Officials want more space

Roosevelt County commissioners discussed office space issues at the Department of Public Health and the county administrator’s office during their regular meeting Tuesday.

Public Health Nurse Carol Morgan gave commissioners an update of her office’s activities and said high on her priority list is additional room in the office. The office is located in the La Casa Family Health Center’s building.

“We’ve been backed into a corner,” Morgan said. “We would like to serve more people.”

Morgan said she doesn’t have space for an additional staff person who could help people with Medicare enrollment and other services needing expansion.

Commissioner Dennis Lopez said he was concerned about the privacy of the location at La Casa. Morgan said that was an issue, but not as large an issue as the space.

Morgan said she likes being at La Casa, but didn’t rule out moving to another location if necessary. She asked commissioners to be thinking about the issue prior to a visit from state health officials next month.

Commissioners also learned that the process of finding additional office space for the county administrator’s office outside the courthouse was going slowly. One property was ruled out because of condition and another was being appraised but would likely need repair.

In other business commissioners:

• Renewed their contract for lobbyist services with Mike Miller of Portales.

• Approved renewing its membership in Eastern Plains Council of Governments on a 3-1 vote. Lopez voted against, saying the county wasn’t receiving value for the $3,000 membership.