City Council agenda includes writing off debt

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — The city will write off $219,492.24 in past-due utility bills, effectivly passing on much of that to tax payers. Executive Director of Adminstrative Services Judi Starkovich will request to write off the bad debts at the next city hall meeting. The amount is less than one percent of the Gallup Joint Utilities’ annual sales income, and according to American Public Power Association, the industry average is 1 percent.

Starkovich notes in a memorandum on the write off that the debts are not forgiven, and the city continues to attempt to collect on them. Most of the accounts have past-due amounts under $1,500. Those over $1,500 are businesses that have long closed. The old K-Mart, formerly at the Rio West Mall, owed over $27,000 when it closed its doors. The city is writing off a past-due bill of $13,000 from the former owners of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The city will finally get briefed on the prairie dog problem across the city. So far the city’s Parks Director Ben Welch has refused to comment on reporters’ requests for comment on the prairie dog problem, including the controversial use of the “Rodenator,” which pumps the prairie dogs’ burrows full of propane and causes a concussion-inducing blast. But he will be at the meeting to discuss the problem in the areas of the city that he is in charge of, including Hillcrest Cemetery, Red Rock Park, and the city parks. The rodents are especially of concern at the graveyards, where they may very well be burrowing into older wooden coffins.