 |
| New $34 Million Las Cruces City Hall Building |
City Council work session meeting held on Monday, August 9, 2010
1. The pet of the week was presented.
2. The Council and the City Manager recognized Dr Sutter for his service to the City as Director of Finance. He was presented the Mayor’s Distinguished Service Award and a plaque by City Manager Moore. Councilor Silva commended him for raising the standards for all who worked around him.
3. Brian Denmark, Director of Facilities made a presentation to the Council on square footage analysis.
· The City has more than 1 million square feet of building space. The average building age is more than 20 years and they have not been adequately maintained.
· The City currently has 300,000 square feet beyond the budgeted maintenance funds
· The industry cost standards are $4 per sq ft. The City allocates $2.8 per sq ft which results in $2.4 million in underfunded maintenance.
· Provided an option to eliminate 300,000 sq ft which included E.Mesa Recreation Center, Apodaca Pool, Club Fusion, La Casa Community of Hope and other facilities.
· It will cost $750,000 to demolish the old City office center at the corner of Lohman and Alameda.
· He listed City owned facilities rated as in poor condition which included the Life Center, Frenger Pool, Amador Hotel, Felder Memorial Safe Haven Teen House, Burn Lake Storage, and other facilities.
· There is 143,000 sq ft of underutilized space.
· There is 100,000 square feet of space owned (and maintained) by the City but operated by non-City entities such as Community of Hope, La Casa, DABCC Learning Center, Airport, Rio Grande Theater, Las Cruces Visitors Bureau, Animal Service Center, East Side Community Center and other facilities.
· David Delahane discussed NM State tax credit for construction of low income-affordable housing as a method of reducing some of this inventory. Tax credits up to $.50 for each $1 of value (property value, demolition costs, etc).
· Mr Denmark presented 4 options for consideration:
· Destruction of (181,000 sq feet)
· Consolidation of agencies
· Sell excess buildings and/or discontinue leases
· Turn over City buildings to using Non-City occupants (La Casa, Community of Hope, etc). Note most of these organizations do not like this option because they will have to assume the maintenance costs of them.
· Councilor Connor wanted to know how much the utilities cost the City for these properties. She recommended Mr Denmark’s old portable building be used to replace the unserviceable portable at the Animal Shelter.
· Councilor Small wants the staff to focus on consolidation to identify the excess buildings. His priority is for recreational facilities maintenance and wants the City ot lease lands for renewable energy projects. He wants all proceeds from sale or lease of City property to be put into a maintenance rehabilitation fund.
· Councilor Thomas wants to know what the budget impact would be by each option and believes each building and its use must be evaluated individually.
· Councilor Sorg expressed a concern that the City is not efficiently using City owned properties and wants the City to consider selling vacant properties but will need a unique recommendation on each.
· Councilor Silva wants clearer rating system on building importance and associated costs. He said he was aware of several potential buyers for the old City Hall.
· Councilor Pedroza stated her support of affordable housing but was concerned that any consolidation of services could adversely impact or inconvenience the users of that service.
4. Patrick Peck, Director of South Central Solid Waste made a presentation on Curbside Recycling. His proposal included bi-weekly curbside recycling. Current recycle revenue is $805,000 per year and to implement his proposal it would require an additional $879,000 per year.
· He provided three options:
1. All 28,000 City households pay $4.98 per month including seniors (who currently do not pay)
2. All households pay $5.69 and seniors pay $2.59
3. Pass on the proposal and go back to the drawing board.
· Residents must participate and cannot opt in or out of the recycle program
· The program cannot handle all types of plastic or glass. It will accept multiple types of paper and cardboard
· The demands for recycling are the largest volume of calls to SCSWA and most come from District 6 (Thomas)
· There was some discussion on changing the rates and frequency of the “grappler” but the Council was informed that this would need to be a separate action by the Utility Rate Board and not the Council.
· The land fill site (600 acres) is in the Corralitos area and 54 acres are currently being used.
· Accountability for the program comes from the Solid Waste Authority Board which includes 3 Council members.
· The Council directed him to move forward and a formal vote will be taken by the Council at the September 7th Regular Council Meeting.
· The Council was reminded that they have not authority to increase rates or make rate recommendations. This is the authority of the Utilities Rate Board
5. Christy Logan, Las Cruces Economic Development Council provided an up on Local Economic Development. The goals and assumptions in the 2004 plan adopted by the City are still consistent and have been met but not due to actions by MVEDA. The 2004 City Local Economic Development Plan needs to be amended to include the Cultural component that was added by the State Act. A successful example of this program is Sapphire Energy which bought 10 acres in the West Mesa Industrial park and was given an easement over the adjacent 90 acres. Upon investment of $6 million and employing 30 Dona Ana County residents the other 90 acres will be deeded by the City to Sapphire Energy. The have met the invest goal and currently employ 24 people.
City Council Work Session Summary
The revolving door in the publisher's office at the Las Cruces Sun-News continues. Financially troubled Media News, owner of the Las Cruces Sun-News, announced that Jim Maxwell will replace Ann Reed as publisher of the Sun-News effective immediately. Maxwell had been the group publisher of Media News Group's New Mexico newspaper properties, which includes the Sun-News. Reed resigned abruptly and indicated she will remain in the area and seek other opportunities.
