Commission approves events center bid

Decades of ideas and years of preparation reached fruition Thursday when the Clovis city commission approved a multi-million dollar bid to construct an events center.

The commission approved by a 7-1 vote a $5 million bid by White Sands Construction of Alamogordo to construct the center, which will include a full-service kitchen, a meeting room and an access drive to the center’s parking lot.

The approval includes permission for city officials to seek a $3.5 million bond to finance the project.

“I think this deserves a round of applause,” Commissioner Kevin Duncan said after the bid was approved.

The bid does not include money for furniture and a telephone and computer system, but city officials said those costs should not put the project over the $6 million budget.

White Sands will not be allowed to increase the price of the project unless the city commission decides to change the project’s scope.

If the price of steel goes up, for example, White Sands will have to deal with the increase without any assistance from city funds.

Events center architect Steve Perich said he was pleased with White Sands low bid, which undercut a bid for the same services by about $61,000 from Clovis’ Wilson and Wilson Construction.

Wilson and Wilson officials initially protested White Sands’ bid on the basis they had no bidder for a subcontract project for the audio and visual portion of the center, City Attorney David Richards said. While it is unusual, city officials said White Sands can bid for a subcontractor at a later date and that their bid fell in line with state statutes.

Mayor David Lansford said he hopes the proposed events center at the corner of Schepps and Seventh streets near Clovis Community College will be operational by late next year.

He said he hopes user fees for events such as Christmas parties and receptions will offset operational costs.

Also at the meeting:

• The commission tabled a motion to demolish the old Youth Recreation Building at the corner of Seventh and Sycamore streets.

Commissioner Robert Sandoval said the Parks and Board committee should have included price estimates for demolition and repair before presenting the motion. Commissioners also want to review options for the building’s use, which include storage and possibly a building for archery practice.

Assistant City Manager Joe Thomas said the building hasn’t been used in two years when it housed day care students.

• Commissioners tabled a recommendation by the Revenue Review Committee to transfer $420,000 property tax funds to the city’s general fund. The recommendation also included the transfer of $140,000 for police and fire capital outlay to the general fund.

Clovis Fire Chief Ray Westerman asked the commission to table the motion because he wasn’t notified about the possibility of losing the outlay funds. He said he wanted to research the situation to see if any of the capital outlay projects are necessary.