Meetings set to discuss future of Clovis

CLOVIS — Any who wish to weigh in on what they would like to see for the city of Clovis in the next decade — and beyond — have a good opportunity to do so starting this month.

City officials have announced April 9 as the date of the first meeting to discuss and update Clovis’ “Comprehensive Plan” from 2007, and on Friday they released a link to a short survey concerning the city’s facilities, services, economy, housing, transportation, land use and industry, among other topics.

It’s called comprehensive for a reason, after all.

“It’s very important that the Clovis residents, if they so wish, participate in the comprehensive planning process because it’s our road map for the next 10 years of where we’d like to go,” said Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes.

Public participation is not restricted to city residents, though; officials welcome “anybody who would like to participate in moving the city of Clovis forward in a positive direction,” she added. It’s noted in the 2007 plan that “since a majority of the citizens of (Curry County) live in Clovis, the county has a significant stake in the well-being of the city.”

This is only the beginning of a process from now till mid-December that will involve multiple public meetings as well as stakeholder and steering committee meetings, Burroughes said; the steering committee will consist of representatives from Plains Regional Medical Center, Cannon Air Force Base, the Chamber of Commerce, the Civil Aviation Board, local schools and Realtors, among others.

The city commission is also due to recommend citizen representatives to that committee at their April 5 meeting. The newly formed steering committee will have its first of three meetings April 9 in the afternoon, just before the public meeting scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Civic Center.

During the public meeting a consultant will lead a presentation and an “interactive exercise,” said a news release, but participants “are welcome to drop in at any time.”

Many of the items discussed in the 2007 plan are still in progress, with notable exceptions including the redevelopment of the Hotel Clovis.

“These are overarching and ongoing goals that the city seeks to implement and individual projects emerge from this,” Burroughes said. “The majority of them are ongoing activities, whether that’s working with Cannon AFB or water reuse programs.”

The comprehensive planning process is enabled by a $50,000 grant from the state’s economic development department, she said.

Officials hope to collect responses to their survey, available on the city website — http://www.cityofclovis.org — or at the library, through the end of the month. Respondents are asked to rate the city’s public services, parks and recreation department, community facilities, commercial and retail services, and the visual appearance. The survey also asks for input on new jobs or industries needed for the city, land development concepts and affordable housing availability.