COVID19 Joint Information Center
March 18, 2020
City of Anthony
No report.
City of Sunland Park
A few changes today: The Community Economic Development office is closed. All business is being done via phone or email and a drop box is available for people who need to drop off plans or submissions. The Motor Vehicle Division has announced a temporary shift in hours to minimize exposure – from 8 to 10 a.m., they will open to seniors only. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. they are open to the public and from 2 to 4 p.m. they will be available to the public over the phone by appointment only, limited to 30 minutes. There will only be two road exams available per day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only. These changes went into effect March 17 until further notice. As of today, all personnel are on duty.
Although Sunland Park’s Animal Control and Codes office is closed to the public, their officers in the field are still working and are available to take calls.
3. City of Las Cruces
The city’s dedicated website for community resources and information related to the coronavirus pandemic is up and running, with a link in the alert center. The website is a resource for every agency to contribute to – if you would like to provide updates or resources from your agency, you can send that information to Jennifer Martinez via email, jemartinez@las-cruces.org.
Las Cruces Police Department
No report.
Las Cruces Public Schools
District officials continue to oversee meal distribution for breakfast and lunch at a variety of school campuses throughout the city. For a complete list of those sites, visit www.lcps.net. Yesterday more than 6,000 meals were given to children.
Doña Ana County
The Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd. will be closed to the public, effective 5 p.m. on Friday, March 20. However, all departments will continue to provide essential services
Community Resources Centers are also closed, but will continue to provide meals for seniors and information through their respective phone numbers. A list is available at www.donaanacounty.org
Public access to County Commission meetings will remain available, but public is encouraged to access the livestream at www.donaanacounty.org.
Employees providing essential services who have a job that requires them to be in the field, such as public safety, utilities workers and road crews will remain active to meet the community’s needs. Employees who are at high risk for COVID-19 will work from home.
County departments will continue to provide essential services by staffing websites, social media and telephones to minimize in-person contact.
For additional guidance, please contact the appropriate department:
Assessor’s Office – (575) 647-7400
Animal Control/ Codes Enforcement – MVRDA (575) 526-0795, option 6
Clerk / Bureau of Elections – See website or call (575) 647-7421.
Community and Constituent Services – (575) 915-7710
Community Development – (575) 647-7350
Community Centers - (575) 635-7706
Doña Ana Sheriff’s Office - (575) 525-1911
District Attorney’s Office - (575) 524-6370
Engineering – (575) 525-6164
Road Section – (575) 647-7100
Fleet Management – Open.
Flood Commission – (575) 525-5558
Health & Human Services Court Compliance – (575) 525-5833
Human Resources - (575) 647-7210
Probate Judge - 575-524-6370
Santa Teresa Jetport – (575) 589-1232
Treasurer’s Office - (575) 647-7433
Utilities - 575-647-7142
Vector Control (Mosquitos) – (575) 526-8150
The Doña Ana County Treasurer will restrict in-person payments at the Government Center and the following locations:
To pay property taxes, please use one of the following options:
By phone: 575-647-7433, Toll Free 1-877-827-7200 ext. 7433
Online at: www.donaanacounty.org/treasurer/payments
By mail: P.O. Box 1179 Las Cruces, NM 88004
24 Hour drop box in front of the Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces.
Bill pay: This is a service provided by most banks
For questions or service requests, please call 575-647-7433, toll free 1-877-827-7200 ext. 7433; email: taxbill@donaanacounty.org or mail to: 845 N. Motel Blvd. Las Cruces, NM 88007
The Doña Ana County Detention Center temporarily suspended on-site family visitation, effective immediately, to help minimize exposure and the danger of spreading COVID-19 to the community, staff or detainees. Instead, the Center extended online remote visitation hours, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
Family members may schedule fee-based visits from home, using a laptop or desktop computer at www.legacyinmate.com/Prepaid/. Text messaging is also available at www.gettingout.com/.
The Juvenile Detention Center will continue to allow in-person visits, limited to one visitor at a time, through a glass partition. To schedule a visit with a juvenile detainee, please call (575) 647-7680.
Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office
The New Mexico Supreme Court announced yesterday that all criminal trials would either continue or be canceled at the discretion of judges.
DASO announced yesterday they would begin limiting in-person services starting Thursday, March 19 until further notice. As of Wednesday, March 25, 2020, the office at 845 N. Motel Boulevard in Las Cruces will open to the public only on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Anthony Substation will close to the public beginning Thursday, March 19, 2020. The public is still encouraged to call 575-525-1911 between 8:00 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for any non-emergency needs for this location as well as our main station. The office staff will continues to serve the public by phone as needed.
These changes are in effect for the foreseeable future. Patrol operations, criminal investigations, service of process and court services continue to operate as normal.
Village of Hatch
No report.
Town of Mesilla
A couple of updates: Their municipal courtroom is now restricted to 10 people, including staff. Until further notice, all trustee meetings and planning and zoning meetings are canceled.
Memorial Medical Center
Additional visitor restrictions are likely to be announced today.
Mountain View Regional Medical Center
Nothing new to report.
New Mexico State University
University leadership is working to ensure as many employees as possible are working from home. Anyone experiencing issues related to that directive is asked to work through their supervisor. On campus access is now restricted to just students, faculty and staff. Corbett Center will have limited access to ensure dining services are not interrupted. Additionally, the library on campus is only open to students. There is a plan in place to clean every building during the shutdown. By March 30, every class will move to an online model with the exception of laboratories that require students to be in a physical lab setting.
New Mexico State University Police
Six family residences on campus have been identified as quarantine areas if needed for first responders. Other agencies that might need to access those sites can make a request through Andy Bowen: abowen@nmsu.edu.
Office of Emergency Management (OEM)
The state Joint Information Center is in operation and a landline is available: 505-476-0610. Legislators who have questions about statewide response are asked to call the state JIC.
Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility
No report.
New Mexico Department of Health
David Morgan is working with Office of the Governor handling all DOH media inquiries now. A press release was issued this morning related to new testing/travel guidelines. David reported that the DOH coronavirus website is seeing an enormous amount of traffic and the hotline also has a high call volume. Jamie Michael from Doña Ana County advised that with the county moving to telework, staff was directed to leave hotline information on their outgoing voicemail messages. There are two phone numbers we should be giving to the public: 855-600-3453 is for health-related questions or concerns and 833-551-0518 is for non-health related concerns. Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart expressed concern to the DOH that there needs to be a dedicated avenue for law enforcement to seek medical attention or get tested. David reported to the group that this is a protocol that has been prioritized. He also relayed the state’s epidemiologist hotline: 505-827-0006.
The DOH is working to identify a Las Cruces location for drive-thru sample collection to test for COVID-19. Jamie Michael from Doña Ana County offered to connect with Memorial Medical Center, Ben Archer or La Clinica de Familia to see if they could offer a site if needed.