[Editor's Note: This is part 1 of what will be a multi-part series of articles on about 8 hours of Grant County Commission meeting time, with almost five hours for the work session on April 16, 2019, and about three hours for the regular meeting on April 18, 2019.]
By Mary Alice Murphy
When approving the agenda for the Grant County Commission work session on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, a review of the recent general obligation bond sale was moved to the Thursday regular meeting.
Next department heads gave county reports.
Detention Center Administrator Mike Carillo said he would like to recognize the employee of the month, a new employee, for the great job he was doing on the accreditation process. Carillo also said May 6-10 is National Corrections Week, and "we always recognize our employees during that week. We will hold an event at noon on May 10 at the Detention Center."
Road Superintendent Earl Moore said the department is working on the preparation for chip seal season. "I have bad news for the Local Government Road Fund. Last year, we received $500,000. This year, it is cut to $278,000. There is supposed to be a $15 million pot of money that they didn't disburse. Hopefully, it will be available next year. I had to redo our whole process. We had planned to chip seal 229 miles, but we will cut five miles off that because the price of oil is up. It hurt us on keeping roads in a regular rotation. I do have a question. Hurley asked us to help them chip seal. I usually help them, Bayard and Santa Clara, too. May I say yes?"
Commissioner Alicia Edwards asked if they would pay for labor and equipment use.
"Yes, ma'am, and they buy all the materials," Moore said.
Edwards asked for clarification that it was fiscal year 2020 that had the cut. "If they reallocate the pot of money, would it make up the cut and more?"
"I don't know right now," Moore said. "Hopefully, we will get the money in 2020. It will be part of paying for those five miles."
Edwards also asked when chip seal season is. Moore replied that it is June to early September and said the five miles are Fierro Road and two miles of the south end of Mangas Valley Road toward the mine.
Commissioner Javier Salas asked if the cut affects 2019, too. Moore said it does because of the oil price going up so high.
Moore said the money is for the calendar year, because he gets the contracts in September or October. "The extra we got last year from the extra $20 million had real stringent guidelines to follow. Some of the counties didn't like it, so they are figuring out different ways to get the paperwork, which they wanted turned in by June, done before they disburse any more money."
Chairman Chris Ponce asked County Manager Charlene Webb if there were any problem with helping Hurley. Webb said the county usually helps the mining district municipalities and Silver City, too. "We will bring the agreement to you."
General Services Director Randy Villa turned some of his time over to Kim Dominguez, the Corre Caminos manager.
"We are at our halfway point," Dominguez said. "I just took part in a two-day conference of training. We are working on a site visit, as compliance is coming up in June. We had 8,538 rides in March, and 46,709 last fiscal year. We are coming in under budget."
Edwards asked how the number of rides compares to past years.
"It's fairly level," Dominguez said. "We're maybe down a couple of hundred right now. It's seasonal. I expect to be about the same as last year."
Edwards asked if the website is updated.
"As soon as the routes are updated, so is the website," Dominguez said. "We tried Twitter, but didn't get much response, so maybe the tweets were too old."
Salas asked about the process for a new route.
"It is a process," Dominguez said. "It depends on funding. Ridership would depend on the availability of buses and drivers. It's easier to modify an existing route than to create new routes."
Villa said the first Firewise Day was held the previous weekend on Saturday at the Conference Center. [Editor's Note: See photos at http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/50610-fire-departments-and-emergency-services-host-event-041319 ]
He thanked the sponsors and said the departments want to do it annually, so the public knows how resources come together across the county.
Because DWI Coordinator Cindy Blackman was unable to attend the meeting, Villa said she had coordinated Nightmare on Reality Street, with examples of all the processes that a person stopped for DWI has to go through, from seeing a judge to jail time and fines. "One hundred-forty-one students from Western New Mexico University went through it. I thank Cindy for putting it on in a comprehensive way to show the consequences of DWI. Judges and law enforcement came together to act out the processes with the students."
He said the Grant County Airport had a fuel farm assessment and no deficiencies were found. "This is the second year in a row with no deficiencies. I thank Airport Manager Rebekah Wenger for her excellent work."
Community Development and Planning Director Michael "Mischa" Larisch said the Aging and Long Term Services Division loan application got sent out. We also applied for GO bond funding for the senior centers. We own the buildings, but HMS (Hidalgo Medical Services) runs the senior centers in Mimbres and Gila."
"We are doing a visioning meeting on May 7 at the Conference Center on uses of the old jail building," Larisch said. "The New Mexico Environment Department applied with us, and we were awarded $14,000 for public outreach. It is being conducted with the Brownfields program. They recommended a Phase II and NMED and the EPA are helping us look for funds."
Larisch said the reseeding project purchase order for the slope at the Hanover Fire Station has been received. "Randy worked with the NM Department of Transportation to find an approved contractor and got permission to use fire funds for the project."
"The airport terminal architectural process is underway, and we will have a meeting right after this meeting," Larisch said.
Salas asked about the plans for the old detention center. "What is the project?"
"What happened was it fell in my lap," Larisch said. "I was at a conference with Priscilla Lucero [Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments executive director] and she mentioned that NMED had some funding they wanted to spend down here, so I presented the building as a possibility. It has potential environmental liabilities. I'm hoping we can get funding to tear it down. It is an odd building. It doesn't find itself conducive to remodeling. So, we're doing the visioning. Because it's federal funding, we need the public input. It has Phase I and Phase II because of the potential for lead-based paint. Phase I is to address the asbestos. Phase II gets more into detail and testing. We will have to address it sooner or later."
