Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Roosevelt passes pro-life resolution

PORTALES — The new year was off to a busy start for the Roosevelt County Commission at their first meeting of 2021, with Rodney Savage welcomed to the commission and the commission unanimously declaring Roosevelt a pro-life county.

During a presentation at Monday’s meeting, Right to Life volunteer Angie Smith asked commissioners for a formal declaration “in support of life” with Resolution 2021-08.

The resolution, which essentially declared Roosevelt County against abortions and a sanctuary for the unborn, does not supersede any state laws covering abortion. Local medical facilities in Roosevelt County already do not perform abortions, and the commission did not address if this resolution would lead to any additional services for expecting mothers.

In other business during the Tuesday meeting:

• Tina Dixon of District IV was appointed chair, and District III Commissioner Shane Lee vice chair. County officials believed Dixon was the first female to serve in the chair position. Dixon replaces Matt Hunton, who was defeated by Savage in the Republican primary last June for the District II position.

• Roosevelt County has seen 35 COVID-related deaths leading to an approximate 2.15% mortality rate, according to Amber Hamilton during her department report. Hamilton said the mortality rate is lower “than a lot of other places.”

More than 15,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Roosevelt County.

• Hamilton also reported the county had its first approval of FEMA applications for $8,000 in reimbursement for overtime in the sheriff's department and the Roosevelt County Detention Center.

• An update on hail damage insurance claims showed that the courthouse repair is 75% done, the RCDC roof is 50% complete, and the special event center's roof repair was recently started.

• County Clerk Mandi Park said her former position in the office is open for hire, and reminded commissioners of a Feb. 19 all-mail election. Both Portales and Floyd will have bond questions on the ballot, and ballots will need to be returned by Feb. 16. As a result of the 2020 Census, Park said the county may need to create a new voting precinct.

• Detention Center Administrator Justin Porter reported that RCDC has 56 detainees. There were 54 bookings and six transports in December. The last two sets of COVID-19 testing came back negative for all detainees tested.

Members of the commission had recently attended an inspection of the RCDC. Commissioner Dixon commented on how clean the facility was and that the tablet program seemed to be going well.

• Ricky Lovato, Road Department superintendent, said he has two crews working on an 11 mile road project for the Sagamore Wind Farm; work is expected to be complete in February.

• Hamilton also assigned committee spots to the commissioners, with the major changes being the addition of Savage to the finance board and land use committee.

• The commission approved its annual compliance with the New Mexico Open Meetings Act. Hamilton noted a COVID-19 specific addendum is included for virtual meetings where the public can not participate in-person. This includes the opportunity for the public to submit questions about agenda items or public comment before the meeting, and a few minutes after the meeting for them to be added to minutes.

• The commission renewed Roosevelt County's “exceptional drought and fire danger emergency” proclamation, which has been in place since November. After receiving feedback from local farmers and ranchers, Lee asked for additional language to be added which allowed for agricultural burning to take place.

• Following the meeting, the county announced a special meeting 1:15 p.m. Friday. There are two action items — approval of the Arch Volunteer Fire Department’s EMS Fund Act application and approval of minutes from the Tuesday meeting.

• The next regular meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 2.