Food festival hoping for beer garden

CLOVIS — Organizers of an inaugural food festival are attempting to celebrate local food trucks next month at Hillcrest Park. They’re also hoping they’ll be able to feature a beer garden.

A variance for the sale of alcohol at Hillcrest Park is one of just two new business items at Thursday evening’s Clovis city commission meeting.

The 575 Foodie Fest is scheduled for 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 19 at the park, and organizer Jenni Hanson hopes the commission will provide a variance.

Hanson said her family is on its second assignment at Cannon Air Force Base, and she was impressed with the changes in the four years they were away from eastern New Mexico.

“When we lived here previously,” Hanson said, “there were food options, but it was somewhat limited. When we came back, we were so impressed with how much the variety has improved, especially the food trucks.”

She’s hoping for 10 to 15 food trucks — “as much as Hillcrest Park will fit” — and a beer garden provided by Red Door. She’s trying to keep the food trucks as local as possible, but has reached out to vendors in Roswell and Lubbock.

Other items on the agenda for the 5:15 p.m. meeting at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library include:

• A 4:45 p.m. executive session preceding the meeting to discuss pending or threatened litigation.

• Lodgers tax disbursement recommendations from the Tuesday evening advisory board meeting. The meeting was scheduled after press time for The News.

• Development of asset management plans with CDM Smith for wastewater collection ($103,922) and Bohannan Huston for the city’s effluent water reuse pipeline ($64,965). Each project is included in the 2019-20 city budget.

• Appointment of Michaela Gatewood to the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board and Jack Nuttall for the Civic Center Policy Board.

• Consideration of an Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan from the city’s senior services division. The division files a separate ICIP from the city and has three requests for capital outlay dollars — a new senior center at Hillcrest Park, a roof at the Friendship Senior Center and renovation at Friendship.

• A quarterly report from the Clovis Civic Center.

• Proclamations for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta Days, National Preparedness Month and the July yards of the month.