Sen. Udall tours area

New Mexico's current junior senator, and soon-to-be senior senator, made visits Friday throughout eastern New Mexico.

CMI photo: Tony Bullocks

Stephen Crozier, project developer and chief executive of Tierra Realty, left, briefs Sen. Tom Udall on Friday on the progress of the Hotel Clovis project, while touring the construction site.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. visited a road construction project in Portales, toured ongoing renovations at Hotel Clovis and volunteered during Cannon Appreciation Day at Doc Stewart Park.

After arrival from the Portales airport, Udall dropped in for a discussion with Portales elected officials and citizens with concerns.

Udall noted that a top concern was always water, and he would do what he could to keep the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System pipeline project on schedule. City Manager Tom Howell said an interim solution might involve the city buying land and water rights a few miles from current land it owns.

Karl Terry, executive director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce, said that between the expansion of Cannon Air Force Base and record enrollments over recent semesters at Eastern New Mexico University, there were a lot of positives.

"I think we're in a position Portales has never seen," said Terry. "We've got housing issues, believe it or not."

Howell agreed, noting that the city desperately needs an 80-unit apartment complex.

Portales resident Owen Pierce came to the meeting to voice displeasure that Congress — he specifically mentioned the House of Representatives — went on break during extreme drought conditions.

CMI photo: Kevin Wilson

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., left, talks with Pat Garcia, assistant project supervisor, middle, and Richard Gonzales, project manager, during a Friday tour of U.S. 70 work ongoing in Portales. The section the tour participants were standing on was just south of the intersection of U.S. 70 and Avenue K.

"You're absolutely right," Udall told Pierce. "We should have stayed and got it done. We're staying on the phone with leaders (to see if we'll be called back into session).

Udall said that 25 percent of the country is in extreme drought conditions. That, bank owner David Stone said, certainly includes Portales.

"Two years ago, I had 24 inches of rain," said Stone, who privately discussed banking regulations with Udall afterwards. "Last year, I had three. You need 12 inches for a desert. This year I have one-and-a-half. I'd have to have a hell of a rain to get to a desert. My grass looks like this floor."

Udall also took a tour with city officials of ongoing work on U.S. 70, also known as First and Second streets in the city limits. The $8.3 million project is scheduled to go through next summer, with understandable frustrations about detours and one-lane roads.

"I know people will like what they're going to get," Howell said. "I don't know if they like what we've got now."

Udall came to Clovis in the afternoon and took an hour-long tour of Hotel Clovis, which is being transitioned into an apartment complex by Tierra Realty of Taos.

Steven Crozier, owner of Tierra, told Udall that he strives for energy efficiency, and is chasing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum status. Since the hotel was built in the 1930s, there are greater material costs and insulation needs than if a building was created from the ground up.

"The holy grail," Crozier told Udall, "is to construct a project that produces as much energy as it consumes."

Robyne Baubien, executive director of Clovis MainStreet, told Udall that she felt "the project is catalytic and we're already seeing businesses coming in."

Following the tour, Udall said he didn't leave with many surprises, but that the trip was full of positives.

"I see very good things happening in both of the communities," Udall said. "They're creating jobs, the community leaders have a vision. It's good to see all that's working out.

"Clearly one of the biggest issue in the community is housing, (with) a real need for affordable housing. I think it's important to keep the incentives that are in place to encourage doing this; (it's important) that we continue them."

Udall is up for re-election in 2014, and will be joined in the Senate by either Martin Heinrich or Heather Wilson, who are running for the seat vacated by Jeff Bingaman's retirement. He said when the 113th Congress starts up, filibuster reform will again be on his task list, whether Democrats still control the Senate or not.

"We need to make the Senate work better," Udall said. "If the Senate works better, that works better for the citizens of New Mexico."