Melrose may face $500,000 in sewage repair

MELROSE — The village of Melrose faces a possible $500,000 cost for emergency repairs on its sewage lagoon due to environmental hazards, but an engineering consultant told the village council Thursday night that the community may be able to obtain a grant to pay for the expense.

“I don’t believe they would shut us down, that would be pretty drastic with the sewer,” Mayor Ray Hester said.

“We’re like every other little town; the state inspectors tell us to fix something with no thought to what the cost is,” Hester said. “We keep our head above water but sometimes it splashes up into our nose.”

Melrose officials had applied for federal grants in the past but failed to obtain them since the village’s percentage of low-income residents was close but not quite enough to qualify for the grant last year. Nivanna Jimenez of the Tucumcari consulting company Engineers, Inc., said that shouldn’t be a problem this year since the grant application won’t be based on having a low-income population but rather on an urgent need.

“We know you guys need emergency money for the lagoon system,” Jimenez said. “I’m trying to get emergency funds from the Environment Department.”

While the grants Melrose officials have applied for in the past could have required a 5 percent local match, Jimenez said that may not be necessary this time and special money may be available to provide the required local matching funds.

Council member Tuck Monk said he was glad to hear special money may be available.

“That sounds really good if you can make that happen,” Tuck Monk said. “We need it, or a bunch of us may go to jail.”

State Rep. Jose Campos, who also serves as mayor of Santa Rosa and whose district includes Melrose, came to the council meeting and told the council members he wants to help. Campos said he faced similar sewage lagoon problems in Santa Rosa but found that state officials understand the financial problems of small cities.

“The environment department worked with us, as long as we were open with them and said, ‘Look, we don’t have any money,’” Campos said. “That’s what I’m here for, to make sure you have a voice in Santa Fe.”

In other business:

• The council unanimously selected 23-year-old Lance Pyle to fill a vacancy on the council caused when a member moved out of town.

Pyle works in the Curry County administration office.