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While discussion about how to straighten out the city's rates continued, there was also some pretty good news delivered Monday afternoon to members of the infrastructure committee.

All three bids to repair the twin water reservoirs near the intersection of West Country Club Drive and North Brown Road were significantly lower than the engineering estimate of $7.97 million, ranging from approximately $3.74 million to $6.69 million.

The massive concrete structures can hold up to 15 million gallons of water combined and have been leaking possibly since 2011 or 2012, said City Manager Chad Cole.

"Music to my ears," said Councilor Darrell Johnson, acting as vice chair on Monday. "That's not a bad deal."

Both reservoirs are used when the weather is warm and consumption peaks. Only one reservoir is usually needed during the remainder of the year.

The work, which includes interior and exterior crack repairs and coating, is anticipated not to require water service disruptions because concentration would be on one reservoir at a time, said City Engineer Louis Najar. The projected timeline for the work is 225 days.

The lowest bidder is TMI Coatings, which is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. The company also has two Texas branches in Dallas and Houston, as well as St. Louis, Missouri, Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Mandeville, Louisiana. TMI made the $3.74 million offer.

The two larger bids were submitted by Viking Industrial Painting of Omaha, Nebraska for $4.7 million and Lone Mountain Contracting of Bosque Farms, New Mexico for $6.69 million.

The city was offered a grant of $4.4 million and a loan of $3.6 million from the state's Water Trust Fund to complete the repairs using the higher engineering estimate. With the much lower bid, both the state loan and grant will be prorated downward, said city staff.

Loan payments for this project were expected to decrease by about half of the $225,000 each year, over 20 years.

The committee members voted 4-0 to send the recommendation to the finance committee, which meets in early October.

Water rates

Councilor Will Cavin looked at a discussion item about the Roswell Wastewater Treatment Plant and pointed out that it might be better to wait until it's known how the city is going to proceed in modifying the current water and wastewater rates, some of which have increased astronomically — especially for customers with higher water bills because of large consumption amounts.

He expressed a need "to know where we're headed" before moving forward on other expenditures.

There are people in the community who've had "to go to the pawn shop," or take out loans to pay their water bills, he said.

"I didn't know," Johnson explained about his vote to approve the new rate system that included cost tiers based on use and a flat rate for consuming up to 3,000 gallons each month. "There's a lot of victims out there."

Cavin noted that "none of the options are comfortable" for setting up an interim water rate system until evaluations, operations, revenues and costs as well as repair and replacement of old infrastructure are complete.

"There has to be a way to figure out if it's a meter problem or a billing problem," said Councilor Angela Moore, who also noted that the process would likely be to separate the major problems and then begin fixing them.

"We have to figure out where we're going to start," Johnson said.

Cole told committee members, "A lot of people didn't know what their consumption was."

Also suggested by Cole was having the bill supervisor be at upcoming meetings.

There is a council meeting scheduled to potentially decide on what to do with the rates for now. However, some of the members requested a separate meeting ahead of that vote. Some of them would like to see a workshop or some other special meeting occur first so councilors could reach a short-term solution they could support as a group when the meeting already scheduled occurs at 6 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the Roswell Convention Center.

"We know it's not right. We know our system is broken. You want to fix it? You have to set your asses down and fix it," said Councilor Cristina Arnold.

Arnold also warned that their constituents have lost faith and "conversations about class-action lawsuits" have been happening online.

A nonpartisan panel on Friday recommended that voters retain two New Mexico 5th Judicial District judges who will appear on the ballot this November.

On Friday, the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) recommended in a press release that Chaves, Eddy and Lea County residents vote to keep 5th Judicial District Judges James M. Hudson and Lisa B. Riley in their current positions in the upcoming judicial retention elections.

Under New Mexico law, justices on the state Supreme Court, as well as judges on the New Mexico Court of Appeals, district courts and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court who have been elected once in a partisan-contested election, are not required to run again for that same position.

However, those judges and justices are subject to retention elections where voters decide whether or not to allow a judge to continue their service.

For a judge or justice to remain in their position, at least 57% of voters must decide to retain them. JPEC is a 15-member volunteer panel of seven lawyers and eight members tasked with reviewing the performance of justices and judges across New Mexico and educating voters.

