The Village of Capitan Board of Trustees met in special session on
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 in the foyer of the Cafeteria at the Capitan
Schools in Capitan, NM at 6:30 PM.
Mayor Hammons asked for a moment of silence and led the assembly in the
pledge of allegiance.
Mayor Hammons called the meeting to order at 6:37 PM.
Mayor Hammons asked Village Clerk, Kay Strickland, for a roll call of
the trustees present. Mayor Hammons-here, Trustee Payne-here,
Trustee Davis-here, Trustee Riska-here, Trustee Wood-here. Atty.
Zach Cook, Deputy Clerk, Shirley Pavlovic, and Kay Strickland also
attended the meeting. A list of others in attendance is
attached.
Item #1 on the Agenda: Approval of the Agenda
Trustee Payne made the motion to approve the agenda. Trustee
Davis seconded the motion, and all were in favor.
Item #2 on the Agenda: Public Input Regarding Proposed Equestrian
Center
Mayor Hammons asked Rick Simpson if he would give the proposal that was
presented to the County. Mr. Simpson stated he works for Lionel
Burns and gave a background on Mr. Burns. Mr. Burns has met with
Governor Richardson several times regarding his plan of bringing the
PRCA Headquarters to New Mexico. Governor Richardson pledged $4
million to the project. Mr. Simpson said the coliseum is not
designed to compete with the Lincoln County Fair activities. He
stated Mr. Burns bought the ranch close to Capitan for
developing. He wants to donate 35 acres and the state build the
equestrian center and have the county act as the fiscal agent.
Then Mr. Burns would like to lease it back from the county at fair
market value; if it does not work out where Mr. Burns can lease it, he
will still donate the land. If someone else should get the bid to
operate it, it would not change anything. Mr. Simpson also stated
that Capitan would benefit from the increased tax base, the revenue
that would come in, the money that could be spent on law enforcement,
roads, ect and of course the employment opportunities. Mr.
Simpson addressed the water issue. As of now they have not
procured water rights, or drilled a water well. One thing they
are working on is a large catchment system. The County of Lincoln
approved the “concept” to study the equestrian center idea that the
Governor has. The Governor has allocated $1 million to put in a
special account to pay for all the studies that would be
involved.
Mayor Hammons stated the purpose for this meeting was to see what kind
of support the center has in Capitan. Mayor Hammons opened the
floor up to anyone who wanted to address the equestrian center.
Mr. Hubert Quintana with the Southeastern NM Economic Development
addressed the Mayor and Trustees. He stated the $1 million that
Mr. Simpson talked about that was included in the Capital Outlay Senate
Bill #826 as amended; however late, late, late in the session there was
some reauthorizations that occurred in House Bill 936 and the money
went to another project in Silver City. He stated the money for
the equestrian center is not available this year. Mr. Tom Batton,
Lincoln County Commissioner, stated that without the funding and
without some iron-clad assurance that the funding was coming, the
county would have a difficult time justifying doing the studies without
the money. His thought was that the County does not have much
choice than to see what develops in the next legislative session.
Mayor Hammons asked for any comments from the audience. There
were questions regarding information on their plans regarding water,
security, ect and comments from the audience in favor of the equestrian
center. Mr. Simpson stated they wanted the $1 million to do the
economic, impact, and other studies, and to see if they wanted a $4
million or $10 million center. Trustee Payne stated he felt they
should decide tonight whether or not the Village of Capitan is for
supporting the concept or not. After further comments, Trustee
Payne addressed the crowd and stated he felt the equestrian center
would be good for the Village and the County. Mr. Quintana stated
it would be economic development and would stimulate the economy.
Mayor Hammons asked for a show of hands that was against the concept of
the equestrian center and one hand raised. He then asked for a
show of hands that would be for the center. Almost everyone else
raised their hand.
Item #3 on the Agenda: Discussion/Action on Proposed Equestrian
Center
Trustee Davis made the motion to take no action at this time.
Trustee Wood seconded the motion, and all were in favor.
Adjournment
Trustee Riska moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 PM. Trustee
Wood seconded the motion, and all were in favor.
___________________________________
Sammy L.
Hammons, Mayor
_____________________________________
Kay Strickland, Village Clerk
