to replicate one held about 25 years ago. The work on roundhouse park trails is completed. Railroad Ave bridge work is near completion. Pacheco Construction is hitting the second street project with their entire crew and have been up and down Second Street.
Phillips ended his comments touting the many projects the city has completed over the last couple of years and noted a quote by Mark Twain that states “The secret to getting ahead is to get started.”
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