Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 62 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
March 13, 2015
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Apartments, vets cemetery plans move ahead
By Jeff Jackson Record City Editor
Two construction projects in Roswell will be advancing a step in their plans after the City Council gave the go-ahead Thursday night. Those projects concern a luxury apartment complex on the north end of the city and the veterans cemetery on Southeast Main Street. A pair of public hearings will be scheduled for public discussion about a proposal to adjust the city’s fee calculation schedule pertaining to infrastructure tied to the Spring River Luxury Apartments at College Boulevard and Sycamore Avenue, while the
council did approve unanimously to amend the capital budget to free $250,000 needed to extend sewer and water lines feeding the potential complex. Seven councilors were in favor, while there were three absent chairs. An adjustment to the fee calculation schedule would save the developer, Emery Stephen Holdings of Tucson, Arizona, $62,500 in fees if the full 256 apartments materialize over the two-phase construction plan. The adjustment would also eliminate some alley requirements connected to the apartments and reduce the parking spaces per-unit average from 2.0 to 1.8.
Describing the high-rent apartments as “a huge need,” Mayor Dennis Kintigh said he was informed, in a discussion with officials of Aersale at the Roswell air center, that housing was the primary obstacle for employees who have recently relocated to Roswell. Councilman Caleb Grant was in agreement, saying the city would be taking a new stance and changing its approach regarding multi-family housing. “It’s a true need in our community,” Grant said. Amending the capital budget for longer sewer and water lines does not require a public hearing, so that agenda item relat-
ed to Spring River Apartments was approved. The $225,000 will be reallocated from another project that has been completed, the council was told by staffers. Looking beyond the Spring River complex, the infrastructure extensions might spur developments for other apartments or commercial properties, City Manager Steve Polasek told the council. “It also will add new customers for our sewer and water lines, which is always a good thing,” he said.
Focus changes at vets cemetery
A funding plan to
Artful bags benefit senior food drive
upgrade the Gen. Douglas L. McBride Roswell Veterans Cemetery was slightly changed Thursday by the council. The Buildings and Lands Committee, which met an hour before the council session, restructured the cemetery master plan to prioritize six projects covered by a $250,000 state grant. The top three items of work are installing a gazebo where funeral services will be held, digging a drainage ditch and planting sod surrounding the gazebo, and all could be covered by the $250,000, said Elizabeth Stark-Rankins. The pavilion area that will include the gazebo is estimated to cost $150,000, she said.
Three lesser-urgent projects at the cemetery — a parking lot, fencing and a storage building for mowers and other equipment — will necessitate more funds, she said. Money for those items could be coming from more grants and/or donations, said Bert Eldridge, a member of the veterans cemetery board. The cemetery has 58 veterans buried on the grounds, Eldridge said. Grant was the force behind reorganizing the cemetery master plan at the Buildings and Lands meeting, and he told Eldridge and two other veterans in attendance that separating the work
By Jeff Jackson Record City Editor
ing, with the anonymous responses compiled Jan 28. Calling the process “a science experiment” and admitting it received less than a 20-percent reply across the board, EDC president John Mulcahy said the community should not panic but there is reason for concern. “If you look at this study — again we’ve taken a lot of assumptions and we’ve extended them to the whole economy — it says that in a year we would lose $30 million of economic activity,” Mulcahy said. “Maybe they don’t have to cut any people, so an average reduction was 20 percent. How much will you spend less in the economy, $250,000? That’s a big number. I didn’t challenge any of the numbers either.” The survey was intended to reach out to a variety of employers in Chaves County, and the numbers could
EDC’s oil survey spouts bad news
A recent survey distributed throughout Chaves County related to the oil industry forecasts a crude economic future if the price of oil continues to drop. The local economy will take an estimated $30 million loss in revenue and job cutbacks if the per-barrel price of oil remains around the $50 level for a two-year period in a worstcase scenario. That’s the bottom-line result from the survey by the Roswell Chaves County Economic Development Corp. The questions “If oil stayed at $50 a barrel, how many people would you have to cut? How many hours would you have to cut?” were posed online starting Jan. 25 to companies and organizations in seven fields — oil/gas, finance/banking, utilities, manufacturing, hospitality, education and broadcast-
Dylanne Petros Photos
Decorated bags will hang at Main Street Arts until they are used to deliver hot meals to seniors in April. The bags are part of Comfort Keepers’ Feed Seniors Now food drive, which is going until March 27. Non-perishable food items can be donated to Comfort Keepers, the Chamber of Commerce or Main Street Arts until March 27. Bags can be purchased from Main Street Arts for $10. For more information, call Comfort Keepers at 624-9999.
