City Council

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Gallup City Council, City of Gallup, New Mexico, held in the Council Chambers at Gallup City Hall, 110 West Aztec Avenue, at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jackie McKinney. Upon roll call, the following were present: Mayor Jackie McKinney Councilors: Linda Garcia Allan Landavazo Yogash Kumar Fran Palochak Also present: Maryann Ustick, City Manager George Kozeliski, City Attorney Presented to the Mayor and Councilors was the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 16, 2017. Councilor Palochak made the motion to approve the aforementioned Minutes. Seconded by Councilor Garcia. Roll call: Councilors Palochak, Garcia, Kumar, Landavazo and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. Presented to the Mayor and Councilors were the following Discussion/Action Topics: 1. Discussion Only: Update on the 2017 New Mexico Legislative Session — State Representative Patty Lundstrom Rep. Lundstrom provided an overview of the previous 60-day session of the New Mexico Legislature: • More than 1,000 bills were considered with 277 of the bills being approved by the Legislature. The Governor has until April 7, 2017 to take action on the legislation. • A special session may be called by the Governor to address the State’s budget for next fiscal year. • The State’s budget and economy dominated the work of the Legislature. Fewer jobs are available today and more people are moving out of the state than moving in. Tax collections are down sharply due to the weak economy and low oil and gas prices. • Although a special session was held last fall to work on the budget, work on the General Appropriations Act did not begin until January 30, 2017. • The Legislature and the Governor approved measures to ensure that the State is solvent at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2017. MINUTES Regular City Council Meeting — 3/28/2017 Page 2 •The total General Fund budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 is $6.1 billion. Public education is budgeted at $2.69 billion. • The State’s spending plan included a gas tax increase of ten cents per gallon; 5 cents of the tax would have been allocated to the State’s reserve to help maintain the State’s bond rating and the remaining 5 cents of the tax would have been allocated to local road improvements. • Taxing internet sales Amazon.com has already volunteered to tax sales in New — Mexico. • A gross receipts tax on non-profit hospitals was proposed with the proceeds of the tax to be used as a match for Medicaid. • A I % motor vehicle excise tax increase was also proposed. • The Legislature approved bills to support and expand broadband and a bioscience authority to bring New Mexico’s life science technology to the private market. • The Legislature approved changes to the lottery scholarship to allow students to take a 16 month break between high school and college. • The Legislature approved the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which requires citizens to be notified when a company suffers a data breach that threatens to reveal personal information and to ensure cell phones, tablets and other devices are free from unwarranted searches. • The Legislature approved legislation to prohibit people from keeping firearms in their homes if certain domestic violence orders of protection have been issued against them. • Voters will be asked to consider a Constitutional Amendment creating an independent ethics commission. • The Legislature approved a bill to consolidate various non-partisan elections, such as school district elections and special district elections. • Bills were also considered to legalize research into hemp production and to allow high school students to substitute a computer science class for math or science to meet graduation requirements. • Rep. Lundstrom and Senator John Pinto carried the Rural Isolation Units bill for Gallup-Mckinley County Schools. • Rep. Lundstrom also carried a bill on the regulation of small loans which caps all interest, fees and charges at 175% over a four month period with no rollovers. • As the new Chairman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, Rep. Lundstrom was instrumental in sponsoring the General Appropriations Act. • The Legislature also worked on the corporate income tax rate change and de earmarking the petroleum products loading fee. • The Legislature’s revenue package would have created a 3.5% reserve for FY 2018. MINUTES Regular City Council Meeting — 3/28/2017 Page 3 Discussion followed concerning the proposed special session which may be called by the Governor, proposed legislation to phase out the gross receipts tax hold harmless provisions to local governments in one year, decreased oil and gas revenues which has had a detrimental effect on the State’s budget, various tax increases approved by the Legislature pending action by the Governor and a successful Gallup Day at the Legislature. 