Time ticking on barn contracts

CLOVIS — Time is running out for the Curry County Commission to take action on contracts for a proposed road barn and a water line extension agreement to provide water to the barn.

The two contracts will go back in front of the commission today after commissioners voted to table them in November.

Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said the amounts of the two contracts — about $400,000 for the road barn contract with Nick Griego & Sons Construction, Inc. and $525,554 for the water line extension agreement with EPCOR Water — have not changed since the commission discussed them in November.

November’s meeting featured several 2-2 votes, setting up incoming Commissioner Seth Martin to possibly play the role of tiebreaker at his first commission meeting.

The commissioners need to take action before Griego & Sons’ contract expires on Jan. 26 because Pyle said the company will not be able to honor the contract for the same price if the county requests an extension.

Also on the agenda for today’s meeting, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in the commission chambers at the Curry County Administrative Complex, 417 Gidding:

• The commission will select a new chair and vice chair for 2018.

• The commission will vote on a resolution to be in compliance with the open meetings act. Pyle said nothing has changed and it is the same resolution the commission has approved previously.

• The commission will vote on a pair of budget adjustments in order to allow the county to spend money from recent grants for the Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program and the DWI Grant Program. Other budget adjustments on the agenda include transferring $25,420 to the Curry County Events Center budget and about $136 to the general fund.

• The commission will vote on a resolution certifying the county maintains 1,359 miles of roads, an annual requirement from the Department of Transportation.

• New Mexico Association of Counties Communications Director Susan Mayes will present a loan program to the commission. The program, TrueConnect, provides pay day loans for county employees in the amount of $1,000 to $3,000 with an interest rate of 24.99 percent and provides no risk to the county.

Mayes said based on the experience of the program in Doña Ana and Taos, about 20 percent of county employees would benefit from the program.

Pyle said if the commission is interested in the program the county will work on a contract to present at a future meeting.

• Commissioners will vote on a proclamation declaring Jan. 15 as Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.