A sweet deal for WIlliams Acres
Development west of city to hook up to Gallup sewer

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — Toilets and lighting were the hot topics for the City Council Tuesday. The city approved an ordinance allowing for privately owned street lighting with lower energy rates. In a separate vote, the city of Gallup approved a memorandum of agreement with Williams Acres that would allow the community of 600 to tie in to the city’s sewer system. The vote could mean good news for the current and future residents of Williams Acres, which is 2 miles west of Gallup on Historic Route 66. The Williams Acres sewer system is operating beyond capacity.

The vote wasn’t without some discussion during the work session. The initial cost of construction of the tie-in, closure of the old lagoons and evaporation ponds, and operating costs run will run nearly $1.5 million. A third of the costs are available immediately through the state and the Williams Acres Water and Sanitation District. Another third would come from a Community Development Block Grant. That leaves the initial capital “buy-in” costs uncovered, and the district requested that the city reduce those costs by $250,000 in an effort to get the project rolling this year. These costs would then be billed to the William Acres community in the future.

The responsibility for collections from individual residents fell upon the district, according to the agreement. The city would bill the district for operations in one monthly amount.

“The city would only have to deal with one bill a month,” Gallup Joint Utilities Executive Director Lance Allgood said.

This part of the agreement was the main concern for the city: What if the district residents fail to pay their bills?
“What if the authority can’t pay? What do we do then? Cut off Williams Acres?” Councilor Pat Butler asked.

Evan Williams, who presented the proposal for the district at the meeting, pointed out that the district collects at a rate of 95 percent, which is higher than the city of Gallup.

The pressure was on to act upon the agreement because of the Dec. 15 deadline for applying for Community Development Block Grants. City Attorney Dave Pederson assured the council that failure on the part of the district to meet the terms of the agreement would constitute an out clause. Butler still had concerns.

“I think the city needs to maintain its own integrity ... I would prefer we not get into a situation where we are required to provide a service without being paid for it,” Butler said.

The agreement ultimately passed, with Butler voting against it.

The city also passed an ordinance creating rates for private, unmetered street lighting. Previously, the city handled the installation, operation, and maintenance costs for street lighting, charging the costs to the customer.

Now, customers can install and maintain their own lighting, and the city will only charge them for the cost of the electricity. Allgood said that this would be an appealing option for malls, mobile home parks, or other customers with a large amount of street lighting.