Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
About a dozen people attended a workshop Wednesday at the Quay County Fairgrounds to discuss ideas and fine-tune an update to the county government’s comprehensive plan, including possibly using Tucumcari’s soon-to-close old hospital as a nursing home or residential complex.
Facilitators from Albuquerque-based Sites Southwest presided over the workshop. Sites Southwest also is helping the City of Tucumcari update its comprehensive plan, as well.
All three of Quay County’s commissioners sat at a table to discuss ideas for updating the plan.
Commissioner Jerri Rush noted Tucumcari has no nursing home since the closing of Quail Ridge a few years ago and that the only such facility in the county is Autumn Blessings in Logan.
Fellow commissioner Brian Fortner said once a new Dr. Daniel C. Trigg Memorial Hospital is built in Tucumcari, he said the old facility could be used as a nursing home or for senior citizen-based care.
The county recently received $10 million in state funding for a new hospital and is applying for $20 million in federal monies to complete the project.
At another table, county manager Daniel Zamora agreed the old hospital building could be used as a nursing home or dormitories for Mesalands Community College.
Zamora also said Clara Rey, program manager of the Tucumcari Senior Center, advocates for the eventual construction of a multi-generational facility that would have an indoor swimming pool, fitness center and senior center.
Bobby Hockaday recommended the construction of a splash pad for the benefit of children and tourists next to the current Tucumcari Municipal Pool, which reopened this summer for the first time since 2019 after extensive repairs. He said a splash pad could be built for $10,000 to $50,000.
Commission Chairman Robert Lopez said the county is disinclined to build new or take over existing outdoor recreation facilities due to a shortage of manpower.
“We struggle to maintain the employees we have,” he said.
Attendees noted a widespread shortage of emergency medical technicians, but Lopez suggested Mesalands’ burgeoning nursing program could provide personnel to the city’s EMS or fire departments in exchange for course credits.
Attendees discussed enhancing the quality of life for residents, strengthening the local economy, increasing access to healthcare, supporting skills and training opportunities and assisting local leaders, organizations and communities.
Other ideas discussed at the workshop:
— Zamora said with Route 66’s centennial coming in 2026, it’s important to have three old bridges replaced on Old Route 66 between the Texas border and San Jon. He said that stretch is the only county-maintained stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico.
— Zamora said U.S. 54 between Tucumcari and the Texas border needs to add periodic passing lanes to improve safety. He said such lanes on the highway in Texas has boosted safety there.
— In a discussion with entrepreneur Matt Monahan, Zamora said he advocated using federal infrastructure money to improve systems of rural water cooperatives. Monahan said better water service would help develop subdivisions in the region.
— Zamora said the county needs to play up the existence of two area golf courses and two lakes, including ensuring state parks at Conchas and Ute lakes have adequate funding.
— Zamora said the county ought to consider partnering with the city with hiring a grant writer. “That technical expertise is super-needed,” he said.
— Lopez said despite the planned development of a regional mental-health facility in Clovis, he said Quay County needs its own satellite office or direct video link for local mental-health patients. He said the county needs more dental-care facilities, as well.
— Zamora said the Quay County Courthouse, built in 1939, needs “some TLC,” especially its windows and climate-control systems.
— Rush said an auction of more than 100 tax-delinquent properties last year already has improved the look or condition of those previously long-neglected tracts.
— Zamora, citing his experience, said talented people can move up the ladder quickly in rural areas. He said he was struggling financially in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, but became Quay County’s manager not long after being its emergency manager. “I never thought I’d be doing what I’m doing now,” he said.