Portales council approves water authority payment

Portales city councilors approved payment of the city's invoice to the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority for 2017.

According to Chris Wood, vice chairman of the city's finance administration committee, the committee met on Feb. 2 and discussed the $336,102 invoice, which covers the city's voluntary member contribution.

"The city felt like, though we don't have a legal obligation to the authority, we believe the city has an ethical obligation to live up to its commitment, and pay the invoice for the current year," he said, adding that the committee also recommended the council submit with the invoice a notice that it would re-evaluate its membership in 2017.

"I think there's some people that would like to see some changes to that, but they recommend to the council that maybe we take this year to evaluate our continual commitment to that and decide what we need to do for next year," he said.

Mayor Sharon King highlighted the importance of taking a year to evaluate the city's options for obtaining an alternative water source in the event they decided to exit the authority.

"We know we have a water problem, we know we don't have too many more years of water at the level that we've got it now. So, I think we need to take a year to make that our number one priority: To look at what are our other options, and which is the best option for Portales," she said.

Councilor Chadrick Heflin said he voted in the finance committee to approve the recommendation out of a feeling of obligation.

"I don't want to pull out, and everything falls apart, and it's all Portales' fault," Heflin said. "I want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and this is the warning we're giving them, that this is the last time I'll vote for this if things don't change."

The council declined to commit finances to ENMWUA in January out of a concern that the efforts taken to transport water from the Ute reservoir would be fiscally unsound for the community and would not take effect in enough time.

The following were actions taken at the Portales City Council meeting Tuesday in the Memorial Building:

• Fire Captain Michael Inge with the Portales Fire Department was presented with an award for 2016 employee of the year.

According to Fire Chief Gary Nuckols, Inge has been indispensable in his position.

"I was thinking tonight about the questionnaire that the employees and his peers fill out to select him for this position. He is every one of those (qualities) right at the very top of the questionnaire. He's a great resource for us, and he's a great asset for the city," Nuckols said.

Inge looked back fondly at his time at the fire department, and expressed a desire to continue for "a few more years."

"I've enjoyed the position that the chief has honored me with, and I try to do the best I can with the knowledge I've achieved in the last 38 years," he said.

• Councilors approved the ratification of bills for the month of January.

According to Finance Director Marilyn Rapp, the city expended $1.1 million.

"The expenditures were just normal expenditures of the city," Rapp said.

• Councilors approved a request to purchase a new roll-off truck and roll-off containers for the sanitation department.

According to Public Works Director John DeSha, the city uses roll-off trucks to haul large debris to its landfill, but is currently utilizing a contractor to do so.

"What we're wanting to do is purchase this truck and roll-off so we can do away with that particular contract and have a little more control over what we do, as far as moving containers around," he said, adding that the city obtained several quotes, including $181,000, $179,000, and $165,000.

• DeSha provided an update on the status of the city's wastewater treatment plant.

According to DeSha, half of the plant has been closed due to the Coca Cola bottling plant shutting down.

In addition, algae was discovered in the plant's pond.

"We struggled all summer long, getting water that was clean enough to use on the parks. The algae bloom has gone away, but we have one more process to install. It's called a polymer system. It will ensure that we can take that algae out, and then it will be perfect for us to use," DeSha said.

He concluded by saying that the plant is 97 percent complete, with the plans for the polymer system in review by the state.

"We hope we can have this done by the end of May," he said.

• Councilors approved a resolution authorizing submission of an application for airport aid to the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

According to City Manager Sammy Standefer, the estimated cost of aid is $563,700, comprised of 90 percent federal funds ($507,330), five percent state funds ($28,185), and five percent local funds ($28,185), going toward improvements to the airport's fuel farm.

• Councilors approved a resolution authorizing the city to submit an application to the New Mexico Department of Finance's Local Government Division to participate in the local DWI grant and distribution program.

According to DWI Coordinator Riki Seat, the distribution from the grant, which is requested annually, is estimated to be around $116,000.

"I requested an additional almost $60,000 for equipment and supplies for the police department and for overtime to do saturation patrols and checkpoints," Seat said.

• Councilors approved an easement for a 10-inch encroachment on the city's right-of-way for a property located on 906 East First Street.

According to Building Inspector Anthony Ortega, the easement agreement is between Three Way Properties and the city.

"This easement is for a three-foot wooden fence that encroaches 10 feet into the right-of-way along East First Street. City staff does not see any negative impact in regards to safety or utility services," Ortega said.

• Councilors approved a notice of intent to adopt an ordinance authorizing the city to amend a loan agreement dated Aug. 27, 2013.

According to Standefer, the city borrowed $26.5 million in wastewater construction funds from the New Mexico Environment Department on Aug. 27, 2013, and as a result, gave the net revenues of the water system to NMED for collateral.

"That made it very difficult for us to borrow other money. We basically asked them to take the surcharge amount established by Ordinance 715, put that money into another fund that's automatic, so now they're going to collateralize that fund versus the net system revenues," Standefer said. "They do have a secondary on the net system revenues, and that's just to keep us from overexpending ourselves, and overborrowing."

He added the notice of intent would be up for final hearing at the council's March 7 meeting.

• After convening in executive session, councilors approved a motion to grant Standefer a 10 percent pay raise, effective immediately, to $83,000 a year.