Meetings watch — Jan. 6

Roosevelt County Commission

The following was action taken at the Roosevelt County Commission meeting Tuesday morning in the county courthouse:

• County Manager Amber Hamilton and ARISE Sexual Assault Services Director Leigh Ana Eugene recognized 7-year-old Audrey Keefer for winning the Roosevelt County Fair Housing coloring contest and presented her with a certificate.

• Former commissioner and county representative Kendell Buzard gave commissioners a report on the recent NM/AZ Coalition meeting.

Buzard told commissioners that the coalition’s intergovernmental agreement is still not complete.

He said the question was raised on whether non-elected officials should serve on the coalition board, but the general consensus was that it is OK for them to do so.

Buzard told commissioners that he made the point to fellow coalition members that he would not take any action or commit his county to anything without commissioner approval anyway, whether an elected official or not. He added that he wanted commissioners to be aware that the coalition is going to look into the issue further.

Buzard also reported that after three years of pushing to have Mexican wolves genetically tested and having no support, many organizations have now started pushing for the genetic testing to see if all of the Mexican wolves in New Mexico are pure Mexican wolf.

He said the coalition is expecting the testing to cost $60,000, but many donations are already coming in.

“They feel very strongly that we’re going to win that wolf case,” Buzard told commissioners, adding that the coalition wants to redistribute the money from winning the case (if they do) to all of the counties that were part of the fight.

Buzard said he does not agree with this because “there are more battles to be fought,” but he said that was the coalition board’s vote.

• County Clerk DeAun Searl gave a report that the county will have run or helped run three elections by the end of the month: Municipal election, Floyd bond election and the proclamation of the primary election.

• Lt. Javier Sanchez of the sheriff’s office gave a report that there is a serial burglar in the county, who has been stealing from county residents’ mail boxes. He said they have identified the suspect and now just need to catch him.

• Detention center Administrator Mark Gallegos reported that all inmates are classified in the detention center, according to their crime (violent crime inmates will be placed in a more secluded area), behavior and mental health issues. He said the New Mexico Association of Counties did a walk through and found no discrepancies in the facility, which is almost unheard of.

• Maintenance Manager Gary Spinks reported all of the main HVAC units for the county have been repaired and were all covered by warranty.

• Commissioners approved four health care claims for December. Special Projects Coordinator Carol Flores reported to commissioners that four claims were approved at $3,911 and four were disapproved at $3,419.

• Commissioners approved establishing a contract with Eastern New Mexico University to formalize the housing of jail inmates from the ENMU Police Department.

Hamilton said ENMU will not be charged anything regarding inmates, but the contract is simply to have something formal in place.

After the meeting, ENMU Police Chief Brad Mauldin said the university is still in negotiations regarding the contract, but “I do not see the purpose of having a written contract for something that is already addressed in state statute.”

Commissioners had previously tabled the decision for a contract charging ENMU for the service of housing inmates due to Mauldin bringing to the county’s attention that a state statute releases state entities from being obligated to pay the county for certain expenses, such as housing inmates.

• Commissioners approved annual reports for the Arch and Milnesand fire departments. The reports entailed staff, training and equipment for each department as well as equipment condition.

• Commissioners approved the Arch and Milnesand fire departments applying for capital outlay in the amount of $7,000 per department

• Commissioners approved county representatives for various boards:

A. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Committee: Jake Lopez and Amber Hamilton

B. Cannon Community Partnership Initiative: Gene Creighton and Amber Hamilton

C. Local Growth Management: Rick Leal and Amber Hamilton

D. Multi-line Pool: Malin Parker as an alternate to Hamilton

E. NMAC Workman’s Comp Board: Shane Lee as an alternate to Becky White

F. Emergency Preparedness: Johnny Montiel and Amber Hamilton

G. New Mexico Association of Counties: Malin Parker

• Commissioners approved new insurance rates for the current calendar year

Hamilton reported to commissioners that the minimum deductible rate for the county’s law enforcement insurance pool had increased from $15,000 to $25,000.

She said the multi-line pool for miscellaneous other claims increased from a $3,000 deductible to a $5,000 deductible.

• Commissioners approved several resolutions.

— Compliance with New Mexico Open Meetings Act updating it with a few minor changes, according to Hamilton

— Public participation at Roosevelt County Commission meetings. Hamilton said meetings will no longer need a sergeant in arms and each person from the public gets three minutes to speak rather than two.

— Delegation of authority to the county manager for disbursement of vendor checks. Hamilton said commissioners will see all of these transactions in regular reports, which they will approve.

— Delegation of authority to the county manager to enter into certain contracts and settlement agreements. Hamilton said commissioners would be aware of the contracts and would still have to give final approval

— Formation of the Roosevelt County Loss Prevention Committee. Hamilton said the county had such a committee in place previously, and in reforming it, the committee would include a representative from various county departments. She said the purpose is to help decrease risk to the county, and committee members will make recommendations in regards to safety and risk.

— Capital appropriation project administered by NMDOT. Hamilton said the resolution gives the county permission to move forward in applying for $77,000 in capital outlay for the road department.

— Setting fees, rates and costs for Roosevelt County for 2016. Hamilton said the resolution is similar to the one put into place last year to establish set rates for various county services. She added the only two changes were the addition of a property tax sale packet in the treasurer’s section and an addition to the GIS/rural addressing fee section.

• Commissioners went into executive session.

No action was taken.

— Compiled by Managing Editor Alisa Boswell