Portales officials tackle tobacco, marijuana smoking

PORTALES — As the city grapples with New Mexico’s legalization of recreational marijuana use, the city council on Thursday gave a first acknowledgement of a proposed ordinance that would regulate the smoking of tobacco and marijuana in the city.

The council decided to schedule a public workshop on the ordinance for its Aug. 3 meeting, and a public hearing and final decision on the proposed ordinance at its Aug. 17 session.

A notice of the proposed ordinance was expected to be published today in The News, City Clerk Joan Martinez-Terry said, fulfilling another requirement before an ordinance can become effective.

Stephen Doerr, who acted as city attorney Tuesday in place of his law partner Randy Knudson, said there is double-edge uncertainty in enacting local laws and regulations involving legal recreational marijuana.

Doerr has also been studying New Mexico’s law that makes recreational marijuana legal for the Curry County Commission, for which he serves as general counsel.

On one hand, the state’s guidance on what will and will not be allowed is unclear, he said. On the other, if local governments fail to enact local ordinances by Sept. 1, they will be required to accept the state’s standards.

Regulations and standards are “scattered all over” the 186-page legalization law passed by the 2021 New Mexico Legislature, he said, “and there’s only a quarter-page about what local governments are authorized to do.”

With that in mind, the city council agreed to launch the indoor consumption ordinance, anyway.

Doerr said, however, said the city “welcomes ideas and suggestions” about what should be in the ordinance.

In its current draft, the ordinance would ban smoking of tobacco or cannabis on any property that is less than 300 feet from a school or daycare building, or on any city property, fairgrounds or public transportation.

The ordinance would allow smoking of tobacco or marijuana in a private residence, unless it is used commercially to provide child care, adult care or healthcare; a retail tobacco or cannabis store, if the store is located in a standalone building; in a cigar bar or cannabis bar located in a standalone building.

Further, the draft of the ordinance states, smoking will be allowed in the facilities of a cannabis manufacturing company licensed by the United States to manufacture cannabis products, and that are used exclusively for marijuana production or marketing, provided it “does not infiltrate other indoor workplaces;” as well as in “a state-licensed gaming facility, casino or bingo parlor.”

A hotel or motel would be able to designate smoking rooms, provided they do not make up more than 10% of the available rooms.

In addition, cannabis smoking would be allowed in cultural or ceremonial activities by Native Americans, or on a stage or a movie set where performers smoke as part of the production.

Business owners and employers would be required to maintain smoking areas and post policies related to smoking.

Enforcement would be by citation police, who would have authority to inspect an establishment for compliance.

A violator of the ordinance who is 21 or older would be subject to penalties ranging from $100 to $500.

In discussion Tuesday, commissioners expressed concerns about odors associated with growing and using marijuana, including a variety described by one commissioner as “skunk weed,” and maintaining a distance of at least 300 feet from schools and day-care centers.

Budget action

The council also approved a final budget for fiscal 2022, which began July 1 and will end on June 30.

In all, funds presented a final budget recapitulation document, revenues were expected to be a little more than $26.5 million.

Expenses were expected to total nearly $29 million, leaving a deficit of more than $3.3 million, including $834,586 in reserves.

A “proposed budget recapitulation” presented with the final recommendation, however, shows the city will start the year with a cash balance of $23.1 million, more than enough to cover the deficit.

The city’s general fund, the largest single fund, is expecting about $8.3 million in revenues, but about $10 million in expenditures, leaving a deficit of $1.8 million, which includes $834,586 in reserves.

To end fiscal 2021, which ended June 30, the general fund ended with a cash balance of $364,014, because of both increases in revenue and decreases in expenses.

Despite a decrease in revenues totaling about $1.6 million, the city’s water and wastewater fund, the next largest after the general fund, ended the fiscal year with a positive balance of $2.7 million due to a decrease in expenditures that totaled nealry $4.3 million.

Fiscal yearend balances totaled $19.5 million in all funds, which included just over $1 million in the general fund, and balances of nearly $2 million in a gross-receipts tax water project loan debt service fund, $9.7 million in a water enterprise and account, $1.6 million in a solid waste enterprise fund, and $3.5 million in a utility reserve fund.

Other matters

In other action, the council:

• Approved two change orders for the Johnson Hill East water tank project. One extends the time allowed on the contract by 45 days due to sand blasting operations taking longer than expected. The other decreases the amout to be paid to Smithco Construction of Caballo, on the contract by $111,716.32, from more than $1, 542,355.38 to $1,430639.06, before gross receipts taxes are added in, due to less in materials being required than originally thought.

• Authorized payment of $50,000 in Local Economic Development Act funds to the Roosevelt County Community Development Corporation to support economic development activities that include.expansion and retention of existing businesses, assisting in the opening of new businesses, and assistance businesses that seek to locate in Portales.

• Presented a retirement gift to Beatriz Valdez, head custodian.

• Renewed an easement on a resident’s fence that encroaches on city property by 7.5 feet.