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Commission debates ICIP top-five priorities as state funding moves and project costs shift
Summary
City staff reviewed the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan and urged commissioners to confirm top-five priorities to focus state capital outlay requests; discussion covered wastewater plant upgrades, Lee Bell Johnson Center funding already received, Marie Street planning funds, Clancy Street lift station funding request, and possible regional wastewater planning with Elephant Butte.
Truth or Consequences city staff and commissioners spent the meeting’s largest block of time reviewing the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan and discussing which projects the commission should prioritize when seeking state capital outlay funds.
City Manager Whitehead said the top-five list is intended to focus the city’s capital outlay requests to the state and is not a “wish list.” He outlined the projects the city previously prioritized — wastewater treatment plant upgrades, the Lee Bell Johnson center, Marie Street improvements, a proposed 10-megawatt substation and a community multipurpose center — and reported on recent funding outcomes: the city received $500,000 for the Lee Bell Johnson project and $350,000 for Marie Street design, while the wastewater treatment plant remains the largest outstanding need.
“Last year at this process, we identified five projects that we wanted to focus on,” Whitehead said. “If we could get $5,000,000 through grants, it would really significantly help us avoid raising rates.” He told commissioners the city has a pending $2.6 million request with the state Water Trust Board that, if funded, would bring the wastewater and related projects closer to the finish line.
Mayor (chairing the meeting) and several commissioners pressed for more specific ranking and proposed adjustments. The chair asked that Clancy Street lift-station funding be moved into the top five, noting the city had already been funded $1.1 million and requested an additional $500,000. Whitehead said the commission should prioritize the projects they will ask the legislature to fund and highlighted that some projects could slide down the list if they already have other funding sources.
Commissioners also discussed regionalization of wastewater services and the potential to seek preliminary engineering reports (PERs) to make projects “shovel ready.” The chair suggested pursuing regionalization with nearby Elephant Butte and Sierra County as a possible top-five submission if commissioners agree to pursue PER funding.
Whitehead reviewed additional projects on the ICIP list and their status: electric vehicle charger construction starting soon; a water meter replacement project he estimated to be about 70% funded; various street and waterline projects such as Veeder Street; Ralph Edwards Park improvements; and potential bridge and trail connections along the Rio Grande corridor.
The commission did not vote on a final ranking at the meeting; staff will revise the draft list and return it for final ranking at the May 27 meeting. Whitehead told commissioners staff and the council of governments will prepare the updated draft based on the direction given.
Next steps: staff will incorporate commissioners’ suggestions into a revised ICIP project list and return it for official ranking and submission.
