The Las Cruces City Council will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, in Council Chambers at City Hall, 700 N. Main St., for a regularly scheduled meeting.
City Council will consider two Resolutions related to efforts to remediate City-owned property along a portion of east Lohman Avenue that would be redeveloped. One Resolution would authorize the City to contract with Flip Screen, a limited liability company in Dallas, for equipment rental that would be used to support the Pre-1965 Foothills Landfill Waste Excavation Project.
The proposed contract is for an amount not to exceed $800,000 plus any applicable taxes.
In 2018, the City purchased approximately 114 acres of land previously owned by the City of Albuquerque at the southeast corner of Paseo de Oñate and east Lohman Avenue. Prior to 1965 that land served as the City’s landfill.
The City now intends to redevelop the land, and in September 2021, City Council approved the East Lohman Development Plan. The land requires environmental cleanup of known solid waste disposal areas that were investigated the past several years.
Two of three waste areas previously identified have been excavated and waste has been hauled to South Central Solid Waste Authority ("SCSWA"). As part of the second phase of the project, the equipment to be rented will be utilized and operated by contracted staff to remove remaining solid waste.
Las Cruces Utilities requests to enter into a contract with Flip Screen, LLC with a Sole Source Determination that would be approved through the City’s Purchasing Department. Flip Screen would provide two wheel loaders, one with a WL270 Screening Bucket and the other with a WL280D-4 Screening Bucket.
The unique screening buckets will allow the contracted staff to screen waste material excavated. That will eliminate clean soil from being hauled off and will reduce landfill tipping fees.
A second Resolution related to the Pre-1965 Foothills Landfill Waste Excavation Project would authorize the City to enter into a contract with Wagner Equipment Co., of El Paso, through a Cooperative Education Services Agreement, to rent equipment for an estimated six months that would include an excavator, water wagon, wheel loader, and bulldozer. Additional equipment may be needed, depending on the requirements of the excavation at that time. The estimated cost of the rental equipment is $334,482.
The Council also will consider one Old Business item, a Resolution adopting funding priorities and allocations for the coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, established by the American Rescue Plan Act. (ARPA).
The City, as a recipient of the ARPA funds, from the U.S. Department of Treasury, implemented a competitive Request for Proposals process for the distribution of funds for community and economic development Initiatives. These resources are made available to the City to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its negative economic impacts.
Council approval of projects recommended for ARPA funding was tabled after concerns were raised about the selection process. City Council has the final approval authority on the use of funds.
The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting is available online at https://lascruces.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=355.
Tuesday’s meeting will be televised live on CLCTV, Comcast Cable channel 20, and in high definition on channel 928. The meeting also will be available online at clctv.com and at YouTube.com/clctv20.