Weather slows infrastructure projects

The unusually large amount of snow and rain seen in Socorro in December has created extra-muddy conditions for projects that involve moving massive quantities of earth with heavy equipment.

City councilors learned at their Dec. 19 meeting that the Fairgrounds Road Detention Pond, part of a series of 11 projects to improve drainage and give some relief to residents of the Cuba Road neighborhood, has run into weather delays. As of mid-December, the city had been granted an extension by the Community Development Block Grant program, moving the required completion date of the project from Dec. 16 to Dec. 30.

On Dec. 30, Jay Santillanes, utilities director, said another extension had been applied for and granted, giving the city until Jan. 11 to get the work done.

“We were going to be right there, but with all the weather, it’s really hindered the contractor,” Santillanes said.

The funding to build the detention pond currently underway isn’t at risk, but if the project’s not done by Jan. 11, the city will have to sit the next CDBG funding cycle out.

Tappan Mahoney of Dennis Engineering said if the weather cooperates, the next week’s work should result in noticeable progress.

“You’ll see there’s a shape of a dyke, and concrete being placed for the emergency spillway,” Mahoney said.

With the completion of the Fairgrounds Road Detention Pond, the city will have accomplished four out of the 11 planned projects that will eventually mean that when there’s a heavy rain, Cuba Road residents won’t be severely impacted by flooding. However, work done on a different project has actually put the Cuba Road drainage improvements ahead of schedule.

Mahoney said when the city built the new access road to the future rodeo grounds and convention center, it actually accomplished some work that would have had to be done in a later phase of the Cuba Road project, and saved about $2 million of the total overall cost.

“Where they took the soil for the road, they created an extra detention pond,” Mahoney said.

The Chaparral sewer extension project has also been subject to delays. At the meeting, the city council approved an amendment to the engineering agreement for that project, extending the final completion date about a month.

“The construction is essentially done, and what’s left is mostly clean-up,” Mahoney said.

What’s left involves some electrical work for lift-stations, a coding system for the interior of the manholes and striping for the roads. The sewer lines have been brought to the edge of all the properties, though, and homeowners can now make arrangements with the city to get hooked up,

Another project that’s fallen behind schedule is the arsenic treatment plants that got started shortly before winter set in.

Water Supervisor Lloyd Martinez said the contractor is about a month behind, and the city may have to apply to the state for an extension

“The deadline is in October,” Martinez said, “We could catch up, but the winter’s not over. It’s really hard to say.”

Martinez said there was so much snow and mud that the work crews couldn’t get up to the sites for several days.

“I’m sure they’ll make a big push to get back on schedule,” Martinez said. “Once they get that sludge vault finished, they’ll be working on the foundation for the next one.”

Weather also created a problem at the landfill, which had to be closed on a couple of occasions when the heavy garbage trucks started having problems sliding on the dirt ramps and getting stuck in the mud. Garbage pick-up was uninterrupted, but the trucks had to use several of the county’s transfer stations temporarily.

On Dec. 30, Landfill Supervisor Mike Lucero said conditions have improved, and the landfill is open, but said 4-wheel drive is recommended for people bringing loads in.

In other business:

• The council approved a special use permit application filed by Dona Nowicki, for the property at 205 School of Mines, which Nowicki is selling to Jeanne Dixon for use as an acupuncture clinic. The property is currently zoned for residential use only; the sale is conditional on Dixon being able to house her practice there. Dixon’s office is currently located directly across the street at 200 School of Mines, which is zoned for commercial use.

Bhasker questioned whether the special use permit should be granted to Dixon instead of the current owner, Nowicki, and was assured by City Clerk Pat Salome and Zoning Officer Mike Czosnek that the permit attaches to the property, not to the owner.

“I’m all for the change, I just want you to be protected,” Bhasker told Dixon, who was present to answer questions. “I want it to go in the minutes that you’ll be the one doing the special use.”

• The council approved a resolution to submit a new Community Development Block Grant program application for funding to pay for the next phase in the continuing effort to improve drainage in the Cuba Road neighborhood.

• The council formally adopted bylaws for the Socorro County Juvenile Justice Board, a body of “no fewer than 11 and no more than 30 members” from across the spectrum of public and private interests, set up to coordinate juvenile justice activities in the county. Voting members of the board are appointed by the city of Socorro for three year terms. The board will act on behalf of the city of Socorro, which has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department to conduct a community assessment and develop a strategic plan to create and identify alternatives to juvenile detention.

• Mayor Bhasker discussed the possibility of mail processing operations being moved from the Socorro post office to a consolidated mail processing center in Albuquerque. Bhasker said a letter would be sent on behalf of the city of Socorro opposing the proposed plan, for three reasons: one, there would be the loss of a local job; two, it would potentially create problems for New Mexico Tech; and three, he said the postal service has already saved enough money in Socorro by not making any capital improvements to the post office facility.

• The council approved a transfer of $7,000 to the Animal Control Department for a new boiler at the animal shelter.

 

-- Email the author at sbarteau@dchieftain.com.