Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Snow emergencies declared in Eddy County, City of New Rockford

As of Tuesday, Jan. 10, snow emergency declarations had been issued by both the City of New Rockford and Eddy County.

Eddy County Commissioners held a special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 6, where the commission unanimously carried a motion to declare the snow emergency.

The Eddy County declaration states, in part, "repeated snow and repeated back-to-back multi-day blizzards have occurred in Eddy County causing a huge burden on Townships, Cities and County road departments."

It goes on to say that as much as 50 inches of snow and continued high winds created eight- to 10-foot berms along the roadsides, and that maintaining residential access and access to critical routes has caused further damage and wear of equipment and depleted already limited budgets.

The county's declaration concludes by stating, "Be it further resolved, all local government agencies and departments are directed to provide protection to the citizens of Eddy County during this ongoing event and limit where possible the hardships and impact of said emergency."

The New Rockford City Commission followed suit, and on Tuesday, Jan. 10, they approved their own snow emergency declaration for the City of New Rockford.

Their declaration stated that the city was severely impacted by winter storms with upwards of 60 inches of snow and high winds, also resulting in increased costs for snow removal, as well as loss of economic activity throughout the city.

The city's declaration also mentions the loss of the city's historic Rockford Theatre.

"The city's economic development entity endured the loss of its historic downtown building that housed the New Rockford Theatre because it was unable to withstand the load of snow accumulation," states the city's declaration.

The declaration also mentions the added cost of having to assess the integrity of the roof and structure of the Eddy-New Rockford Library, which was closed to the public following the theatre roof's collapse, as the library is adjacent to the theatre.

During the Eddy County Commission's special meeting on Jan. 6, Vice Chairperson Glenda Collier said, "I heard on the radio that the governor is looking to ask the legislators for extra monies designated for all the extra snow removal, hardship ... and extra equipment, and so that's why I thought we probably needed to do this."

In the event the state legislature agrees to appropriate funds for heavy snowfall, declarations like the one's Eddy County and New Rockford recently approved could allow some of that funding to make its way to the local community.