By JIM OWEN
Daily Press Staff
Hurley officials are planning construction projects on E Street, A Street, Cortez Avenue and Lea Drive.
The town received $33,000 from the state Department of Transportation. The grant, which requires an $8,000 match by Hurley, must be used by the end of the year.
The money will pay for design work on E Street from Fifth Street to Diaz Avenue, and on the full length of A Street. The plan is to obtain more funding for drainage and paving improvements on the two streets.
The DOT has pledged another $40,000 for next year, which the town will use for paving, drainage, sidewalks and lighting on Cortez Avenue from Chino Boulevard to Diaz Avenue.
That grant calls for Hurley to provide $10,000 in matching funds, but the Town Council has asked state officials to waive the requirement.
Also, the federal Community Development Block Grant program has agreed to give Hurley $467,000 (with no match requirement) to pave and improve drainage on the full length of Lea Drive.
During its regular meeting Tuesday night, the council also discussed the town’s 2011-12 budget, which the state Department of Finance and Administration approved last week.
The budget calls for increasing the pay of town employees by an unspecified amount. The council has scheduled a workshop on Monday, Sept. 19, to determine how much workers will receive.
In other business, councilors agreed to pay a Colorado companyabout $10,000 to clean Hurley’s water tanks, which New Mexico officials require every seven years.
“It’s only been five years since we did it, but the company is going to be down here, so we decided to go ahead and get it done now,’ said Mayor Ed Encinas.
E.J. Montes, Hurley’s animal-control and code-enforcement officer, reported that during August he responded to 18 calls regarding loose pets or code violations, impounded 14 dogs (11 of which were returned to their owners), and issued five citations and three warnings for dogs running loose.
The Police Department received 208 calls and issued 50 traffic citations, while the Municipal Court collected $433 in fines, in August.
The Fire Department during the month responded to one incident, a lightning-caused grass fire on railroad right of way that was quickly extinguished.
The council also: • Agreed to let Hurley employees and officials use town-issued debit cards to book motels when on municipal business; • Voted to pay the expenses of City Hall staffers Lori Ortiz and Martha Salas to attend a CDBG-application workshop Oct. 5-6 in Las Cruces; • Decided to send Montes to a first-responder emergency medical services course at the Tyrone Volunteer Fire Department’s Wind Canyon station on Fridays and Saturdays between Oct. 1 through Nov. 5; and • Agreed to promote police officer Michael Zamora to corporal.
Jim Owen may be reached at email@example.com.