Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
The Portales City Council has approved a motion to extend the interim city manager’s position occupied by T.J. Cathey through Aug. 31.
The motion made by Council Member Veronica Cordova also states that should the city hire a new city manager before the extension expires, the interim manager will stay on as counsel to the city manager through Aug. 31.
In other business, the Council approved the total fiscal year 2025 budget for the city at $36,790,435.
Also at last week’s meeting:
City Councilor Eldon Merrick told the Council he went to Washington, D.C., last week with a group from the area to meet with New Mexico legislators to try to secure more funding for the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority.
ENMWUA is a rural water supply project under development in east central New Mexico, the purpose of which is to get funding for the construction of a pipeline to bring water from the Ute Reservoir to authority member communities.
Merrick told the council that the ENMWUA received a “big chunk of money during the Infrastructure Bill, but that is scheduled to run out in a couple of years.”
He said recently they have been receiving this money in smaller increments.
The group went to Washington to ensure they are putting their “presence” in front of the legislators from New Mexico, the office of Management and Budget and the Department of Reclamation, he said.
The other purpose of the trip was to keep these groups updated on the ENMWUA’s progress with dispersing the funds for the construction that is underway.
He complimented ENMWUA Administrator Orlando Ortega for his job running the project.
“Everything has come in on budget or under budget,” Merrick said.
“But we need to make sure we continue to get the funding and follow through and make sure this project is fulfilled.”
The group went to Washington to lobby toward this end, he said.
“Hopefully this will all pay off in the future and we will have more water assurance in the future,” Merrick said.
In other business, the council approved the fiscal year 2025 Fire Protection Grant Application with a maximum award of $600,000.
Cathey made the presentation to the Council.
“Our fleet is getting older every day. The costs continue to ravage our budgets,” Cathey said.
The department has decided to purchase another pumper truck.
“The total cost is expected to be about $624,000, so the $600,000 would be huge start and the fire fund rollover should accommodate the additional cost,” Cathey said.
