Clovis commission makes behavioral health facility priority

Aug. 5—The Clovis city commission voted on Thursday to make a regional behavioral health facility as their top priority for the city's Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP) for 2025-2029. The plan was put together and presented by Clovis Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes.

The push to make the behavioral health facility priority one was led by Commissioner Helen Casaus. The commission had agreed to place the project higher, removing the drainage improvements on Purdue and Cameo Street from the number one spot and moving it to seven.

The behavioral health facility "is something that is desperately needed in this area," Commissioner Casaus said.

Burroughes began the discussion by reciting what was completed on last year's capital plan, including the Martin Luther King Blvd improvement project and Lyceum Theatre renovation and several others.

Burroughs then transitioned to several requests she received from the public on Monday.

She said the residents of Clovis had an interest in adding projects such as a new recreational center for Clovis, recycling, improvements on Rencher Street, street stripping and street scaping on Prince Street to improve accessibility.

Burroughes reminded the commission that the list wasn't placed in particular order, as the order would be determined at Thursday's meeting.

Commission Magan Palla continued to push for a recreational center for the city. The commission agreed unanimously to change the name to City of Clovis Recreation Center and to request for $25 million to fund the project.

Palla said that the city could even look into a possible partnership with the county for the project.

Burroughes said this increased the request for what was originally listed as the City of Clovis Wellness Center to about $16 million, as the original request came to about $8.5 million.

Commissioner Casaus had also favored placing the city's residential street lighting project higher, as she said it was a potential "safety concern." The rest of the commission agreed with Casaus' assessment, and moved the recreation center from sixth on the list to the fourth position.

Mayor Mike Morris said this was not the final list that will be presented to the state Department of Finance and Administration, but the commission's task in Thursday's meeting was to rank the list in order of importance.

"It's not a wish list. It's a plan to the greatest extent we can to create a plan for funding and taking care of our community's needs. So it's an important document," Mayor Morris said.

Below are the top five projects the commission had agreed upon that should be placed highest on the ICIP:

— The behavioral health facility, requesting $35 million.

— Clovis Animal Shelter improvements, requesting $700,000.

— New airport terminal building construction, requesting $15.5 million.

— Residential street lighting, requesting $200,000.

— Clovis Police Department information technology and security improvements, requesting $50,000.

The commission voted unanimously to rearrange the list.

Other matters the commission dealt with on Thursday included:

— Morris presented an award to Supervisor of the Quarter Terrance Lizardo from the Fire Department.

— Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Bryan Davis to serve as the District 3 representative on the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Committee.

— City Attorney Jared Morris requested and received commission approval to update the city's codes dealing with buildings and construction.

— The commission voted unanimously to extend the city's water system to the Clovis Regional Airport.