Meetings watch: Curry County commission

The Curry County Commission held a special meeting Friday afternoon at the North Annex of the Clovis Carver Public Library.

During the meeting:

• Commissioners approved the canvassing of the Tuesday county primary election results.

County Clerk and Elections Chair Coni Jo Lyman said there were human errors, but the poll workers for the election did a great job during the election.

There was one voting machine problem, Lyman said, which didn't result in any lost votes. The machine, poll workers said over the phone, was smoking and grinding, and the immediate advice was to unplug the machine.

Other items called to the attention of commissioners, acting as the election canvassing board, included one provisional ballot issued because the voter in question turned 18 on June 2 and the registry computer didn't catch him; seven voters who voted in the wrong primary, with six Democrats voting as Republicans and one Republican voting as a Democrat; and four voters who picked up a ballot, said they didn't want to vote for any candidate and left it blank.

Commissioner Caleb Chandler asked officials to make sure the county wasn't in violation of any election laws with the voters casting ballots in the wrong primary. Lyman noted that the error happens in many counties during every primary, and no margin was enough to be affected by the errors. As far as removing said ballots, Lyman said it would be impossible to tell which ballots belonged to which voters.

Lyman said results won't be official until the state canvassing board certifies them June 26, and that commissioners were approving the fact that county staff had verified them to the best of their knowledge.

• County Manager Lance Pyle notified the commission that the regular Tuesday meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. at the North Annex, would included a proclamation to restrict fireworks sale and usage.

Pyle said the proclamation was similar to a 2011 item put forth due to fire danger.

The proclamation would ban sale and/or use of missile-type rockets, helicopters, aerial spinners, stick-type rockets and ground audible devices.

The ban would take place June 20 through July 6, and be punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail term of up to one year.

Pyle said if information from the National Weather Service and U.S. Forest Service indicates that eastern New Mexico does not have extreme and severe drought conditions, the proclamation gives him the authority to rescind it and give public notice of such.

• The commission renewed the first year of a three-year renewal with First American Financial Advisors for professional services, including investment advisory and assistance with qualification of financial institutions for deposite of public funds.

The contract is for three years, with annual renewals.

• The commission renewed a contract for banking service with New Mexico Bank and Trust for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
• The commission approved a DWI grant agreement of $62,100 between the county and the Department of Finance and Administration.
• Commissioner Bobby Sandoval was named as the county's representative on the Eastern Area Workforce Development Board.

— Compiled by CMI staff writer Kevin Wilson