January and March meetings
CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. –The Northwest New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority board meets six times per year. Three people represent Cibola County: Chair Larry Carver, Village of Milan, Secretary/Treasurer Robert Windhorst, Cibola County, and Martin “Modey” Hicks, City of Grants mayor. McKinley County has four representatives on the seven member board.
The NNMRSWA, also known as the SWA, oversees operations at the Red Rock Landfill, near Thoreau. The facility serves McKinley and Cibola county residents.
The landfill reported a tonnage increase from 2019, 260 tons daily, to 360 tons per day in 2020. Director Billy Moore estimated that the current cell has two-three years before it will be closed. Staff have begun preparations for developing a new cell.
(Waste is compacted into small areas, called cells, and 2,500 tons can be compressed at 1,500 pounds per cubic yard. The compression is done with bulldozers, tractors, graders, and rollers which go over the trash multiple times. After a cell is created, it is covered with soil and further compacted. These cells are then arranged in layers and rows of adjoining cells, according to https://www.btlliners.com/understanding-landfill-cells-and-covers)
Federal CARES Act funding allowed the SWA to upgrade equipment. The board responded to a request by member Windhorst and voted to transfer a backhoe to the Bluewater Water & Sanitation Department.
Windhorst commented that the backhoe will allow the BWSD to save the cost of investing in new equipment. The backhoe will be used to dig graves explained Windhorst.
The landfill budget was in the black, $381,000, for the year and the director anticipated additional federal CARES Act funding.
Eight landfill employees tested positive for COVID in December; they were either placed on leave or worked from home, reported Director Moore.
The Jan. 21 meeting utilized teleconferencing and six members participated.
March 18 meeting
(The following information was provided via the draft minutes, which are scheduled for approval at the May meeting.)
Director Billy Moore noted that the Office of the State Auditor must approve the equipment disposal list. He will submit the list and cautioned that the process includes a 30-day waiting period. Chair Larry Carver asked about the backhoe that the SWA donated to the Bluewater Water & Sanitation District. Moore said that it was identified as item number 34 on the list.
The director explained that any purchase of more than $5,000 is identified as a capital asset. He added that the walking floor trailers were scheduled to be sold as scrap and the Freightliner trucks “have been parted out.” The board approved the disposal of equipment resolution.
Director Moore anticipated a $670,000 reimbursement, via the federal CARES Act, for employee payroll for October, November, December 2020 because solid waste is considered an essential service. Moore requested that the Hazard Duty pay benefits, which were scheduled to expire in April, be extended for one month. The board approved the $100,000 Hazard Duty pay extension request.
The financial report stated that revenue surpassed expenditures for February year-to-date and the budget includes $275,000 in the black.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget will be presented at the May meeting. Director Moore said that the budget must be submitted to the state Department of Finance and Administration by June 1.
He projected an $132,000 revenue surplus which does not include the $670,000 CARES Act reimbursements. Moore acknowledged that additional funding may be awarded through the federal American Recovery Act. There is money in the budget for cell development, according to the director.
Chair Carver recommended that the board consider a pay raise for Moore.
“He has not had a pay raise and we have a surplus of money,” commented Carver.
The board plans to review Moore’s contract and is exploring salary options for the director.
Moore responded to the chair’s comment about the McKinley and Cibola county transfer stations. He recommended developing a long-range maintenance plan for both sites.
The director reported that both facilities have experienced “double the use because of the pandemic.” He noted that traffic control is a major challenge at the sites and reducing access would result in a backlog of traffic for either facility.
The six board members who participated in the March meeting utilized teleconferencing. The mayor of Grants did not participate in the January or March meetings, according to the minutes.
Upcoming meeting
Thursday, May 20, 8:30 a.m., Red Rock Landfill offices, 101 Red Mesa Bluffs Drive, Thoreau.
Call 505-905-8400 or visit http://www.nwnmrswa.com/red-rock-landfill.html for more information.