In addition to Hudson and Riley, JPEC recommended in its latest evaluation that voters retain 24 district judges across the state and seven judges on the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

They also recommended that voters retain New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Briana Zamora and Appeals Court Judges Jennifer L. Attrep, Megan Duffy and Shammara H. Henderson.

"We are pleased that all the judges we evaluated earned retain recommendations this year, due to mostly positive evaluations from those they interact with including other judges, lawyers, resource staff, such as law enforcement and probation/parole officers, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteers, CYFD (New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department) interpreters and, in some cases, jurors," Denise Torres, chair of the JPEC said in the press release.

Anne Marie Cherokee Lewis, the division 12 judge in the 5th Judicial District, was one of four judges not evaluated because they had been on the court for less than two years. Lewis was appointed to the seat in 2022 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) and was elected to the position later that year.

Judges David Allen Murphy and Emeterio L. Rudolfo, both of the 2nd Judicial District, and Judge Allison P. Martinez of the 13th Judicial District, were also not evaluated because of their short time on the bench.

The JPEC website says they have provided the evaluations to voters since 1997 so that the electorate can make informed decisions about whether a judge or justice should be able to continue their service.

As part of the evaluation, attorneys, court and resource staff, and on occasion, jurors, are asked to complete an anonymous survey accessing whether a judge exhibits several attributes, including integrity, fairness, knowledge of the law, clear communication skills, respect for court staff, control over court proceedings and demonstration of the appropriate demeanor in court.

Hudson, the Division 6 judge and chief judge for the 5th Judicial District, typically serves in Chaves County. The JPEC website described the results of Hudson's latest evaluation as "quite positive."

"Attorneys rated him (Hudson) highly for being knowledgeable regarding substantive law and the rules of procedure and evidence, being attentive to the proceedings, maintaining proper control over the proceedings, being able to decisively rule on procedural and substantive matters, and for ensuring his personal staff was professional, productive, and knowledgeable of court policies and procedures," the evaluation states.

The area of performance where Hudson received his lowest ranking was among attorneys. Of that group, 69% of respondents said they agreed that Hudson demonstrates the appropriate demeanor in court, compared with 15% who disagreed and 15% who said they either partly agreed or partly disagreed.

On the evaluation, Hudson received his most positive reviews from resource staff, which include law enforcement officers, probation and parole officers and CASA volunteers. In that group, 100% of respondents agreed that Hudson exhibits integrity, clear communication, appropriate courtroom demeanor and properly controls proceedings.

Hudson was appointed as the Division 6 judge in 2013 by then-Gov. Susana Martinez (R-NM). The following year, Hudson ran unopposed as a Republican for the seat. In 2020, 75% of 5th Judicial District voters chose to retain him, according to official results of the 2020 retention election posted on the New Mexico Secretary of State's website.

Before his appointment to the court, the JPEC website stated that Hudson was an attorney who specialized in civil litigation. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame in 1980 and a law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1984.

JPEC also recommended that voters retain Riley, who serves primarily in Eddy County.

"Judge Lisa Riley scored positively among all the populations surveyed on every attribute. For example, attorneys rated her highly for being attentive to the proceedings, maintaining proper control over the proceedings, being courteous to all participants, being prompt in scheduling hearings and trials, and for ensuring her personal staff is professional, productive, and knowledgeable of court policies and procedures," the evaluation stated.

The assessment of Riley improved since her last evaluation in 2020, most notably about her treatment of court staff.

In 2020, 57% of court staff who responded to the survey said they agreed that Riley respects court employees, compared to 29% of survey respondents who disagreed. Another 14% said they partly agreed or disagreed that Riley respects court employees.

Of the court staff who responded to the evaluation this year, 89% agreed that Riley respects court employees, while 11% disagreed.

Riley was appointed Division 9 judge in 2011 and, in 2012, was elected as a Republican without opposition.

In 2020, 75% of voters chose to retain Riley in the retention elections that year, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State's office.

The evaluation says that before her appointment to the court, Riley was a domestic violence hearing officer and worked in private practice, where she handled criminal, probate, civil and domestic cases. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 1986 with a bachelor's degree education and earned a law degree from Penn State Dickinson Law school in 1992.

The press release announcing JPEC's recommendations emphasized the importance of voters not overlooking the retention elections and that candidates up for election are near the bottom of the ballot.