Roosevelt County Commission Minutes

Tuesday March 18, 2025
County Commission Room
Roosevelt County Courthouse
Portales, New Mexico 88130

The Roosevelt County Commission met in regular business meeting on Tuesday March 18, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the County Commission Room with those present being: Commissioner Paul Grider, Commissioner Roy Lee Criswell, Commissioner Tina Dixon, Commissioner Malin Parker, Commissioner Fabian Munoz, County Attorney Randall Van Vleck, County Manager Annette Kirk, Clerk Mandi Park, Assessor Stevin Floyd, Treasurer Victoria Ramos, Chief Deputy Treasurer Layle Sanchez, Road Superintendent Juan Dominguez, Sheriff Javier Sanchez, Human Resources Coordinator Mary Orozco, Finance Administrator Gemma Martin, Detention Administrator Shayla Ramsey, presenters Eduard Zaydman, Christine Hefferman, Amalia Anita, Jeremy Neal, Chris Hannigan, Peter Kelton, Aaqib Syed, Ryan Kelly, and community members Jim Lucero, Duward Dixon, Donna Carpenter, Angie Smith and Rick Ledbetter.

Call to Order – Commissioner Dixon at 6:00 p.m.
Invocation – Commissioner Munoz
Pledge – Commissioner Dixon
1)
Approval of Agenda: Commissioner Parker made a motion to approve the agenda with a second from
Commissioner Munoz. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes,
Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.
2)
Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Munoz made a motion to approve the minutes from the February
18, 2025 regular meeting with a second from Commissioner Criswell. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner
Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.
3)
Approval of Accounts Payable and Payroll: Payroll from February 1, 2025 through February 28, 2025 and
accounts payable from February 1, 2025 to February 28, 2025 was included in the packet. Commissioner Criswell made a motion to approve the accounts payable and payroll as listed on the agenda with a second by Commissioner Parker. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes,
Commissioner Munoz-Yes.
4)
Informational Items: Presentation on Restoration of Ethanol Plant Project: Eduard Zaydman presented
on behalf of Navitas Global a plan to bring biofuel production back to Portales. Mr. Zaydman stated the plant would use bio-waste products from dairy processing to produce bio-fuels. He stated clean water would be returned to the city as a discharge. He stated there is zero waste and no fresh water usage in the production. He stated there would be carbon capture offsets. He stated there has been interest from the aviation industry for production of sustainable aviation fuel. He stated hiring will begin within a month and approximately 45 local jobs will be created. In addition, 200-300 temporary jobs will be created during construction. Commissioner Parker asked how the clean water would be returned. Mr. Zaydman replied it would go into a pond, sewer or pipeline. The specifics are yet to be determined.

Informational Items: Presentation on Heelstone Renewable Energy Wind Project: Mr. Syed presented
on an 800-megawatt wind project. He stated the project has been in the queue for about 2 years, studies are in
process and the project completion is expected in 2029-2030. Commissioner Munoz asked how many jobs would be created. Mr. Syed responded hundreds during construction but much fewer once the project is in operation and long-term. He also asked who owns he project? Mr. Syed replied Heelstone would own the project. Commissioner Criswell asked how many acres in Roosevelt County. Approximately 100,000 acres in Roosevelt County and the remainder in Lea County.

Informational Items: Presentation of DG Sundale, LLC Project from NextEra Energy, Inc. in Anticipation
of a Request for the County to Issue Industrial Revenue Bonds to Support the Project: Ms. Hefferman presented
the plan for the 80-acre plot next to the RCEC substation on Sundale Valley Road. She stated the Coop purchased the land near the substation for the purpose of installing a solar array. The project is in the permitting stage, studies and surveys are complete. The project is expected to start in early 2026 and be completed by the end of that year. She stated the site will be operated remotely once it is fully operational. Ms. Hefferman noted the major benefit of the project is the cost savings to the RCEC members. She stated DG Sundale, LLC. would seek industrial revenue bonds in the amount of $17.3 million for a term of 30 years to cover the cost of the project. Peter Kelton gave a review of the IRB process. Jeremy Neal from the RCEC added the project would include vegetation management and use of native grasses as a best practice to prevent erosion.
5)
Public Requests: Rick Ledbetter spoke on behalf of the Roosevelt Soil and Water Conservation District,
stating they would like a seat at the table with the DG Sundale, LLC Project to ensure that the soil under the solar panel array is held to prevent erosion. He stated he is also concerned with the end-life of the project. He wants to be sure the array will not simply be abandoned once the Bond obligation is fulfilled.
Donna Carpenter spoke about volunteering with bible study at the detention center and the need for having
baptism available at the detention center. She stated there have been recent requests for baptism and she is
awaiting a response from detention administration. She stated they are willing to work with administration to avoid
potential litigation.
6)
Elected Officials and Department Heads Reports:
Clerk: Ms. Park stated the Board of Registration had met on March 6th for the purpose of removing voters who are able to be removed due to a change of address. The Board of Registration recommended the removal of 841
inactive voters who have moved from their address of registration. The Clerk’s Office has completed that process and reported the completion of the removal to the Secretary of State’s Office prior to the March 15th deadline. Ms. Park stated at the June meeting the commission will be asked to appoint the Board of Registration for the next term March 18, 2025
and the clerk, party chairs, and commissioners will provide member recommendations prior to that meeting. Ms. Park stated the IPRA processing software is working well. She and Ms. Kirk are also previewing additional software packages from the same provider to streamline and automate other processes. Ms. Park asked for volunteers to speak to the Leadership Portales group on April 8, 2025 when they tour our facilities. She stated there will be probate training on April 22-24, 2025 and asked that budget meetings not conflict with those dates, when those are scheduled.
Sheriff: Sheriff Sanchez provided some statistics for February, stating his office has taken hundreds of calls resulting in 65 reports including 6 assaults, 7 DWI arrests, 4 crimes against children, and 4 controlled substance arrests.
Sheriff Sanchez stated Chief Deputy Holmes is conducting firearms instructor courses and has offered other firearms trainings over the past month. He stated they are working traffic grants and checkpoints will be conducted in the near future.
Road: Mr. Dominguez provided the list of projects underway. He stated operators are working their blade routes on in Arch, Garrison, Elida and Floyd. They are also doing spot repairs to caliche roads in the Arch area. They are cleaning cattle guards, moving sand and tumbleweeds from roadways, assisting with traffic control for downed powerlines, and fire lines. They are also replacing missing signs due to wind. Commissioner Parker asked Mr. Dominguez when NM 88 to SRR F would begin. Mr. Domingues stated that project would start in about a month. Commissioner Grider thanked Mr. Dominguz and his crew for all the work during the wind. Commissioner Criswell asked about the gross receipts tax for the caliche being hauled in from Melrose. Mr. Dominguez stated he is working with the vendor to source caliche from Roosevelt County when possible.
Detention: Ms. Ramsey stated the facility count was at 51 with 44 male detainees and 7 female detainees, with 2
out-of-county detainees. There were 3 releases since that count this morning. Ms. Ramsey stated billing for the
month of February included $6,625.00 billed to Quay County. Ms. Ramsey stated there are 5 detainees in the MAT Program, with all 8 receiving both group and individual counseling and participating in yoga. Of those, 3 are receiving medication, and 4 not in the program are receiving medication. There are 3 participating in GED classes who have recently tested and are awaiting their scores. The facility if fully staffed with 1 recently completing academy and 3 currently in academy and will graduate on Thursday. Ms. Ramsey addressed the baptism issue, stating there are multiple staff ordained to perform baptisms. She stated they are willing to offer baptism as long as it can be done in a safe and sanitary manner. Ms. Ramsey stated they have had to administer 4 doses of Narcan in the last 2 weeks ultimately saving 2 lives. Both instances were administered 2 doses. Ms. Ramsey stated she is very pleased with the body scanner and they are scanning everyone who enters the facility. Use of the scanner has prevented lots of contraband from entering the facility. They will continue to provide additional training for the staff. Ms. Ramsey stated staff morale is currently at an all time high.
Manager: Ms. Kirk introduced Mary Orozco as the new Human Resources Coordinator. She stated Gemma Martin is now serving as the Finance Administrator. She stated the emergency operations center construction project is ahead of schedule. Ms. Kirk reported adding 3 new hires at the road department and Sheriff’s Office has hired a transport officer. She stated the county is now fully staffed. She stated she an Mr. Spinks would be doing a walkthrough of the pavilion later this week. She stated elevator maintenance is scheduled to being Monday March 24, 2025 and will take about 3 weeks. She stated there is a meeting with department heads and elected officials next week to schedule budget meeting dates. Ms. Kirk stated she would be looking for funding for additional staff for the Road Department and an additional position in Maintenance. She stated TMK will be working on the personnel piece of the budget, and she will get budget worksheets to the department heads once they are available. She stated department heads will have access to add items to the agenda with software that we are considering. Ms. Kirk stated she is working on contract renewals with legal for the enterprise center and foodbank. Ms. Kirk state there are affiliate meetings for the Managers April 3-4 and Commissioners April 13-15. She stated the roofing projects at the fairgrounds are ongoing. She stated the incident on the roof at the hog barn has been reported. Ms. Kirk stated Ms. Weems is working on grants and will apply for New Mexico Clean and Beautiful for the second half of the turf project and will include trash bins and benches. They will submit an application for the RAID grant for tire amnesty days. She asked for suggestions for application for Congressional Direct Spending with deadlines starting April 1, 2025. She gave a list of legislation that is being tracked.
Commissioners: Commissioner Munoz thanked Mr. Dominguez and the road crew and the Sheriff and his deputies for their work in the terrible recent wind storms. Commissioner Parker stated he had attended a meeting at the COOP on the purchase of land to develop a well field to help with water production. He stated permitting is in the works. He asked about an advisory committee with the extension office that he has been appointed to. He thanked Ms. Kirk for filling the two open positions at the Road Department. He was pleased to hear that three staff had been hired bringing the Full-Time Equivalent back to 15 staff, but feels there still needs to be more equipment operators within the road department. Commissioner Parker stated there was at one time 18 FTE personnel in the Road Department. Commissioner Grider asked about the status of the plant that Mr. Zaydman had talked about earlier.
He asked if the delinquent property taxes had been settled. Ms. Ramos stated they had not been settled and there are still back taxes and additional liens against the property. Ms. Sanchez explained while title has changed hands, it is not a clear title, and the property remains on the list to be sold at the tax sale later this spring, unless payment or payment arrangements are made with the state. Commissioner Criswell stated he had attended a meeting in Clayton regarding the National Interests Electric Corridor. He stated there will be a meeting with several eastern counties and the Department of Energy scheduled and requested a quorum of commissioners from each of these counties be present. Mr. Van Vleck warned against that, stating a special meeting would need to be called, otherwise the commission could be in violation of the open meetings act. Mr. Van Vleck advised that if a quorum choose to attend, they should be very careful meet all of the requirements of the act including public notice, public access and minutes. Commissioner Dixon stated she traveled to Washington DC for the National Association of  Counties (NACO) conference. She participated  in committee meetings and each of those committees were in opposition to the National Interest Electric Corridor. She stated they advised counties to adopt a Land Use Plan and/or a Resource Plan to help to protect the land and the counties interests.
March 18, 2025

March 18, 2025

7) Old Business:
A. Discussion and Consideration of Organizational Chart for IPRA From Administration to Clerk’s Office:
Ms. Kirk stated the position will remain in her office with oversight for IPRA responsibilities by the Clerk. The
floater position will remain available to other departments, but the structure will not change. The Clerk will have input on evaluation and training needs regarding IPRA. No change to the job description or organizational chart has been made. No action was taken.

8) New Business:
A. Board of Finance: At 8:15 pm, Commissioner Criswell made a motion to go into Board of Finance with a
second by Commissioner Grider. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes,
Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes. Ms. Sanchez gave a presentation of the investments and
available funds to be invested. Ms. Sanchez stated the county had earned $220,000.00 in interest on the current investments. She stated there was more than $6 million in the general fund that could be earning interest if moves to an investment account. Commissioner Criswell asked if there would be a penalty if we were to need access to that money. Ms. Sanchez noted there is a ladder structure to investments so that different investments mature at different times to ensure that we always have access to funds. Ms. Sanchez requested that the Treasurer be allowed to transfer up to $6 million from the general fund into the investment account. At 8:18 pm, Commissioner Criswell made a motion to come out of Board of Finance with a second by Commissioner Grider. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes. Commissioner Dixon made a motion to approve the request to move up to $6 million from the general fund to investments, with a second by Commissioner Criswell. Commissioner Grider Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Abstain, Commissioner Munoz Yes.

B. Request for Approval of Arch Volunteer Firefighters Annual PERA Reporting: Ms. Martin requested
approval to submit the PERA report for Arch volunteer firefighters. Commissioner Criswell made a motion to
submit the report with a second by Commissioner Grider. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

C. Request for Approval of Milnesand Volunteer Firefighters Annual PERA Reporting: Ms. Martin requested
approval to submit the PERA report for Milnesand volunteer firefighters, similar to the action just taken to
submit the Arch report to PERA. Commissioner Parker made a motion to submit the report with a second by
Commissioner Criswell. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes,
Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

D. Request for Approval of Disposal, Sale, Destruction of Non-essential Firearms in the Sheriff’s Office:
Sheriff Sanchez requested approval to dispose of firearms that are no longer in service. Commissioner Parker
made a motion to approve the request with a second by Commissioner Munoz. Commissioner Grider-Yes,
Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

E. Request for Approval of the Submission of the FY 25 Law Enforcement Protection Fund Application for
the Sheriff’s Office: Commissioner Parker made a motion to approve the submission of the FY25 LEPF
Application with a second by Commissioner Dixon. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes,
Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

F. Request for Ratification of the Commission Chair’s Signature on the Letters of Intent to the New Mexico
Department of Transportation Regarding the FY 26 Local Government Toad Fund (LGRF) Project Applications:
Commissioner Parker made a motion to ratify the signature as requested with a second by Commissioner
Munoz. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

9) Resolutions-Ordinances-Proclamations:
A. Consideration of Resolution 2025-10 Establishing Double-time Pay Rates for Safer New Mexico Traffic
Grants: Commissioner Parker asked Sheriff Sanchez if this is allowable under the grant. Sheriff Sanchez replied it is now allowable and being done by many other agencies. Commissioner Grider made a motion to adopt the
resolution with a second by Commissioner Criswell. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes,
Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

B. Consideration of Resolution 2025-11 Sponsorship of Transportation Project Fund and Project Match
Commitments for Funding Application of Approximately Twenty-Seven and Three-Quarter Miles of Various
Roosevelt County Rural Roadways: Commissioner Dixon made a motion to approve the resolution, with a
second from Commissioner Grider. Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

C. Consideration of Resolution 2025-12 Annual Certified County Maintained Mileage: Mr. Dominguez
stated the mileage is the same as last year. Commissioner Criswell stated he would like for the commission to
review the policy on adding roads to the county-maintained mileage inventory. Commissioner Grider made a
motion to approve the resolution, with a second from Commissioner Dixon. Commissioner Grider-Yes,
Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes, Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

D. Consideration of Resolution 2025-13 FY25 Budget Adjustment for 3rd Quarter Fiscal Reports: Ms. Kirk
stated the resolution is necessary to balance and submit the report to DFA in a timely manner in April.
Commissioner Parker made a motion to approve the resolution, with a second from Commissioner Munoz.
Commissioner Grider-Yes, Commissioner Criswell-Yes, Commissioner Dixon-Yes, Commissioner Parker-Yes,
Commissioner Munoz-Yes.

10)
Media Communication: No media was present.
11)
Executive Session: Commissioner Dixon asked Ms. Kirk if an executive session was needed. Ms. Kirk stated
no executive session was needed.
12) Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 p.m.
ATTEST:
__________________________
Mandi M. Park
County Clerk
BOARD OF ROOSEVELT
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
_____________________________
Tina Dixon
Commission Chair