See COUNCIL, Page A3
See OIL, Page A3
Lawyer: APD shooting Xcel Energy plans 140 MW of new solar energy case may be ‘circus’ if DA isn’t disqualified Staff Report
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A case against two Albuquerque police officers facing murder charges from a police shooting might turn into a circus if a New Mexico district attorney isn’t disqualified, a defense lawyer said Thursday. Attorney Sam Bregman told a Bernalillo County District judge that District Attorney Kari Brandenburg should be removed from the case because she later might face indictment in connection with alleged bribery. Brandenburg made headlines in January when she announced she would seek charges against Albuquerque SWAT team member Dominique Perez and former Detective Keith Sandy for the March 2014 shoot-
ing death of homeless camper James Boyd. It was a rare move by a district attorney in seeking charges against officers involved in a shooting. But lawyers for the two men argued at a hearing that bribery allegations made by Albuquerque police against Brandenburg tainted her efforts to proceed without the appearance of bias. Brandenburg is suspected of reimbursing burglary victims to protect her son, 26-year-old Justin Koch, who has been implicated in the theft cases. Brandenburg has denied any wrongdoing and called the police investigation retribution. T h e a lle g a t io n s h a v e See APD, Page A3
Xcel Energy is planning to add 140 megawatts of photovoltaic solar energy to its Texas-New Mexico generation mix with an agreement to purchase the output of two planned solar developments near Roswell, the company announced Thursday. The company has signed two long-term power purchase agreements with affiliates of Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources LLC, and expects to add the solar energy capacity in 2016 before valuable federal investment tax credits terminate for new projects. The two contracts are subject to approval from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. Xcel Energy, through its
Submitted Photo
This photo of a 20-megawatt solar field just north of Las Vegas, Nev., completed by NextEra Energy Resources, shows what a proposed solar farm in Chaves County would look like. The Nevada solar farm is on 160 acres, whereas the proposed solar farm in Chaves County would occupy up to 1,300 acres and generate up to 170 megawatts. David Hudson, presregional operating compa- capacity currently, mostly ny Southwestern Public through a purchase from ident of Southwestern Service Company, serves SunEdison facilities in Lea Public Service Company, about 385,000 custom- and Eddy counties. an Xcel Energy company, This new purchase will ers in eastern New Mexico and the Panhandle and put the company to 200 said the cost of the solar South Plains regions of megawatts of solar capac- energy to be purchased, Texas. It has between 50 ity, almost all of which is and 55 megawatts of solar New Mexico based. See SOLAR, Page A3
Optimist clubs to honor internat’l essay contest winners Staff Report
Stover
The Noon and Sunrise Optimist clubs of Roswell have announced the winners in their annual international essay contest. Kylie Stover of Roswell High School earned first-place honors, Clair Willden of Goddard was second and Briana Hodge of Roswell third.
Students from New Mexico Military Institute also submitted essays in this year’s contest, which was themed “Optimism Should Be a Priority.” Stover’s essay will be entered into an Optimist Club regional contest and will be judged against other first-place essays from the New Mexico and south Texas region of the organization.
Today’s Forecast
Today’s Obituaries Page A6
HIGH 67 LOW 42
• K’dyn Ross Brewer • Rev. Edward Lee
All three essayists from Roswell will be honored at a celebratory breakfast hosted by the Noon and Sunrise Optimist clubs. The function will be held at 7 a.m. March 25 at Los Cerritos Mexican Restaurant, 2103 N. Main St. The students will be recognized with the readings of their works and the presentation of medals and financial awards, said Karen
Hamilton, president of the Sunrise club and essay contest chairperson. “Congratulations to all three of these young people for their winning achievements,” Hamilton said. “The Noon Optimist Club and the Sunrise Optimist Club thank the students, parents, teachers and judges for their vital encouragement and support.” Index
Classifieds...........B5 Comics..................B4 Entertainment. ....A8 Financial..............B3
General...............A2 Horoscopes.........A8 Lotteries. ............A2 Opinion.................A4
Sports. ................B1 Weather...............A8 World..................B5