County manager details tenative disaster relief plan

PORTALES — Roosevelt County Manager Amber Hamilton detailed at Tuesday's county commission meeting a tentative plan to apply for disaster relief funds from heavy rains in August.

Because De Baca County and Curry County have both incurred road damage due to flooding, Hamilton asked state officials if the three counties could jointly apply for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"That is something they're looking at, because of the timespan of when all of this has happened, so when I hear more about that, I'll definitely keep you all informed," Hamilton told commissioners.

The idea for joint funding came about after FEMA denied an application by Roosevelt County because its $2.7 million in estimated damages fell below the $3 million requirement, according to Hamilton.

An application for disaster relief funding from the state is moving forward, Hamilton said.

"As of last week, they were moving ahead with everything, once they heard from FEMA that the federal declaration was not granted."

Also at Tuesday's meeting:

• Hamilton agreed to bring Eastern Plains Council of Governments Executive Director Sandy Chancey to a future meeting to present her organization's services, following a request by commissioner Dennis Lopez.

Lopez suggested the presentation because of the "array of services that they help with," including grant writing for county projects.

The commission had in the past voted to end a contract with EPCOG because "there was little that we could justify return on investment," Hamilton said.

Lopez replied that he wanted to see what EPCOG had to offer.

• Commissioners approved the creation of new accounts for small equipment purchases.

Hamilton said the item came at the request of the county's auditors, who suggested the county separate purchases under $5,000 from "capital assets," or large purchases.

"All that we're looking to do is just create another series of accounts that are right next to that capital assets account, to help our auditors when it comes time each year to look at capital assets," she said.

• Commissioners approved the renewal of three contracts: Food services at the Roosevelt County Detention Center with Trinity Services, chip seal aggregate with K. Barnett and Sons, and the renewal of the lease for a postage machine with Pitney Bowes.

• Commissioners awarded contracts to James Polk Stone Community Bank for banking services and Keefe Commissary Network for commissary services at RCDC.