ENMU approved for liquor license

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University was approved for a governmental liquor license during Tuesday’s Portales City Council meeting.

Wade Jackson, a lawyer representing ENMU, and ENMU President Jeff Elwell spoke on behalf of the university during the meeting’s public hearing. No one present spoke against allowing the license.

With this change, ENMU will cease being a completely dry campus and this will be its first license to serve alcohol.

The only location the license is expected to be used is in the Campus Union Building and only for university events. The license would not be used to serve alcohol on a daily basis and would be contracted out to licensed vendors to provide alcohol, such as the ENMU’s current food provider Sodexo.

“People have wanted to do wedding receptions and other events, so they would go through the university. We would lease out the license as New Mexico State does,” Elwell said.

Elwell said such events would include fundraisers, dinners, weddings, and community events like the RGH Chinese Auction. Elwell said it would also help provide room for certain annual events to grow by providing a more spacious and accommodating venue.

The license could have only been denied if the sale of alcohol was prohibited in the area, if it would be violating zoning regulations or if the council found it to be detrimental to public health and safety, with substantial evidence.

The sale of alcohol is allowed in the city of Portales and the university is not subject to city zoning regulations, according to Jackson. Therefore the only grounds for denial would have been public health and safety issues, to which no issues were found during the meeting

The council asked if the license would affect having alcohol while tailgating during sporting events, but determined that would be a separate matter and involve getting a special permit.

Other highlights from the meeting at the Memorial Building included:

• City Manager Sammy Standefer went over renovation plans for Portales City Hall, citing the need to expand storage space for permanent documents, change the building’s layout to better accommodate public visitors and renovate several parts of the building to be compliant with federal disability standards.

• Constructor’s Inc. was awarded the contract to reconstruct Runways 1-19 and Runways 8-26 at Portales Airport with a low bid of $3,468,760.

• The council awarded $50,000 to the Roosevelt County Community Development Corp. as part of an annually awarded grant.

• The board approved a notice of intent to annex a tract of land in the Southwest corner of Section 30 of Roosevelt County that will be known as Partin Subdivision.