Tumbleweeds make comeback invasion

CLOVIS — In January 2014, Clovis residents spent over a week cleaning up giant tumbleweeds that had piled up in town, particularly in the area south of Llano Estacado on Wicks, Lore and Redcloud streets.

For the past two weeks, some residents in that area have experienced deja vu as the tumbleweeds have returned.

Bill Harper, who is in charge of maintenance at the Cheyenne Trails apartments, a senior citizen living community, said he first began clearing tumbleweeds two weeks ago at the apartments on Redcloud.

He said he had nearly cleared out the tumbleweeds in residents' front lawns before Thursday night's high winds.

"Our little storm (Thursday) night barricaded as again," Harper said on Friday. "I had people who couldn't get out their front door this (Friday) morning."

Wendy Aragon, who is the assistant manager of the property, has become frustrated with what she said is the city's lack of a response in addressing the tumbleweed problem.

But Clovis City Manager Justin Howalt said he first heard of the issue on Friday. Howalt said the city was contacted Friday morning for an extra trash pickup at the apartments, which was provided, but city administration was not aware of previous requests from Cheyenne Trails to provide assistance.

"If they want to contact my office they can; we're happy to address any citizens' concerns and try to resolve them," Howalt said.

Aragon believes the tumbleweeds are coming from a large field across the street from the apartments.

She does not know who owns the land but wants the city to force the owner to mow the property in order to eliminate the tumbleweeds and the fire hazard they present.

"Look at it," Aragon said while pointing to a dumpster overflowing with the crushed down tumbleweeds. "If this catches fire, if somebody throws a cigarette out, this place is going up in flames."

Aragon said she was appreciative of volunteers from The Lighthouse Mission who came Friday to help clean up the tumbleweeds.

"We've been calling the city, we called the fire department, we called everybody and nobody's come out here to help," Aragon said. "We're calling churches, everything. Nobody came. The only guys that came out here were The Lighthouse Mission."