Business View Civil and Municipal | May/June 2022

52 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 much knowledge is leaving. That’s a challenge for me as the City Manager, but it’s also exciting to bring on new people for these roles and hopefully they stay long-term too.” Water is another challenge. The city’s water source isn’t as viable as it used to be and Austin’s biggest goal for the future is to complete a project to get more potable water to the community. It’s a plan that’s been in the works since the 1960s, but is now just seven years from completion. The project will see a pipeline from Ute lake, over an hour from Portales, service the city and other towns along the way. Austin also hopes to see stimulated economic growth and a wide variety of community-minded businesses coming to Portales. She knows local businesses fuel the economy by taking part in events, sponsoring schools, sports teams, etc. and she likes to feature them in Facebook live broadcasts to show the community what they contribute. “I just think they are so important,” Austin shares. “I’d love to see other businesses come in and help support that role and have some healthy competition. We have a direction we want to take the city… we have a lot going on. It’s a very, very busy time.” PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Roosevelt General Hospital & Clinics www.MyRGH.org | jorrantia@myrgh.org Roosevelt General Hospital is a 22-bed acute care medical and surgical hospital in rural Eastern New Mexico. The hospital services the counties of Roosevelt and Curry County and surrounding areas. Since opening in 2001, Roosevelt General Hospital (RGH) has evolved into a progressive medical center. RGH offers a wide range of medical, surgical, and diagnostic programs including specialists, emergency treatment, primary care physicians and surgeons.