County will talk trash at Thursday meeting

At Thursday’s Sandoval County Commission meeting, the commissioners will discuss taking out a $12.5 million loan to fund a new landfill, transfer stations and other waste disposal facilities.

The loan would come from New Mexico Finance Authority. If approved, that money will be used to pay off and consolidate two other loans: a nearly $3 million landfill revenue bond and a nearly $1 million Rural Infrastructure Act loan from the New Mexico Environment Department. The remaining funds would be used to build additional infrastructure, and relocate PNM power lines.

The commission will also discuss an application for financial assistance from the New Mexico Finance Authority for a brush truck and other fire equipment. That request is being brought to the commission by county Fire Chief James Maxon.

Another matter that will come before the commission is a bid for about $147,500 to build a stucco tire bale wall at the county fairgrounds in Cuba. The company being considered is Rivercrest Construction. Most of the funding for the project comes from a $135,240 grant from the state economic development department and the remainder of cost, about $12,000, will be supplied by the county.

According to Mark Hatzenbuhler, the fairgrounds manager, the wall will be six feet high and 1,560 feet long. It will be made from as many as 1,000 tire bales. The bales are compressed blocks of tires that weigh about a ton and contain roughly 120 tires each.

“We’ve been working on it for almost a year,” Hatzenbuhler said. “I’ve never built one before.”

The wall will be used to separate the livestock areas from the rest of the fairgrounds, he said.

Another item on the agenda is a request to amend the Sandoval County facility use policy. The amendment would allow partisan or political discussion to take place at the county transit facility. According to the county’s spokesman, Sidney Hill, the change would mean that Democrats, Republicans and other political parties could use the space to conduct their business. That kind of political activity is something that isn’t allowed on county-owned property unless it is specifically addressed in the policy.

The Sandoval County Commission meets at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the commission chambers at the Sandoval County Administration Building, 1500 Idalia Road, Building D, Bernalillo.