The real question is: Can we afford it? The Truth or Consequences city commission hasn't even looked at the city's finances. This project wasn't in the July budget and wasn't on the Infrastructure Capital Improvements Projects turned into the state in September. Shouldn't we be addressing the water crisis instead?
Four capital improvement projects, financed by $820,000 in legislative funds, were approved. The commission agreed the county would act as fiscal agent if county museums are successful in convincing the legislature to approve a specialty auto license plate. The canvassing board accepted the Nov 7 elections results.
The city almost didn't have water. The city's water and wastewater director gave a blow-by-blow of the crisis. It revealed the utter decrepitude of the system caused by long neglect.
Like a hermit crab, the city police station inhabited a vacated funeral parlor over 10 years ago and will now transition to a larger abandoned building, the National Guard armory.
Today's intelligence: Congressman Gabe Vasquez helps to secure federal funding for a renewable energy transmission project that will create jobs for southern New Mexicans.
Today's intelligence: New Mexico's Legislative Finance Committee recognizes need to provide technical assistance to local communities in danger of losing state-allocated capital funds due to their inability to promptly start or complete their proposed major infrastructure projects.
Two items on the Nov. 15 agenda match: The waterline failures have created a state of disaster and we're too broke to fix it, according to the latest financial report. A third item, issuing $4.5 million in bonds to renovate the old armory into a police station doesn't match.
Today's intelligence: Having strayed from the range of the federal breeding program for endangered Mexican gray wolves and been captured last January, a lone female nicknamed Asha has once again headed north of I-40 in New Mexico since her re-release in July.
