Housing incentives paying off

News - S u n
JAL
Since 1927
I
I
EUNICE
No. 218
I
HOBBS
I
LOVINGTON
I
TATUM
I
SEMINOLE
I
DENVER CITY
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012
$1.25
Housing incentives paying off
Community News
UNIVERSITY OF THE
SOUTHWEST is seeking
nominations for its
Alumnus of the Year
and Distinguished
Young Alumnus.
Awards will be presented Sept. 26 during the
Alumni Chapel Service
at 11 a.m. in the
Scarborough Memorial
Library Atrium. For
more information contact Laurie Dean at
575-492-2108.
Nominations are due
Sept. 7.
I New apartments rented out
18 rental units being built near BelAire
as fast as they’re completed
LEVI HILL
NEWS-SUN
HELENA RODRIGUEZ
NEWS-SUN
It’s not a cliché but a reality: places to live
in Hobbs are renting out faster than they can
be built.
Paul
Waddell
of
Western
States
Development recently completed six
quadraplexes, containing four apartments
each in the Ranchview Estates area, on East
Bender Boulevard, and said those units were
rented the day they were completed.
Waddell’s company is the first to receive
incentive money from the City of Hobbs. He
said the city has paid him around $200,000 to
help cover infrastructure costs.
This money comes from an incentives program started by the city this past winter, to
encourage developers to build much-needed
multi-family and single-family housing units
that are rented at market rate.
The incentives money helps cover infrastructure costs such as streets, sewage, gutters and curbs. Waddell said he received the
CASA OF LEA COUNTY
will offer a training
class for persons interested in becoming
Court Appointed
Special Advocates for
children who are in the
legal system due to
abuse and neglect. The
30-hour class will meet
weekly beginning Sept.
25 through Nov. 3.
CASA volunteers have
proven to be valuable
resources in the family
court system in helping
professionals achieve
their goals of serving
the “best interests” of
these children. CASA
volunteers play an integral part in assuring
that children do not
become lost in the
court system. The CASA
program is dedicated
to the premise that all
children are entitled to
grow up in safe, loving
and permanent homes.
CASA volunteers must
be at least 21 years of
age and be able to pass
a background check.
For more information
about the training class
or about CASA of Lea
County, call 393-0015.
SEE INCENTIVES, Page 4
Western States Development
recently
completed
six
quadraplexes at Ranchview
Estates. They were rented out
the day they were completed.
Hobbs’
rental
market
is
stretched thin, but it will be getting some relief before the end of
the year thanks to an 18-unit
rental complex being built near
the BelAire Shopping Center.
Ryan Voorhees, owner of
California-based Gold Creek
Homes and of the BelAire
Shopping Center, said his company is building the facility, set to be
named BelAire Court, on land
southeast of the center to help fill
the need for rentals in the area.
“I think there is a niche and people are trying to build, but no one
is doing nice apartments and that
is a niche we are trying to fill,” he
said.
The project will consist of 10
single story units and eight twostory units, varying in size from
SEE BELAIRE, Page 4
KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN
George Pacheco of Comfort Air
Condition of Eunice works on a fourplex near Bel Aire Shopping Center.
Planning
aims to
head off
grass fires
Female welder earns respect
BETH HAHN
NEWS-SUN
“It has been said women are better
welders because they are meticulous
and have really good hand-eye coordination,” she said. “I was very
lucky to be taught by a great welder
too.”
Riley
works
at
Watson
Construction in Hobbs and owner
Danny Watson said the petite Riley
works as hard as any employee and
can run a bead with the best of them.
“She is an excellent hand,” Watson
said. “She is really getting good at
The summer monsoon season
sparked a growth of grass and
other plants around Lea County.
While the plant life looks great, it
could potentially prove to be dangerous.
“Once all of this dies off, it’s
going to be a fire hazard,” Lea
County
emergency
manager
Lorenzo Velasquez said Friday.
The county and area fire officials
are creating a plan to build fire
breaks around Lea County to
decrease the likelihood of a large
grassfire during the fall or winter
months.
