Council will consider raising Memorial Building fees

A well known building in Portales takes center stage at city council Tuesday.

The meeting is at 7 p.m.

A revision of policies and fees for the Memorial Building is up for consideration.

City Clerk, Joan Martinez-Terry said she doesn’t know how old the original fees for the building are and staff was given the task of reviewing basic services.

“What the building takes in is not enough to cover repairs and maintenance to the facility,” Terry said. “At one time the Chamber of Commerce was there and they were running the building and handled reserving it.”

Terry said an increase of fees will help with maintenance.

“The nicest room is the auditorium and the other meeting room has problems with the ceiling,” Terry said. “We’ve had leaks in that building and the tiles don’t look all that great. They’re not falling down, but it does need some help. So, we’ve not been able to maintain the building the way it should be.”

There was an unofficial policy in place if someone wanted to rent the building, they had to call six months in advance. The times of reservations are being changed.

A deposit for the building will be $100, and people will be entered into certain classifications for rentals.

“The lease periods are going to be a little more expensive than they were,” Terry said. “The deposit is what people won’t like. We’re not charging as much as the county is for using the Jake Lopez Building and we want people to use the Memorial Building. We have to have some way to manage it.”

Other items on the agenda:

• Portales MainStreet program’s proposal to New Mexico MainStreet for the design of a project one in the downtown Master Plan.

• An FAA application for airport improvements and accepting the resulting grant offer once tendered.

• Monthly bills.

• A grant agreement with the state Department of Finance and Administration.

• Appointing voting delegates for the 2009 annual New Mexico Municipal League Conference.

• Considering a draft of 2011-2015 Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan.