Gallup council votes Tuesday on $1,980,000 to keep Phoenix flights for another year

The Gallup City Council will vote Tuesday on a $1,980,000 grant agreement with the state that would keep passenger flights to Phoenix running for one more year.

According to the agenda published by the City of Gallup, the grant comes through the New Mexico Department of Transportation Aviation Division Rural Air Service Enhancement Program and reaches the council with Resolution No. R2026-43. The state would pay $1,800,000, a 90 percent match, and the city $180,000, a 10 percent match.

The flights would continue as one flight daily from Monday through Thursday and two flights daily from Friday through Sunday, and staff are planning to increase weekly capacity from 10 flights to 14. Tickets cost $85 plus tax per flight, and the agenda says the fare will remain fixed through the extension term, which ends July 31, 2027.

Advanced Air stationed agents at the Gallup Municipal Airport in mid-August to assist with inquiries, according to the agenda. In-person bookings carry a surcharge, which the agenda says can be avoided by booking online at www.advancedairlines.com.

Councilors will also take up Ordinance C2026-2 on shopping carts. The agenda says carts removed from store property clog drainage systems and are hazards for vehicles and pedestrians, and that the ordinance would require businesses to promote steps to keep carts on their premises while holding those who take carts off premises responsible.

Staff are recommending the council award the Ciniza Drive whole-block project to H.O. Construction, Inc. of Albuquerque for $849,198.35 including gross receipts tax, with money already allocated in the project. The work is on Ciniza Drive, a residential street, from Toltec Drive to the drainage bridge, and covers reconstruction of curbs, gutters and sidewalks. The lowest bid was nonresponsive, so the recommendation shifted to the next qualified bidder.

The council will hold a public hearing on a Restaurant A liquor license, beer and wine only, for Gallup Coffee Company, LLC at 201 and 203 West Coal Avenue. The director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division has granted preliminary approval, and the council has 30 days after the hearing to tell the division whether it approves or disapproves the license.

The tourism office is asking for a $180,000 budget adjustment out of the lodger's tax fund balance. Staff cut about $500,000 from the planned budget for the 2027 fiscal year after lodger's tax receipts fell in 2026 and council grants for events drew down the fund balance. If the adjustment is approved, the fund balance would be about $510,000.

Other items: a request to spend $125,000 already allocated for repairs to the city-owned First Financial building on architectural services for that building and the Alpine property, where a treatment center is interested in leasing the retail portion; a $50,000 budget adjustment for the municipal court and its compliance program; and an event permit for the Arts Crawl, contingent on the organizer filing a certificate of insurance. The council then goes into closed session on the hiring of a city attorney.

What

A regular meeting of the Gallup City Council

When

6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22

Where

The council chambers at Gallup City Hall, 110 West Aztec AvenueDirections

How to comment

To speak on a non-agenda item, register in person with the city clerk before the meeting starts, or call 505-863-1254 or email aabeita@gallupnm.gov beforehand