Velasquez said each fire district
in Lea is sending personnel to
examine plant growth and determine where the fire breaks should
start.
“We will probably start mowing
in the fall, creating some fire
breaks,” Velasquez said.
Hobbs Fire Department Fire
Marshal Eric Enriquez said municipal and county officials will work
with the state Department of
Transportation to create a mowing
plan.
Residents outside of municipal
boundaries can contact their district fire station for information on
creating fire breaks.
Velasquez said local fire departments are happy to help residents
plan fire breaks to protect their
property.
It is possible that area fire departments will begin prescribed burns
during the fall or winter months,
he added.
“Last year, we didn’t do any prescribed burns because of the
drought,” Enriquez said. “But this
SEE WELDER, Page 5
SEE FIRES, Page 4
Inside Today
LEVI HILL/NEWS-SUN
Obituaries ......................2
Opinion ..........................6
Parenting .....................19
Fallon Riley, 26, works as a full-time welder at Watson Construction. The Hobbsan has made a name for herself for her quality workmanship and tenacity in a traditional man’s business.
Riley thriving in ‘man’s business’
LEVI HILL
NEWS-SUN
Look out Rosie the Riveter, you
aren’t the only tough woman working hard in a “man’s business.”
Hobbs resident Fallon Riley is doing
what few women dare — making a
living in the Hobbs oilfields as a
welder.
The 26-year-old Reserve, N.M.native came to Hobbs in 2004 on a
rodeo scholarship at New Mexico
Junior College. After her school
career ended she tried several jobs,
from a car saleswoman to paralegal
Employee Spotlight
Page 25
to a horse trainer, but she was looking for something else.
That is when her father, Keith Riley,
offered her a job working with him
as a welder’s helper.
“I grew up in the country, helping
my dad weld horse pens and stuff,
and in high school I learned to weld a
little in shop, but I never really found
myself interested in it back then,”
she said.
After a few months with her father
she realize not only how lucrative
welding can be, but that she seemed
to have a natural talent for it.
Voter registration deadlines upcoming for general election
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& repair
Virus Removal
& Data Recovery
Certified Dell Partner
BETH HAHN
NEWS-SUN
Voters have about a month to change
or update their registration before
November’s general election.
Voters have until Oct. 9 to update an
address, change parties or register to
vote for the first time to be eligible for
the Nov. 5 general election.
1021 E. Bender,
Hobbs, NM
(575) 391-NOTE (6683) Certified Dell Partner
MANAGE YOUR
UNWANTED
PESTS NOW
County clerk Pat Chappelle said this
includes teens who are 17 years old,
but will turn 18 between Oct. 9 and
Nov. 5.
“If you have moved, we would really
like you to update your registration,”
she said. “It is especially important
because your (congressional or state)
district might have changed.”
Some of New Mexico’s districts for
state positions changed as a result of
the 2010 Census.
Chappelle said first-time voters
should bring a photo identification
when they register. It is not required,
but helps speed up the process, she
said.
Voters who are changing an address
or party affiliation must fill out a
form in the county clerk’s office.
Voter registration forms are also
available at several locations including the Hobbs Public Library and
Motor Vehicle Department offices
throughout the county.
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SEE VOTING, Page 4
FROM
HOBBS NEWS-SUN • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012
THE FRONT PAGE
Voting
from PAGE 1
KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN
New apartments are under construction in the Bel Aire complex located next to Bel Aire
Shopping Center.
BelAire
from PAGE 1
1,000-1,500 square feet per unit. All of the units
will have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, tile
floors, granite countertops and a single-car
garage.
The project broke ground earlier this month
and Voorhees said the plan is to finish the units
before the end of the year along with a road to
the complex that is being constructed by
Constructors Inc.
George Stanley, real estate agent with Bobby
Shaw Realty, is handling the brokerage for the
development. Stanley said the plan is to complete the project and sell it to a real estate
investment group. However, the units will be
available for rent as soon as the project is completed.
