Clovis applying for $4.5 million grant

CLOVIS — The city of Clovis is applying for a $4.5 million grant from the Defense Community Infrastructure Program to pay for Phase 2 of the Clovis Wellness Center, which Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes discussed at the commission meeting Thursday.

Construction of the next phase will consist of a warm-up pool, an aerobics room, a weight room, men’s and women’s locker rooms, a mechanical room and a lifeguard area, Burroughes said in an interview after the meeting.

The construction is estimated to cost $5,250,000 in total, she said. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham gave the city $750,000 in capital outlay funding towards the project.

The city plans a later third phase, an Olympic–sized swimming pool, she said.

The purpose of the Defense Community Infrastructure Program funding assists communities that support military installations, she said. The program, now in its second year, turned down a similar grant request by the city last year.

Burroughes said this year the application will include partial funding from the state and she hopes that will improve the city’s chances of getting grant approval this time. The grant is due in July.

In other meeting business during the Thursday meeting:

• Mayor Mike Morris awarded the keys to the city to four individuals: Special Operations Wing Commander Col. Robert Masaitis, former mayor David Lansford, and former commissioners David Robinson and Sandra Taylor-Sawyer.

The mayor handed the plaque to the colonel and said the city is grateful to Cannon Air Force Base. It makes it possible for the community to make friends and neighbors they would not otherwise have an opportunity to meet.

The mayor told former mayor David Lansford that he has always admired him for his leadership and public speaking skills and for the body of work he has amassed serving the community.

Lansford was also honored in a ceremony prior to the meeting, along with former City Commissioners Sandra Taylor-Sawyer and David Robinson. Morris told the crowd Lansford, Taylor-Sawyer and Robinson ended their terms right as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting, and public health orders restricting mass gatherings robbed them and citizens of the ceremony they deserved at the time.