Anniversary of fair may wait

CLOVIS — The 100th anniversary of the Curry County Fair may have to wait a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

County Manager Lance Pyle is advising the Curry County Commission cancel the fair, work with the fair board to have some type of junior livestock sale event in August and push centennial fair events to 2021.

The board meets 9 a.m. Tuesday. It will be virtually due to public health orders banning mass gatherings. The meeting will be broadcast at currycounty.org and the county Facebook page, and comments or questions prior to the meeting can be directed to Pyle at [email protected]

“We have one opportunity to celebrate the 100th anniversary,” Pyle wrote to commissioners in a letter that is included in the Tuesday agenda. “We need to make sure that the celebration is memorable and can engage as many people as possible and showcase the success of the county fairs in Curry County.”

Pyle notes that in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s phased reopening plan, the third phase in early July will limit mass gatherings to 100 people, nowhere near numbers the county would hope to draw in a normal fair let alone a centennial celebration.

The fair is scheduled for Aug. 11-15.

Pyle notes that declining to operate a fair would cost the county $24,000, but operating the fair at a lower capacity will mean a $32,096 loss at 75%, $106,771 at 50% and $181,446 at 25%.

Events Center Manager Kadee Hande, Pyle said, has communicated with the booked entertainment and received permission to reschedule for later years without penalty so long as they are notified in early June.

Other items on the Tuesday agenda include:

• Announcement of the 2019 employee and supervisor of the year.

• An update from Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Drew Dostal pertaining to COVID-19 and hospital operations.

• An architectural services contract with NCA Architects for design services for renovations and additions to the Curry County Courthouse.

• An annual report from Sandy Chancey on the Eastern Plains Council of Governments.

• A presentation from Assessor Candace Morrison on the 2020 revaluation and maintenance plan.