Courthouse construction contract approved

CLOVIS - A construction contract for renovations on the Curry County Courthouse for about $8.3 million received unanimous approval Thursday from the Curry County Commission in a special meeting.

But the vote was not without reservations.

The commission awarded the contract to SDV Construction of Albuquerque and set a deadline of 14 months to complete the project.

County Manager Lance Pyle told the commission the county would be able to cover the cost without raising taxes, and cited support from the New Mexico Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for helping to cover the cost.

Commissioner Chet Spear, however, despaired at the renovation project's rapid rise in cost estimates.

About a year ago, Spear noted, the estimated cost of the project was about $7.1 million. The current contract for $8.3 million does not include parking lot paving, a security fence, a card-operated security gate or an elevator. Spear said those additions would push the cost to $10 million.

Spear said he was "ready to say this is not going to happen," but decided to support the contract, despite the final bill after he spoke with County Attorney Stephen Doerr and was assured costs were justified.

Paul Farless, president and chief executive officer of SDV, said supply chain difficulties and labor shortages affected project costs.

"We hoped to use as many locals as possible" as subcontractors, Farless said, but the local subcontractor prices were higher than those for Albuquerque.

Farless also said SDV wanted to be careful about the subcontractors he used because of the courthouse's historic building status and as a result he did not always go with the least expensive vendor.

SDV has cut its profit margin and overhead costs on the project, Farless added, because it has a good relationship with the county but "there's not a lot of room to wiggle" to reduce costs on the project.

In just 30 days he noted, costs of materials and labor in September had risen by 5%.

Spear, a former detention officer, did note that safety concerns were being addressed, especially in the halls between the county detention center and courtrooms.

Drew Tatum, chief judge of the Ninth Judicial District, noted that the project's safety and security additions were "absolutely needed," as people need to feel safe during the estimated 150 jury trials the courthouse hosts annually.

Spear complimented Farless on SDV's work, as well as county officials who worked on the proposal, and moved to approve the contract, which received a unanimous commission vote.

The commission on Thursday also approved more than $1.8 million in budget adjustment to accommodate grant awards from the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for firefighting equipment for rural volunteer fire departments, as well as a communication tower on the Caprock to enhance fire communications, and a $25,000 grant to boost the county's firefighter recruitment efforts.

Included in the grant awards were:

• $300,000 for a Class A pumper vehicle for the Countyline Volunteer Fire Department (VFD).

• $228,000 for a wildland firefighting vehicle for the Field VFD.

• $100,000 for increase water storage capacity, a booster pump and a hydrant for the Broadview VFD.

• $300,000 for a 3,500-gallon water tanker vehicle for the Pleasant Hill VFD.

• $300,000 for a Class A fire vehicle for the Ranchvale VFD.

• $300,000 for 250-foot-tall tower and associated equipment to be located above the Caprock to improve communications throughout Curry and Quay counties and west Texas.

In other action Thursday, the commission

n Adopted the legislative priorities of the New Mexico Counties organization, which include a detention reimbursement fund increase from $3.2 million to $5 million for holding state prison inmates in county jails. Priorities also include $750,000 to reimburse counties that provide transport prisoners for the state; increase county participation in the Reach, Intervene, Support and Engage (RISE) program between the New Mexico Behavioral Health Division and county jails to reduce return to jail for offenders; keeping the state from taking money from the state's Law Enforcement Protection Fund that would instead add $5 million to $6 million a year to enhance local law enforcement; and creating a fund of $50 million to $1000 million to help counties pay for courthouse renovations.

• Refunded $32,282 to a state special DWI Grant Fund that was mistakenly given to the county through an oversight.

• Transferred $1 million in cash reserves and $27,995.78 from revenue and expense budgets to the support funds dedicated to courthouse renovation.