Alamogordo nonprofit requests compensation from the city
ALAMOGORDO — A law firm representing Alamogordo nonprofit CAPPED Inc. has sent a letter to Alamogordo's City Attorney asking that the nonprofit be compensated for about $196,000 in expenses after the City canceled the construction of a labyrinth at Washington Park in June.
According to the letter from L.B. Jenkins and Associates to the City Attorney, the City has 30 days to pay the requested amount or agree to reimburse the nonprofit in order to avoid a lawsuit.
“At this point we’re trying to open an avenue of communication in an effort to resolve this without taking any legal action,” L.B. Jenkins and Associates attorney Alexis Tighe said.
Nonprofit asking for $67,000
City Attorney Petria Schreiber said she couldn’t comment on the issue because legal action is still pending.
Specifically, CAPPED is asking for $67,000 in expenses, $28,875 for the time volunteers spent on the project, and $100,000 to repay grant money and donations used to prepare plans for the Our Community Labyrinth project.
Revising the plans that were ultimately scuttled required CAPPED to hire “an architect, draftsman, electrical engineer, construction foreman, commercial contractor, marketing firm, and others,” said CAPPED Inc. Executive Director Tresa Van Winkle Van Winkle.
“Our goal has always been to build a labyrinth for the people of the community, of the county,” Van Winkle said. “In order to do that, we have spent cash money. We have spent volunteer hours. We have spent in-kind contributions that we can’t go back and recoup. We are asking for monetary compensation so we can pick up ourselves, dust off our pants, and go and do the work we told the community we were going to do. And that’s build the most awesome labyrinth park that has ever been built.”
City approved project plans in 2015
Plans for the labyrinth were approved by City Commissioners in 2015 and were revised throughout 2016. A final version of the plans was submitted in April 2017, with the labyrinth’s dedication planned for Dec. 24, 2018.
At the May 22 City Commission meeting, Van Winkle was informed that the labyrinth could no longer be located at Washington Park.
One concern with the project was a “lack of any hard commitments for funding,” said Schreiber at the meeting.
While another concern was the way in which the labyrinth “would actually come extremely close to where we just installed the brand-new stage” at Washington Park, said City Manager Maggie Paluch at the May 22 meeting.
On May 22, City Commissioners ultimately recommended the labyrinth be built at a different location, but Van Winkle maintains the suggested different locations for the labyrinth are not viable options for the project.
On June 19, CAPPED received a letter from the City saying the contract for the labyrinth was being cancelled.
L.B. Jenkins and Associates attorney Lisa Jenkins said she is requesting records from the City to try to understand why the plans for the park were scuttled.
“We will go through those records because honestly there’s a lot of questions as to what happened between April 23 when the City accepted these funds and May 22,” Jenkins said. “Obviously there’s some public records someplace that say hey, this changed for this reason.”
What happens next depends on how the City responds, Jenkins said.
“The goal is to make CAPPED as full as possible so they can move on and build this project elsewhere,” she said. “The goal is to make sure CAPPED can move on and preserve their goodwill and reputation among the community, and continue to perform their charity and continue to perform their services for people in need. This isn’t a money suit by any stretch of the imagination.”