[July 27, 2011] San Juan County gets $1 million for roads Tweet AZTEC, Jul 27, 2011 (The Daily Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Nearly $1 million of federal and state funds will trickle into San Juan County this year to maintain county roads. County commissioners agreed Tuesday to match 25 percent of the federal and state money the county will receive for routine maintenance on certain county roads. The New Mexico Department of Transportation will provide the county with about $280,000 the county will use to chip-seal the roads, said Dave Keck, the public works administrator for the county. About $130,000 will be used on County Roads 7800 and 7900. Those roads are near Chaco Canyon. About $63,000 will be used on County Roads 6000 to 7000, which are in Kirtland and $64,000 will be used on County Roads 3000 to 5000, according to county documents. "We will use (all the money) on materials," he said. The county tries to chip-seal roads once every four to seven years depending on how often the road is used, Keck said. Chip sealing is when a cohesive liquid is applied to damaged sections of road and asphalt-like chips are applied to the liquid. All the county roads that will be supported with these funds are paved. The department hasn't yet scheduled the order of the road maintenance, he said. "This is some of the only state money we are getting right now," Keck said. "Our state has quit giving away money like they used to." Additionally, county commissioners also approved to accept about $675,000 in federal funds, and match 25 percent of the funds, for maintenance and repairs on county roads adjacent to the Navajo Nation. For more than 10 years, San Juan County received about $225,000 in federal funds annually to maintain roads that are used as school-bus routes for Navajo Nation students. None of the roads are on the Navajo Nation. New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman helped create the program, Keck said The county did not receive its funds as part of the program in 2009 because of an administrative error, Keck said. Bingaman's staff "found some kind of administrative error in Washington," Keck said. "I was going to lose 200-and-some thousand dollars because I told the budget department I had that revenue coming in." The county can now use three-year's worth of funds on projects it completes this year. The program does not fund projects, but it will reimburse the county for future projects on qualifying roads, Keck said. "Once the clock starts ticking it only takes me about four months to hit that number," he said. County commissioners also listened during Tuesday's commission meeting to a presentation from Thaddeus Cano, the general manager of Fisheads San Juan River Lodge in Navajo Dam, about his desire to get a beer and wine license at Fisheads Back Cast Cafe, a restaurant at the lodge. To get the license he must fill a petition with more than 1,000 signatures of registered voters in unincorporated areas of the county. If he can get the signatures, the county will hold a special election to vote on whether those types of alcohol licenses can be used in unincorporated parts of the county. That election would cost the county between $30,000 and $35,000, said Debbie Holmes, the San Juan County clerk. Ryan Boetel: [email protected] To see more of The Daily Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.daily-times.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Daily Times, Farmington, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]