Espanola interim city manager Joe Duran and City Clerk Tessa Jo Mascareñas are betting Gov. Susana Martinez’ push for improving education will cross over to her supporting the city’s legislative request for funds to begin work on the old Hunter Ford building, which is projected to be the city’s new library.
“The governor is behind education, right?” Mascareñas said while discussing the city’s legislative priorities.
The list is short, just four items, but the outlay is big, $10 million.
At the top of the list is $6.6 million for the library’s major gutting and remodeling.
“The city council voted that the library was a priority last year,” Mascareñas said.
Duran said the city would not make money on a property swap for the Railroad extension project going through the library parking lot.
“We would give the Highway Department the property as part of our contribution to the project,” Duran said. “We’d still have plenty of parking and could use the area behind the library if we had to.”
That space is now planned as document storage for the city clerk.
It’s not likely the legislature would fund the whole library project but that didn’t bother Duran and Mascareñas. The project could be done in phases.
“If we get initial funding, you know they consider you more strongly next year,” Duran said.
The library received $265,000 in legislative funding last year, earmarked for preliminary drawings and scope of work study.
The second priority for the city is $3 million city hall expansion and remodel. The plan calls to take the old police department and municipal court and turn it into planning and zoning. The old jail would become record storage and the judge’s chambers would become meeting space.
The entire area needs heat and air conditioning since the geothermal system the city put in two years ago only covers the existing city hall. Duran said he didn’t want to put the additional load on that system.
Mascareñas said this project was perfect for phasing because the work required in different areas could be separated with respective walls. The municipal court and police station has a new roof. The jail would require a new roof. Water and sewer were the main problems in the jail and since neither would be required, major alterations wouldn’t be required.
The third item on the city’s list is providing the Espanola Police Department with 10 vehicles at a cost of $284,000. Duran said there is a federal program that helps municipalities with vehicles and all myriad equipment that goes inside them.
“The $284,000 would cover our end and we could start replacing cars and equipment and getting reimbursed for most of the cost,” Duran said.
The last item on the list is a $120,000 request to make building improvements to the fire station on Vietnam Memorial Parkway.
“Only one garage door works,” Duran said. “So they have to back the trucks in. The remaining door doesn’t work right all the time so they have to leave it open about two feet so it doesn’t get stuck down.”
Mascareñas said the heating and air conditioning systems need to be replaced and the roof is in bad shape. There also needs to be more partitions between men and women quarters and the bathrooms need work, following many patch jobs and plumbing reroutes.
Duran said city officials have already met with several legislators and they have meetings scheduled for this week with others.