Water issues dominate meeting

CLOVIS -While there were seven action items on the agenda for Tuesday's Curry County Commission meeting, an item on Thursday's Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority agenda dominated much of the discussion at the three-hour meeting.

ENMWUA Executive Director Orlando Ortega and Clovis Mayor David Lansford, chairman of the authority, detailed a $15,000 contract with King Industries to address the water contamination issues near Cannon Air Force Base. The issue will be considered by the water authority board at its Thursday meeting.

Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoiac Acid (PFOA), contaminants posing health risks to humans, were discovered in the water supply near Cannon last year. They were present in firefighting foam used by the Air Force at Cannon and other military bases since the 1970s.

Lansford said State Engineer Tom Blaine devised plans to remediate the water contamination using environmental funds previously given from Curry County to the city of Clovis as part of its intergovernmental agreement.

County Commissioner Seth Martin said he did not trust the water authority; he expressed concern regarding the timeliness of the county commissioners being informed about the remediation efforts t.

"All this is happening in a matter of four or five days and so it may seem like we're rushing this through," Lansford said.

"But we've waited six to eight months with this contamination issue and really we're not seeing any results and somehow the elected officials in this area have got to step up and say, 'Look, collaboratively we're going to push this envelope. We're all stakeholders in this issue and we want it resolved properly and expeditiously.'"

Commission Chairman Chet Spear asked why local taxpayer funds should be expended if the Air Force and Department of Defense are involved in similar efforts.

Lansford said he was not aware of any remediation plans advanced by the Air Force until the authority's proposal was introduced and that "for $15,000, it gives us a place at the table to see what's going on."

After the meeting, Spear told The News that a representative from Cannon recently told him that a remediation plan is being undertaken by the Air Force and the King Industries proposal has been sent to the Air Force to see if it is a duplication.

Commissioner Robert Thornton, the county's representative with the water authority, expressed his support for the proposal.

"I think that getting an expert opinion, an expert at the table that represents us as a public, is a positive step forward and gets the DoD moving on something that basically is sitting there," he said.

No action was taken on the discussion item, which will appear as an action item at the ENMWUA's meeting on Thursday.

Also at Tuesday's meeting:

• By a 3-1 vote, commissioners approved a resolution requesting support for the New Mexico border, with Commissioner Ben McDaniel casting the lone vote in opposition.

The resolution calls on the state and federal government to provide financial and man power assistance to address border security.

"I didn't know what to do," McDaniel said after the meeting, noting that he would have liked to be able to visit the border himself to see the seriousness of the problem and that he wasn't sure if it was definitely a Curry County issue.

Spear described illegal border crossings as a humanitarian issue due to diseases non-citizens are potentially bringing into the country, unlike like those who legally apply to enter the country who must pass a medical examination.

• Members were selected for a road viewing committee to report on a requested road closure on Curry Road 6 at the commission's March 19 meeting.

• The commission approved a land donation from Kenneth and Jacqueline Davis to house a fire station for the Ranchvale Volunteer Fire Department.

Fire and Safety Director David Kube said the county plans to construct a new well to meet the water needs of the fire station.

In his report on the fire and safety department, Kube said the Broadview Volunteer Fire Department donated firefighting equipment to be used by Ranchvale and he hopes the new volunteer fire department is certified by the state fire marshal's office before May.

• Orlinda Martinez, the county's detention records specialist and Ben Roberts, the county's facilities maintenance supervisor, were recognized as employee of the year and supervisor of the year, respectively.

Spear said the employees will receive a $50 gift card, a plaque and he proposed a future agenda item to give them and future winners an extra day off.