Meetings roundup: Farmington may pause Comprehensive Plan Update due to pandemic

Farmington Daily Times

The Farmington City Council may choose to pause updating the city's comprehensive plan until there can be mass gatherings to solicit input.

AZTEC — The Farmington City Council may choose to suspend the Comprehensive Plan Update process amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases statewide and the ongoing ban on mass gatherings.

This suspension would last until the ban on mass gatherings in New Mexico is lifted. Should the City Council approve this measure, the initial draft of the comprehensive plan would be presented to the technical and steering committees on Dec. 18 for review.

However, according to the City Council agenda, the ban on mass gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has made it hard to solicit input from residents as Farmington works to develop a roadmap for the next 20 years.

More information about the comprehensive plan can be found at fmtn.org/917/2040-Comprehensive-Plan.

Farmington is in the process of creating a roadmap for the next 20 years, but that effort could be paused due to the pandemic.

The City Council meets for a work session at 9 a.m. Nov. 17 via Zoom. The meeting passcode can be obtained by calling 505-599-1101 or emailing ajones@fmtn.org.

The agenda also includes a possibility of refinancing two loans the city took out for the wastewater treatment plant. One of these loans is from 2002 and the other dates back to 2019. The 2002 loan has a 3% interest rate while the 2019 loan has a 2.375% annual interest rate. The city could refinance these loans at a 0.5% interest rate. This will save the city more than $4.2 million over the life of the loans.

The City Council could also approve an approximately $1.1 million contract with Halo Services Inc. for construction of the Among the Waters Trail in southwest Farmington.

The Animas River flows through Farmington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, near the confluence with the San Juan River in the Among the Waters Park.

Interstate Stream Commission may lease water rights from Jicarilla Apache tribe

The Interstate Stream Commission will discuss leasing water from the Jicarilla Apache tribe to place in the state strategic reserve. The water is currently leased for the operation of San Juan Generating Station, according to information ISC Director Rolf Schmidt-Petersen provided to the San Juan Water Commission. A link to the virtual meeting can be found on the agenda at ose.state.nm.us/ISC/isc_meetings.php.

The commission could ask the director to complete negotiations on the lease agreement and money has already been allocated through the Colorado Bureau’s Work Plan that the commission approved in June.

The meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 19 following a closed se

Other meetings

The Farmington Citizen Police Advisory Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 via Zoom. A passcode can be obtained by calling 505-599-1100 or emailing krose@fmtn.org.

The Farmington Metropolitan Redevelopment Advisory Commission meets at 4 p.m. Nov. 17 via Zoom. A meeting passcode can be obtained by calling 505-599-1282.

The state Legislative Council meets at 1 p.m. Nov. 16. The meeting can be viewed at nmlegis.gov.

The Legislative Finance Committee meets Nov. 16 through Nov. 20. The meeting can be viewed at nmlegis.gov.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission meets at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 18. A link to view the meeting will be posted on that day at nmprc.state.nm.us.

Hannah Grover covers government for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4652 or via email at hgrover@daily-times.com.

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