GRANTS, NM – The Grants City Council held a special city council meeting to discuss the approval of the Navajo Nation’s Claims for Water Rights in the Rio San Jose River Basin, the council also approved hub insurance for short term and long-term disabilities, the Grants pantry service agreement, two amendments for engineering services and approved booster station pump installation.
The meeting began with the council entering an executive session to discuss the Navajo Nation’s Claims for Water Rights in the Rio San Jose River Basin.
Upon returning to regular session the council moved to the discussion and action items. The first item was approval of the Navajo Nation’s Claims. Mayor Erik Garcia said that this has been going on since 1982.
He said, “The water rights here in Grants or this part of the area, it’s always been questioned. Who has rights to what or whatnot. In 1983 we had the closure of all the mines, so water rights have been really up in the air. So, they have been working on this for quite a while, in 2019 to 2020, it came back to the table and they really started working really heavily on what the water rights are.”
Mayor Garcia said that they are now waiting on the legislation from congress to get a bill passed that would allow funding for the Navajo Nation and the Pueblos downstream to have water rights to have wells in the area designated to them. He said, “There’s a pretty big bill in Congress that is going to allow them to actually get water from the different areas around, not Grants, but there’s some downstream, upstream, so they can get wells. So now they can get the clean water, distribute it down to the reservation so they can have a better quality of life. Hopefully after this it’s like, ‘This is ours and there’s yours, and this is what you get to do, and this is what we get to do.’” Mayor Garcia said that the City of Grants should receive some of that funding and they would use it to fix the grass, ponds and water system at the Coyote Del Malpais Golf Course as well as looking at a system that would bring in water from the Rio San Jose and then return it to the Rio San Jose. The council approved the Navajo Nation’s Claims for Water Rights in the Rio San Jose River Basin The council approved Hub Insurance for short term/long term disabilities for all long-term employees. The city was looking at a 19.4 percent increase to the health insurance which is about $235,000. The city’s broker was able to negotiate with Blue Cross Blue Shield and dropped it to approximately a 9.4 percent increase which saved the city $127,000. Due to this the insurance reached out to see if the city could be interested in insurance for short term and long-term disability. The city thought that it would be an added benefit for the employees and if the city adds it to their insurance bundle it would save them another half percent savings discount which would save $5,000 to $7,000. For short term disability insurance, the cost would be $19,968 per year and for long term disability insurance, the cost would be $19,656 per year.
City Manager Andrew Valencia said that the city has been working on the Grants Pantry Service Agreement for about 10 months, and they had their lawyers work on the agreement so it will be beneficial to both parties moving forward. For compensation, the Grants Pantry will not be paying rent in exchange for their services to the community. As for the vehicles for the pantry, since the pantry workers are not city employees, the city will be leasing the vehicles to the employees and the pantry will be responsible for the insurance and the insurance will have to be the same policy that is used on other city owned vehicles. The council approved the Grants Pantry Service Agreement and with this approval the Grants Pantry will be moving into the new building following some electrical work, the city will also not be responsible for paying for any upgrades or repairs and it’ll be the pantry’s responsibility to find funding.
Special Projects Coordinator Nadine Jiron requested approval of Wilson & Co. engineering services amendment two, Mt. Taylor Waterline Extension for additional funding in the amount of $56,703.61 for full time construction inspection and to complete waterline alignment required by NMDOT to complete instillation of the 2000LF of main waterline on McBride Road. Jiron said that these requirements were not part of the original agreement for services and they need to amend the agreement for the additional services. The council approved the services amendment for the Mt. Taylor Waterline Extension.
Jiron requested approval of Wilson & Co. engineering services amendment one, pressure zone project for additional funding in the amount of $25,546.13 for additional survey and mapping of proposed alignment of a 12-inch watermain along San Jose Road and to complete design and drawings of new waterline to convey water from booster pump area to an existing main on El Morro Road. The design of a watermain along San Jose Road was not included in the original design but engineering analysis supported the design and construction of the main to enhance the systems operability and to improve operating pressure for homes in the booster pump area. The council approved the services amendment for the pressure zone project.
Jiron presented the booster pump station that the special projects department was requesting to award New Mexico Meter LLC. in the amount of $47,536 for startup, installation and material which include two pumps for the booster station. Funding for the project will come from the $5 million special appropriations awarded by the State of New Mexico for drinking water improvements. The booster station of the project feeds the tanks on Iron Street and is in need of new pumps to help push water to the houses on the hill which include Parkhurst Lane, K Kids Loop and Iron Street. The houses currently have very low water pressure due to the pumps age and wear and tear. The project will increase water pressure to the homes in the area. The council approved the request to award New Mexico Meter LLC. for the booster pump station installation.
All meetings are livestreamed and available to watch live or replayed on the City of Grants Facebook page and the City of Grants NM YouTube.