Council approves funding to complete ‘overlooked’ items
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
The Gallup community stands only months away from the grand opening of its new senior center.
During the March 10 Gallup City Council meeting, Community Development Manager Keegan Mackenzie-Chavez and Senior Center Manager Steven Wargo requested that the city direct $1.75 million toward specific upgrades. These projects were originally lost to “value engineering” when officials first approved the construction.
Value engineering analyzes the essential functions of a project to find the best balance between cost, reliability, and performance.
“What happens when you value engineer is you look at what your budget is, the contractor comes in and looks at what the budget is and looks at what he can do, and says ‘these are the things that can kind of come out,’” Mackenzie-Chavez explained.
In May, the council approved breaking the project up into phases to cut back on costs. The first phase included building the center’s dining area, offices, lobby, kitchens, storage areas, and restrooms. What the city’s Planning and Development Manager C.B. Strain called “Phase 2A” saw the completion of a group exercise area, a fitness room, more storage space, an arts and crafts room, a library, and a billiards room. A gymnasium with a basketball court will complete the project in Phase 3.
Mackenzie-Chavez said that while doing the project in phases ultimately helped the city save money, some items that were deemed unnecessary were initially overlooked.
She and Wargo said that the city initially doubted if they were going to receive a $1.75 million grant from the New Mexico Aging and Long-term Services Department. Instead, they recently received an almost $1.7 million grant from the New Mexico Aging Bureau for construction of the senior center.
When the city wasn’t sure if they would receive enough grant money to cover the construction of the senior center, the council allocated $1.75 million for the construction.
Wargo and Mackenzie-Chavez argued that the council should apply the previously allocated $1.75 million to the projects they originally pushed aside. Wargo emphasized that using these funds now, rather than returning them to the general fund, allows the city to build a “complete facility.”
“We do not want to have to open this facility in late October or early November and have it be incomplete,” he said. “The optics on it are going to be too bad, and our seniors deserve better.”
Wargo and Mackenzie-Chavez brought a list of 10 items they said got value engineered and pushed aside during the early stage of the senior center’s construction. They are as listed below:
1. Replace the curb, gutter, sidewalk to ensure the portion between the new Americans with Disability Act compliant driveways are also ADA compliant.
2. Continue the sidewalk to the T-ball field due to the fleet parking lot that is situated to the east of the Center.
3. The west parking lot that will support overflow and employee parking was not included in the project as it was planned to be incorporated when the project was going to be phased; this parking lot needs regrading, resurfacing, and striping for safety reasons.
4. Recently it was decided to make the Center an Emergency Shelter for seniors during power outages and natural disasters. During this construction phase it will be economical to add the components to put in a generator. These components include the concrete pad, wiring, transfer switch, and fencing.
5. Readjust the design of the detention pond to better suit the site.
6. Security fencing in the east, wrapping around the north edge of the center and then culminating within the west parking lot.
7. Construction of a walking trail within the secured fencing to include elements for exercise and sensory stimulation.
8. Provide raised planter beds for the patio/courtyard area.
9. Xeriscape landscaping to enhance the trail space and detention pond.
10. Should funds allow, the inclusion of outdoor patio furniture to enhance the outdoor space.
Mackenzie-Chavez called the councilors’ attention to item number four on the list, making the center an Emergency Shelter. She explained why she thought it would serve as a great emergency shelter.
“It’s a facility [the seniors] already know, they’re comfortable with it, and it could address that need should we have any sort of disaster or emergency situation,” she said.
She said using the center as an emergency wasn’t really something that was overlooked during the planning process per se, but rather it came up as a suggestion when city staff were reviewing disaster relief plans. Putting a generator in the senior center will also support this effort.
Councilor Sarah Piano, Dist. 3, praised the idea of using the senior center as an emergency shelter.
“I wouldn’t have said we needed this emergency shelter in the past, but I think based on what recently happened [during the power outage on Aug. 5] with our elders who are on oxygen or didn’t have a place to go, I think that could be really beneficial to have a safe place that could have a generator if the power goes out again,” she said.
After looking at Wargo and Mackenzie-Chavez’s list, Piano called the items they’d listed “essential.”
The new senior center will be located in Councilor Linda Garcia’s district, District 1. She took time to praise the city’s decision to use the $1.75 million to improve the senior center.
“I support the senior center 100%,” she said. “We’re going to have a state-of-the-art building, which the seniors have deserved for years and years. We have the money, and instead of putting it in the general fund, let’s put it where it needs to be, and that’s the senior center.”
The council unanimously approved the budget adjustment to move the $1.75 million.
