By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held a regular meeting April 8, 2024. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Mayor Pro Tem Eloy Medina and Councilors Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales, and Gilbert Ortiz.

Public input

Chuck Gray, chairman beautification committee, came to address the council and let them know the recent Bingo had 107 adults and 22 kids attend. They had received $3,680 and after payouts cleared $1,760 and an additional $200 from the concession stands. He added they appreciated the support of the council.

The city of Bayard made a proclamation that April would be sexual assault awareness month. Sexual assault effects everyone and they hoped to raise public awareness. The proclamation further said 52 percent of women and 29 percent of men experience contact sexual violence and the person usually will be someone they know. They encouraged the citizens to observe and become aware by participating in events to end sexual assault.

Emma Eileen McKinley, outreach, and education coordinator, of SASS (Sexual Assault Support Services) thanked the council for bringing attention to the issue. Grant County experiences sexual assault more than any other place in New Mexico. Silver Regional Sexual Assault Support Services helps raise awareness.

Arlene Camarena, crisis advocacy coordinator of SASS, said they offer free services to anyone that has experienced sexual assault. She announced an upcoming fundraiser.

Hector Carrillo, police chief said they work closely with SASS, and they have been a crucial part of law enforcement. The organization is part of the protocol for any sexual assault case.

The council approved the consent agenda that included the minutes from the past two meetings, library report and fire report.

Old business

David Chandler, former director of The Commons, addressed the council with an update on the property they have been looking at to open a location in the mining district. Iris Nolasco, current director, had not been able to attend due to vehicle problems in Albuquerque. They have been in negotiations for the property adjacent to the parking lot spoken about in previous council meetings. They have a purchase agreement with the Terrazas family for the building that currently is not binding but lists terms, price, payment, and interest. The inspection has been done and they have a significant list of things that will need to be repaired in the building, but Chandler said they had known that would be the case. They will be doing a contract with the Terrazas family within the next few weeks.

The hardware part of the store can be used immediately. The cinderblock portion will need extensive repairs and will take a few years to obtain the funding to do. "We are excited to work with the mining district and Cobre schools." They will not be able to start the youth program until next year when they can offer job opportunities. This year they will not have the time to obtain the grants necessary to support the program.

Chandler asked them for a timeline on the purchase of the parking lot and the process they needed to follow. At a past meeting, they had agreed to a $5,000 purchase price. "We want to be the best nonprofit neighbors you have ever had." The city of Bayard will contact their attorney and start the process.

The council wanted to be assured they would work with M and A Café on the parking lot and Chandler said, "Of course." He added he would be working with the police on the pickup days to help with the traffic. Chandler said as soon as people find out they can come at other times the traffic should slow way down on those days of distribution.

In July, they plan to start distribution from that location and no longer distribute at Fort Bayard. They will have the curbside pickup a few times a month and the ability to come in and choose a few times a week.

The council continued the discussion concerning PAL time and comp time. Ojinaga said, "Because of the comp time we owe the clerk $4,303 and that is why we should not have it. We could be stuck with some big bills." They all went over the difference of the comp time and PAL. PAL allows the exempt employees, department heads, four hours a month for council meetings. The comp time had been voted in by the council and had to be an ordinance. To eliminate it would require the process of legal notices and public input. Ojinaga said they should not have it because of the abuse. Medina said they as a council had to be fiscally responsible but had mixed feelings. He presented some examples of why they have some need for it. "Four of our most important people at times could need to use this." He referred to the police chief, maintenance director, wastewater director and city clerk. His reservation had to do with the state of the city budget. "If we don't know the status of the budget guess who takes the brunt, the residents when their water bill goes up. It is unfair to the citizens. These guys all do an amazing job and provide a valuable service."

Frances Gonzales said they just needed to monitor the time and work with the mayor. They have departments to run and sometimes must cover for other employees. "I don't see it abused except by one person." She wanted to know what the department heads thought about it.

Michael Paez, maintenance director, said sometimes he might be called out at night and have to work 10 hours. He suggested a limit and having to use it within an allotted time. Gilbert Ortiz brought up some options. They also discussed raising the current 4 hour PAL to 6 hours.

Medina said he did not want to have them be burnt out and put pressure on them. "I want everyone's input." Ojinaga still wanted to do away with comp time. This would only affect the exempt employees. Eloy Gonzales suggested 6 hours for PAL and Frances Gonzales did not agree. Medina made the motion to start the process to eliminate the comp time for exempt employees and increase PAL to 6 hours a month. The process will take approximately 20 days.

Frances Gonzales said she still felt they had a right to the comp time. "We need to support our employees."

Some of the residents in attendance asked why they didn't know the budget status. Some on the council said they had been asking for it for some time and had not received the information requested and had been told everything was fine.

Ojinaga said one of the people had claimed 100 hours July 2023 to December 2023 but after he came, he put a stop to it, and it had only been 20 hours since he started.

