Curry rolling on land trust

CLOVIS - The Curry County Commission has its committee - well, 80% of it - and is ready to get to work establishing a water-focused land trust.

The commission appointed four voting members and six non-voting members to its steering committee to establish the trust during its Tuesday meeting.

The trust would be created to help local entities navigate through a Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative effort at Cannon Air Force Base.

The REPI program, offered by the Department of Defense, would in this case use federal dollars to incentivize landowners to convert water rights for irrigation farming to municipal water rights, creating less demand on the Ogallala Aquifer.

The committee will include five voting members - Commissioners Chet Spear and James Ridling, Clovis Mayor Mike Morris, Spencer Pipkin of the Central Curry Soil and Water Conservation District and an at-large member to be determined.

Added in non-voting advisory roles were Jeff Davis of Cannon Air Force Base, D'Llaynn Bruce of the U.S. Consolidated Farm Services Agency in Clovis, David Lansford and farmers Danny Fish, Ricky Lockmiller and Ronnie Montague. Lansford said he was not coming as the chairman of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, but as somebody willing to help.

"I just want to be a team player," Lansford said. "I don't need to be the shooting guard or the star. I just want the community to have additional water supply; that's it."

Fish and Lockmiller represent farmers in the paleochannel, while Montague is outside of it. All three praised the commission for creating the committee, and offered their help in any way needed.

"I'm just a common-sense farmer," Lockmiller said. "I can tell you what I see."

Commissioner Seth Martin, who disclosed his family has land in the paleochannel, said it is challenging to find an at-large member because many of the people most interested in the committee's work have financial interests in what happens.

He said he's talked to many farmers who want to help with the committee, but that it would be terrible optics to vote on such pivotal matters. Still, their presence on the committee is necessary even in non-voting roles.

"The initial setup to this is crucial," Martin said, "and input from the landowners is an important part of this."

When the commission first established the committee at its March 2 meeting, it did so under the assumption there would be two at-large positions and the city of Clovis representative wasn't guaranteed selection.

Spear said that was an error, because he mistakenly believed the REPI process was exclusive to the base, and offered an amendment to make a city representative automatic.

Spear said he would work on getting Colorado attorney Peter Nichols to Clovis as soon as possible, and the commission saw no reason for the committee to wait until its fifth member is appointed to get to work.

In other business at the Tuesday meeting:

• County Manager Lance Pyle reminded commissioners of today's 5 p.m. virtual public meeting held by the U.S. Air Force regarding how it is addressing perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid - also known as the "forever chemicals" of PFOS/PFOA - in groundwater sources near Cannon Air Force Base.

The meeting is available at Zoom meeting ID 720 339 0049. Questions will be submitted through the chat window, and be answered either during the meeting or in meeting minutes provided later.

The Air Force is also assessing public interest in a restoration advisory board, with public comment accepted until April 3. Information is available at cannon.af.mil/Environmental/ .

• The commission voted to reopen the county fairgrounds and events center in May, under the condition the county is in green status by that point.

The move would allow the Curry County Events Center to host local graduations, including Clovis Community College and Clovis High School, if those entities so chose.

Pyle said he had concerns the county might not miss the green designation or even slide back into the red designation because testing is down across the county. He anticipates some favorable changes will come in new public health orders, but he warned those were assumptions.

The commission held off on proposals to ramp up employee numbers to prepare for a Curry County fair, as they haven't been given the capacity numbers for the fairgrounds and its various buildings.

Martin said last year the focus was primarily on a privately operated junior livestock sale and things worked out well. He felt the county might again need to look at simply a celebration of agriculture and not "entertaining the masses."

Spear said he would like to have a fair with attractions like a carnival and concerts.

"This is going to be our 100th anniversary," Spear said. "We don't want to do it piecemeal."

• The next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 6.