2. Approval of Management Agreement for the Gallup Veterans’ Center — George Kozeliski, City Attorney Mr. Kozeliski said the current agreement with the Gallup Area Veterans Council, Inc. has expired. The proposed agreement continues the present terms for an additional two years. Councilor Landavazo made the motion to approve the Management Agreement for the Gallup Veterans’ Center. Seconded by Councilor Kumar. Roll call: Councilors Landavazo, Kumar, Garcia, Palochak and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. 3. Approval of Management Agreement for the Youth Center with the Boys and Girls Club George Kozeliski, City Attorney — Mr. Kozeliski said the current agreement with the Boys and Girls Club expires on June 30, 2017. The proposed agreement continues the present terms for an additional two years. Councilor Garcia made the motion to approve the Management Agreement for the Youth Center with the Boys and Girls Club. Seconded by Councilor Kumar. Roll call: Councilors Garcia, Kumar, Landavazo, Palochak and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. 4. Approval of Settlement Agreement on G-22 Water Rights Litigation with Greer Subdivision George Kozeliski, City Attorney — Mr. Kozeliski said the Greer Subdivision is one of the protestants to the City’s G-22 Water Rights Application with the State Engineer’s Office. Greer Subdivision owns a groundwater production well near the Continental Divide. Under the proposed agreement, the City will need to replace water resources to the Greer Subdivision should the City divert more than 500 acre feet per year of ground water from the Ciniza Well Field for two consecutive years. Councilor Palochak made the motion to approve the Settlement Agreement with the Greer Subdivision. Seconded by Councilor Landavazo. Roll call: Councilors Palochak, Landavazo, Kumar, Garcia and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. MINUTES Regular City Council Meeting — 312812017 Page 4 5. Approval of Lodgers’ Tax Funding for Events for Fiscal Year 2017 — Jennifer Lazarz, Tourism and Marketing Director Ms. Lazarz announced that Gallup was voted #9 in the Top 10 Western Towns in 2017 by True West Magazine. She presented the Lodgers’ Tax Committee recommendations for the proposed allocation of lodgers’ tax funding for two events during the current fiscal year: $5,000 for the 1st Annual Fundraising Softball Tournament for Catholic Charities and $5,000 for the 6th Annual Memorial Day 5k for Manuelito Navajo Children’s Home. Ms. Lazarz answered questions regarding the events. Following discussion, Councilor Landavazo made the motion to approve the lodgers’ tax funding for events for Fiscal Year 2017 as presented. Seconded by Councilor Garcia. Roll call: Councilors Landavazo, Garcia, Palochak and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. Councilor Kumar abstained. Motion carried. 6. Award of Bid for Grandview Tank Rehabilitation Project, Formal Bid No. 1703— Dennis Romero, Water and Sanitation Director Mr. Romero provided an overview of the scope of work to be done under the project. Based on the bid results, he recommended award of the bid to Paso Robles Tank-B rown Minneapolis Tank, Inc. of Albuquerque, in the amount of $1,953,653.25. Discussion followed concerning improvements to the exterior of the water tank. Mayor McKinney recommended the use of $50,000 for artwork and exterior improvements to the water tank. Mr. Romero also provided an update to the 5th Street Waterline Replacement Project. Following discussion, Councilor Kumar made the motion to approve the award of bid for the Grandview Tank Rehabilitation Project, Formal Bid No. 1703. Seconded by Councilor Palochak. Roll call: Councilors Kumar, Palochak, Landavazo, Garcia and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. 7. Proposed Purchase of Three Vehicles to Replace Portions of the Vehicle Fleet in the Solid Waste Division Dennis Romero, Water and Sanitation — Director Mr. Romero presented the request to replace three vehicles in the Solid Waste Division with two 2017 GMC 1500 trucks and one 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 HD truck. The reason for the proposed purchase is due to the increased vehicle usage by the recycling program and the age of three of its vehicles. A quote was obtained for the purchase of the vehicles under an existing contract with CES, for a total amount of $80,894.26. MINUTES Regular City Council Meeting — 3/28/2017 Page 5 Councdor Garcia made the motion to approve the purchase of three vehicles to replace portions of the vehicle fleet in the Solid Waste Division. Seconded by Councilor Kumar. Roll call: Councilors Garcia, Kumar, Landavazo, Palochak and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. 8. Proposed Purchase of Sewer Camera System for Wastewater Collections — Dennis Romero, Water and Sanitation Director Mr. Romero said the drivetrain in the existing camera system recently failed causing the system to become inoperable. He presented the request to purchase a replacement camera system under state contract through Pete’s Equipment Repair, Inc. The quote obtained from the vendor is in the amount of $69,360.27. The camera system is used by remote to examine the condition of sewer lines. Councilor Landavazo questioned the pricing for the DVD recorder and monitor for the system. Mr. Romero said he will research the matter with the vendor and will report back to the Council with a copy of the results to the City Manager. He recommended approval of the purchase of the base system, subject to further research on the pricing for the DVD recorder and monitor for the system. Following discussion, Councilor Landavazo made the motion to approve the purchase of the sewer camera system for Wastewater Collections, subject to further research on the pricing for the DVD recorder and monitor for the system. Seconded by Councilor Palochak. Roll call: Councilors Landavazo, Palochak, Kumar, Garcia and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. The following Presentation and Information Items were presented to the Mayor and Counci lots: 1. Update on gallupARTS — Rose Eason, Executive Director, gallupARTS Ms. Eason provided a power point presentation on the growth, accomplishments and future plans for gallupARTS. She answered questions posed by the Mayor and Councilors. 2. Strategic Plan and Priorities for Gallup Main Street — Liz Hannum, Executive Director, Gallup Main Street Ms. Hannum provided a power point presentation on the priorities and the short-term and long-term economic transformation strategies for Gallup Main Street. She answered questions posed by the Mayor and Councilors. MINUTES Regular City Council Meeting — 3/28/2017 Page 6 Councilor Kumar made the motion to adjourn into closed session for the purpose of discussing the following matters: 1) pending or threatened litigation, Melissa Ann Ramirez vs. City of Gallup, Cause No. D-1 I 3-CV-201 7-00041; and 2) certain purchases, on whether to re-open negotiations with Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, Inc. or to proceed pursuant to the Procurement Code to purchase power through the REP process. Seconded by Councilor Palochak. Roll call: Councilors Kumar, Palochak, Landavazo, Garcia and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. The Mayor and Councilors adjourned into closed executive session, pursuant to §10-15- 1-H(7) and §10-15-1-H(6) NMSA 1978 Comp. as revised. Eollowing the closed session, Mr. Kozeliski certified for the record that the matters discussed were limited to pending or threatened litigation, Melissa Ann Ramirez vs. City of Gallup, Cause No. D-I I 3-CV-201 7-00041; and certain purchases, on whether to re open negotiations with Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, Inc. or to proceed pursuant to the Procurement Code to purchase power through the REP process. Comments by Public on Non-Agenda Items None. Comments by Mayor and City Councilors Councilor Garcia said she will hold a Neighborhood Meeting on Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at the Northside Senior Center. In response to Councilor Garcia’s inquiry, Eranklin Boyd, Deputy Chief of Police, said Lt. Roseanne Morrissette is currently working on the next “Coffee with a Cop” event. Councilor Garcia commented on the renovations at the Gallup Police Department headquarters and the video of the wastewater treatment plant. Councilor Kumar commented on the work being done on Country Club Drive and Red Rock Drive area. Councilor Landavazo commented on the State’s limited amount of funding for capital projects which will have a negative effect on Gallup during the next two years. He encouraged everyone to buy, build and believe in Gallup. Councilor Palochak also commented on the video of the wastewater treatment plant. She will hold a Neighborhood Meeting at Tobe Turpen Elementary School on Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Mayor McKinney said Senator George Munoz’s bill concerning amendments to the liquor excise tax rate is pending the Governor’s action. If the bill is signed by the Governor, it MINUTES Regular City Council Meeting — 3/28/2017 Page 7 will allow voters to consider an increase to the liquor excise tax rate. The increased tax would provide recurring funds for the operation of Gallup Detox. Comments by City Manager and City Attorney Mr. Kozeliski said he will review legislation on the collection of taxes on Internet sales. At the request of Ms. Ustick, Jon DeYoung, Assistant City Manager, provided an update on the implementation of the City’s IVR system for the Customer Care Division. Ms. Ustick said a budget work session with the Mayor and Councilors will be called during the week of April 17, 2017. Also, strategic planning work sessions will be held with the Mayor and Councilors on March 29 & 30, 2017. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new skateboard park will take place on April 17, 2017. There being no further business, Councilor Palochak made the motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Councilor Garcia. Roll call: Councilors Palochak, Garcia, Kumar, Landavazo and Mayor McKinney all voted yes. Mayor Jackie McKinney Approved 4/11/2017