Clovis official leads public meeting on infrastructure plan
Aug. 1—Clovis Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes gathered city commissioners and Clovis residents on Monday to provide input on what projects they believed should be included in the city's Infrastructure and Capital Improvement Plan.
She said the goal of the meeting was to see what the public sees as needs for the city and to input that information into the list of ICIP projects or possibly rearrange items for higher priority before it is presented to the Clovis city commission on Thursday.
Burroughes said that Monday's meeting was the largest in attendance she'd seen for a ICIP meeting, which was about 20 attendees. She said there have usually been only three to four attendees in previous years.
Burroughes said that the current project that is the city's top priority was drainage improvements on Purdue and Cameo Streets.
"We are seeing a lot flooding in that area when it rains and so we're looking for $2 million dollars to work on that project. The design is already completed for that project," Burroughes said.
Burroughes reminded attendees that the list is subject to change as the priority order will be determined on Thursday.
Some residents in the meeting showed excitement that improvements for the Clovis Animal Shelter were added onto the list.
"We're heading to a no kill shelter," Police Chief Roy Rice said. "That is what we're trying to get to. When we get that stage we would be taking a lot less money off the tax payer and getting more off of grants. But the main goal is to get these animals adopted to places and get them off the streets. Get them into good homes."
He said this new shelter will help protect strays from the harsh environments and prevent them from getting hit by oncoming traffic.
Some other projects that were mentioned for addition to the list included funding a recreation center for Clovis. City Commissioner Megan Palla led the discussion with several residents approving her request to add it to the list.
Palla said that she was delighted to see a regional behavioral health facility already on the list.
She said, however, her goal is to prevent the need for patients to be sent there in the first place. A place where local youth can find a community and have a good time is the first step into doing that, she said.
She said the Recreation Center would ideally have a track, indoor courts, and an indoor pool, where everyone can attend. Palla explained she wasn't entirely sure how much funding would be needed for the project, but it was something that the city could help figure out.
Some residents advocated for this project as well, even suggesting that once the project is started, that organizations like the YMCA could eventually run the facility to lift the financial burden off the city.
Other items that were brought up by attendees was the possibility of having a better recycling presence in the city. However, several of the commissioners attending the meeting said that the expenses were too grand when it came to covering labor and transport to separate plastic and glass recycling.
According to the release, ICIP is a document that is edited and revised each year for projects the city hopes to accomplish within a five year period. The projects must be within the responsibility of the local government and can not be related to a private business.
New Mexico counties and municipalities submit these documents to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration each year, and the document serves as the basis for state legislators to decide which projects will receive state capital outlay funding in the five year period, according to the release.
"This plan is needed so when we go to our legislators seeking capital improvement funding during the session, it needs to be on this list. If it's not on the list, there could be a problem," Burroughes said.
Burroughes explained that this meeting is only a plan and nothing set in stone, as the list of projects still need to be approved and evaluated by the city commission before it could be delivered to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration.
On Thursday evening the Clovis city commission will take action on the ICIP and set priorities for this next legislative session. The meeting will be at 5:15 p.m. at the North Annex at the Clovis-Carver Library.
