Roswell Daily Record
Water projects top city’s wish list Vol. 123, No. 193 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday prioritized its list of capital projects for consideration of funding by state and federal lawmakers, with an emphasis on water supply projects. The Finance Committee’s recommendations for the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan are scheduled to be considered by the full City Council Thursday night. The Finance Committee,
chaired by City Councilor Caleb Grant and also comprised of City Councilors Jason Perry and Art Sandoval, chose to place water infrastructure improvement projects at the top of the city’s wish list. The No. 1-ranked project on the list is a $1.5 million water supply project that would entail replacing large valves. The No. 2-ranked project is also a water supply project. The city is seeking $2 million for the first phase of a multi-phase project to repair large-diameter water
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August 12, 2014
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lines. The No. 3-ranked project is a $207,000 request to complete a fire-training center. The No. 4-ranked project is a $443,000 request for the first phase of street paving in and around South Park Cemetery. The No. 5-ranked project is a $500,000 request to rehabilitate sewer department manholes. The No. 6-ranked project is a $200,000 request for a recreational splash pad. In total, the city’s wish list entailed dozens of proj-
ects amounting to more than $130 million. Some of the projects on the list, such as Joe Bauman Baseball Stadium and the Yucca Recreation Center, have already been partially funded by the state. The city has recently been awarded $500,000 for repairs at the 100-year-old Yucca center and $75,000 for repairs at Joe Bauman stadium. Grant said he disagreed with a prior list that ranked roofing and heating/air conditioning improvements at the Yucca Recreation
Gateway christens new science lab
Center, and bathroom and concession roof repairs at Joe Bauman Baseball Stadium, at the top of the wish list, one and two respectively. Grant said a new Yucca Recreation Center should “be nowhere near the top 10.” “I don’t think we have enough information to put it at the top at this moment,” Grant explained after the meeting. The prior list also ranked a splash pad as the No. 5 item, before the splash pad request was bumped down
Timothy P. Howsare Photo
See WISH LIST, Page A3
City to consider updated ordinance BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Gateway Christian School freshmen Blane Hendrix, left, David La Vopa, center, and Lee Uriques give their best science geek poses moments after the ribbon cutting for the school’s new science lab. The ceremony was attended by school officials, parents and students, members of the Roswell Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Dennis Kintigh. Superintendent Rick Rapp said construction on the new science building began about a year ago, while the effort to raise the $325,000 needed to construct the lab took about three or four years.
to No. 6 by the Finance Committee on Monday. Grant said the list should prioritize infrastructure projects. “Personally, we’ve got to re-order this to approve it,” Grant said of the prior list. City Manager Larry Fry said state lawmakers are far more likely to fund infrastructure projects such as a fire-training center, than a roofing repair project, for example. “I think the likelihood of that being considered is not
About 98 percent of all burglary alarm calls are false alar ms, and the City Council will consider a revision to the city’s alarm ordinance at the council meeting on Thursday. City Alarms Administrator Richard Lucero was on hand Monday when the Police Committee voted unanimously to forward his revised ordinance to the city council for consideration. “You hear people say, ‘where are the police when you need them?’ Well, a lot of time they are responding to false alarms,” said Lucero. As the alarm administrator, Lucero’s job is to maintain a permit data base, track alarm dispatches, issue permits, send false alarm notifications and collect the service fees. Lucero also manages the appeals process and helps alarm holders in solving their false alarm problems.
The new ordinance will have to go through publication and readings by the council before it will be adopted, but the committee’s approval begins the process, said Police Committee Chair man Savino Sanchez. “The current ordinance dates back to 2002, and there have been a lot of changes in alarm ordinances around the country since then,” Lucero said. False alarms can have a variety of causes, from wind to bats (flying, not wooden), said Lucero, a Roswell native and a former Roswell Police Department commander who retired from the force in 2001 after a career which spanned 22 years. An alarm set off by a pellet gun shot to a window or someone shaking a door are not false alar ms because there could be a criminal element to those events, Lucero said.
See ALARM, Page A3
Shelter to expand hours of operation Locals greet Energy Secretary Moniz prior to meeting in Carlsbad BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Animal Control Services will soon begin opening on weekends, members of the city Police Committee learned on Monday at City Hall. Since July, the city animal control services have been under the auspices of the police department, and Smith said the shelter has been strictly following city policy and euthanizing animals after seven days of captivity. “Not following policy is what got us into trouble in the first place,” Police Chief Phil Smith said, referring to protests from city and national rescue groups who want the city to be more lenient in its schedule. Prior to the July change in administration, the shelter routinely would hold animals for extra days while rescue groups found a foster home for an animal, shelter officials have said. Now the shelter strictly follows policy, which is to euthanize animals after seven days. The animal services department has also added one officer, and plans to add one more if the position is approved, the chief said.
BY ZACK PONCE
Randal Seyler Photo
Police Chief Phil Smith, at right, discusses the city animal control services with the members of the city Police Committee on Monday at City Hall. The animal shelter is in the process of expanding its hours to include weekends.
The weekend hours will allow pet owners more opportunities to retrieve their animals from the shelter. The city also plans on expanding hours to 6 p.m.
“I’ve experienced that myself,” City Councilor Caleb Grant said. “You get home at 5:15 and your pet’s gotten out, but by then the shelter has closed and you have to wait to the next day to go look for him.” TODAY’S FORECAST
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“I’ve been in communication with several rescue groups from around the country, their focus is definitely on Roswell,” Smith said. “They have some wonder ful ideas, and their intent is fantastic, but we have to have some consistency in what we do.” The city council will hold a workshop at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 to discuss animal See SHELTER, Page A3
• IGNACIA “MAXINE” SOSA • GLEN FLOYD GRAVES • JOHNNY CARL HANSON
CARLSBAD — More than a dozen Carlsbad locals carrying signs reading “Carlsbad supports WIPP” welcomed Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to the city before his town hall on Monday evening at the Leo Sweet Center to address the recent truck fire and radiation leak at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. First Christian Church Pastor Dave Rogers helped organize the welcoming crowd at the Cavern City Air Zach Ponce Photo Terminal as a show of support for Moniz and A local Carlsbad man, right, greets Department of Energy the rest of the federal Secretary Ernest Moniz after Moniz arrived at Carlsbad to talk agency as they contin- about the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. ue to recover from Febthis is one of the things that we can truly ruary incidents that have caused the get behind and make a difference.” nuclear waste disposal facility to remain Moniz will tour the nation’s only closed for six months. Rogers was joined nuclear waste disposal facility on Tuesby many local officials to greet Moniz day morning before holding a media conwho flew to Carlsbad on New Mexico Air- ference scheduled for 11 a.m. at WIPP. lines after a morning meeting in Santa WIPP opened in 1999 and disposes Fe. transuranic waste, commonly referred to “I want the secretary to see that this as “TRU,” into the Permian-age salt community is behind WIPP,” Rogers said last week. “The idea is to have a large presence and stand in solidarity because See MONIZ, Page A3
• PAULINE CASTLEBERRY
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
FINANCIAL ..............B3
LOTTERIES .............A2
COMICS .................B4
HOROSCOPES .........A8
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8