Curry jail renovation advances

CLOVIS — The project to expand and renovate the Curry County Adult Detention Center advanced one step further Wednesday during the regular commission meeting.

Curry County commissioners approved design development documents for the construction, which is scheduled to start early next year.

The jail "renovation and addition" project is slated to add 48 beds in a new housing unit of 10,800 square feet east of the existing facility, according to County Manager Lance Pyle. The development is also designed to include a new 2,300 square foot medical unit.

The existing facility, located at 801 Mitchell Street, will be renovated, and its sally port (a controlled entryway to the jail) is to be renovated and expanded for intake, pre-booking and holding, Pyle said. A new sally port of 2,800 square feet is to connect Eighth Street and the south end of the new building.

The county has dedicated approximately $10 million in bond funds toward the estimated $11.3 million project with the remainder to "come from general fund dollars that the county has been able to put back the past few years," Pyle said.

The new jail facility is expected to have video visitation equipment, allowing remote visitation between inmates and their visitors. Pyle said county leaders are hopeful that video visitation will "aid the management of inmates" and "reduce the amount of traffic in accessing the facility."

But there are still a few phases and over six months before stones are laid on a new jail building.

Pyle said the next step is for construction documents to be approved by the commission in late September or early October, followed by contract bidding the next month and the final construction contract awarded in December.

Other highlights of Wednesday's commission meeting:

• The board voted in favor of splitting with a promoter the $19,000 expenses associated with booking a country music artist to put on a concert at the Curry County Events Center in September.

Just over one third of the venue's 3,000-seat capacity needs to be filled in order to break even (not including advertising or concession money), and all revenue after breaking even will be split evenly between the promoter and the county. The "maximum risk" to the county is $9,500, Pyle said.

Pyle declined to share the name of the artist until the booking was confirmed, anticipating that will happen within the next few days.

• County Manager Lance Pyle received his yearly evaluation from the commission and signed a new four year contract to continue serving as county manager, absorbing additional responsibilities of lobbying services (duties previously contracted out for about $30,000 per year, said Pyle). Pyle's new contract, approved unanimously by commissioners, is through Oct. 31, 2021, and requires him to give the commission a 120-day advance notice if he resigns before then. The contract represents an annual pay raise of about $20,000 from Pyle's previous three-year contract, for a new annual salary of $145,427.54.

"I look forward to continue to work with the county commission in serving the public," said Pyle, who has been employed with the county since 1998 and as manager since 2007.

"I think as a whole commission we're very pleased with Lance Pyle's work and what he's done for the county. He's very well respected in the state and we're one of the few counties that is still operating with some money in the bank, so that's a testament to his ability to crunch the budget and do the things that we need to do and still be able to save money at the end of the day," said Commissioner Ben Smith.

"Given that we added lobbying duties to his scope of work, that actually will save the county money on the fees that we were paying for a lobbyist," said Commissioner Robert Thornton.

• Commissioners approved buying three acres of land south of Clovis (on Curry Road 6) from Daryl Martin for $13,000, to be used by the county road department.

• Commissioners heard presentations on the Broadview Fire Station (Randy Kamradt), the Melrose Health Clinic (Kim McCord), the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority (Justin Howalt) and the Eastern Plains Council of Governments (Sandy Chancey).