Curry Commissioners accepted a six-month contract Tuesday with Global Spectrum to manage the Special Events Center.

The contract specifies Global will oversee promotion, function and booking for the center.

Dean Dennis of Global said the firm also brings a sister company, Ovations, to  provide food for events.

County Manager Lance Pyle, who recommended the contract, said it stipulates $8,000 a month and the cost of the firm’s total services are capped at $48,000.

Global already manages the Clovis Civic Center and provided consulting through construction of the SEC.

County administration had been handling management of the facility.

Discussion of the SEC prompted a brief squabble among commissioners, when  Wendell Bostwick asked to revisit placement of a new 50-by-100-foot storage building.

Commissioners voted unanimously at their March 17 meeting to place the building in the northwest corner of the property. However, Tuesday, Bostwick said he had learned new information that changed his feelings about his previous vote.

Bostwick said he would rather see the building west of the main building because it has potential to serve dual purposes — as a storage facility and multipurpose building that can be booked as a supplement to a larger venue.

“We had been told that we didn’t have room to put it where I had wanted (us to consider putting it), so two weeks ago I supported a motion (because I thought that was the only option),” he said.

Commissioner Bobby Sandoval said it is a waste of time to continually revisit issues already decided by the commission when they should be moving forward with new business.

“I firmly believe that when we vote for something, we know what we are voting on,” Sandoval said.

However Bostwick argued that often after a vote takes place, new information is learned that changes things.

Bostwick said last week that he, Caleb Chandler and the maintenance supervisor went out to re-evaluate the grounds. He said they determined it was possible to place the building closer and west of the main building, contrary to what they had believed previously.

Maintenance Supervisor Lee Delk told commissioners he did not support the idea of placing the storage building so close to the main facility and animal pens because it could hinder future expansion.

And, County Attorney Stephen Doerr advised commissioners the building would have to be reconfigured and modified to comply with safety and disability codes if it were to be leased or used by groups.

The matter was defeated 3-2; Bostwick and Chandler voting in favor of the alternate location.

In other county business:

• Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield welcomed the county commission to its first meeting at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Library. “Are you on TV yet? That’s next on the agenda,” she said laughing as she addressed commissioners.

Commissioners voted in January to move the county meetings from the courthouse to the library to allow for more room.

• Commissioners voted to install 20-inch seats in the Special Events Center to allow for more guest comfort even though it will cut down on the number of seats previously planned for the facility,  when the size was expected to be 18-inches.

Commissioner Caleb Chandler said last week he had members of the Curry County Mounted Patrol test the seating possibilities during their meeting, held at the SEC.

When seated close together, each person needed about 21-inches of space in order to feel comfortable, he said, and 20-inches was still within the comfort range he had measured.

The facility will be able to fit 2,982 20-inch seats as opposed to the previously planned 3,300 seats.

• Commissioners voted unanimously to create an alcohol free family area during events at the Special Events Center. How large an area and the location will be left to the discretion of the county manager, Commissioner Caleb Chandler said.

Chandler, who recommended the resolution, said he had heard from constituents who, “would prefer to have a place where they can sit that’s alcohol free.”

• Treasurer Bernice Baker told commissioners she had mistakenly signed a daily-basis contract with a professional fund manager to handle an investment account for the county. She asked the commissions guidance on how they wanted her to handle it.

Baker said she should have presented the contract to the finance committee, which could then forward it to the commission with a recommendation.

Commissioners advised her to end the contract and present it through the proper channels.

Baker also advised 17 of 18 homes were sold in March during a delinquent property tax sale.

Of the $45,000 earned, the county will receive $9,500. The remainder of the money goes to the state, she said.

• Rodeo supporter Wilma Fulgham told commissioners she is concerned that non-profit groups are not going to be permitted to staff and sell through the concession stand at the Special Events Center because the stand and kitchen has been designated as not-for-use by groups that rent the facility.

She said fundraising efforts thrive on concession sales at rodeo and other events.

Commissioner Wendell Bostwick also emphasized his concern about non-profits not being able to engage in concession sales that are a boon to their fundraising efforts.

Dennis said there are ways around the restrictions to ensure fundraising is able to continue in the facility. Often, Global Spectrum allows non-profit members to staff the concession stand during events and pays them as employees with the intention of those wages being put towards fundraising, he said.

• Representatives from nine non-profit groups presented budget requests to the county ranging from $2,000 to $20,000. Groups included the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce, Hartley House, Beacon of Light and the Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico.