Water projects point out need for voter approval of general obligation bonds

• Battin said he wants to be around when regionalization of water planning comes to fruition

One of the task orders approved last week by Ruidoso Village councilors dealt with professional engineering service for replacement of a water tank on Moon Mountain.

The money for the project with engineering not to exceed $114,813, comes from revenue generated by a previous general obligation bond and is included in a GO capital improvement line item in the village budget. The money comes from a continuing rotation of bonds that voters are asked to approve every two years as part of the municipal election.
The same thing will happen March 6, when voters again will be asked to approve $3 million in general obligation bonds to keep water system improvements rolling, such as replacement of aging and undersized water lines, replacement of water tanks and upgrades at water treatment plants.
“The next item is for the design and engineering for replacement of the country club tank that sits on Moon Mountain,” Public Works Director J. R. Baumann told councilors. “We’re asking you to approve the funding to move forward on the engineering to have everything on the shelf ready to go. We’re working with Molzen-Corbin closely, because it came in a little over budget. But we were able to reduce the cost down with the village taking on some of the responsibilities of the project to lower the cost.
“Now we’re where we feel comfortable. We have the funding, but today is just for the engineering.”
Once that is finished, he will come back to the council for approval of the construction money that already is in place already, Baumann said. Councilors approved the task order.
Also dealing with Molzen-Corbin & Associates, councilors approved an agreement for professional engineering at the Alto Water Treatment Plant #3 as conceived in the plant evaluation dated November 2017.
“This is something we’ve been discussing with you and went through a professional engineering report we received about 60-days ago detailing operations to make the plant 3 more efficient and bring it up to the code and standards of the day,” Baumann said.
“What we’d like to do is move forward with the engineering side of the treatment plant to put us in a position to apply to the (New Mexico) Water Trust Board for the money to do the improvements at the plant. They need the plans on the shelf ready to go  and this is taking that step so we are ready to apply.”
The design project is budgeted at $175,827, with $101,950 coming from legislative funding and the village taking over $73,877, and includes renovation of the existing building to correct code deficiencies and improve structural performance; replacement of the heating and air conditioning equipment, upgrades to the electrical and control systems, installation of an emergency generator and rehabilitation of the treatment processes. The agreement must be submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department for final approval, Baumann said.
In another water-related project, councilors approved a second renewal agreement with Occam Engineers Inc. to provide professional engineering services for the Regional Water Initiative.
“This project was a legislative appropriation in 2014, and we contracted with Occam in 2016,” Deputy Manager Ron Sena said. “This grant agreement with New Mexico Environment Department will expire next year and we’re close to completing the project.”
The original purchase order was for $149,527 and to date, $109,065 has been expended.
Esteban Lopez, senior engineer with Occam Engineering, told councilors that Occam, a New Mexico firm with a staff of 55,will be merging with a much larger international firm with 22,000 employees
“You will have the same folks form Occam (working on the project), but a lot more resources,” he said.
He delivered a preliminary engineering report on the Fort Stanton water line about one week earlier, he said. After he and Sena go over it again, it will be sent to the state environment department for approval. The PER “will be a basis on which to engage other regional stakeholders, possibility water management opportunities.”
“It’s something most of us have want for long time, very worthwhile, but hard to get your arms around,” Mayor Tom Battin, who leaves office next month, said. “I’ve been encouraged by some of the players in the region who expressed a desire to continue until we see some tangible results. I would like to be here when we bring the assets and organizations together.”