Residents concerned about county disposals

PORTALES — Area residents on Tuesday asked county officials to preserve history. Roosevelt County commissioners listened, but an old house and dozens of windmills will be among items auctioned to the highest bidder on March 27 at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds.

The issues that produced residents’ emotional pleas had already been decided months ago. Roosevelt County Manager Amber Hamilton said the house and windmills were not on commissioners’ agenda to consider on Tuesday.

That didn’t stop the preservation effort.

Meredith Eaton spoke to commissioners about the one-time home of former New Mexico Gov. Washington Lindsey, saying it is an important part of Roosevelt County history. If not for Lindsey, the state’s third governor who held office from 1917 through 1918, she said the county would not have Eastern New Mexico University and might not have Roosevelt County and “all our farms and ranches.”

“So, we owe a lot to him,” Eaton told commissioners. “With that being said, the idea that this property will be sold and moved is absurd. What you guys are attempting to do is literally tear down a piece of history to build a parking lot. How are our youth supposed to appreciate their future if they cannot appreciate their past?”

Eaton said she often sees different types of feasibility and traffic studies on the county’s agenda, so “where is the study on this?” she asked. She added that many people in the county believe the building is on the National Registry of Historic Places, including some professors at ENMU.

Eaton suggested the building could be used as a place where extension clubs and other community clubs meet, saying that Albuquerque has received grants to do the same kind of thing with its historic buildings.

“To think that somebody will purchase and move a two-story, 100-plus-year-old home is far-fetched. What is the plan if it doesn’t sell? Take a bulldozer to it?” she asked.

Hamilton said the 5-acre property, with the structure included, was purchased by the county in November 2018 with the intention of building a new barn for the county road department. The current barn is “in dire need of replacement,” she said.

Hamilton said the county received $250,000 in capital outlay funds for the project.

“The county planning department thoroughly researched all claims of historical registry in regard to the structure to confirm that it was not on the list of registered historical structures,” Hamilton said. “The county clerk also completed a very thorough review of their records to ensure nothing had been filed at the local level. The county planning department also investigated the local historical claims and did not locate any documentation to support any kind of historical designation or registration.”

Hamilton said the disposal of the structure was discussed again in a county commission meeting in November 2019, and in January 2020; the structure was inspected and appraised at $5,000 or less for public auction.

“Statutorily, we’re required to go through an entire process for any asset disposal,” Hamilton said.

If the county cannot sell the building, then commissioners will have to consider other alternatives, such as tearing it down, she said.

“We have no reason to believe there won’t be a bid on the structure at the public auction,” she said.

Brandon McAfee spoke to commissioners on behalf of the family of Bill Dalley, a longtime resident of Roosevelt County who donated 80 windmills to the county in 2011. Dalley died in November 2018.

McAfee said that while his family realizes it relinquished rights to the windmills when his grandfather donated them, “what we would like to do is to challenge you and the community to do a better job of investing in the community.”

“He was not just wanting to give you guys junk,” McAfee said. “This is something that he worked years and years and years to collect and to build.”

McAfee said it seems to be a constant in Portales and Roosevelt County that opportunities to invest in attractions and things for youth and college students are passed over.

“When you have an opportunity, and it’s been given and donated, and we don’t build around it, I think that is a problem,” McAfee said. “We are a little bit disappointed at the upkeep. There was talk of making a path there … and now, you’re having to auction some off, because they’re in such poor shape, and that concerns us, not only as a family but as a community.”

McAfee also mentioned the county reaching out to entities, such as 4-H, public schools, and the university as a means to help.

Hamilton said commissioners voted to dispose of 45 of the 100 windmills that sit at the county fairgrounds at an October 2019 commission meeting. She said prior to this, a steering committee had been put into place to research grants that could be used to upkeep the windmills. She said members of the committee spoke to several local experts about helping with the upkeep, and no one was able to contribute to the project at the time. She said they also spoke to local businesses and other entities to ask if they would sponsor a windmill, and no one was interested.

So, county commissioners decided to sell the 45 dilapidated windmills, and use the proceeds from the auction to care for the remaining 55 windmills on display, Hamilton said.