City, Gamerco squabble over leaks
Neither entity willing to repair broken waterline in Gamerco

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The contract the City Council approved with the Gamerco Water and Sanitation District last month was supposed to leave no doubt about exactly who was responsible for what part of the township's ailing water and wastewater system.

But it didn't do Carlos Garcia much good Wednesday morning.

Garcia, a Gamerco resident for the past 18 years, called the City of Gallup's Utility Division to tell staff about a water line break in front of his house and the water it was spilling onto the street and his front yard. The woman on the other end of the line told Garcia that repairs were Gamerco's job and suggested he call the district.

Garcia took the advice. But when he called, Garcia said, district staff pushed the job onto the city's shoulders.

While water continued pouring into the street, Garcia could find no one to take responsibility.

"They're just blaming each other," he said.

When The Independent repeated the drill that afternoon, it couldn't find anyone to take responsibility either. City staff referred the call to the Gamerco Water and Sanitation District. District staff told The Independent they didn't know who was responsible and said they were trying to sort it out with the city.

The water line, meanwhile, kept leaking.

Had district staff read the deal its board of directors signed off on, they might not have been so confused.

"The contract is clear," said City Manager Eric Honeyfield.

The city insisted on the contract in hopes of recouping the $170,000 in overdue bills the district had built up by the time the council approved it Feb. 15. The money was for the water and wastewater services Gallup was providing Gamerco.

The contract leaves meter reading, billing and collecting on all the town's 437 accounts up to the city. Overall control and repairs remain the district's responsibility.

"Gamerco will continue to operate the water and sewer system and do major repairs," it reads.

The City of Gallup, meanwhile, "agrees to do any repairs to the Gamerco system," but only if called on by the district, and only with a contract promising to reimburse it for time and materials.

The contract ends Nov. 15, but lets the district take back full control of the system only if it's paid off all its debt.

Even then, said City Attorney George Kozeliski, the district's return to full control won't be guaranteed.

"In nine months," he told the City Council the night it approved the contract, "we go back to the court and see if we want it to go back (to the district)."

Wednesday's performance was not promising.

Gallup would not normally provide water and wastewater services to a community outside of city limits except for a 1970s court battle that forced it into the arrangement.

Since then, the city has been sending Gamerco water and taking out its sewage, while an independent board bills the residents for the services and uses the money to reimburse the city. But when the district fell behind on its payments by $90,000 last April, the city took it to court.