Officials find common ground at luncheon

CLOVIS - Tuesday's joint city-county luncheon, the first in more than a year due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions, was intentionally informal with most conversations simply a matter of passing microphones around the meeting room at the Clovis Civic Center.

"Today, I don't want anything from you, and I hope you don't want anything from me," Clovis Mayor Mike Morris said in the luncheon of about two dozen representatives of the city and Curry County. "This is about fellowship, getting to know everybody a little better and making deposits in the (emotional) bank account."

The group made no decisions, but found plenty of common ground on various issues where their business intersects. Items discussed in the lunch hour meeting included:

• Land trust creation: Morris and Chet Spear, both part of a steering committee to establish a land trust, spoke of ongoing efforts that could either create an entirely local land trust or a partnership with the Land Conservancy of New Mexico.

Spear said a Department of Defense program called the Readiness Environmental Protection Initiative, or REPI, has so far supplied $8 million of up to $30 million that would be used to incentivize landowners around Cannon Air Force Base to retire agricultural water rights and preserve water in the paleochannel for municipal usage.

Spear said there may be a variety of administrative costs the county and city would bear.

"When you consider the overall cost of $150,000 to $300,000 against the $30 million we'd get (federally)," Spear said, it's kind of a no-brainer."

Spear said it's important to get the land trust right, as water issues seem to creep up every day. He noted many county residents are having water hauled to properties, and that a well issue at Texico forced a multi-day cancellation of classes earlier in May.

• The Pappy Thornton Museum: Officials are seeking a way to preserve the little-used facility at Ned Houk Park that is full of farm equipment acquired by former city employee and business owner Ardale Thornton. Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said some of the equipment could be featured at the county fairgrounds, and that a building currently housing extension activities would be available next year.

Conversations centered on possibly selling off some of the duplicate items to help fund any museum efforts. Less than five people raised their hands when asked if they'd been to the facility, which somewhat demonstrated the museum's low profile. City Manager Justin Howalt said the museum could become a more regional version of Las Cruces' Farm and Ranch Museum, but nobody in the room confirmed having visited that location.

City Commissioner Leo Lovett said whatever was done with the museum, it needs to be something enduring, and noted that the former home of Gov. Lindsey fell into disrepair before Roosevelt County finally made the decision to demolish it.

• Subdivision zoning: Howalt said that many subdivisions just outside of city limits don't conform to current zoning laws, as those subdivisions were platted decades before. He had concerns about how to provide city services should those areas ever be annexed into the city.

Curry County Commissioner Seth Martin, who sits on the county's subdivision committee, said he understood Howalt's concerns but countered it would be problematic to change zoning requirements for property owners after the fact.

• Parking: The city has seen various issues with public parking, particularly in the downtown area with the popularity of Bandolero Brewery. Curry County is working on renovation of a lot at Seventh and Mitchell, and Pyle noted the city owns a public parking lot on Sixth and Mitchell that is ripe for cooperation.

The popularity of Bandolero has caused issues for neighboring businesses that rely on the city-owned parking, and upcoming openings by Red Door and Roosevelt Brewing on Main Street seem destined to create similar issues.

Howalt said downtown parking issues are certainly a problem, but a good one to have because it means a vibrant downtown Clovis isn't used to having.

"In most metropolitan areas," Howalt said, "do you expect to park right in front of the place you want to go to? You usually walk a few blocks."

At the conclusion of the luncheon, Howalt asked if the informal format worked for everybody, and everybody seemed pleased. Spear said the exchange of information was good, and suggested in addition to quarterly luncheons that city and county administrators have smaller such meetings monthly.