And we'll say the pledge to the United States flag, and we'll salute the state flag.

So if you would like to participate in those things with me.

I pray for our mayor pro Tim and Commissioners to have wisdom to make good judgments and be good stewards, make us good stewards of the city's resources, lead us to work hard and and reach our potential as a community.

And I thank you for each partner in this room and those that aren't with us uh that makes such uh make Clovis and Canon Air Force Base such an amazing place to live and work and serve.

I ask these things in the name of Jesus, amen.

Pledge to our country's flag, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice tomorrow.

I salute the flag of the state of New Mexico, the symbol of a perfect friendship among United Cultures.

We are called to order, and I would ask Ms.

Foster to please call the roll.

Commissioner Jones Commissioner Zamora, Commissioner Porter, here Commissioner Bryant.

Here, Commissioner Cassaus here, Commissioner Tarsen here, Commissioner Paula, Mayor Pro Tem Garza.

Here, Mayor Morris.

Here.

Thank you, Ms.

Foster.

With three commissioners uh absent, I just want to double check were they attempting to join online?

Do we have any idea?

Mayor Mayor Pro Tim and Commissioners, the only one that uh I'm aware of that potentially trying to join join online was Commissioner Jones.

Commissioner Jones, okay.

All right, great.

Well, we'll watch for him.

And uh with that, we'll uh ask are there any objections to how the agenda has been prepared?

I know we have at least one presentation uh that's not listed in uh in uh communications, but as far as the action items go, any objections hearing and seeing none.

The agenda is adopted and we will record yes votes for each of the members, and incidentally, our voting system is not working tonight, so I'll be uh asking you to vote by acclamation or perhaps by roll call if if uh we deem that necessary.

Uh next, any objections to how the minutes were prepared for the April 23rd meeting.

Hearing and seeing no objections, those minutes are adopted, and we will record yes votes for each of you.

Next, we recognize visitors.

Thank you.

Uh it's great to look out and see so many of you joining us in the meeting chamber this evening.

Um here for uh presentations, which we will get to in just a few moments.

But thank you for being here.

Thanks for your interest.

Proclamations, awards, and presentations.

We have a presentation, a proclamation proclaiming May 11th through 17th, 2026 as National Police Week in the city of Clovis, and we have our police chief making his way to the podium to talk to us about the police department, and we look forward to the proclamation.

You got a good group with you tonight, Chief.

Looks good.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

All right, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, Commissioners, on behalf of the men and women of the Clovis Police Department.

I'd like to sincerely thank you for recognizing National Police Week and for presenting this proclamation tonight.

National Police Week is an important time-honored uh time to honor the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers across the country, especially those who give their lives in the line of duty.

It is also time to recognize the officers who continue to serve their communities every day with professionalism, courage, and dedication.

The officers and staff, the Clovis Police Department work tirelessly to protect this community, often under difficult and challenging circumstances.

I am extremely proud of their commitment to the citizens of Clovis and the work they do each and every day.

We are grateful for the continued support from the uh city commission, city leadership, and our community.

Your support means a great deal to the men and women who wear the badge and serve this city.

Thank you again for the recognition and for standing behind law enforcement during National Police Week.

Thank you, Chief, and thank you to each and every one of you for your service and for stopping by the meeting tonight so that uh you can all receive the proclamation.

Uh do we have remarks?

Mayor Pro Tim, Commissioners.

I ain't say nothing.

Oh, I I don't mind saying something.

I appreciate you guys, and um I I've also enjoyed a couple of ride-alongs and uh few of your familiar faces for good reasons.

But um, thank you guys so much for everything you do and what you go through every day for all of us.

Thank you.

You know, I'll just mention how extremely proud I am of our police department and the job that you all do for our citizens.

And uh I know sometimes it's a tough job out there, and we appreciate everything you all do.

Thank you.

Thank you guys for everything you all do.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, Chief.

Uh your leadership is shown here today, and we appreciate every one of you for the service and sacrifices that we know you guys go through.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Mayor Pro Tim Commissioners, thank you for those remarks.

Uh National Police Week, um, I think you you said as much, but uh it started as uh uh a memorial for police officers who uh lose their lives in the in the line of duty, and so um we we want to recognize that and we we are so grateful that uh that we're not talking about that today, uh but it reminds us of the the sacrifice uh that that you all make and that your families make uh for you to put on the uniform and the badge and and go do that work every day, and so it's a great time and a great reminder for us to uh to say thank you.

And so it's it's uh it's a small token and it's it's a humble uh thing that we can do, uh, but we'll offer the proclamation as a way of saying thank you for for all that you do.

Whereas there are approximately 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across our country, uh including the dedicated men and women of the Clovis Police Department, and whereas law enforcement officers play an essential role in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of all people, enforcing laws, maintaining peace, and protecting life and property.

In 2025, 61 authorized Clovis police officers responded to 30,730 calls for service, and whereas we recognize and pay tribute to the officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duty, as well as to the families who mourn their loss.

And whereas since the first recorded line of duty death in 1786, more than 24,000 law enforcement officers in the United States have made that ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in the line of duty.

And whereas in 2025, the names of 345 officers killed in the line of duty were added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.

Currently, there are 24,412 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and whereas the service and sacrifice of officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Funds 38th Annual Candlelight Vigil on the evening of May 13th, 2026 in our nation's capital.

And whereas on behalf of the entire community, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to the dedicated men and women of the Clovis Police Department.

Your sacrifices, often unseen, ensure our neighborhoods remain safe and our families can sleep soundly at night.

And whereas your unwavering commitment to keep our streets safe, your professionalism, and your tireless efforts do not go unnoticed.

Your work makes our community a better, safer place for everyone.

Now, therefore, I, Mike Morris, mayor of Clovis, and on behalf of the commission, you hereby proclaim May 11th through 17, 2026 as police week in the city of Clovis.

Yes, I do.

I know you should have some part of that.

You know what?

Thank you, Officer Brown.

Everybody smile.

Next, we're going to move into receipts of petitions and communications.

We have several planned reports and communications.

I'd like to first call on EBCOR.

And we have Mr.

Rose as well as Mr.

Bayland and Mr.

Werta here with uh Epcor this evening.

Mr.

Rose, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Mayor Pro Tem and Commission for allowing me to come to present tonight.

My name is Kevin Rose.

I'm the associate director for New Mexico.

And what I'm going to be uh be presenting tonight, it's just an update and overview of Epcor.

Go to the next slide.

If we can go to the next slide.

So Epcor as a whole, we've been in business for over 130 years.

We are municipally owned.

Our corporate offices are at admin in Canada.

And what you see here displayed to you is the area that we cover.

We cover Canada and also in the Southwest.

Now in 2011, uh Epcor expanded and started buying uh utilities in Arizona, New Mexico, and those are regulated for us, and we become the largest private utility in the Southwest.

We're also uh have invested over 2.8 billion dollars in both Arizona and New Mexico and infrastructure, not only to expand but also to upgrade and maintain because as the infrastructure aged, we do have to go back and repair them.

If we can go to the next slide.

Our Texas operation is more of a contract where uh we're involved in multiple uh projects.

Uh the first one you see up there is our Vista Ridge project, where it's approximately 150 mile uh water pipeline where we convey wholesale water and we sell it to the city of San Antonio.

We actually supply 20% of the water to the city of San Antonio through this project.

We're also involved in the semiconductor industry, where our sandal project, we are able to build a water plant, 15 MGD water plant that the produ uh the high to produce the high quality water for chip manufacturing.

We're also exploring in the Galveston Bay a DSOL plant because Texas, like New Mexico and also Arizona, drought is an impact.

We are looking at additional water sources to help provide those those services.

Next slide.

So we did have a change in leadership.

Uh Jeff Stuck is our vice president.

He's been with the company for over 20 years.

I'm the new individual.

I'm playing uh replacing uh Daniel Baylett, who's with us, uh the associate director.

I've been in the water industry for over 20 years now, uh mostly in Arizona, where I've done both water and wastewater.

And here locally at our Clovis operations is Mark Horta, who's also been in the industry over 20 years, that most of you know.

Next slide.

So the Clovis operations.

Uh we support the population of approximately 46,000 residents here, and we do that with 81 wells, we're 100% groundwater, and also 360 miles a pipe.

And as you can see in that uh demographic there, you have the city outline in yellow or gold, and also the blue shade uh is our service area.

The larger uh the darker lines are the larger pipes are the uh grayer lines are the smaller pipes, so that is our infrastructure on the distribution side that Mark and his team manage and take care of every day.

Go on the next slide.

So some priorities for us uh sustainable operations.

We do have a declining in aquifer as we know.

Um it's going on not only here in in New Mexico, but you do see it in other parts of the nation.

So we do that by obtaining wells.

We do have 81 wells in our inventory, and one key aspect we are doing is leasing wells.

This is where we have wells that were once used for agricultural purposes, take those wells, put them on a 10-year lease, and actually bring them up design-wise to ensure they're safe to uh uh drinking water uh requirements.

Then we take that water, disinfect it, and be able to serve it to our residents.

Uh part of our plan is also working with other uh individuals such as the city of Clovis.

The no uh the non-potable reuse that is done here for the city aids in that uh portfolio portfolio that we have.

Also working with uh the Olegala Water Conservation Conservancy, where they have the AG to water conservation, and also with the Eastern New Mexico Water Authority as they expand looking at the U project.

Um as you can see with the graph, we see the wells do uh keep uh increasing.

So at the end of 2025, we're close to 80.

We're at 81 wells now.

We actually have five ag wells in process that we're gonna be converting for potable use.

But we also see a little bit of decline in capacity.

We're continuing to look at wells that we can lease to help bridge that gap there.

So if you would go on to the next one.

So, in order to do all this, we do have to um look at the cost of doing this.

Um, as you can see, the last rate uh increase that we had was in 2019.

They have been stable since then, and I credit a lot of that to Mark Horta and his staff.

They do a great job year in and year out.

But as inflation increases, we are have to look at our rates and uh we come to a determination of what we do with those.

So if you want to go on to the next slide.

So finally, a lot of what we do with the wells and everything is done in conduct uh conjunction, not only with here at Epcor, but with the city of Cloveless, the Ougala uh land and water conservatory, and the Eastern New Mexico Water Authority.

All those players add to what we do on a day-in-day basis, and we do appreciate their partnerships.

So, with that, I think that's gonna be the last slide.

If you have any questions, Mr.

Rose, appreciate that you talked about the partnerships.

Um that's um that's what I see, and and and that's what I think we all all see as as critical in in fully addressing our our water scarcity challenge.

We are tremendously grateful to have Epcor as our utility provider providing that you know consistent, dependable service to to households across our community.

Uh as you know, I was out at uh your water carnival event uh earlier today and and had the uh opportunity to at least try to speak to a ballroom full of fifth graders, and uh but uh uh later in the day I had the opportunity to be in front of seventh graders at at Yucca Middle School, and um uh I was able to talk with them uh about water.

And uh you know, we we always talk about that, and and we always just describe it as a problem that that that most people don't experience, and it's ironic.

Most people aren't you know they're not aware of the water scarcity issue uh because of you, because of Epcor, because the water's there when you turn the faucet on and in homes across our community, thankfully.

Uh but few understand the amount of work and effort that Epcor goes to uh on a continual basis to make sure that that water's there and and uh so we're just so thankful to have you uh and then thankful that you recognize uh the the partnerships that that include the city Ogala Land and Water Conservancy as well as the water authority because it's it's a team uh and and uh there's a lot of folks on the water team, but but you guys are our are uh MVPs.

So thank you so much.

And thanks for the update.

There may be other questions or comments.

You know, um you as part of your presentation, you you mentioned the the rate case, and yes, uh you know, I I uh I appreciate you talking about that and and you know being being open and transparent about that.

Uh it the public needs to understand that the cost of water is going to increase uh because of the scarcity problem, it costs more to go to go find it, and it costs more to develop that infrastructure to bring it into the system so that it's there at the faucet in our homes, and and so I appreciate you sharing that.

And um and we all as a community need to recognize that that the cost of water needs to go up so that you can continue to provide it dependably.

So thanks for adding that, and uh thanks for uh the the partnership to include fun events like the water carnival.

Yes.

Are we gonna talk about that at all, Mark?

We weren't gonna oh that's okay.

That's okay.

Uh this is a great event.

I think we have over 500 students coming across uh I think all of one of the elementary schools participated.

So it was a bum-bill day of taking the kids through different uh stations that talk about water conservation, the water cycle.

Um had uh a couple other partners there.

Uh the Fire Lakes joint uh joint venture.

And some presentations and uh it was a really rainy day, so I guess I enjoyed it.

So yeah, thank they're all pretty tired.

Yeah, I understood, and thanks for that.

And um our IT folks were are about to ask you to go to the mic since you had so much, but you don't have you don't have to.

The the the headline is over 500 fifth graders across our community attended a fun and educational event uh put on by Epcor out at our Civic Center today, and um they were gracious to add uh uh a really short time slot for me to to pop in and and talk to the fifth graders.

to go to the mic since you had so much but you don't have you don't have to the the the headline is over 500 fifth graders across our community attended a a fun and educational event uh put on by epcore out at our civic center today and um they were gracious to add uh a really short time slot for me to to pop in and and talk to the fifth graders uh i think they have a sense of humor though because they uh the the when i got there to talk to the fifth graders they were all finishing up their lunch and there wasn't a lot of order in the room i'll i'll just say it that way and so but it was fun to try to get their attention and and chat with them for a few minutes but uh mr rose and and epcor team thank you so much for being here appreciate the update yes thank you mayor thank you pro tem and commissioners thank you thank you next I'll ask do we have uh someone here with joint veterans council to talk to us about the Memorial Day uh ceremony coming up good evening ma'am how are you good evening thank you Mayor Pro Temp and commissioners for allowing me to be here my name is Vanessa Nieves I am the part of joint veterans council I'm also the VFW president for 3280 auxiliary um I come today to talk about our Memorial Day ceremony that we're having on May 25th at 10 o'clock at Lonhaven Memorial Gardens it's like a 30 minute ceremony we have a couple guest speakers which uh Mr.

Mayor is going to be one of our guest speakers this year it's important um memorial day is sorry hold on memorial day is a day of remembrance to honor and mourn the brave men and women who served our country and gave their lives for our freedom we should use this day to show how grateful we are for their bravery and as a promise that we'll always remember their courage and sacrifice so I'm just here asking for y'all to show up show us that support it's important we have so many military men and women still out there fighting for our freedom today and this day is to mourn those ones that we have lost I've been a part of joint veterans council for many years um I was born and raised in a lot of the nonprofit organizations and so if you don't know what we're about um joint veterans council meets once a month we meet at all different organizations of the nonprofit um American legions the elks the eagles can Air Force Base Civil Air Patrol Marines they all show up we meet up and whatnot um if you can't make the memorial day ceremony that Saturday prior the 23rd at eight o'clock in the morning we go out to both cemeteries and we put flags out we roughly put about probably three thousand to four thousand flags now I've lost count American legions and um the Eagles go and do uh mission gardens on seventh street and then the VFW and Silver Air Patrol and anybody else that wants to join us we go to Lawnhaven at eight o'clock in the morning on that Saturday and place a flag at every one of those graves of those service men and women so that we can honor them all weekend long and we have our ceremony and then we pick those flags back up.

So if you can't make the service you'll want to help out with those flags we would love the volunteers it takes a lot of time and effort we have a lot of older members in our organizations that can't do that walking but even if we get a couple of extra volunteers to help us with just one section of those it takes that three hours that we're out there in the morning for eight or nine of us to like an hour.

So um but again so like and I um I have a few flyers I think Vicky probably gave you guys the flyer that I um or not I gave it to her but I do have some flyers if you'd like me to leave them um yeah we we do have the the info in our packet we're happy to if you want to give us the flyers you can but we we and then um I also have one of our agendas for our veterans council meetings of the rest of the the year so if any of y'all would like to attend and actually see really what we're all about I always tell people it's a great way to get to know every single one of those nonprofit organizations.

We put a lot of money into our community that most people don't realize I mean we support the city all the time with y'all's egg hunt the fire department with their Halloween safe trick or treating things like that.

But we we're there in the community but we're behind the community so um I'll leave this behind too please if y'all would like to attend any time anybody have any questions for me.

Ms.

I grew up in my grandparents, my grandfather served 21 years in the army.

My other grandfather served 22 years in the Air Force.

My husband did six years in the Air Force.

This is my life.

Yeah.

That's making sure that our veterans every day are taken care of and whatnot, like that.

It's important.

It is so important.

And it's apparent that it's your calling to do that.

And uh that's clear here tonight, but not just tonight.

We see you uh serving in that way uh so wonderfully, so faithfully in the community.

So thank you for what you do, and thank you for highlighting the memorial day services.

Um it's always a very meaningful event, and uh we look forward to it.

I look forward to being out there and and uh I echo uh your sentiments and encouraged everyone to to go out.

It's a as you say, a 30-minute, 45-minute uh ceremony.

You know, yeah.

How long are guest speakers and what yeah?

It depends on how long a guest speaker might talk.

But I try to keep it short because you never know what the weather's also gonna be like.

Um, we got canopy we get canopies out there and chairs and things like that as well, so that people do have somewhere to sit and whatnot.

So I mean, we we try to make it easy and whatnot, but it's an important day.

People think of a more day as a four-day weekend and barbecue time and out of town, lake and everything else, and most people forget the meaning of what it's really there for.

Yep.

You're you're so right.

And you know, let as a community let's not forget, and if you can please attend the the event on Memorial Day at 10 at uh out at the cemetery.

Thank you for being here.

Thanks for your heart.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Mayor, Mayor President Commissioner.

I believe Commissioner Jones is online now.

Outstanding.

Good evening, Commissioner Jones.

There he is.

All right, good deal.

Uh so next we'll ask for the presentation regarding the 2026 City of Clovis Great American cleanup.

Miss Holcomb.

Hello, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioners.

I am here to give you a little recap on our Great American Cleanup.

That was on April 25th.

Um see some pictures.

We had a couple of groups out there, um, about 95 people total.

Um were out and about town um picking up trash, helping keep Clovis beautiful.

Um, if you want to go to the next slide, we've got some stats.

So we had 95 volunteers, 10 teams.

Um, they picked up 453 bags of trash um during the morning on the 25th.

Um our first place team was the firefighters association.

They picked up 108 bags.

Second place was Pecos Valley production was 70, and then we had a tie for third.

Um, 43rd Falcons and um 69 SOS each had 65 bags.

Um so it was a pretty good day out there picking up trash.

Yeah, great.

I'm out at the landfill, and then at a couple other locations, we were also collecting tires.

So this year we had 1,826 tires that were collected.

Um pretty big number because we had those other locations that people were able to drop off.

Um and in total, 237.5 tons of trash were brought into the landfill over that weekend.

So it was very successful.

Wow, very happy with that.

That's remarkable.

237 and a half tons.

That's wow.

That's great.

So we had additional drop-off locations for tires.

Yes, like through throughout the county.

Not 100% sure exactly where.

I think we had maybe three or four other locations.

But that's great that a thousand were were taken care of, and they're not laying around out there anymore.

So that's uh that's great.

Well, thank you uh Ms.

Holcomb for the update and for for your efforts with that.

Uh that that was a that was a good morning.

We also planted a tree that morning.

Yes, they did plant a tree, and then if you look at our pictures up there, we also had Dumpster Dan.

I know he came to the commission meeting before the cleanup, but he made his first public debut at the the cleanup on that Saturday.

Yeah, Dumpster Dan is good for some laughs and smiles, certainly.

So yeah, well, appreciate that.

Thanks very much.

I'm also your next one.

I think.

Oh, that's why you're not walking off.

Okay, all right, very good.

Um we have the update regarding the Clovis Hires job fair or career fair.

Uh Ms.

Holcomb, our marketing and events coordinator was uh on that as well.

How'd that go?

It went pretty well.

So this year, Clovis Hires was on April 29th.

Um, these first pictures were from our morning.

We had six panels that the high schoolers were able to come and listen.

We had trades, health care, um, government services, computer and IT.

So we had professionals from the community that came and spoke to the students about those different career fields.

Um we had quite a lot of students this year, it was very successful because we were at the high school, so they all were required to come and pick which one they wanted to listen in on and find out more things.

So that was very successful.

I sat on one of the panels.

Um, I think Commissioner Tarsen's had on one of them as well.

Um, so we had a lot of really good people from the community that came and spoke to all of our young people.

Yeah, thanks.

Thanks to everyone, Commissioner.

Uh obviously, Ms.

Holcomb, you said you sat on a panel as well.

I saw a picture, I think, of our chief of police in there as well, as well as Mr.

Perkins.

And so uh thanks for those that invested in your time uh to share with the young people because that's exactly the spirit of Clovis Hires is to uh allow young people who may be studying in the um in the pathway programs at the high school, they may be studying a uh a career path.

We wanted to connect them with folks who are working in those fields and uh help those young people to uh let seeds in their mind and heart grow and and hopefully draw a straight line between where they're at and what a successful and fulfilled career could look like.

So the the investment on the part of employers and professionals in our community to go and do that is greatly appreciated.

Yes.

So that was our our morning session, and then in the afternoon from one to three, all of the high schools, I think it was all the seniors and the juniors were able to come to the career um the hiring fare portion, which was in the gym.

We had over 30 local employers that came and set up booths to talk to the students from three to six.

We invited anyone from the general public who wanted to come and maybe were looking for a job.

So these photos kind of show how busy it got.

Those the one to three hours was very, very busy with all of the students, and they were very excited to talk to everyone.

Um America's Job Center helped us out with getting those employers signed up.

And I do have some updates from them.

Um they did say that they had some participants reach out to them saying that they had actually gotten hired as a result of this.

Um, McDonald's, Taco Box, The Buckle.

Um, were a few of the ones that found new employ new employees out of this um hiring event.

Great.

Great.

So some um some immediate uh jobs filled uh by some of those employers, but earlier in the day we had uh we had you know maybe uh more uh economic base or industry-based type employers that were able to plant seeds in in hearts and lives of young people.

So it really did both.

It's a long range as well as a a more immediate impact with those folks that can take applications on the spot.

But that's great.

So it was open to the public at the end.

Yes.

Um not as well attended, right?

Not as well attended as the high school portion of it.

Um we did have some people that did come through and did talk to those different employers.

Um, so but the the bulk of this one this year was more successful with our high school students.

Which is which is great because we want to reach those high school students.

But thank you.

Thanks for that.

Any questions or comments on Clovis Hires?

Good job.

Thank you very much.

Do you want to hang out?

Do you got the next thing too?

No?

Okay.

All right.

All right.

Very good.

Uh we remain in receipts of petitions and communications or often referred to as public comment.

So uh I would like to give anyone now uh two or three minutes to share with the commission if you're here and just have something, anything at all uh that you would like to bring in front of the commission.

We'll take that now.

All right.

Hearing and seeing no more public comment or communications, we will move on in the agenda to the consent agenda.

Uh the consent agenda is a tool uh used to handle many routine items uh all at once.

Uh if if any one of these items doesn't uh meet approval uh by the commission or if a member of the public has requested, we pull it out of the consent and handle it under the regular agenda.

However, this is your proposed consent agenda containing six items.

First is request for approval of task order two with Lochner to develop a preliminary engineering report for runway 422 and update exhibit A airport property map.

Item two, request for approval to apply for and accept if awarded.

FY 2027 New Mexico Environment Department Recycling and Illegal Dumping Grant in the amount in an amount not to exceed 40,000 for the replacement of six recycling roll-off containers.

Item three is request for approval to apply for and accept if awarded.

Grant funding in an amount not to exceed 400,000 from the U.S.

Department of Transportation's safe streets and roads for all program to fund the fund a City of Clovis Vision Zero Action Plan.

Item 4, request for approval of task order with Lytic Engineers and Surveyors to prepare a plat from Shepps Boulevard to Humphrey Road.

Item five, request for approval of task order with Lytic Engineers and Surveyors to design a sewer line extension.

Item six request for approval of task order with Light Engineers and Surveyors for Inspecies at Clovis Regional Solid Waste Facility.

That is your proposed consent agenda.

Is there a motion?

So approved.

Motion to approve comes from Commissioner Bryant and second from Mayor Pro Tim Garza.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Those opposed, the same sign.

We do have a unanimous vote.

The motion is carried.

I would now entertain a motion to approve or acknowledge all items.

So move.

Motion from Commissioner Porter.

Second.

Second from Commissioner Casos.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, the same sign.

The motion has carried unanimously.

Thank you.

We are down to new business where we have two items.

The first is request for approval to appoint six representatives to serve on the economic incentive board.

Ms.

Foster.

Yes, Mayor, Mayor Pratem Commissioners.

Brett Johnson, Raymond Mondragon, Tyler Lucas, Debbie Spriggs, Jason Gonzalez, and Alan Killen's terms on the Economic Incentive Board have expired.

The positions have been advertised, and Mr.

Johnson, Mr.

Kinlan, Miss Spriggs, and Mr.

Gonzalez have reapplied to serve.

There is one vacancy for District 4, and Mr.

Mondragon has reapplied to serve.

Mr.

Olsies, Miss Gallegos, and Mr.

Hernandez have also applied, so an election will be needed for the District 4 representative.

Also, there are two vacancies for the bank finance representative.

And Mr.

Lucas and Mr.

Kinland have reapplied to serve.

Mr.

Fuentes and Miss Grayton have also applied.

So an election will be needed for the bank finance representatives as well.

Thank you, Ms.

Foster.

So that's clear.

Everyone, we have uh the district four position.

We have one seat to fill and four applicants.

And for the other election, we have two seats for that type of bank and finance position on that board and four applicants.

So you'll vote for two on that one, and you'll vote for just one on the district four position.

We can uh hear from anyone who's here.

I see Mr.

Mondragon is here having reapplied uh to EIB.

He currently serves there.

Mr.

Mondragon, would you like to share with the commission about your wishes to continue serving?

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Members of the Commission.

Uh thank you for the opportunity to uh be considered to continue serving on the EIB board.

Uh I've been serving since its inception of the new ordinance.

Um I currently serve on that board and have served since its new ordinance and changes were made.

I currently serve as governmental specialist for Eastern Plains Council of Government and provide assistance to the communities within the seven county region.

I was the recipient of the 28 of a 2008-2016 Dellon Sanders Award for Economic Development by the New Mexico Idea Group, which is the New Mexico Industrial Developers Executives Association.

I have served as a member of the EIB board in good standing and with professionalism and with honor.

I am a member who reviews all documents and during meetings, ask questions of projects that are before the committee.

As former city manager of Clovis, I served as chairman of the previous ETAB board and served on the ETAB board after leaving the city manager position.

I would like to continue to serve on the EIB board and feel that I can continue to be a board member who will serve honorably and with professionalism and review all facts on projects that are brought forth before the committee.

I have served as chairman of the Mexico Economic Development Partnership Corporation and was served as Region 4 Economic Development Commissioner appointed by then uh Governor Bill Richardson.

As city manager, I served as the chairman of the economic development response team during the construction phase of Southwest Cheese.

I am familiar with current state incentives, statutory matters involving economic development.

I served as president of New Mexico Idea for the state.

And currently serve as past president on that executive board.

I currently serve on the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission, unanimously approved by the New Mexico State Senate representing District 4 and Canon Air Force Base.

And I also currently serve on the Water Policy Committee.

Uh yeah recently.

So I appreciate that.

I appreciate your vote and I stand for any questions that you might have of me.

Thank you, Mr.

Mondragon.

What questions do you have for Mr.

Mondrigon?

Commissioners.

Looks like you did good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

Uh Mr.

Ulsis is here.

Uh give you the opportunity to share about your wishes to serve on economic incentive board.

Good evening, sir.

Uh Mayor, uh Councilman.

Um, I don't have the polished resume that Mr.

Mondrigan has, I'll admit.

Um, but I have interest in uh serving on this board because I have a background in multiple industries.

Um I actually grew up in the hotel motel industry, so the recently uh passed uh ordinance uh tiding to short-term rentals was something that I was glad to see done.

I completely understood why that was being done and how it was tying back to the taxes that were going to be collected as a result of of that change.

Um completely in agreement with that.

But I also have lived in Clovis for the last uh 21 years this summer, and I've seen how economic development in Clovis has come, but I've also seen how sustaining economic development, at least what I believe is a sustaining economic development, hasn't really occurred in that 21 years here in Clovis.

I'm talking about things like the Amazon warehouse that's coming into town.

Um we've got a lot of restaurants that come to town, but eventually all those restaurants are gonna cannibalize each other.

Um my children live outside of Clovis, they don't live here anymore because there was better opportunities for them outside of Clovis.

I've seen how other educational opportunities that weren't four-year college have benefited my children.

I'd like to see some of that come to here to Clovis.

I believe that we can have better economic development if we have a better workforce.

How do we how do we improve our workforce?

Better educational opportunities in our communities here.

So I believe that we can work with our educational partners to increase our economic development here in Clovis.

I'll stand for any questions.

Sounds good, sir.

Thank you for that.

Questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is Ms.

Gallegos here?

Okay.

I see Mr.

Hernandez.

Mr.

Hernandez, we'd love to hear from you and your wishes to serve.

Good evening.

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, Commissioners.

I've got to be honest.

That guy has a crazy resume.

Kudos to him.

A lifelong resume.

I'm only 31.

So uh I bring youth and energy to it, I guess.

When I looked up to see what would qualify a candidate for this position, I've got to say I'm pretty lost.

I'm a small business owner.

I operate and manage two other businesses outside of my own, and we do fairly well.

Uh so I'm going to share with you a principle that my parents instilled in me and that I've used to cultivate my adulthood around.

So my parents told me if you want to acquire wealth, identify a problem, capitalize on the opportunity to solve that problem for other people.

Clean recipe.

That will get you very far.

If you want to acquire wealth and be happy, capitalize on the opportunity to make other people rich.

So don't come doscomentres, where two people eat, three people can eat.

So there's plenty, plenty uh of room for progress and for everybody to thrive in Clovis, New Mexico.

And I believe that wholeheartedly.

Uh and I've used my uh abilities to whatever degree to help the people around me succeed.

I've I've helped people set up their LLCs and obtain their EINs and set up their marketing designs.

I've I've done things in the community for friends, families, and strangers uh to help them succeed.

And uh another thing is I'm not sure which committee I'm gonna end up on.

I will end up on a committee eventually, I promise you.

It wasn't the last one, maybe it's not this one, maybe it's the next one.

So if the only thing I have in my corner is the willingness to see progress in Clovis, well then I think I'm a contender in this in this field.

So thank you.

I'll stand for any questions.

Thank you, sir.

Questions.

strangers uh to help them succeed and uh another thing is i'm not sure which committee i'm gonna end up on i will end up on a committee eventually i promise you it wasn't the last one maybe it's not this one maybe it's the next one so if the only thing i have in my corner is the willingness to see progress in clovis well then i think i'm a contender in this in this field so thank you i'll stand for any questions thank you sir questions that's awesome i'm glad you you're gonna stay and compete for one of them i'll say thank you for continuing to apply yes thank you yes sir appreciate you thank you if i could share one comment it's just add persistence to that list of things that you are showing so thank you thanks mr hernandez thank you okay um if you like we can go ahead and hear from those applying for the other position before voting on all of it okay great so again the economic incentive board has two seats for uh representatives from banking and finance uh you have four people applying and so you can select two of them uh is mr tyler lucas with us this evening he is not mr alankin not here uh mr ricky fuentes is here uh mr fuentes please come share with us about your wishes to serve on economic incentive board mayor members of the commission thanks for allowing me to speak this evening oh my name is Ricky Fuentes I'm interested in serving in the economic incentive board for the city of Clovis I currently serve as a chief IT officer for citizens make of clovis um I've lived in this area my entire life growing up in Texasco earning my degree at AMU in Portalis and spending the past 20 years living and working in Clovis in Texaco in my role at the bank I work with both finance and technology to evaluate risk plan for the future and help ensure projects and to help ensure projects are practical secure and sustainable I see firsthand how businesses depend not only on opportunity but also on strong planning and sound financial decisions to succeed from re reviewing recent board activity I understand there's a strong focus on evaluating projects for long term long-term sustainability infrastructure readiness and real community impact that's an approach I value in that I align with I believe I could bring a practical balanced perspective when reviewing economic development opportunities asking the right questions to help ensure projects make sense financially are supported by infrastructure and provide provide lasting benefits to the community I'd like to serve on this board to support responsible growth in Clovis and to contribute where I can I appreciate your consideration and would be honored to serve thank you for your time thank you Mr.

Fuentes any questions for this gentleman thank you I appreciate that I want to mention um for everyone's benefit um Ms Grayton uh did send in a letter uh which I believe each of the commissioners received that letter uh about her wishes because she is not here uh this evening so with that then unless you have any questions for any of these candidates that we could bring them back for uh commission would you like to make your selections all right please vote Mr.

Howalt are we handling Commissioner Jones uh vote on the back end somewhere voice voice okay all right commissioner jones if you're ready uh please make your votes which one did you want you a mayor for district four Raymond Monduran and the two vacancies Alan Kinlin and Ricky Fuentes copy that thank you commissioner so those of you who have applied thank you for for applying Mr.

Hernandez you you put it really really good uh or really well not sure if this is the one but you're gonna find one right and so I always say when when when applicants have applied for a board or a committee and we can't select you because we have too many uh to uh to uh too many applicants not enough positions to fill please keep looking because if you're willing to serve we need your service on a board or more uh or a committee or more here at the city so thank you for applying and uh and thank you for your service as it stands but please looking please continue to look for ways to serve on city boards and committees we need you there so thank you kind of a complicated

But please look in please continue to look for ways to serve on city boards and committees.

We need you there.

So thank you.

Somebody probably missed that Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem Commissioners for the District 4 representative Raymond Mondragon was selected.

And for the bank finance representatives, Alan Kinland and Ricky Fuentes were both selected.

Outstanding.

Well, thank you, uh Ms.

Foster and team that did the tabulating.

Uh but uh congratulations, Mr.

Fuentes, uh, Mr.

Mondragon, and uh appreciate all of you who have applied.

Please keep uh keep looking for a place as we say, and uh appreciate and look forward to your service on economic incentive board.

Well, when I get you the date of the next meeting, Mr.

Fuentes.

All right, thank you.

We'll move on then to the second item in new business this evening and is request for approval to accept and uh implement position classification review, health insurance premium and compensation report.

Our city manager, Mr.

Howalt.

Good evening, thank you, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim and Commissioners.

So back in August of uh 2025, you guys authorized us uh entering into contract with as resources uh to perform a uh position classification health insurance premium and compensation study.

Uh we were originally anticipating having uh that study completed about the October time frame of 2025.

Uh obviously we're going out and uh requesting data and information from uh various communities, and so it took us a little longer than what we originally anticipated uh completing that report.

Uh of course, drafts were provided to us.

Um we reviewed the drafts, had some questions, comments about them, and so the uh consultant had to go back out and verify some information and data uh that we wanted to make sure that we we had the best information to to formulate this report behind.

Um since receiving the report back in in February of 2026, uh Leanne and myself have been looking at various strategies uh to implement the compensation side of the report itself.

Uh in past uh compensation studies, we've looked at 95 percent, 97 and a half percent, or 100 percent of the recommendations and implementation strategies based off of of those uh different percentages for this time and implementing this study.

Um, I felt it was important for us to try and find a strategy uh to implement it at 100 percent.

In previous times where it's taken us several years to get to that 100% mark, uh I felt like it's always put us a little bit behind the curve and getting our uh wages where they needed to be.

And so uh it's why it took me a little bit longer uh and uh made Leanne crunch the numbers after I crunched numbers uh to try and come up with something that would work to implement that 100% strategy.

And that is what uh we'll be recommending recommending to you this evening uh for implementation.

The second part of the uh study itself was in regards to health insurance, and I thought it's important for us to look at health insurance as well because that is a big benefit that we provide uh to our employees, especially from a total compensation looking at that.

And so I would uh ask that you direct your attention to packet page 120, uh report page 56.

Uh, hopefully you have that in front of you.

And that is the results of the um health portion of the study itself.

You can see that we looked obviously at ourself uh as far as the premiums that we are uh paying uh for our employees, as well as we looked at Alamogordo, Alamo Amarillo, Gallup Hobbs, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, uh Lubbock, Patalis, Roswell, Chavez County, Curry County, and state of New Mexico.

When reviewing these results, uh it definitely pointed out that the city of Clovis is competitive and our premiums align with everybody else's premiums.

Uh the other point that I want to make in regards to the premiums is that the city of Clovis does cover 90 percent of uh the premium for our employees, uh, and that's on both the uh employee health insurance as well as on dependent care.

Several years ago, we actually did study what other communities were providing to their employees, and the average of those communities was for the employee themselves was 76 and 23 percent.

So 76 by the by the employer and we're at 90 percent, and then the dependent health was six the lower rate at 69 percent versus us being at 90 percent.

Um what I really noticed is two gaps on the health insurance study, and that is a gap for those individuals uh that want to have health care for just the employee to the spouse or health care for just the employee and children.

We offer right now health insurance for the employee only or employee and family.

So I think we're we're missing out on a group in the middle because if I'm an employee with just a spouse, I don't need full family coverage, and that premium comes at a lesser rate towards the employer as well as to the employee, so they're having to potentially pay higher rates than what they would if we offered for employee and spouse only.

And so once it comes time for us to look at our and visit with the insurance committee and we start going back out and analyzing our health insurance, that is something that I'm gonna recommend to the health or to the insurance committee is that we also get quotes on what it would cost to add those two uh available resources as well and offerings to our employees.

So that kind of covers the health insurance side of it.

Is there any questions before moving on to compensation?

No, no, sir.

All right.

Um, so like I mentioned earlier, I'm recommending uh the 100% implementation.

And so the strategy that I got to um to get us to where we could afford to implement this at 100% is I took approach of bringing obviously all of the employees that were below the minimum uh up to that minimum.

And so I looked at it by position uh in all of the employees within that position itself, and that is actually the second uh table that that I've provided you this evening.

And so for that example, you can see that the employees uh going to the new grade of 57, uh the the two lowest employees, that was actually a a nine percent increase for them to get up to the new minimum uh proposed salary itself.

There's obviously other employees within that category that um needed to get into the new range, and so because they were making more than the first two employees, we started to back down on the percent increases.

Obviously, the more uh money that you currently make, that percentage uh could still lead itself to a higher increase than the other employees just simply based off of percentages and the rates that you're making.

And so what I did was started adjusting those percentages down until I was able to get everybody within the range as well as still try to keep some gap in between the employees that already had gaps in their salary.

Does it compress some of that?

Yes, it does, but it gets us to that 100% mark.

And so now over the next couple of years, what we would do is start trying to decompress because of the implementation.

Uh it would definitely not be affordable for us to be able to say everybody's getting X percent.

Uh it just wouldn't be a realist realistic uh for us to be able to implement uh in that nature.

One thing that I did say is every employee is going to get at least a one percent increase.

Uh there are employees that are already making uh salaries within the proposed range, and so where we could have not offered anything because they're already in there and would have been ahead of others.

I didn't want to take that approach.

I wanted to make sure that everybody received at least a one percent increase based off of this.

That and that's the other point I'd like to make is that this is not a raise based off of cost of living.

This is not a raise based off of uh performance.

This is the implementation of a compensation study, and that's that's what it is is us getting everybody to where we need to be right now, and then we can obviously work on raises and look at things as we get into the new fiscal year itself.

Um the other information that I provided to you in your packet is shown on packet page 220.

Uh and what those tables uh represent is what our existing salaries started at where we were in 2025, uh, and then on the hourly rates I went back to 2024, 2025, and then what the proposed minimums are based off the study itself.

And so uh this commission and the actions that you guys have taken uh has can be is evidenced by the increases of those wages that we've done over the last well at now a year and a half uh going back to 2024 and where we currently are in this fiscal year.

The other thing that it represents is you do see that some of our positions and those are the uh um cells that are highlighted in the darker color there, our starting wages on some of our positions were already above what the proposed wages were uh for the the compensation study.

So we're not gonna go backwards.

And so what we would do is even though we implement at 100% now, those starting wages that were already above the proposed uh starting wages, we would leave as is the overall um fiscal impact for what is being proposed this evening uh to the general fund is uh um 1.3 almost 1.369 million dollars to the general fund, uh 107,000 dollars to fund two, our sanitation fund, uh fund 10, our wastewater fund is 54,000 fund twelve, our airport fund is 32 almost 33,000, and then our workmen's comp fund fund 48 is four point or um four thousand three hundred dollars for a total uh impact of uh almost one point six million dollars increase into our payroll.

Uh that includes obviously all of uh the retirement that's included, all of the uh payroll taxes, et cetera.

That also comes along with increasing uh those wages.

Uh the proposed uh increase would not impact obviously myself as as the city manager.

Uh we would budget the funds, uh, but wages are uh negotiated with our collective bargaining units, so uh the CPOA uh in the proposed uh firefighters association.

And as far as implementation of this, uh if it's approved uh this evening, uh we would start this with the May 10th pay uh period, which would then be reflected in the May 29th uh pay period.

Also, as part of this, uh and in what we're looking at is trying to advance our captains in the police department to exempt positions, and so that's also being proposed this evening as part of that.

So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you.

Thanks for that, Mr.

Howalt.

There's a lot there.

One one more time, the the fiscal impact.

Uh one point 1.568 million.

1.568 million.

Okay, thank you.

Um appreciate the you know, your your efforts to uh to get to 100% implementation uh for all of the reasons you stated at the beginning.

Um appreciate that.

And for the for the public's benefit, or you know, everyone's benefit.

This this uh comp and classification and and health insurance uh benefits survey included looking at five or more municipalities larger than ours.

Um looks like maybe four that were smaller than us.

Uh looked at Curry County, uh looked at Chavez County, Roosevelt County, Clovis Municipal Schools, the state of New Mexico, and uh workforce solutions, and so really went out and and got a good sampling of where each of these positions are are being compensated so that we really understand what the market is and uh appreciate that quite a fiscal impact, but I think uh you know the city manager's recommendation is is uh is he's obviously thought that through.

Um we're in budget season, he and the finance manager are are looking at all of that, and um I think this could be a great thing to really um really compensate uh in the in the market uh all of the employees of the city, and so this is a this is a great proposal, but what questions are there about it?

Mayor.

I don't have a question.

I I think you guys have really worked hard on this.

I appreciate all that hard hard work.

And if there's any other questions, I move for approval.

Thanks.

We have a motion for approval from Commissioner Cassaus.

Second, second from Commissioner Bryant.

Further discussion on the item.

Hearing and seeing none, it has been properly moved and seconded that you would approve uh the implementation of the position, classification review, health insurance premium and compensation report as described.

All those in favor, please say aye.

I am aye.

All right.

Those opposed, the same sign.

The motion has carried unanimously.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Thanks, Mr.

Howalt.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Ms.

Melanson, for your your efforts on that.

All right.

Well, that does it for action.

Uh we're on to reports, uh, armed forces support committee met at 10 a.m.

Uh Armed Forces Support Committee met at 10 a.m.

on Friday the 24th down in Portalis.

I didn't bring my notes from that one.

I apologize, but Mayor Pro Tim was there as well as Mr.

Howalt.

It was mostly the Matrix Design report, which you got at your last city commission meeting, and uh as well as reports from our federal partners and various other entities.

Mr.

Howalt, anything to add?

No, that's that's absolutely correct.

Yep.

Okay.

Thanks for that.

Wait, say that again.

Okay.

So yeah, good good meeting, and and everyone got the Matrix uh the report, and and that was very meaningful uh in particular because that work was actually born out of the armed forces support committee.

So that was great.

Is there a report from the library board meeting on the 27th?

There is Mayor, thank you.

We did hear some updates from Ms.

Hinchy, and uh they're getting up for the summer reading program.

Uh the new program will be called Unearth a Story, and it's focusing on archaeology and geology.

Uh she also mentioned that uh 15 15 to 16,000 people have visited the library in the past three months.

Uh they're doing a major inventory.

And the geo bond for 2024 will be released in November.

We'll be around 129,000.

Plans of updating some furniture, 3D printer, and new computer chairs.

And that is our report.

Great report.

Thank you for that.

Uh sounds like some good stuff going on with the library.

We have a wonderful library.

Yes, we do.

All right.

Um we did have uh I I owe you a report from the uh last uh Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority meeting, which took place on the same day as our last uh city commission meeting, which if you remember ran long, and I spared you at the end and did not give this report, which I'll make brief in any case.

Uh at our our water authority board meeting on April 23rd, uh City of Texaco hosted us, and so it was nice to be out in Texaco.

They actually have some remodeling going on uh to their uh activity center and senior center, and um it's looking nice and it's it's great to visit our our member communities for our board meetings.

Um we had uh matrix design at that meeting to give their update on the Mirror grant, uh which was appropriate given the the water focus uh that the Mirror grant has.

Uh our action items included uh approval of several uh professional services agreements.

It was uh that time of year, so to speak, uh time to renew agreements with our consultants.

One I want to note is uh the professional services agreement with Blake Curtis for expert consultation on land restoration.

Uh I've shared with you before, I want to say it again.

The uh the water authority is a respecter of the the private property owners who partner with us through easements uh to make the project happen, and so uh we want to go the extra mile and make sure we have the very best of land restoration uh outcomes, and there's no one better than Blake Curtis when it comes to you know seed and uh and understanding uh soil composition and what it takes to really get that vegetation back, and so uh glad to have Blake Curtis on uh and and renew his agreement in our reports.

It was discussed, and I want to I want to mention it here for everyone's benefit uh because we're all partners in this and can celebrate when we get these types of announcements.

But the uh latest water trust board awards were announced a couple of weeks ago, and the water authority is receiving 24.3 million in the most recent water trust board award.

And additionally, uh we've been working for about a year or more on the FY26 federal funding uh ask, and uh we had as our bottom dollar uh sixty-eight million.

Oh, drum roll.

Okay, drum roll is good.

Yeah, so as our uh as our bottom dollar, uh while we could have used more uh and would like to have more.

We in working with the bureau and uh our federal partners, we we talked about sixty-eight million as the have to have number uh to keep up our current pace with can design and construction.

And uh we're very happy to to to report that we actually received 77 million, so nine million more than our our our bottom dollar.

Uh and so we're just thrilled about that.

And um and and while that was discussed in reports at the water authority board meeting on the 23rd, uh we didn't actually have the the grant agreement amendment in the inbox when we talked about that, but we knew it was coming, and we now have it in the inbox.

So we'll be doing a press release and and uh doing thank yous for uh all of the the support from everyone.

Overall, project momentum, the project continues moving forward.

Um a lot of things going on simultaneously.

Uh but with that 77 million announcement, we are now funded on the last of the large pipe uh in the transmission lines, and uh so funding that we'll be able to move forward and the FY27 funding is going to go to pump stations and tanks.

And uh very very excited about where where we're sitting with that project.

Thank you.

Any other reports?

All right.

Future agenda items, Ms.

Foster.

Sorry.

Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Commissioners, we have three future agenda items.

One is a presentation regarding the installation of a storybook village at Hillcrest Park.

The second is a request for approval of quarterly lodging tax disbursements, and the third is a request for approval to award RFP for city attorney services to Harmon Barnett and Morris.

Okay, thank you for that, Ms.

Foster.

Umcoming meetings, uh Lodgers Tax Advisory Board plans to meet at 5 30 p.m.

on Tuesday, the 12th of May.

Planning and zoning plans to meet at 3 p.m.

on Wednesday the uh 13th.

Senior Services Committee will meet at 1.30 p.m.

on Thursday the 14th.

Parks Recreation Beautification Committee meets at 5 30 p.m.

on Monday.

And your next city commission meeting will be at 5 15 p.m.

on Thursday, May 21st, right back here.

That does it for tonight.

We are adjourned.