City checkup: City manager talks air service, water rights

Editor’s note: This is another in a continuing series of question and answer sessions with community leaders.

link Joe Thomas

City Manager Joe Thomas is in his 42nd year working for the city in some capacity. He started in 1972 as a police officer, served as assistant police chief, interim police chief, public works director and assistant city manager.

Thomas was named city manager in 2004.

Question: How is the new Boutique Air flying service going at the airport? Do they plan to add more flights to destinations other than Dallas-Fort Worth?

Answer: So far all indications are that everyone is extremely satisfied.

I actually had occasion a couple of weeks ago to use the service. My wife and I flew to Dallas for a couple of days. I can’t speak highly enough about it. They were very attentive, cordial. They were right on departures from both ways and right on time for arrival.

I was visiting with the airport director earlier this week and he indicates that they are averaging four to five people per trip now. When the service first started back in July, it was... probably not well enough known. They started with two or three (passengers) but he said it’s consistent now. Just about all the flights have at least four people on them.

During the original discussions they (Boutique) indicated that they would like to look at adding flights to Albuquerque.

Of course the Essential Air Service Contract pretty well limits what they can, I guess, be paid for to one hub, which in this case is DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth). If they feel that they could add flights to Albuquerque of their own volition without EAS assistance, then I think they’d certainly look at it.

Q: Where is the city on the $1.8 million water rights deal? Do we have a signed contract yet?

A: There is a signed contract. Right now the deal has not closed. The sale has not closed.

There are some discussions regarding easements that are going to be necessary and the city attorney and Mr. (J.L.) Walls attorney are trying to work through that and come up with a document that is acceptable to both sides. Once that’s done, all approvals have been made by the city commission and it’s just a matter of going to closing at that point.

Q: Mr. Walls would still have the ability to use that water?

A: The contract that was agreed upon allowed him use of the water through this crop year. Which we would interpret to be probably late October or November, something like that.

Q: With all the controversy these past few weeks concerning your job performance evaluation, how has it affected your work, the things you must attend to every day as city manager?

A: Well, obviously it has been a distraction but I’ve tried very diligently to continue to perform the duties and responsibilities of my position.

Q: Do you have a contract now?

A: No I do not.

Q: Why don’t you have a contract?

A: When I was selected for the position back in 2004, of my own volition I didn’t feel a contract was necessary. I, for the most part, still feel that way. I mean... if I do something grievous enough that it would violate a contract, then I probably don’t need to be here anyway.

Q: Name one or two recent programs or improvements the city has made that you take particular pride in and explain why?

A: The one that’s ongoing right now is the... Effluent Reuse Project. That’s reclaiming wastewater at our treatment plant and bringing it back into the community for use as irrigation purposes on park areas, things like that.

We’ve been fortunate enough to get some funding from the state Water Trust Board to do the first phase of that project. The first phase is complete and we are actually using reclaimed water now for dust control at the landfill and also at...the park that’s immediately adjacent to the landfill.

We have just recently been notified that we are eligible for additional funding from the Water Trust Board and are in the process of determining how far the lines can be extended. We feel we’ll be able to get the lines extended to the area of Hillcrest Park and change the irrigation system there over to utilize reclaimed water.

When complete... it would conserve as much as 3 million gallons of water a day that is currently being pumped out of the groundwater supply.

Q: Explain why some areas of the city don’t have traffic signs — stop or yield signs at some intersections — and can we look forward to the addition of more signs anytime in the future?

A: Historically, Clovis and a lot of communities in the Southwest do not mark every intersection.

The state motor vehicle code indicates that when two vehicles approach an intersection, you should always yield to the vehicle on the right. It’s not mandated that every intersection be marked.

Also, the cost of marking every intersection is significant. For two stop signs and the additional work that needs to be done, you’re looking at probably in excess of $400 for each intersection to do it.

More recently, the Public Works Department has undertaken a study of the city overall. Kind of going area by area and has relocated some signage, added some signage and that’s an ongoing program. The most recent area that was done is over on the west side of town...in that vicinity of the Freshman Academy Campus, south from there.

Currently, they are evaluating a couple of other areas north of 21st Street where we have had accident histories that are higher than we’re comfortable with.

— Compiled by Projects Editor Robin Fornoff