Edwards said: "Typically if you get Phase I funding, the entity will want to give you Phase II funding. After Phase II, what will be the cost and what abatement might be required. How big is the area?"
"We hold the whole complex of several lots," Larisch said. "I can get the information to you."
Commissioner Billy Billings asked about the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan meetings.
"It is a requirement to hold meetings for the ICIP process," Larisch said. "I haven't had any commissioners show up and not much public either. But I do need to get public input for the ICIP capital funding. We got some capital outlay this year for the Administration Center roof, the parking lot and for sheriff's vehicles."
Edwards noted that all projects funded by capital outlay must be on the ICIP.
"That actually went through during the (Gov. Susanna) Martinez administration and it continues," Larisch said.
Salas asked what dollar amounts are involved and who determines the hierarchy of the list of projects.
"We have had requests for $25,000 or less and we say we have no funding in the budget" Larisch said. "The commissioners determine the hierarchy of the projects."
Meetings are set all for 5 p.m.: May 13, at the commissioners' quarters of the administration center; May 20 at the Cliff Fairgrounds, May 22 at Mimbres RoundUp Lodge; and May 23 at Hachita.
"We do have a list already in progress," Larisch said. "The top three get funding. Items continue on the list unless we get a request to remove them. Please, bring me ideas for the list, with cost estimates. Yes, commissioners can bring requests. I will present the list in June, so you can start analyzing the priorities. You need to approve it at the July meeting because it has to be turned in by September."
Ponce said he presumed if a commissioner had a request that Larisch or the county manager could help with cost estimates.
Webb gave an overview of the Stepping Up Program, which is a jail diversion program. "I presented it to the Interim Health and Human Services Committee last summer. It started in Florida and became a nationwide program. In our jails, we have lots of substance abuse, mental health and behavioral health issues in the inmates. Rural counties are especially challenged, so rural counties developed creative strategies and regional partnerships, as well as a division of mobile crisis teams. Tu Casa will help with this when it becomes a triage center. Your resolution supported the process. The first step was identifying which model we wanted. We chose the wrap around process with intercepts. The intercepts include Dispatch, the courts, once the person has entered the jail, and the re-entry process whether into the jail or onto the streets with probation and parole. Our partners include local law enforcement, first responders, judges, Gila Regional Medical Center and HMS at Tu Casa. We reached out to Doña Ana County where they have the program. The woman in charge came here and gave us an overview and suggestions. The task force meets monthly. Over the past few months, we have done gap analyses, what resources we have and what we are lacking. In June, we plan to look at the process and create roadmaps, maybe including housing and workforce solutions for the homeless. I'm excited it's moving forward. We entered into a small contract with Chris DeBolt who helps facilitate the meetings. We applied for a Freeport Community Investment Fund grant and got $20,000—$10,000 each for the county and Silver City. Our intent is to look at the Detention Center to create baseline data by asking additional questions at booking. We want to reduce recidivism and make the inmates productive citizens when they leave the jail. We are lacking case management to help folks get to their doctor appointments and to counseling. CareLinks at HMS ties into the process. I'm probably overly optimistic that we will improve people's lives. Eighty to 87 percent of those incarcerated are being treated for co-occurring conditions.
"Other things that we are working on are with the Sheriff on a pay plan for the deputies," Webb continued. "We've been participating with the Grant County Sheriff's Office on other funding opportunities. We're missing the boat on some funding."
She said at the end of March, she attended the half-day Glenn Shepard seminar put on by the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce. "It was on dealing with difficult people. I learned a lot."
Webb said she also attended a broadband conference learning about the technology and how to connect it to rural New Mexico.
"Human Resources Specialist Renae Calloway and I are evaluating the employee evaluations processes," Webb said.
She attended the Southwestern County Commission Alliance meeting, which was about the Forest Plan revision.
"I was invited to participate with the Southwest New Mexico Forest Collaborative meeting on how the Forest Service plays a role in economic development," Webb said. "I also held a meeting with Joe Shepard on Bataan Park. And another meeting on public health about counties needing to provide housing to promote public health in the homeless."
The 2019 risk assessment for fire season is coming, she said. "Randy is optimistic it won't be a bad one."
"The GO bond sale went quicker than I expected," Webb said. "It was done by 10:30 or 11 a.m., thanks to Luis Carrasco. The adult Detention Center accreditation process is underway with what is required. I will attend a New Mexico legislative report in Las Cruces tomorrow (Wednesday, April 17). We will learn more about our capital outlay funding. We received $115,000 for GCSO vehicles; $200,000 for roof renovation and $200,000 for the parking lot. I remind you of the ICIP meetings."
Salas asked if the webinar on detention centers was archived. Webb said it was and she would send the link.
Commissioner Harry Browne, who was attending by telephone, thanked Webb for the comprehensive report. "It improves transparency. I have questions about broadband. Did you get information for Grant County?"
"They didn't give us detailed data on Grant County," Webb said.
"Is the work contemplated just laying fiber optic line?" Browne asked.
Webb said laying fiber optic is part, as well as looking at other technology.
Browne asked if the Forest Collaborative went over the process.
"There was nothing set in stone," Webb said. "They are partners with different players."
Browne asked if it struck her as effective.
Webb said: "Yes, the redrafting of the graph helped, and the collaborative has been successful in other states. It seemed to be a way to be successful."
Edwards asked about the broadband conference. "Did they talk about 5G and would it get away from laying fiber?"
Webb said that one of the presenters indicated that it would, but that 5G wasn't "there yet." She said it was encouraging to see local providers WNM Communications, CenturyLink and Comcast there and engaged in what is happening.
There was no public input. The next article will address the Gila Regional Medical Center monthly presentation.