Commission bids farewell to three outgoing members
Two proposals for waste pickup in county were also discussed
High fives and accolades filled Thursday night’s Sandoval County Commission meeting as three outgoing commissioners said their goodbyes.
Two-term commissioner and Chair Darryl Madalena of District 5, two-term Commissioner Glenn Walters of District 4 and Commission Vice Chair Nora Scherzinger of District 2, who lost her bid for re-election last month, will step down at the end of the year.
The commissioners thanked their colleagues and staff members. Each was presented a plaque of appreciation for their service.
“I couldn’t have done it without a team, and we have a great team here, so I would like to thank my fellow commissioners,” Walters said. “In the Air Force, we have a saying, ‘Integrity first,’ and that is what I tried to do; and second, ‘service before self,’ and I believe I fulfilled that role.”
In other matters, the commissioners heard presentations from two waste companies vying for a contract to pick up residential waste in the Jemez, Cochiti and Cuba areas of the county.
Local hauler Road Runner Waste and California-based Universal Waste Systems Inc. were the only respondents to a request for proposals.
The RFP asked prospective companies to provide a projected numbers of households and mandatory billing based on a mean of rates collected from all areas.
According to Walters, the commission has discussed mandating the waste service to selected areas, but in the end decided on an exclusive service agreement. Exclusive means only one vendor would serve the area, but residents can decide if they want to use the service.
“All of those issues would be a nightmare for our staff to deal with and, I’m sure, for your company,” he said. “I am curious about how you determine a rate when you don’t know how many customers you’re going to have.”
The commission did not make a decision. County Manager Phil Rios said the county staff is reviewing the proposals and will likely return to the commission with a recommendation early next year.
The commission unanimously approved appointing 15 members to the Sandoval County Juvenile Justice Advisory Board for two-year terms and a request to auction county vehicles declared as surplus.
It also approved a motion to update four sexual misconduct policies in the Sandoval County Detention Center standard operating procedures manual.