Grants works to solve Santa Fe Avenue sewer woes

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Grants is moving forward on solving the sewer problem afflicting merchants on Santa Fe Avenue, with a vote to contract engineering services.

In Tuesday night’s regular City Council meeting, councilors agreed unanimously to spend $14,300 to begin the long project of replacing approximately 60 feet of sanitary sewer pipe in the 800 block of West Santa Fe Avenue and abutting areas. Wilson and Company, Inc., the engineering and architectural company regularly employed by the city, will handle the design, permitting and contracting phases of the project.

Merchants including Loeffler’s Guns, Etc., the Community Outreach Center and the Main Street Shop have reported backups in the sewer line. The Outreach Center was forced to close for several weeks last summer because of sewage backing up into the building from the toilet.

Anthony Martinez, project manager for CH2M Hill OMI, said that after months of research, including running a camera through the available pipes in search of a possible blockage or cave-in restricting sewage flow under the main downtown street, OMI decided that additional tampering with old pipes would endanger what flow the system does have.

Wilson engineers agree and recommend installing a parallel sewer line under the south lanes of the road. One factor affecting the sewer lines is the corrosive action of fumes given off by raw sewage. The fumes can completely eat away the upper part of the old concrete pipes and create a delicate drain prone to collapse or disintegration.

New specialized PVC sewer lines would not be prone to collapse.

Disrupting the road bed for infrastructure work will require an environmental impact study including an architectural study, an extensive permitting process and cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, who controls the right of way on Business Route 66, or Santa Fe Avenue, making for a lengthy wait before the sewer can be replaced.

A Wilson and Company spokesman said that if all goes well, actual work on the project would not be expected to begin before September 2009. He could not provide an estimate on the cost of the entire project at this time.

The council took action to upgrade the existing contract for improvements to the 4 million gallon water tank at an additional cost of $38,800 and approved the proposal to transfer Kerr McGee Park to the Grants/Cibola County School district.

Councilors announced that the new animal shelter on Sakelares Boulevard is nearly complete and will be ready for business in three or four weeks.

Another long-term project will be complete in two or three weeks when the municipal court and Grants Municipal Judge Corine Padilla move into their new facilities on Roosevelt Avenue next the to the Grants Police Department.

After several years of water problems and legal wrangling, residents in the Mount Taylor Addition can expect some resolution with the city concerning drainage and damage.

In a vote taken after a brief closed executive session, councilors accepted an agreement that has been under development since last June. Details will be announced upon the completion of an agreement with the village of Milan and the New Mexico Environment Department signing off their part of the resolution.

Mayor Joe Murrietta closed the meeting by asking everyone to remember to vote in next week’s city election for the quarter-cent gross receipts tax. All precincts will vote in the City Hall Council Chambers, regardless of where they vote in the school board election the same day.