Meetings watch — July 8

Curry County Commission

Curry County Commissioners met Tuesday at the Clovis-Carver Public Library North Annex and took the following action:

• Approved capital outlay items totaling $79,263 for the Curry County Events Center. Director Joelle Reed plans to use the money for upgrading the concourse lighting, the pavilion, purchasing canopies for shade and providing additional seating. The motion was approved unanimously.

• Approved an amendment to the Open Meetings Act Resolution #2015-01, moving the first meeting of the month from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. per Commissioner Angelina Baca's request to do so last week. Baca wanted to move the meeting so working citizens could attend, and to accommodate her own personal work as a criminal defense attorney with conflicting scheduled jury selections.

“You know, you start these things at 5:15, and some older brothers and sisters are going to be long in bed,” said Rube Render, chairman of Curry County Republicans. “And the final thing is, not a whole lot of people attend these at any times. Probably I have attended as many or more than anyone in Curry County. No matter what time they're held, people have a tendency to not go. The final thing is if you extend the hours, there will be even less of them.”

Commissioner Wendell Bostwick said it could be easily changed back to 9 a.m. with a vote.

Three commissioners voted to pass the amendment, while McDaniel voted against. Commissioner Angelina Baca was not present at the time of the vote, but came in after the vote had passed.

• Commissioners decided to postpone reworking the historic Old House foundation until after the Curry County Fair concludes. Until then, commissioners approved requests to paint the Old House and jack up a side of it that is sinking in the ground. Commissioners approved the motion unanimously.

• Approved a professional services contract with First American Financial Advisors, Inc. for a term of July 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015. The commission approved it unanimously.

— Compiled by Deputy Editor Brittney Cannon

Civil Aviation Board

The Clovis Civil Aviation Board met Tuesday evening at the Clovis Municipal Airport.

Members Chris Bryant, Donald Sharer, Russ Backoff, Tye Curtis, and Tom Phelps were present, along with Interim Airport Director Cody Mills, City Manager Larry Fry and City Attorney David Richards.

The board met for an hour, discussing amendments to an update to the airports rules and regulations. The board had previously met June 23 to discuss rules and regulations.

Phelps, who chairs the board, said it was important to take time with the process.

“I don’t want to ramrod anything through,” Phelps said. “We need to make sure we’re doing what the (Federal Aviation Administration) says we need to do. The policies certainly need to protect the city and the airport, but the atmosphere needs to be business-friendly as well.”

Specific items discussed included:

• A discussion of whether to include a reference to concealed carry permit holders in the weapons section. The section as written does not allow weapons on flights, with exceptions made for law enforcement officers, members of an armed force on official duty, authorized air carrier employee or airport employee. The rule also allows for transport of firearms that are in cases, broken down and unloaded.

General aviation representatives said conceal carry is frequently seen on their flights, and they’ve never had an issue with those passengers.

Members thought a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy might be appropriate on non-commercial aviation, and noted that a policy requiring license checks could prove difficult to enforce.

• Prior notice for annual inspections of hangars by city staff. Carlos Arias of Blue Sky Aviation said that when the FAA does inspections, notice is given and parties can request delays.

Mills felt such a clause was reasonable, noting that private landlords are required to give tenants 24 hours notice for inspections. It was agreed to add, “with reasonable notice” to the rule.

• A rule denying storage of non-aviation equipment in buildings on the airport was amended to give the airport director latitude to make exceptions.

Fry said the rule is necessary to have because he’s seen people running auto parts businesses out of airport hangars, but agreed that giving discretion to the airport director was a good choice. Sharer was concerned without the amendment, somebody who flew out of Clovis for a few days and simply wanted to park their car in the hangar would be burdened.

The board will meet 5:30 p.m. Aug. 4 at the airport to discuss amendments to minimum standards for fixed base and commercial operators.

— Compiled by Deputy Editor Kevin Wilson