Economic Incentive Board Meeting – March 11, 2026
Economic Incentive Board Meeting – March 11, 2026
The Economic Incentive Board (EIB) of Clovis, New Mexico, met on March 11, 2026, to review financial reports, hear updates on economic development projects, and consider two funding requests: $800,000 for the Lyceum Theater restoration and $100,000 for design of a rail spur extension at the industrial park. All recommendations will be forwarded to the City Commission for final action.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes – Motion to approve previous meeting minutes passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Financial Report – Justin reported the Economic Development Fund balance is $8.9 million ($7.8 million in investments, ~$1 million cash). Year-to-date revenues: $1.3 million; expenditures: ~$155,000. No questions.
- CED Project Updates (Tina) –
- Project Byte requested maps for water lines/fiber trunk lines; next meeting in April.
- 10 leads from the MDM trade show in Anaheim; average for similar organizations is 7–8.
- Shoe Department Encore LEDA reimbursement approved by City Commission; moving forward.
- Switchyard accelerator program concluded; two incubator businesses seeking space.
- McCumbe Foundation awarded $15,000 grant for incubator.
- Clovis Sound Studio ~90% complete; opening expected in April.
- Attended New Mexico Partnership board meeting; panel with Main Street.
- Facilitated boot-to-business course at Cannon AFB.
- Two PROs (Potential Recruitment Opportunities): a large data center (needed 4M gallons water/day – not qualified) and an adaptive intelligence software company (required varied terrain – not qualified).
- April 8: guest lecturer at ENMU; April 9: regional housing forum; April 10–11: Clovis Music Festival.
- Planning for celebration of racetrack/casino on March 27 (4–7 p.m., fairgrounds).
- Will attend PRC meeting to comment on power issues affecting economic development.
- Clovis Music Festival (Ernie Coss) – April 10–11 at Citizens Bank of Clovis Event Center. Friday (country): Seth Ward, Ty Stalk; Saturday (rock): Straysons, Small Town Titans, Touching Voodoo, No Resolve, Mischief Soul, Texi Hippie Coalition, Drowning Pool. Also noted: Easter events, Cannon spouses auction, Clovis Community College cultural arts series. Official opening of Clovis Sound Studio and renovated museum in April.
- Lyceum Theater Funding Request (Claire Burroughs, Assistant City Manager) –
- Background: City acquired building in 1982; previously leased to nonprofit, later used by Main Street. Federal Saving America’s Treasures grant ($500K) matched by state Main Street ($500K) plus prior LEDA ($100K) = ~$1.1M. Exterior work (roof, plaster, marquee) underway with WWRC. Phase 2 (interior) cost estimate: $1.388M – covers projection/sound equipment, screen, electrical, concession stand, manager/IT/concession staff.
- City Manager Justin Hall announced $200K from sale of old milk plant on Norse Street would reduce request to $800K, sourced entirely from interest earned on the EDF (since FY20), not from tax revenues.
- Questions: Board asked about phasing, job creation, return on investment. Claire noted the project is a cultural facility (allowable use under ordinance) and an economic driver for downtown. Mayor Morris expressed support, noting it’s a catalyst project per the Tip Strategies plan, and urged using accumulated capital for community benefit. Board member Alan Kinlan and Bryce Jimenez voted no; others yes. Motion passed 5–2.
- Industrial Park Rail Spur Design Request (Tina & Lee) –
- Request: $100,000 for engineering design and surveying of a rail spur on the southern end of the industrial park (serving Kansas City Feeds and Quality Liquid Feeds lots). North end fully optioned; south end has prospective companies needing rail access.
- Currently, only a siding along the west edge (within optioned property) is used temporarily. New spur would run east-west across the south, with individual companies building switches.
- Design work would speed up future construction (estimated 6 months saved) and support site readiness (park is on state EDD map). No capital outlay obtained in recent session.
- Board approved unanimously (voice vote).
Key Outcomes
- Motion 1 (Lyceum Theater) – Approved to recommend $800,000 from the Economic Development Fund (as part of $1.388M total Phase 2 cost) to the City Commission. Roll call: Debbie Spriggs (yes), Tyler Lucas (yes), Jason Gonzalez (yes), Brett Johnson (yes), Alan Kinlan (no), Kathy Elliott (yes), Bryce Jimenez (no). Motioned passed.
- Motion 2 (Rail Spur Design) – Approved $100,000 for design and surveying of future rail spur at the industrial park. Voice vote: unanimous.
- Good of the Order – Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. Um, Jeremy, do you want to call roll, please? Debbie Spriggs. Here. Tyler Lucas. Jason Gonzalez. Here. Brett Johnson. Here. Alan Kinlin. Kathy Elliott. Here. Paul Cordova. Raymond Mondragon. Bryce Jimenez. Here. Do we have a quorum? Yes, sir. Thanks everybody for attending this morning. Wanna go over the approval of the minutes? Move to approve. Second. I have a motion and a second to approve. All in favor, say aye. All right. Justin, you want to give us a financial report this time? Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. The economic development fund currently has $8.9 million in the fund itself. That is broken down between $7.8 million in investments and about a little bit over a million dollars cash in bank. Our year-to-date revenues have been 1.3 million dollars. Let's see here. This month we brought in 21,000 in expenditures on the month. It's our GRT fee of $3,800, and our year-to-date expenditures are $154, almost $155,000. Anybody have any questions? Okay. Thank you for the financial report. Updates on CED projects. Tina. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. For update, I'm just doing the last month since I gave an update last month for the previous two months. We were off. We had that special meeting for SHU department Encore. So for the projects we're working on right now, I told y'all last month that Project Byte wants to have another meeting in April, and they're expected to start moving forward this year. And they asked to provide uh maps of locations for water lines and fiber trunk lines for a large project. So I've responded to all of that, and I'm waiting to hear back. They also had questions about our airport. Um I've received the list of leads from the MDM trade show in Anaheim that I attend.
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