Portales adopts city clerk resolution

PORTALES — The Portales City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday that formally made the city clerk the custodian of records responsible for responding to public records requests.

The city clerk was already responsible for those requests as mentioned briefly in a 2009 resolution, but officials said the newly passed resolution restates those duties in “plain language.”

Upon receiving a formal public records request, the city clerk is required to respond within three business days and allow inspection or provide copies of requested forms immediately or as soon as is practical, within 15 business days, under state law.

Other action items from the Tuesday evening meeting include:

• The council presented Portales Fire Department Battalion Chief Steven C. Cain a 20-year service award.

• Sept. 17-23 was proclaimed Constitution Week in Portales.

• The council ratified the finance department’s bills for August 2019 at $1,514,651.77.

• The council approved a $200,000 special budget adjustment for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The adjustment will take money from the Building Projects Fund to the Fire Fund to fund construction work on the fire station.

• The council approved a memorandum of agreement with the New Mexico Department of Transportation for $260,123 in funding for rural public transit.

NMDOT will provide about $151,000 of the amount while the city of Portales will provide about $109,000.

• The council approved a change order for the Johnson Hill West Tank Rehabilitation/Roof Replacement project for $585,000 and raising the overall cost to $2.5 million. This new amount was reported to be within the budgeted funds.

Inspections revealed that the tank requires a roof replacement, work on its support structures and a new paint shell.