Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Officials lift status of drought

PORTALES — Recent rains have caused plenty of inconveniences lately, including the postponement of one high school graduation and countless flood claims by private citizens, businesses and government entities alike.

But there are several obvious benefits to the recent moisture, with optimism a notable one at Tuesday’s Roosevelt County Commission meeting.

Based on the advice of Portales Fire Chief T.J. Cathey and others, commissioners voted 3-1 to lift the county’s prior declaration of exceptional drought status and associated burn bans.

County Manager Amber Hamilton said she had spoken with the Arch Volunteer Fire Department, and said they felt keeping burn bans in place was unnecessary.

Cathey said weather can obviously change, but current conditions point to the area’s fire danger being relatively low through September.

“In discussion with other fire chiefs,” Cathey said, “at this point it is a safe bet to lift the burn ban.”

Commissioner Rod Savage moved to continue the drought declaration, but noted he intended to vote no. He was joined in that vote by Chair Tina Dixon and Commissioner Dennis Lopez.

Commissioner Paul Grider cast the lone vote to keep the status in place. He said while much of the county had received rain, there were substantial portions that had not and he felt uncomfortable casting that aside.

In other business during the 45-minute meeting:

• Road Superintendent Ricky Lovato said he was working on getting the word out on substantial work at a high-traffic intersection. The department, Lovato said, will close the intersection of South Roosevelt Roads 7 and S June 21-30 to allow for concrete pouring and curing.

Lovato said he is mailing out 200 letters to nearby landowners. Also, the department plans to have plenty of signage near the work area and the county has put out a public notice. But still, Lovato said, “I’m sure you’re going to get a lot of calls.”

While most people in the vicinity will be informed of the project by mail, Lovato plans to hand-deliver notices to every local trucking company as the intersection is heavily used by truckers.

“We don’t want them to get stuck and then have to turn around,” Lovato said, “especially in the dark.”

Lopez said the work will be an inconvenience, but the upgrade should be worth the headaches.

• Hamilton said she is working on a wide series of insurance claims due to recent flooding. The most notable damage, she said, came with the county’s health building used by La Casa. Precipitation came while a roof repair was ongoing, and the work left the building exposed.

“It’s unfortunate,” Hamilton said, “but we have everything documented as to why it’s not water-tight (at the time of the rain).”

• Commissioners appointed Larry Smith, Sharon Davis, Tate Turnbough, Eddie Martinez and Emily Lujan to the board of voter registration. Commissioners also approved a required addition of two new voting precincts. County Clerk Mandi Park said the precincts were necessary after high turnout in the 2020 election, and the voters won’t otherwise be impacted because citizens can vote at any Election Day voting location regardless of precinct.

• A one-year extension was approved for county legal services from Randy Knudson. The agreement was amended to allow Knudson, who is planning to relocate, the flexibility to attend meetings by telephone or web conferencing services if necessary. Hamilton said it wouldn’t be an issue as long as most meetings were scheduled with proper advance.

• The next commission meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. June 22 at the Jake Lopez Community Center.

 
 
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