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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Moriarty Seeks State Money

By Rory McClannahan
Mountain View Telegraph
          Hey buddy, can ya spare a couple million?
        That's the message the city of Moriarty is taking to the special session of the state Legislature on Friday. And no one could use the money more than the city.
        Moriarty is working to improve water and wastewater infrastructure in anticipation of the move of the Downs at Albuquerque to Moriarty. That'll cost about $1.5 million.
        The city also has a backlog of improvements that need to be made to sewage lines and its treatment plant that will cost about $10 million.
        "It's something we've had to do for a long time and it's to the point we can't put it off any longer," said Mayor Adan Encinias.
        Mike Walker, the city's lobbyist, told the City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday, that he is working with the lobbyist for the Downs to request money for the city. As part of his efforts, Walker said he has talked to Paul Blanchard and other officials with the Downs seeking their cooperation. What he got was something a little more.
        "They don't want to run the risk of losing their project over infrastructure needs," Walker said. "They'll be up there helping us out. It's like you are getting two lobbyists for the price of one."
        Council members voted last month to take out a $2.2 million USDA loan with a matching grant of $1.1 million. However, Encinias said at the meeting that the USDA has bumped up the grant to $1.5 million.
        The city still needs to find a way to pay the $97,000 per year for 25 years to repay the loan. That's where the Legislature comes in. The loan can be repaid through appropriations from the state, said Councilor Steve Anaya.
        "To pay this thing back we would have to just about double everyone's sewage bill," Anaya said. "We don't want to do that and we have to find other money to do this."
        Gov. Bill Richardson announced Tuesday that the state has about $225 million in oil and gas tax revenue.
        Walker said at the Moriarty meeting that the city should not rely on that tax revenue money being available and that he will work toward convincing lawmakers to find other funds for Moriarty.
        Walker cautioned that the city may have to wait until the Legislature's regular session in January.
        "Hopefully, the money we go after will be the easiest to transfer to the city," Walker said. "Everyone seems to be on board with this."