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Grant County emergency manager outlines hazard planning while commissioners press code-enforcement action on junkyards and blight
Summary
Emergency manager Scott Fuller described hazard mitigation planning, grant work and IPAWS warning capability; commissioners pressed for stronger enforcement of junkyards, abandoned-property and code violations and asked for enforcement activity reports.
Scott Fuller, Grant County emergency manager, told commissioners that the Office of Emergency Management maintains plans and coordinates responses using National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) principles, and that the office manages grants and communications infrastructure including IPAWS for public warnings.
Fuller said the county has submitted comments on a draft hazard mitigation plan and has executed the emergency management performance grant agreement for the state; he is managing six grants with a seventh pending and is seeking FEMA/state awards for generators for fire stations and solar emergency power for communications sites.
Discussion shifted to code enforcement and nuisance properties. Commissioners raised persistent problems with unlicensed junkyards and abandoned buildings that pose fire and safety risks. Fuller said none of the county’s junkyards had the required state license filings and that enforcement will require commission support, potential ordinance amendments and interagency cooperation, including work with the New Mexico Environment Department’s hazardous-waste staff.
Commissioners asked for operational data on code enforcement, including the number of citations issued and case dispositions in magistrate court. The county manager and staff said they would compile citation and disposition reports for commissioners and that enforcement work to date often focuses on resolving problems before court because the magistrate judge frequently grants extensions when cases do get filed.
Why it matters: commissioners said messy or hazardous properties create public-safety and tourism concerns, and several asked staff for more regular, district-level reporting on code enforcement, animal-control calls and outcomes. The emergency manager and county manager said they would propose ordinance amendments to give enforcement more "teeth," consider business-license changes and provide quarterly reports on activity and outcomes.
Ending: Fuller said he has plans to begin procurement for community wildland protection work and to continue grant applications; commissioners asked for a future executive-session discussion on related municipal and lease issues (Tukasa/HMS) and for the county to present a code-enforcement activity log over the past year.