“The one-story units will be $1,400 a month
and about 1,050 square feet,” Stanley said. “The
two-story units will be $1,500 a month and are
about 1,500 square feet each.”
Stanley said none of the units have been
reserved yet, but said several large area companies have expressed interest in the units.
Anyone interested in renting a unit should contact him directly at Bobby Shaw Realty.
Stanley is also handling several other projects
Voorhees has begun developing across Hobbs
including several new subdivisions.
“Everyone is talking about the need for housing, but no one is doing anything about it,” he
said. “Here is a guy that is doing something
about it.”
Voorhees’ other developments include 30
homes near Acoma and Taos streets that will be
called Acoma Heights, a projected 30 homes in
Windsor Estates on Millen Drive and 20 new
homes in Lovington.
“We are going to build those out and keep
going,” Stanley said of the Acoma project. “We
are not waiting to sell, but they are selling
before they are built anyway.”
Levi Hill can be reached at 391-5438 or
[email protected].
Incentives
from PAGE 1
first check in April.
“The next four, fourplex units
will be completed the second
week of December and those
already have waiting lists (for
renters),” Waddell said.
Meanwhile, the housing
shortage remains at a critical
level and there have been a few
setbacks.
The city approved an incentives proposal for Crestline
Building Corporation of Las
Cruces to build a 140-unit
gated apartment community
northeast of Wal-Mart, complete with a resort-style outdoor and indoor swimming
pool, a club house, exercise
facility, attached garages and
covered parking. However,
Zachary Theus, a project engineer
for
the
project,
Copperstone Apartments, said
the land purchase deal fell
through, so the process is
starting over.
“We are planning to resubmit
for a different location, Theus
said.
Under the city’s incentives
program, Waddell is also
building 22 single-family home
units within an existing subdivision of Ranchview Estates.
If all goes as scheduled,
Waddell said four of the 22
houses will be complete by the
second week of December. He
said the three- and four-bedroom homes will sell from
$185,000 up to $230,000.
The city also approved
incentives proposals for two
other development projects
by Gold Creek Homes, which
will be located in the
Windsor Estates area off
Millen Drive and another in
an area called Acoma Estates
that will be built north of
Sanger and east of New
Mexico
Highway
62/180
Fires
from PAGE 1
year, because of the rain and
plant growth, we might be
looking at some burns.”
Prescribed burns, though,
KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN
Model homes are seen at Ranchview Estates, where city
building incentives have be used on quadraplexes and single-family homes.
(Seminole Highway).
Ryan Vorhees, president of
Gold
Creek
Homes
of
California, said there are currently five homes under construction at Acoma Estates,
with two of these homes,
according to Vorhees, being
about 30 days from becoming
move-in ready. He said three of
the homes have been sold and
two, a three-bedroom and a fourbedroom, are still available.
Gold Creek Homes is also
constructing
multi-family
housing units on BelAire
Court, east of the BelAire
Shopping Center on Bender
Boulevard. He said he hopes
that construction is complete
by year’s end.
Southwind Capital LLC, has
scheduled a second phase of
the Windscape Apartments
near Walmart. Hobbs City
Engineer Todd Randall said
they have submitted preliminary plans to the city.
As for affordable housing, the
city approved an incentives
proposal
by
Chelsea
Investments to renovate Casa
Hermosa apartments at 920 E.
Michigan and rent out to peo-
ple based on their incomes.
“Refurbishing is expected to
take less than a year,”
Randall said. “Currently,
Casa Hermosa has 44 units
that are habitable and 44 that
are not.”
Russ Doss, executive director
of Lea County Housing, Inc.,
said that Chelsea Investments
Corporation is currently working on predesign activity and
expects to close financing
deals on the project in
November and start on work
soon after that.
Waddell said that incentives
offered by the City of Hobbs
have made a big difference in
helping finance projects for
housing development.
“Because of the location of
Hobbs in New Mexico and
with the labor pool being far
away, that is an added
expense,” Waddell said. “What
the city has done, by offering
these incentives, is wise. It
helps developers get housing
on the ground.”
depend on the weather. If the
fall and winter months are
windy, Enriquez said fire officials will rely on more predictable methods of clearing
plant growth such as mowing.
Enriquez said area fire offi-
cials do not have a set plan in
place at this time.
“We will definitely do something,” he added.
Helena Rodriguez can be reached
at 391-5437 or [email protected].
Beth Hahn can be reached at 3915436 or [email protected].
Tennessee fan dies after fall at Georgia Dome
ATLANTA (AP) — A 20-yearold fan from Tennessee was
drinking alcohol before he fell
to his death in the Georgia
Dome and struck another
man, who was injured, authorities said Saturday.
Isaac Grubb of Lenoir City,
Tenn., was killed Friday
night when he fell over a 33-
inch railing and plummeted
to the lower level of the downtown Atlanta stadium during
the
Tennessee-North
Carolina State game. Grubb
had
been
cheering
Tennessee’s second touchdown when the accident happened around 8:23 p.m., said
Frank Poe, executive director
of
the
Georgia
World
Congress Center Authority,
which operates the stadium.
Grubb, who was too young to
legally buy alcohol, started
drinking around 5 p.m., more
than three hours before the
accident, said Lt. Chad
Hurston of the authority’s
police department.
When Nov. 5 arrives, Chappelle said the
county will use voter convenience centers.
The centers, which were first used during
June’s primary election, enable area voters to
cast a ballot at one of several countywide
locations, rather than waiting in line at a specific polling place.
Chappelle said the convenience centers
should enable more people to vote, but with a
Presidential election on the line, each location could see 1,000 people a day — or more.
“People usually turn out for a Presidential
election,” Chappelle said. “Usually, we have
about 6,000 people vote in Hobbs for
Presidential elections.”
Chappelle is also expecting a large number
of early and absentee voters.
Almost half of the county’s votes cast during the past several elections were by early or
absentee ballots.
Oct. 9 is also the first day for early and
absentee voting.
Candidates for the general election include:
I President and vice president: Democrats
Barack Obama and Joe Biden; Republicans
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan; Libertarians
Gary Johnson and Jim Gray; Constitution
party Virgil Goode and Jim Clymer; Green
party Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala and
Justice party Ross Anderson and Luis
Rodriguez.
I For U.S. Senate: Democrat Martin
Heinrich, Republican Heather Wilson and
Independent American party Jon Barrie.
I House of Representatives District 2:
Democrat Evelyn Madrid Erhard and
Republican Steve Pearce.
4
I For state Supreme Court: Richard Bosson
for retention and Democrat Barbara Vigil.
I For Court of Appeals: Justices Roderick
Kennedy and Michael Vigil for retention; candidates Monica Zamora, a Democrat and
Miles Hanisee, a Republican.
I State Senate District 27: Republican
incumbent Stuart Ingle, of Portales, is running unopposed.
I State Senate District 41: Republican
incumbent Carroll Leavell, of Jal, is running
unopposed.
I State Senate District 42: Republican
incumbent Gay Kernan, of Hobbs, is running
unopposed.
I State Representative District 61: Democrat
Hector Ramirez of
Hobbs will face
Republican David Gallegos of Eunice.
I State Representative District 62:
Republican incumbent Don Bratton, of
Hobbs, is running unopposed.
I State Representative District 66:
Republican incumbent Bob Wooley, of
Roswell, is running unopposed. Wooley’s district includes northern Lea County.
I District Judge division 9: Republican Lisa
Riley, of Carlsbad, is unopposed.
I District Attorney for the Fifth Judicial
District: Incumbent Republican Janetta Hicks
is running unopposed.
I State Public Education Commission,
District 9: Incumbent Carolyn Kennedy
Shearman, of Artesia, is running unopposed.
District 9 includes all of Lea County.
I County commission district 4 is also up for
election. Candidates for District 4 are
Democrat B.J. Choice Sr. and Republican Tom
Pierce. District 4 includes Hobbs and central
Lea County.