Spaceport Land Sale Bid in Dispute

The city of Truth or Consequences’ bid to sell 6.2 acres of land to a state agency for the construction of one of two Spaceport America welcome centers was declared invalid last week because municipal officials did not disclose decades-old federal restrictions on the use of the land. After TorC City Manager Juan Fuentes on Wednesday provided the state with a 1984 letter from the Bureau of Land Management claiming the restrictions lapsed 28 years ago, deliberations about the validity of the city’s bid for a spaceport welcome center site were reopened. The city and two groups that protested the city’s winning bid have until noon Sept. 4 to file briefs on the dispute with state Economic Development Department’s general counsel, Wade Jackson. Jackson will decide whether the city’s offer to the Spaceport Authority met the conditions of a formal competitive bidding process. If the city’s bid is ultimately declared invalid, the contentious process of determining where to build a spaceport welcome center will be reopened for the Spaceport Authority...more