Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Yvette Herrell and Bill Humphries speak to the Roosevelt County Commission about building a coalition in the state to discuss the listing of the lesser prairie chicken.
After months of going back and forth between the Roosevelt County Commission and the Portales City Council, a decision was made regarding the Portales Communications Center.
The council approved a revised agreement at their last meeting on April 11. Originally, the commission offered $125,000 worth of funding for FY23 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) for dispatch services. However, the city council previously requested $175,000. It was ultimately decided to keep the funding at $175,000. Commissioner Rodney Savage has stood firm in his belief that the funding should stay at $125,000, but still proceeded to vote in favor of the approval.
Councilwoman Veronica Cordova told the commission that because they wanted a board, they wanted to offer an advisory board. That board will consist of Sheriff Javier Sanchez, Fire Chief TJ Cathey, Chief of Police Chris Williams, and one county fire chief to be appointed by all fire chiefs in the county.
The commission thanked the city council members in attendance for their hard work and cooperation in coming to an agreement.
The commission also had a special guest in attendance Tuesday. Former U.S. Representative Yvette Herrell was on the agenda to speak about further communication for the whole state regarding the lesser prairie chicken endangered species listing.
Herrell said she thought it would be beneficial to build a coalition or "central point of information and communication" so that everyone would be on the same page. "We can work together on providing good information," Herrell said.
Chavez County Manager Bill Williams was there to tell the commission that their county has an intent to sue the state because of the listing. Herrell said that the coalition would be a help in this situation, because other counties would communicate with what they are all doing. "What you guys put into this helps the rest of us," Williams told the commission.
The commission supported the idea and thanked Herrell for her attendance and time.
In other items of business:
• A request for consideration to allow lessees of the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds to permit alcohol sales was passed on a 3-2 vote.
• A law enforcement employment buyout concept was approved by the commission 5-0. Sanchez presented the idea, saying that doing something like this, "Would help us with recruitment." Further details will be worked out for the official contract.
