Meetings watch

The Clovis city commission met Thursday at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

All commissioners and Mayor David Lansford were in attendance. All action items passed via 7–0 votes; Commissioner Fidel Madrid departed the meeting prior to votes on action items at 7 p.m.

• Commissioner Randy Crowder, who recently concluded his first term in the New Mexico House of Representatives, gave a presentation on the 60-day session, along with Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview.

Crowder said the biggest question he and Woods receive is if a special session will be called due to the Legislature’s failure to move a capital outlay bill, to which he said, “I have no clue.”

Crowder gave details on morning meetings he had as a freshman legislator, where issues on the expanding state Medicaid budgets and balloon payments in 2024, 2025 and 2026 for the Rail Runner and various infrastructure projects.

“There are difficult times ahead for New Mexico,” Crowder said. “There are some smart people, and they’ll deal with it. But it’s going to be difficult.”

Woods said the biggest issue he sees is the dropping price of oil, since proceeds are part of the state’s revenue. He said the state budget was created with an assumption oil would be $56 per barrel, but prices are below $40.

“If anything calls us into a special session,” Woods asid, “that will be it.”

• The commission declared April 2 as a day in honor of Clovis Christian fourth-grader Carter Teune and sixth-grader Delaney Barton for their performance at the state archery competition.

Tuene was first place in the fourth- and fifth-grade division, and fifth overall, while Barton was the top middle school shooter.

• Kim Kimmerly of the Curry Resident Senior Meals Association asked the city to set aside $10,000 to help the organization deal with an immediate $10,100 budget cut and an upcoming $8,800 budget cut for the next two months.

Kimmerly said CRSMA lost the funding due to missing a benchmark of meals served. The benchmark was not met due to 20 days of closure — seven weather-related, six for a sewage issue and seven for a kitchen floor repair at the city-owned building.

Kimmerly also plans to ask for $10,000 from the Curry County Commission.

City Attorney David Richards said the future agenda item could conflict with the state’s anti-donation clause. Commissioner Sandra Taylor-Sawyer asked why the commission could increase the contract for management of the Colonial Park Golf Course by $100,000 without issue but not be able to set aside $10,000 for the meal site. Richards responded the meal site was handing money to a non-governmental entity while the golf course was an increase in an negotiated amount.

Commissioner Bobby Sandoval asked if the item could be explored as a renegotiated contract item.

• Resident Jack Muse said he planned to ask commissioners to reconsider the March 20 decision to approve a management contract with Real Golf, LLC for the operation of the Colonial Park Golf Course.

Muse said the course has low green fees compared to courses in cities of similar sizes, and said raising the fees would help Real Golf pay its bills through its customers instead of taxpayers.

• Parks and Recreation Director Mark Dayhoff gave a presentation on the recent Great American Cleanup event. He noted 24 volunteer groups, led by Curry County, helped pick up trash throughout the city.

Commissioner Tom Martin said the pickup was a success, but noted that trash pickup wasn’t just a four-hour job on a Saturday.

“If you see something, pick it up,” Martin said. “I’d love to have one of these events, and nobody has to pick up any trash (because there isn’t any).”

• The next meeting is scheduled for 5:!5 p.m. April 16 at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

• The commission met for a pair of executive sessions. Both lasted about 30 minutes. The first was to discuss property acquisition, and the second to discuss the ongoing search for a new city manager.

No action was taken as a result of either session.

— Compiled by Deputy Editor Kevin Wilson