Medina said one of the clerks in city hall had made a statement to him that shocked him. "The problem with being a clerk here you don't have the time to take off or have the ability to take a three-hour lunch because you get behind." He said it had been an impactful statement and that has been the reason for the accrual of hours. "I don't want the citizens to take the impact or cut hours on employees. It is a fine line to balance."

Frances Gonzales said, "It is our responsibility to watch the comp time. Now we have checks and balances, and the mayor has control."

The council voted to start the process of eliminating the comp time and raising the PAL time to 6 hours. Frances Gonzales voted no.

New business

The council approved the use of the little league field and the water for an upcoming event put on by Bayard Elementary. The event will be May 20, 2024, and they will have 4 water slides. G-Boyz Beef Jerky and Gabe Ramos will be helping to sponsor the event. Medina told them to make sure to let them know if they need anything so they can make sure to make it a success.

The council went into closed session.

The council came back into open session and said no action had been taken.

The council said they would address the maintenance department after they had looked at the budget and thanked Joe Sierra for bringing the matter to their attention.

Mayor and council reports

Carrillo said they have seven officers and five have certification and two will be in training to be certified. He had been talking with the border patrol on a funding source. The sheriff's department has it and the Silver City police will be applying. It falls under Operation Stonegarden. It will help pay overtime for certified officers. He had proposed $72,000 and will know in a few weeks. He had, with the help of Jenny Castanon, grant writer for Bayard, applied for JAG (justice assistance grant). It will help with felony arrests and warrants also overtime and equipment. Currently they have a Law Enforcement Retention fund. It has a total of $393,000 and paid $180,000 the first year and the next will be $90,000 and the last year $45,000. He said he would have to sit down with Tanya Ortiz, deputy clerk, to do the numbers. He had received an email from the DFA (Department of Finance and Administration). The grant needed to be reported on quarterly. "I let the last clerk know that it should be done." It had not been turned in for October 2023, December 2023 and now April 2024. He said he and Tanya Ortiz had been working together to put them in compliance. Carrillo said he would be contacting Workforce Solutions concerning reimbursement for the students hired.

The police department had received two new trucks fully outfitted. Carrillo will be contacting Dona Ana sheriff's department concerning the donation of two vehicles. As he had said in a previous meeting, Dona Ana will be obtaining a new fleet and will be donating the used vehicles.

Carrillo said he has a briefing with the mayor every day and Raul Villanueva, Grant County Sherriff, expressed concern over calls that they had to respond to in Bayard. Carrillo said they had only responded to three calls last month. They had been for various reasons, one night an officer had been sick and the other the officers had been in training. "He failed to mention the times Bayard had assisted them and we were happy to do so." They had responded to 25 calls outside of their jurisdiction. He added they had not complained and would not. Carrillo gave the council documents to support each of the calls. "We always assist the tri-city area and the sheriffs department." He said next meeting he would have a full report on a burglary and will be pressing charges.

Paez said the highway 365 sidewalk project has been done and they will be starting the North Foy Street project in a few months. They have had a problem with paperwork and the contractors for the million gallon tank renovations and repairs. The highway 180 construction will be starting, and it will impact the city with some traffic delays.

Cody Dove, fire chief, said they have been looking for a brush hybrid vehicle and will sell one of the current trucks to help pay for it.

Tanya Ortiz, deputy clerk, said she wanted to clarify something coming from the librarian. "She said I didn't secure her $20,000 gold bond money and lost it." She had an email from the state librarian, Patricia Moore, which said "we would lose it if we did not send her everything, we would be paying out with it. I sent it to her right way, and she had been pleased with the quick response." The funding has been secured. The previous clerk had not done the required documentation, but she had been able to take care of it.

Eloy Gonzales said. as liaison for the library, he had attended the last board meeting. They had a lot of discussions about the library and the budget. "The beautification committee is doing a great job, and the Bingo was a great success."

Frances Gonzales said they will be having a housing authority meeting the following Wednesday at 4:00 pm and planning and zoning would take place April 18, 2024. She asked the beautification committee to have a booth at the earth day celebration in Gough Park.

Gilbert Ortiz said he had concerns over not having a city clerk. He had toured the wastewater plant.

Ojinaga said he had met with Freeport McMoRan concerning the creek and possible pollution. They had done a test and do not show any pollution. He added they needed to let people know when planning and zoning would be canceling a meeting in the future. People had showed up. One individual had been waiting on an approval since February and they need to contact them.

Frances Gonzales said she had been trying to contact everyone and keep them up to date, but many have not been following through. She and Tanya Ortiz had met and tried to put together the paperwork need by some of them. She had done this because she didn't want to leave people hanging. Ojinaga said she and Tanya Ortiz should not be doing the work for planning and zoning.

Medina asked if the clerk's office had been contacted concerning childcare facilities. Tanya Ortiz said yes, and they will be looking for a zone change. She had brought Frances Gonzales in to help her. Denise Ueland will be working with Freeport McMoRan to invest in the possible location of the old HMS building. She has been the only one in Grant County to offer 24/7 childcare. She may be asking to use the community center for a while.

The next regular meeting will be held April 22, 2024

Meeting adjourned.