[Editor's Note: This is part 4 and the final article of a multi-part series of articles on the Grant County Commission work session on Oct. 16 and regular meeting on Oct. 18, 2018.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The first resolution reviewed at the Grant County Commission work session on Oct. 16, 2018 and decided at the Oct. 18, 2018 regular session addressed the vacation and abandonment by the county of Burcher Road near Mule Creek.

County Manager Charlene Webb said the road ends at a ranch house. "The residents have requested the vacation and abandonment of the road. They will maintain it for their purposes."

She said that access to nearby state land continues to be available by foot. "They don't want traffic to their house. They do not want the county to maintain it."

The vacation and abandonment of Burcher Road was approved by commissioners at the regular meeting.

The following resolution declared the vacation and abandonment of Allens Lots 5, 6, and 7, road easement only and authorizing the sale of the property.

County Planning and Economic Development Director Michael "Mischa" Larisch said it is a dedicated county road. "The subdivision dedicated it to us, but when it was sold to the Kartchners, it was on the bill of sale, so we need to clean it up. It was found when it went up for sale again recently. It is not an access to anything but the lots. The appraised value is $400, which the seller will pay to the county. It's why we're trying to adjust our parcel maps to prevent this kind of mistake. It is gated at the back of the Kartchner property.

"This one is more complicated," Webb said at the regular meeting. "It was dedicated to the public in the 1960s. The developer sold it but didn't have the right to sell this portion. Now it's for sale again. We found it doesn't affect the access. The problem is because of the errors in the parcel mapping, the boundaries are off."

Commissioners approved the vacation and abandonment of the easement.

A resolution addressed the updated Grant County Employee Manual 2018.

At the work session, County Attorney Abigail Burgess said it has been needed and there has been an ongoing process to update it. "You have received the updated draft. The goal is to update and clarify, and it's filling holes. The manual didn't have processes for layoff or harassment. I have communicated with the employees and held a meeting to let employees voice their comments and concerns. No employees came. It made me feel positive about this updated version. I did get questions by email. Since the draft went out, there have been a couple of changes."

She said a minor change on the lay-off process was made. "The change is only for non-union employees," Burgess said. "The union contract applies to union members. With regular employees, we need the possibility to fill a position, if it's more important than laying off one." Nothing on the issue was in the old manual. "Now we are changing, but not taking away. There will be typos, and I may reorganize it. I think overall, the new version has made it more helpful for employees."

Sheriff Raul Villanueva asked how soon after approval, it would be effective and was there any change to retirement.

"It will be effective immediately upon approval," Burgess said.

Webb noted the retirement policy matches the union contract. "It needs to be immediately in effect, because the old one was from 2005."

Villanueva thanked them for their hard work. "I've been here since 1995. Hopefully this one will clear up some issues that were awkward."

At the regular meeting, Commissioner Gabriel Ramos said, because he had missed the work session, he had some questions about the grievance process. "Can someone be discharged at will?"

Burgess said nothing was new on the issue. "The changes in the manual reflect what we've been doing, not what the old manual said."

Commissioner Brett Kasten said the manual does not preclude the whistleblower act. "I think the county manager should have the best and brightest employees she wants. I recommend putting this one in place, because it puts a lot of new processes in place."

Commissioner Alicia Edwards said she had no problem with putting the new one in place immediately, "but we need to address the portion you say is not about personalities, but it should be addressed."

The updated version of the employee manual was approved.

Under bids and requests for proposal, a bid for an addition to Whiskey Creek Volunteer Fire Department was awarded to Sacaton Construction for $319,313.33.

Larisch noted that Sacaton had done a good job on the LS Mesa VFD station.

Another bid was opened for a two-piece prefabricated steel vehicular bridge for the Tyrone Access Bridge off of Ridge Road to be paid for through Local Government Division Road funding. The low bid for $86,690 was awarded to BR Manufacturing LLC in Abingdon, VA.

Commissioner approved the two bids.

At the regular meeting, the Board of Grant County Commissioners recessed as the BoCC and reconvened as the Grant County Health Care Claims Board to approve $18,220.25 for six claims from Gila Regional Medical Center and one claim from GRMC Ambulance for $696.25 for a total of $18,916.50.

In addition, as the Health Care Claims Board they approved payment of $600 for an indigent burial of Marcia L. Mandl by Baca's Funeral Chapels.

At the work session, the first county report was presented by Grant County Detention Center Administrator Mike Carillo. He said the jail has four vacancies, with three new hires starting that week. He said he attended a statewide issues presentation conference on the pre-trial release program. "I wanted to see if the Detention Center could participate in a grant program that provides a case manager position to follow inmates after their pre-trial release to make sure they attend hearings, have a job and meet all the requirements, as well as having something to fall back on. The Stepping Up Program would fit hopefully to cut down on recidivism. I would like to participate in the grant program. Assistant Director Joe Andazola attended a crisis intervention conference. Tu Casa opens today (Oct. 16, 2018.)"

He said the Stepping Up group met October 10, and each provider, at a future meeting, would give a description of why they do what they do and how they operate. "Each provider in the intercept program is to work together to make everything flow together to make it consistent, so everyone knows what each one is doing."

