Roosevelt commission votes for pavement structural design on road

The Roosevelt County Commission voted 4-1 on Tuesday that they preferred a pavement structural design on North Roosevelt Road AV, a five mile stretch that is the main access to the Melrose Air Force Range, which would have a longer design life than the two other options the federal highway division had proposed.

Ryan Mathis, project manager for the Federal Central Land Highway Division, presented the commission with three pavement options under consideration. The Air Force has $6 million in its budget to pay for a five-mile section of the road that extends north-south between US Highway 60 to the north and the Melrose Air Force Range to the south.

Mathis said the longer-lasting option the commission favored is estimated to cost $8 million, which is about 33 percent over the budget.

Given the Air Force’s budget, it is unlikely the project would get built without identifying an additional funding source, he said.

Roosevelt County Road Superintendent Ricky Lovato said the road needs to be “beefed up” to support the loaded trucks that travel that section.

Lovato said the only viable option of the three presented, in his opinion, would be option B, which would consist of a six-inch aggregate base with a longer design life.

He said once the project is completed, the county will be responsible for the cost of maintaining the road long term.

“The county is not equipped to fix the road in the future and the county will be liable for all the maintenance, so we have to go with alternative B,” Lovato said.

Commission Chair Shane Lee said: “This needs to be a road plan that the Air force will maintain. I don’t think the county should have any maintenance or liability on this road.”

Commissioner Dennis Lopez said this road will not provide any benefit to our citizens at all.

“I don’t think any of these alternatives is a win-win for us –it’s not our taxpayers using the majority of the road,” said Commissioner Tina Dixon.

Lopez cast the single “no” vote.

County Manager Amber Hamilton said in a later interview that option B provides a “more substantial base to the roadway.” It is a sandy region.

In other business, the commission again addressed the proposed land use moratorium ordinance. The ordinance would prohibit the use of land for a facility that is used for any medical procedure intended to terminate a healthy human pregnancy, as stated in a previous article by The News.

Commissioner Rodney Savage said he would not make a motion on the ordinance because such an ordinance would not be legally enforceable and the county could get sued. The expense of defending a lawsuit would be more than the county’s insurer would pay.

None of the other commissioners made a motion to adopt the ordinance.

Savage suggested the county instead pursue an ordinance having to do with federal law, such as the one being considered in Lea County.

The News contacted Lea County on Thursday and a representative from the county said that an ordinance “requiring compliance with federal laws governing abortion (as it is called in the resolution)” has not been adopted and the commission has not addressed the ordinance. On Nov. 3, the commission passed a resolution to advertise for a public hearing for the ordinance at the December 8 meeting.

Hamilton said in a later interview that a Notice of Intent to publish indicating that the commission intends to vote whether to discuss and consider an ordinance like that in Lea County will be placed on the next meeting’s agenda.

Another item on the agenda was a report by County Clerk Mandi Park on the canvass of the 2022 General Election.

Earlier in the meeting during the public comments item, several residents stated they objected to the certification of the election results because they claim the voting machines have not been certified.

Park said the voting machines have been certified to the most recent standard available.

“(The commissioners) all signed the certification at the conclusion of the meeting,” Park said in a later email. “I stated (at the meeting) technology has outpaced legislation and the machines are certified to the most recent standard available, which is the same standard used in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. My staff meticulously certified and test voted each of our 17 tabulators. There were 3 members of the public present to observe some of the tabulators being certified.”

In other business, the commission decided to choose Commissioners Tina Dixon and Dennis Lopez to be their choice of delegates to the continued negotiations to create a joint powers agreement for a proposed regional emergency dispatch center.

The Portales City Council is scheduled to discuss who would be their choice of delegates from the county at its next council meeting, said City Manager Sarah Austin.

The commission voted to approve an additional eight-hour paid day off for county employees the week of the county fair to be called August County Fair Day, Hamilton said.