More than $10,000 for an equipment trailer and a youth intern are part of a State grant for Keep Carlsbad Beautiful approved by the Carlsbad City Council.
In a memorandum to councilors from City of Carlsbad Utilities Director Ron Myers, the City was awarded a $15,000 grant through the New Mexico Department of Tourism’s Keep New Mexico Clean and Beautiful Grant for the current fiscal year.
Councilors approved the grant July 13 during a regular City Council meeting.
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Keep Carlsbad Beautiful Director Mary Garwood said the grant included $4,900 for an equipment trailer and $5,760 for a youth intern.
She said the internship was open to anyone from ages 16 to 25 and office work and social media posts are part of the job description.
“A lot of what we’re doing over the last couple years is really revolving around social media and that takes up a lot of my time,” Garwood said.
She said the intern would help out at the multiple trash cleanups Keep Carlsbad Beautiful conducts yearly around the City and Eddy County.
“That is something I’m most excited about. Because it will be a chance to mentor someone and can learn the inner workings of the City, the government, and partnering with all the other community partners. It’s going to be important for that young person to realize how important it is to have partnerships in the community,” Garwood.
She said the new intern could be hired by September and employment would last for eight months.
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Garwood said the equipment trailer would be put to good use hauling supplies to cleanup locations. She compared it to trailer’s landscapers use for landscape work.
“It’s going to come in so handy whenever I set up for Riverblitz or set up for community cleanups. I can go and just have an equipment trailer on site with all the supplies that we need on hand. It’s going to make things so much easier,” she said.
Garwood said a storage site comes in with the trailer and expects to have it by early January.
In the memo, Myers said the rest of the grant would cover litter prevention advertising, landscaping the City of Carlsbad Annex Building, Keep America Beautiful dues and the annual Keep America Beautiful Conference in Washington, D.C.
The State requires a 25 percent match from other government organizations for in-kind and monetary donations, read the grant agreement.
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Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
