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Mayor looks back at 2011

Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield delivers annual the state of the city address Thursday at the Clovis-Carver Public Library North Annex.

Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield delivers annual the state of the city address Thursday at the Clovis-Carver Public Library North Annex.

Mayor Gayla Brumfield said it felt like more than a year since she'd taken to the podium at the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

That, she said, was because 2011 brought a busy year, as she outlined in her annual state of the city address.

In the 40-minute address, Brumfield frequently veered from prepared remarks to praise city commissioners and city employees for work completed in 2011 while giving updates on city departments and services.

"It was a tough year," Brumfield said. "It was a year that was met with challenges."

Some topics addressed included:

Infrastructure and water: Brumfield said $7.5 million in wastewater treatment plant upgrades will be completed in May, while the city received $4.1 million to work on the first phase of its effluent water reuse project.

She noted $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for a sewer line along Martin Luther King Boulevard, and various improvements on Prince and Main streets and Manana Boulevard.

Fire and police: Brumfield noted a 6 percent drop in reported crimes, with 30,538 calls for service and 7,255 police reports filed. The Animal Control Division of the police department responded to 3,800 calls for service.

The fire department has seven stations, with the reopening of Station No. 6 and upgrades to a station at the airport. In total, emergency management services logged 280,000 miles in calls.

Public transportation: Clovis Area Transit System assisted with many city events, and provided nearly 68,000 trips while generating $41,000 in fares.

Quality of life: "We were committed to give the kids something to do," Brumfield said, "and that's what we're doing."

The city refinanced a parks and recreation bond to free up about $6 million. The money helped purchase the Chaparral Country Club — now the Colonial Park Golf Course — and is going towards upgrades at Hillcrest Park, which absorbed the city's nine-hole municipal course.

Upgrades include walking trails at Goodwin Lake, a dog park at Hillcrest Park, the renovation of the Youth Recreation Building and work on a splash pad to replace the old Hillcrest Park pool.

Industrial development: The city worked on numerous projects, including Quality Liquid Feeds and Tres Amigas. Those projects, combined with Beauty Health Supply Innovations and a facility expansion at Cummins Natural Gas Engines, could create 400 to 450 jobs.

The year also saw a pair of negative referendum elections, prompted by citizen petitions. A .25 percent gross receipts tax increase to help pay for the Ute Water Project was upheld, while the city's affordable housing plan was overturned.

Brumfield also took time to thank District 2 Commissioner Fred Van Soelen, who declined to run for a third term.

"I loved his eloquence when he had a statement to make," Brumfield said. "We all listened."

Brumfield is running for a second term as mayor.

Efforts to contact her challenger, former three-term Mayor David Lansford, for his view on the state of the city were unsuccessful.