Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The administrator for the Quay County Detention Center and county manager said the jail likely will be converted to a scaled-down model that will lower the county’s costs.
Jail administrator Johnny Reid said employees would undergo training in Roosevelt County after Thanksgiving that would give them a mandated pay raise.
Reid and county manager Daniel Zamora said more county inmates are being taken to larger facilities that offer more certified services. As of that morning, there were 16 inmates in the Quay County Detention Center that soon would be shipped to the De Baca County jail before detention center employees undergo their training.
During low inmate populations, Reid said jail employees are using their time to do more cleaning and maintenance work there.
Zamora said because many inmates will be taken to other facilities, he said the county will reduce its number of budgeted jail employees from 22 to 12 without layoffs, saving about $400,000. He said the jail has trouble even keeping 12 employees.
Zamora said the county jail likely will embrace a “book-and-hold” model like Sierra County’s, where many inmates will be taken to larger detention facilities that offer more certified services.
In other business:
— Road superintendent Stephen Salas said state highway officials recently met and decided they would not reopen a 1931 bridge on Old Route 66 after a flash flooding in May destroyed a new low water bridge. Salas said the old bridge is rated the worst in the state.
Zamora said a motorist recently drove through a barricade on the closed section of Old Route 66 and landed the vehicle in a sinkhole, caused by the flooding, near the old bridge. He said a sheriff’s deputy ticketed the driver.
Zamora said after the county filed a lawsuit last month against the architect, contractor and state insurance authority over the lack of coverage on the destroyed bridge, he said the parties involved have begun talking again.
During public comments, Louis Brown said the closing of the old bridge has led to hardship or endangerment for entities and at least 20 residents. Brown, a former county road worker, said a hardship declaration “opens the door” for exceptions and options for an alternate route around the bridge.
— Zamora said a recent executive order of $750,000 in disaster aid won’t cover the estimated $5 million in damage to county roads after the May storm.
However, he said the governor might issue a second executive order for more money. The county still has to cover 25% of the cost of storm repairs.
Zamora said he and Salas would make repairs to Quay Road M the first priority. Flash flooding damaged miles of the road south of Bard.
— Commissioners approved the transfer of extrication equipment from Nara Visa to the District 1 fire department. County fire marshal Lucas Bugg said Nara Visa firefighters hadn’t used the equipment since obtaining it in 2015. Bugg also stated in a letter that Logan Fire and Rescue provides extrication for Nara Visa.
— Commissioners approved a $56,023 grant agreement with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The grant will cover half of the salary and benefits of county emergency manager Pierce Gutierrez.
— Commissioners approved a letter from Zamora to the county’s road viewers for their efforts over a dispute regarding the closure of Quay Road 41. The letter thanked their time and efforts over viewing the road and issued an apology “for any confusion in the matter.”
— Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, gave the organization’s annual performance report.
She said its business accelerator program has led to 39 jobs created and the purchase of $390,000 worth of property in downtown.
Loveland also said this year’s Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 25 would be a tax-free holiday.
— Brenda Bishop of the Quay County Health Council gave its end-of-year report. She presented a video that detailed the council’s activities over the past year.
Since 1992, the council has leveraged over $26 million, or $37 in community benefit for each $1 in taxes given.
The council’s focuses are reducing substance and alcohol abuse and deaths, increase consumer health literacy, increase domestic violence knowledge and resources, provide more equitable access to healthcare, families choosing healthier eating and more exercise and increase vaccine uptake.
Commissioners also approved a resolution that recognized the health council.
— Renee Hayoz, administrator of the Quay County Family Health Center in Tucumcari, said her clinic ran out of high-dose influenza vaccines but still had plenty of regular flu shots.
Hayoz said the clinic probably won’t offer the latest COVID-19 boosters because they cost $12,000 for 100 doses, and its refrigerator is too small. The clinic probably won’t offer RSV shots, either.
— Sheriff Dennis Garcia gave a quarterly report of his department from July 1 to Sept. 30. He said the number of crashes, traffic stops, theft and livestock calls rose. He also reported that morale among staff was high due to support from the county.
— Rico Marano, DWI Program coordinator, said 10 drunken-driving arrests were made during the last quarter, which was high. He said most of them occurred during Labor Day weekend at Ute Lake.