Carillo said the average daily population at the jail was 76, with the high male population at 63 and the high female population at 13. "Today, we have 83. I am working on a graph that you requested, so you can see the trends."

Road Superintendent Earl Moore said the contractor had finished the Cottage San Road work. "We're waiting for the striping guys. We also have a crew cleaning out culverts."

Edwards asked if the Cottage San project had taken care of the Artcher Road problem. Moore said they had dumped dirt in the driveway to try to take care of the issue.

General Service Director Randy Villa thanked his maintenance superintendent Jason Lockett for work at the County Fair. "The Fair Board had a lot of good things to say and asked us to tell you thank you."

He said the maintenance fellows also cleaned up the Hachita Community Park. "We're getting ready for winter. We are putting the boiler on at the Courthouse and winter proofing the air-conditioners. The airport is going well. We are trying to get some research balloons up in the air."

Villa noted that the Fort Bayard VFD had received a very good ISO rating of 4. "That gives them more money. Whiskey Creek will have a review to see if the ISO has changed."

Edwards asked about the balloon research. "The company made the initial call. Rebekkah (Wenger) did the research and got it done," Villa replied.

Commissioner Harry Browne asked if a decision on the Essential Air Service had been made by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"They have said they will let us know by November," Villa said. "If Advanced Air gets it, they have assured us they will have no trouble beginning on Jan. 1. If Boutique Air gets it, it will continue business as usual.

"I want to make sure that people support the county bonds," Villa said. "If we just continue to put on Band-aids, the problems get worse and worse."

Larisch is in his report said the asset management plan is near completion. "I got the critical items to the contractor, so it can be buttoned up."

He said the Rosedale Road grant agreement had been signed. "The bid will go out in late winter. Cold weather doesn't work for the project. We plan to get a sewer extension for the road."

Larisch said the Hachita Fire Station got land, and it looks like Tyrone VFD has enough funding to pay for the station.

He said the Shooting Range permit expires in December. "The new permit will be for 30 years, which will allow the county to apply for upgrading the facility. Funding can come from the sales of ammunition. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not excited to let us apply if we don't have a 25- to 30-year permit."

Kasten noted that the hold-up was because the range charges only a nominal rate. "Once we got that sorted out, it happened."

Larisch noted the opening of Tu Casa was a "soft opening," with no date yet set for the grand opening.

On trails and open space, the county would be getting signs for UTV use and a manual of places to use them. "I, along with Ron Troy and Alex Brown, will be attending a trails economic development forum in Colorado next month."

Commission Chairman Billy Billings said he continues to field questions about the EAS. "A retired doctor was alarmed that Boutique might be leaving. When they hear the facts, they understand. I talk to the U.S. Department of Transportation regularly. I forwarded to them information from (Gila Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer) Taffy Arias about the oncologists having flights canceled and not being able to come here to treat our patients."

During the regular session, the elected officials' reports came after the health care claims board payments were approved. Assessor Raul Turrieta had no report.

Clerk Marisa Castrillo said early absentee voting was going on in the Clerk's office, with early voting starting at Bayard Community Center on Oct. 20 and continuing through Nov. 3.

"It's been busy," Castrillo said. "We're averaging about 200 a day. We have mailed out about 1,000 absentee ballots and we have already received about 400."

"Voting is one of the few things you get to do to make a difference," Kasten said.

Browne said the cancellation of a Boutique air flight had taken up much of his morning. "We need to keep an eye on the future of the county. I read and am concerned about the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It said we need to keep the rise in warming temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead of 2 degrees Celsius. It would help some countries from becoming covered with water and keeping coral reefs. There is also a bat challenge. We must cut net carbon emissions in half by 2030 and must be neutral by 2050."

He said insects have a hard time adapting, which will cause a commensurate decline in the birds that eat bugs.

Browne said he attended a ribbon cutting for the solar project on the senior center in Santa Clara. "It cost $64,000 and they expect an annual savings of $8,000 to $10,000 annually. I don't see any reason why we can't scale up in the county. We all should be doing a lot more to reduce carbon emissions. We should be ramping up studies on the impact of climate change on county residents. I think it's important for the commission to do. I will bring it to the commission in the near future."

Webb said the county is in the process of a study on solar. "It is not coming together as we expected."

Kasten said he had advocated for building a solar array near the Detention Center and putting it into the grid. "Another area we have land is above our park in Santa Clara. It will be difficult to develop for other uses."

Ramos said he ran his first campaign on getting wind power into the county.

"I have a wind map, and where Great Divide is proposing to put the wind farm is the only place in the county that has enough wind," Kasten said.

Edwards congratulated Hidalgo Medical Services and everyone who worked on Tu Casa for the soft opening. "Dr. (Darrick) Nelson is certified to do the Naxolone treatment, which is successful in stopping overdoses. HMS is working hard to get a number of people certified, not just M.Ds."

Because auditors were using the county's Red Room, the executive session following each meeting was held in the small conference room in the manager's office.

Nothing was decided after the executive session following the work session, but following the regular session, the commissioners came out of recess and moved to table the County Manager contract at least until November, because one commissioner was missing. "We are short one, and all commissioners should sign the contract," Kasten said. "For the same reason, we will table the County Attorney contract until the November regular session."

The combined work session and regular meeting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 9 a.m. at the Grant County Administration Center.