From the Sacramento Bee - An Alameda Superior Court judge Monday temporarily barred Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from imposing new furloughs on state workers beginning Friday. Judge Steven A. Brick ruled that there are "serious questions" about the legality of the furloughs and that permitting them before a scheduled Sept. 13 court hearing could cause irreparable harm. "The court finds, on the limited record before it, that the balance of hardships tips in favor of petitioners," states Brick's ruling, which is intended to preserve the status quo until both sides have had ample opportunity to press their case. Schwarzenegger, through a spokesman, vowed an immediate appeal to allow his furlough program to begin Friday. "As long as the Legislature fails to produce a budget and the state faces IOUs, we will do what we must to reduce costs, just as every California family and business is doing," said Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger's spokesman.Read more:
From the BizzyBlog - Those who don’t believe that high taxes on the rich don’t influence economic activity or economic behavior, which of course includes many in the establishment press, are going to have a tough time explaining away this brief item that’s being reported in the Associated Press: Tour officials hampered by UK tax rules. European Tour officials are in talks with the British government over tax rules which they say could deter leading golfers from playing in the Ryder Cup in October. Players competing in the match between Europe and the United States at Celtic Manor, Wales, could be seriously affected by new rules issued by the customs and revenue agency, which can now tax foreign sportsmen and women not just on prize money earned but on sponsorship and endorsements. Mitchell Platts, the European Tour’s director of public relations corporate affairs, said Tuesday the tax rule was “seriously hampering our efforts.” This is pretty obviously double taxation of the same income in both the home country and the UK. If they don’t fix this by the London 2012 Olympics, there may be an unplanned return to what used to be known as the amateur ideal, as many of the world’s Olympic-level athletes, particularly in sports like basketball and tennis, may decide to take a pass.
From the Washington Times - A report by the Troubled Asset Relief Program's inspector general, Neil M. Barofsky, underscores the danger of handing control of private enterprise to government bureaucrats. In running General Motors and Chrysler, the Obama administration's Auto Team made decisions based on what its members know best: race and politics. After taking over the bankrupt carmakers, the administration ordered the immediate termination of one-quarter of existing dealerships - but not for business reasons. "Key members of the Auto Team ... stated that they did not consider cost savings to be a factor in determining the need for dealership closures." GM set up a scoring system to determine the most valuable dealerships. The O Force's disdain for red states and their tendency to "cling to guns or religion" can't be coincidental. Read more
From the Great Falls Tribune.com - Larry Salois, who is French and Cree Indian, slips on a pair of moccasins, and then walks to a spot on his land near Cut Bank, where he circles a ring of rocks in the ground. The rocks mark the outline of a historic tepee ring, probably Blackfeet, according to Salois. "I consider this somewhat of a sacred area," said Salois, explaining his change in footwear. Tonbridge Power Inc. of Toronto, Canada, values the land, too, which is owned by Salois' 83-year-old mother, Shirley. The company plans to erect 90-foot-tall poles on the property as part of a 215-mile transmission line for electricity it is building from Lethbridge, Alberta, to Great Falls. The company has filed a condemnation complaint on the Salois land to gain access it says is needed for the greater good, but Larry Salois is digging in his heels. He disputes the claim that the project is in the public interest, and he isn't sure whether Tonbridge, which is a for-profit private company based in a foreign country, even has the right to condemn the land. Read more
Harvey Collier, a mortgage broker in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says he gets as many as 10 calls a month from people planning to default on their loans. The twist: They first want financing to buy another home. Real estate professionals call it “buy and bail,” acquiring a new house before the buyer’s credit rating is ruined by walking away from the old one because it’s “underwater,” or worth less than the mortgage. It’s an attempt to escape payments on a home whose value may never recover while securing a new property, often at a lower price with a more affordable loan. 
The practice, which constitutes fraud if borrowers lie on loan applications, is continuing even after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the biggest U.S. mortgage-finance companies, beefed up standards to prevent it, according to brokers such as Collier and Meg Burns, senior associate director for congressional affairs and communications at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Whether driven by greed or desperation, the persistency of buy and bail underscores the lingering impact of the worst housing crash since the Great Depression. Read more here:
President Barack Obama’s influence among Democrats will be tested today in a primary in Colorado, where his party is fighting to keep a U.S. Senate seat likely critical to its control of the chamber. No other Democratic contest this year has drawn as much involvement from Obama, who is backing Senator Michael Bennet. The incumbent’s opponent, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, is supported by former President Bill Clinton. The Republican primary pits a Tea Party favorite against a candidate supported by the national party leadership, while a race for the party’s gubernatorial nomination features a plagiarism scandal. Connecticut and Minnesota also hold primaries today, and Georgia has a run-off contest selecting the Republican gubernatorial candidate. Bennet, appointed after Obama named then-Senator Ken Salazar as Interior Department secretary, has relied on White House help throughout the primary. Reflecting Obama’s below 50 percent approval rating in polls, Bennet isn’t sure he wants such help should he advance to the general election campaign. Read more here:
Posts
