Windmills to be auctioned

PORTALES - While the collection of windmills at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds is an eye-catching sight, maintaining them has become an increasing burden on the county over the past few years.

The Roosevelt County Board of Commissioners took action during their regular meeting Tuesday morning to allow for a public auction to dispose of 45 of the 70 windmills from the fairground's collection.

Funds from the sale would go to maintaining the remaining windmills.

The windmills that will be up for sale have become dilapidated due to lack of time, funding and specialized personnel to maintain them, according to Maintenance Director Gary Spinks.

"At least half of them have disintegrated pretty bad. The wood ones are all missing teeth and are just falling apart," Spinks said. "Fan blades are coming loose and it's mainly the wind that is the cause of all this dilapidation."

Spinks said it's reaching a point that some of the windmills will need to come down regardless due to safety concerns or otherwise be disposed of.

"Some of them are still in pretty good shape and might last a couple years, but most of the wooden ones and some of the metal ones are just in bad shape," Spinks said.

Organizing an auction will take time according to County Manager Amber Hamilton. She suggested adding other items such as police equipment or outdated computers to make contracting with an auctioneer more worthwhile.

Commissioner Matthew Hunton asked if the committee would be willing to sell the entire collection and made a motion to do so, but the vote tied with only four commissioners present. The committee will still have the option to include the rest of the collection in the auction if it decides to later.

Hamilton said the space could be utilized for many of the fairground's planned improvements, such as adding drainage and a holding pond.

The county has pursued grants and other methods of funding to help preserve the collection, but those have yet to bear any fruit

"By far this has been our most challenging project we have to find a grant for," said Carol Acosta-Flores.

"The only one I managed to find was a grant from New Mexico Tourism for $50,000 that we could apply for, but we might only get $25,000."

Acosta-Flores said she and other members of the Windmill Project Steering Committee had tried various ideas, but most ended up being too costly to implement.

"It was suggested we go to business owners to see if they'd take one and set up and maintain it, but no one wanted to because it'd be too costly," Acosta-Flores said.

Acosta-Flores also said she had reached out to the Lubbock Windmill Museum to see if they'd be willing to send someone to come look at the collection, but was denied.

Other highlights from the 9 a.m. meeting at the Courthouse included:

n Justin Porter gave the detention center report. There are currently 79 detainees from Roosevelt and surrounding counties, with 79 taken in last month and 77 released.

Porter also notified the board the detention center would be bringing in tablets to help inmates participate in the jail's GED program. Porter said this will help the program rely less on volunteer staff and offer longer programs for inmates.

The board approved the annual review and revisions to the detention center's policies and procedures manual to put them in line with state standards.

n Hamilton said the county passed the second phase of its audit last week and is preparing for an internal exit conference on Nov. 20.

Hamilton said the audit has been going well so far and may open up some new grant and funding options at both the state and federal levels.

• Chairman Shane Lee asked about possibly reducing the speed limit on Road 7 from 55 to 35 to benefit the residents of the area. Hamilton said 45 would be a more reasonable speed to reduce the limit to.

• The board appointed Darius VonSchriltz and April Rutter to the Roosevelt County Labor Management Relations Board.

• The board approved the 2020 Roosevelt County Calendar.

• The board approved changes to the county's Travel and Per Diem policies allowing employees to spend more on lodgings, up to $215 from $85. Expense forms were also revised to be easier to use.

• The board approved an update to the county's Healthcare Assistance Policy.

The board will meet again on Nov. 5 at 9 a.m. at the Council Chambers of the Roosevelt County Courthouse.