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Truth or Consequences commission approves Shovel Ready contract amendment, grant and three conditional use permits; hospital board appointment made
Summary
At its meeting, the Truth or Consequences City Commission approved a $203,345 amendment to the Shovel Ready/Wispy streets project contract, accepted an $88,000 capital outlay grant for an ADA vehicle, approved three conditional use permits for preexisting residential storage containers, appointed a representative to the Vista Hospital board and kept its twice-monthly meeting schedule while adding evening public comment.
Truth or Consequences — The City Commission on Feb. 25 approved a series of routine and project-related items, including a contract amendment to extend construction oversight on the Shovel Ready (Wispy 1 / Silver 8) streets project, accepted a state capital outlay grant for aging services, approved three conditional use permits and filled a two-year vacancy on the Vista Hospital governing board.
The commission voted to amend the contract with the streets consultant to add roughly four months of construction oversight and an additional $203,345 in fees. ‘‘We had to account for additional contract oversight,’’ staff said, explaining that work added to the original scope required extra project-management time. A commissioner who reviewed the contract said the charges were consistent with the project and moved to approve the amendment; the motion carried unanimously.
Commissioners also accepted a New Mexico capital outlay grant of $88,000 awarded to the city’s aging and long-term services program to purchase and outfit a heavy-duty, ADA-accessible vehicle. Staff said there is no local match, and that the city will act as fiscal agent and return to the commission with purchase orders and reimbursement paperwork. A commissioner moved to accept the grant as presented and the motion passed.
The commission heard a presentation from an animal-shelter representative about a planned Jordan’s Way live Facebook fundraiser scheduled for Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., noting a proposed revenue split (the organizer’s partner will handle PayPal receipts and the shelter will receive 30 percent of proceeds). ‘‘We're super excited to have them back. It's gonna be on February 25, from 10AM to 1PM for our live Facebook event,’’ the presenter said, adding there is no minimum volunteer age and that organizers typically request 25–30 volunteers.
On land-use matters, the commission approved three conditional use permits for properties where storage containers were placed prior to the city’s storage-container ordinance. Staff said each application had been reviewed by the Planning & Zoning board and recommended for approval. Commissioners discussed whether a grandfathering or administrative review process would help handle similar cases in the future and asked staff to pursue code clarifications.
The commission filled a two-year vacancy on the Vista Hospital governing board created after the recent death of a board member. The meeting record notes two applicants and that the commission appointed the candidate present at the meeting; the body congratulated the appointee when the motion carried.
The commission also reviewed meeting schedules that had been on a six-month trial — one meeting at 9:00 a.m. and a second at 4:00 p.m. each month — and decided to keep the current times while adding a public-comment opportunity to the evening meeting to improve accessibility for people who work during the day. The motion to keep the schedule with that adjustment carried, with one commissioner recorded as voting no.
After finishing the regular agenda, the commission voted to move into executive session to discuss three items of threatened or pending litigation, citing the state statute for closed-session legal discussions.
What’s next: staff will return to the commission with procurement documents for the grant-funded vehicle purchase and with any proposed code changes related to storage containers. The executive session will address pending litigation items identified on the meeting agenda.
