By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a meeting June 27, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order; Trustees Olga Amador, Peter Erickson and Ralph Trujillo attended. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza didn't attend.

Mayor's report

Lopez wanted to touch on the recent problems Ruidoso has gone through and thank the community for all the help. They had provided a place for donations at the fire station. Donations came from more than just the residents of Santa Clara. Some had come from Arizona. They loaded up a truck and took them to the Ruidoso Downs. The people taking care of the donations had everything very organized. The water went fast, and each table had someone to manage the distribution. Lopez said they had been feeding 800 people a night. He had spoken to one of the county commissioners and they expressed appreciation for the help. Lopez said it would take a long time for the town to heal.

AmeriCorps kids arrived and have been working on the Bradley Hotel. Adobe Techniques has been working on the adobe repairs. Lopez said they had received a bid for the stucco, and they will start the stucco toward the end of July. The windows will also be installed soon. He said they would start working on grants to do the inside of the hotel next.

Music in the park went well and the next one will be Rhythm in Motion.

Freeport McMoRan had their picnic at Fort Bayard. Santa Clara sent their first response team out to provide a first aid tent. Lopez said everything went well and it had been a good time.

The sidewalks should be finished by the end of July. Bellm Street can be driven on now, but Caddel Crossing will remain closed until they finish fixing it. Lopez said this had been a ten-year project. He would like to do a ribbon cutting and invite former Mayor Richard Bauch. He had been a part of that project for many years.

Lopez met with WNMU (Western New Mexico University), and they will start the tree planting in the fall.

Lopez has been meeting with the people from The Commons on which location they would want for the new facility. More meetings will be coming up. Sheila Hudman, village administrator, said they have been interested in the ¼ acre lot.

The new yard of the month went to Frank and Rosemary Costales.

On July 29, 2024, they will be having a community clean up sponsored by Freeport McMoRan. Hudman went over the prizes available.

Public comment

Amador wanted to announce the movies in the park on Saturdays, weather permitting.

New business

The council approved the service contract for the financial, utility billing and customer acceptance operations for the Hanover MDWCA Water System. Hudman explained why this had been brought to the council. Hanover has been asking Santa Clara to take this over for several years because everyone has been aging out, and they have been concerned they would not have anyone to run the water system. Right now, they have asked that Santa Clara take over the billing and bookkeeping. The contract will pay Santa Clara $600 a month. They have 85 customers. Hudman said this would be very easy for them to do because their system is already set up to do this. "It is income for us, and this helps them on the financial side." The contract had been taken from the USDA website and the same used when Hurley took over North Hurley water. Hanover has been struggling and needs the help. The council asked her how long this would take them to do every month. Hudman said a total of around three hours.

Resolutions

The council tabled resolution 2024-18. They had a public meeting, but no one had showed up. It had to do with the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP).

The council approved resolution 2024-19. This adopts the policy for the village of Santa Clara titled Capital Asset Management. Hudman said she had received information that the DFA (Department of Finance and Administration) will be looking to have this policy submitted. Each department will submit a list of any assets over $5,000. This will be needed for funding and audits. "We have done this all along but now it must be submitted in writing."

Yvonne Gonzales, village attorney, said this has been done to make sure municipalities have used their monies wisely. They will be able to deny funding if this has not been done and helps keep a good record of assets. Lopez said it will also make things cleaner and provide more accountability.

The council approved resolution 2024-20. This will be for the participation in the local government road fund program with the DOT (Department of Transportation). Hudman said they do this each year. The council had approved this at the last meeting, but the state changed the format so it had to be redone.

The council went into closed session

The council came back from closed session and reported that no decisions had been made.

Hiring, raises, terminations, etc.

The council approved the lateral transfer of Officer Ronald Martinez to records clerk beginning in August.

First regular meeting will be held Thursday July 11, 2024, at 5:00 pm
Second regular meeting will be held Thursday July 25, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned