Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
FORT SUMNER — The De Baca County Commission is moving forward with plans for dissolution of a nine-year agreement for trash collection with the village of Fort Sumner.
In a meeting Dec. 27, the commission heard Chairman Scot Stinnett say he plans to appoint a working group to tackle reshaping of the Transfer Station’s rate and fee schedule, as well as its staffing and procedures.
The trash collection agreement is scheduled to end March 20. At that point, village residents will have the option of using a private contractor for pickup, taking their own waste to the Transfer Station and paying by weight, or contracting with the county for a dumpster.
The fees, monthly costs and regulations for the county’s services — either at the Transfer Station or for a home dumpster — remain to be determined. The process for county customers outside the city limits is not likely to change significantly, at least in the early stages of the new situation.
The village of Fort Sumner is counting on the private service being able to handle the volume of trash generated by its residents. According to figures provided by the county, the volume of trash being transported to the Clovis landfill each month averaged 104.2 tons per month from July to November. County officials estimate about 70 percent of trash collected by the Transfer Station comes from the village, although City Councilor Liz Steele disputes that number and blames residents outside the city limits for the larger percentage of trash collected from city dumpsters.
Resident Tim Unruh says he plans to start a trash collection service utilizing poly carts for home use. He hopes to begin his business as soon as he purchases a collection truck and receives delivery of his 96-gallon poly carts. His business, Roadrunner Trash Service, is expected to charge $25 per month for weekly pickup, plus gross receipts taxes.
Village residents voted in the November election to retain the current service with the county by a vote of 152-57, but Steele said when the election occurred, village residents did not have all the information they have now.
The vote was promoted by village officials as “advisory” in nature. But discovery of a statute in the state’s election handbook has thrown a shadow over the rapidly changing landscape for solid waste, however.
NMSA 1-16-8 simply states: “In no case shall a nonbinding or merely advisory question be placed on the ballot for any election held pursuant to the Election Code.”
The statute led County Commission Chairman Stinnett to ask Mayor Louie Gallegos if the vote by village residents was illegal, or if it was actually binding.
Saying he was seeing the statute for the first time, Gallegos said later city officials are seeking information from city and Municipal League attorneys concerning the situation.
