Council leaves tractor-trailer ordinance unchanged

Jared Tucker

At the regular city council meeting on Tuesday, the Portales City Council:

• Voted to leave unchanged the ordinance dealing with tractor-trailers parked in residential areas. Councilor Dianne Parker voted against leaving it unchanged, Councilors Mike Miller and Ronald Jackson were absent and the other councilors voted for the motion.

Portales Police Chief Jeff Gill said his officers can’t enforce the ordinance as it’s written, because complainants must be identified to the offender for court enforcement to take place. Gill said most complainants don’t want to be identified, so there’s not much his officers can do.

Mayor Sharon King said the trucking industry wanted the ordinance written that way it was. There must be a way to live peacefully with the industry, which contributes a lot to the community, she said.

• Approved an industrial waste permit for SRJ Development. The company wants to tie into the city’s sewer system to dispose of milk-tanker wash water.

• Celebrated the 25th anniversary of the New Mexico MainStreet Program.

• Approved a notice of intent to revoke current floodplain management regulations, and adopt new, updated regulations recommended by the National Flood Insurance Program.

• Awarded a bid to Bixby Electric for about $407,400 for lighting improvements at Portales Municipal Airport, to be paid by a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.

• Approved submittal of the 2010-2011 application for FAA funding for airport improvements and acceptance of the grand offer once it’s tendered.

• Heard comments from residents about graffiti and weeds. Several ideas for weed enforcement were discussed.