Curry commission says farewell to outgoing chairman

CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission's lone meeting of December was a long one, stretching four hours from Tuesday morning into the afternoon.

It was also an emotional one, with commissioners saying farewell to outgoing Chairman Ben McDaniel. Tuesday marked the final scheduled meeting in McDaniel's eight years aboard the commission. McDaniel was term limited, and will be succeeded by James Ridling in January.

Commissioner Chet Spear led a surprise presentation in honor of McDaniel, with a plaque that would be presented later in a smaller non-virtual gathering of commissioners. Spear said he didn't always agree with McDaniel on county matters, but commissioners aren't supposed to always agree and he appreciated all McDaniel has done.

“Ben has never wavered in his principles,” Spear said, “nor has he shown personal bias in his decisions.”

Commissioner Bobby Sandoval and McDaniel both choked up to their individual surprises after Sandoval relayed a story from the Thanksgiving holiday. Sandoval said he just called McDaniel to say hello, and made an offhand comment that he had forgotten to buy an onion his wife needed to make stuffing. A little later in the day, Sandoval's wife said she found the onion and said he'd misplaced it on the porch. Sandoval knew the onion was McDaniel's doing, and it was one small example of the friendship he cherished.

“You've been a great commissioner,” Sandoval said, “and you have been a great chairman.”

McDaniel said he was honored by the kind words from the commissioners. He named all of the commissioners he'd served with, including two separate stints with Sandoval, and said the commissioners were fortunate to have a great staff at the county.

“We don't agree all the time,” McDaniel said, “but we've got to where we work quite well together.”

In other business at the Tuesday meeting:

• Commissioners discussed the process for a restoration advisory board with the Department of Defense to engage the community on efforts to clean up a plume of water surrounding Cannon Air Force Base contaminated by PFAS/PFOA.

Chris Segura of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center noted the effort to establish a board has elected official interest but there isn't documented community interest.

Spear said it was difficult to get information out when the primary communication method seemed to be Cannon Air Force Base's website, which the average citizen would have no reason to monitor.

McDaniel agreed, noting, “I don't think the public is against this; I don't think the majority of the public knows about this. I think it's really important, but nobody really knows about it.”

Commissioner Seth Martin said the key was to start cleanup efforts and not set up another committee. Commissioner Robert Thornton questioned the need to have such a board at all, and that he would be fine with quarterly updates.

“Our main concern is that PFAS plume does not extend any further,” Thornton said. “If they're working on that and they'll let us know what they're doing, I think we'd be better off than trying to reinvent the wheel.”

• The commission approved three CARES Act funding contracts — $10,000 each for American Legion Post 25 and Mi Cocina LLC and $8,130.68 to Tanglezz Hair Salon.

• Sandy Chancey of the Eastern Plains Council of Governments gave a presentation on the Ute Water Commission and its duties.

The commission, Chancey said, was established in 1989 to negotiate for reservation and purchase of water in the reservoir.

The upcoming agreement, Chancey said, includes fees of $1.50 for reservation, $2.60 for operation and maintenance and $25 for purchase on a per acre foot basis.

The county exited the commission by declining to sign onto a joint powers agreement last month, and Chancey said the presentation was information for the communities in Curry County that still belonged to the reservoir.

Spear asked Chancey what the possibility was for water availability at the reservoir when the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System pipeline is scheduled to reach it.

“There's no way to know what 2037 will hold,” Chancey said. “I'm not a hydrologist, Commissioner Spear, so I don't know and wouldn't attempt to guess.”

Spear countered that the better effort would be to secure local groundwater they know is there than to dedicate time to a pipeline to a reservoir asset that might not happen. Chancey responded that she didn't think it was prudent to ignore any possibility of a sustainable water source.

• Commissioners extended a $100-per-pay-period hazardous pay stipend for detention center staff through June 12, after first approving the measure in October.

“Even though we take all precautions possible, and they do a great job with it, it's still a close-contact environment,” McDaniel said.

Administrator Mark Gallegos, earlier in the meeting, noted the detention center has done more than 2,000 detainee tests and nearly 500 employee tests.

• A list of five capital outlay projects totaling $2.725 million was approved for submission to the New Mexico Legislature for the upcoming session.

County Manager Lance Pyle said the requests included county roads, a parking lot at Seventh and Mitchell, a new extension building at the fairgrounds, a road equipment storage cover and county road signs.

Martin asked if the extension office could be moved above the parking lot on priorities, since it's been on the wish list longer.

Pyle said he doesn't submit the projects as a ranked list, but added he agreed with Martin's perspective, “and I have relayed that to our legislators.”

• Commissioners voted 3-2 on various personnel policy changes, including social media standards for county-run accounts and sections outlining discipline for county employees who violate public health orders while on the job.

Personnel Director Melissa Gunn noted if county employees were found to be out of compliance, “the county itself could face fines; we want to make sure we are saving taxpayer dollars.”

Also included on the changes were relaxed restrictions on “use it or lose it” leave time because the pandemic left many unable to use the benefit.

Martin, who has frequently noted his choice to not wear face coverings, asked if the changes applied to elected officials. Gunn said they did not.

Thornton joined Martin in the dissenting vote.

• Commissioners tabled a request to put in a burn ban due to a drought emergency, with County Fire Chief David Kube noting grassfires could quickly get out of hand even when residents take precautions.

Thornton said he didn't like telling property owners what to do on their own land.

“I think we should just trust people to use common sense,” Thornton said. “I know sometimes they don't, but we should still trust them to do that.”

McDaniel asked what fire chiefs in the county thought about a burn ban. Kube said answers vary, but the ones in the grassland areas are more inclined to support one.

“The closer to town you get,” Kube said, “the less that opinion (takes root).”

Spear recalled with a laugh that the last time the county passed a burn ban, it rained three days later and joked he'd consider doing it again if it got the same results. But he and Thornton said they would prefer handling the matter through public service announcements.

Kube said many PSAs were already going about drought conditions, to which Martin responded, “Sounds like we're done, then,” before the vote to table.

• The commission approved parameters for local non-commercial community groups to use volunteer fire stations in the county.

Commissioners approved a form that would grant any applicant a one-year waiver to use the stations with a $1 daily rate. Each use would require individual approval of that department's chief.

Thornton said most events would be small meetings or domino tournaments, and it seemed wrong to charge a huge fee for rentals when the renters are largely people who volunteer as firefighters.

County Attorney Steve Doerr did note for the record the county action would treat the fire station differently than other county properties.

“You're dealing with a public building the county is receiving state fire funds on,” Doerr said. “It's like saying the employees at 417 Gidding, if they want to use the conference room for a wedding, they should be able to do so. I don't think the commissioners would agree with that.”

• In their commission reports, Spear and McDaniel both encouraged the public to take COVID-19 saliva tests, noting the signup at the Curative website was quick and they got negative results in just a few days. Spear and his wife went, while McDaniel brought his parents to be tested as well.

Spear noted that since a criteria of relaxed state restrictions is test positivity below 5%, it behooves county residents to get tests. If the only people getting tested are people feeling sick, Spear said, test positivity will remain high.

Commissioner Bobby Sandoval said arrival of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine was welcome news, and said he would volunteer to be one of the first to get a dose as long as he's not jumping the line for somebody who needs it more.

“We saw the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Sandoval, who thinks the county needs to get to a vaccination rate of at least 70% for any meaningful impact. “However, it's still a long tunnel. Our neighbors are still getting sick and dying.”

In his update, Martin told commissioners Tuesday marked the 239th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, and that it was important to remember them during the current times.

• The next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 5.