By Lynn Janes
The town of Bayard held a special meeting June 18, 2025. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Mayor Pro Tem Eloy Medina, and Councilors, Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales and Gilbert Ortiz. Martha Salas, city clerk, also attended.
Public input
A resident of Bayard said this would be the first time he had ever come for public input and had lived in Bayard for 65 years. He wanted to thank the police chief and code enforcement officer. "They are doing an excellent job." He spoke to a squatter problem. He had brought some pictures for the council and wanted the council to know that the police chief and code enforcement has been working to take care of the problem. A person had moved in three camping trailers, and they do not have any sewage or utilities. He asked for the council to give code enforcement more tools to take care of the problem better.
Police Chief Hector Carrillo told the council he would address this case during his report.
The council approved the consent agenda that included minutes, accounts payable and department head reports. It also approved attendance of elected officials to attend the leadership institute in Albuquerque and for the head librarian to attend a conference in Albuquerque.
Eloy Gonzales had a question about an item on the accounts payable that he saw twice. Salas explained they divide the bill between two departments. It had been for the IT provider Spectrum. Salas explained that finding someone to do IT can be difficult and many times as with this bill they come from Las Cruces and that had been the reason the cost has been high. He had another question about the EMS fund and Salas explained that bill pays the monthly oxygen tank rental for the fire department. He continued with some other questions Salas addressed.
Old business
Salas addressed the Joint Powers Agreement for consolidated public safety answering point for Grant County. She and the mayor had several meetings with dispatch on this and their budget had been approved by all the municipalities. They redid the budget from what it had been the previous month. Each municipality will pay $17,000 instead of the $51,000 they had originally asked for. In the past Bayard had paid $12,000 - $13,000. The budget only includes the current employees for dispatch, but they have three or four positions open that have not been able to fill. The director feels he can work with the current staff. In the future, if they fully staff, the cost will increase to the municipalities. If that does happen it will have to come back to the council for a vote.
At the last meeting they had received a lot of push back from the municipalities when they asked for $51,000 from each one. Dispatch will still be looking at charging for agency calls. Gross receipts tax also plays into the equation and they may not need to pay the full $17,000. Salas did ask for the police and fire chiefs to go with her to the next meeting to address some issues. The discussion on the issue went on for some time.
Charlene Webb, county manager, had asked for all the municipalities to include this in their ICIP (infrastructure capital improvement plan) because it will make it easier for them to go for funding as a regional project. It currently has not been included on the ICIP, but Webb asked for it to be discussed and it could be looked at in the future. The council approved the joint powers agreement as presented.
New business
The council approved a letter of support to apply for the outdoor equity fund grant.
The council approved the ICIP for 2027-2031. This list had come from the workshop with Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments director. The top five in order would be wastewater system improvements, little league restrooms, city hall renovation project, water system improvements and regional water project. They also have a master plan for the property recently acquired and it will be number seven on the list.
The council voted to return the $10,000 they had received for an infant surrender box. The maintenance director and fire chief had obtained the state regulation for the surrender box, and they would not be able to be in compliance. The building would have to be staffed 24/7 and that would not be something the city could do. Someone has to be on site at all times. Salas continued with some more of the other requirements that could not be met and other problems that would not make it feasible at this time.
The council approved the stage two fire restrictions. The restrictions have already been in the ordinances they just have to declare them when needed.
The council postponed the Mine Workers Memorial. A man, Micale Pino, had been calling about putting up a 10 by 10 bronze statue and said the state would take care of the maintenance. It had originally been set to be put at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. Pino said he had spoken to Senator Gabriel Ramos and talked about putting it at the Mine Mill Hall. The council and Salas had not been able to obtain much information. They would have to obtain funding to pay $70,000 for the statue. The council will be asking him to come and present the project.
Salas said she had been contacted by a man, Mr. Woodward, wanting to lease the Foy land recently purchased by the city to graze about 10-15 cattle until a master plan has been made for the land. He had previously had agreements with the Foys. Salas wanted the council to let her know if she should move forward with the possibility of leasing the land. Medina had concerns over liability. Salas said that could be addressed with the city attorney. Medina reiterated his concerns about liability. Salas will contact the city attorney and if he does not respond she will contact the municipal league attorneys for advice and information. The council voted for her to look into further and report back her findings.
The council approved becoming a partner with Best Friends. This had to do with the presentation made by Archi Padilla from New Mexico Borderland Animal Rescue Coalition (BARC). The only thing that they ask would be for Bayard to be a no kill shelter which they already work as. The only way an animal will be put down would be if it was a danger or ill. Bayard meets the requirements of heating and cooling for the kennels. Best Friends representatives had already come to the shelter and met with Salas and Ojinaga. In the next budget Salas had included a few things such as fixing the fence. BARC volunteers have been working with the dogs training them to make them more adoptable and don't charge Bayard anything.
Carillo reported on an investigation that had been going on for some time and wanted the council to know about it since it has been closed. He had a few documents he wanted to provide the council but had not received them from the district attorney's office yet. He wanted to postpone until the next meeting or meet with each council member.
Ordinances and resolutions
The council approved ordinance 2-2025 to adopt an ordinance providing for the annexation of certain land contiguous to the city of Bayard. Last month they had done the intent to adopt and had not received any public input on the Foy property. It had been posted in the paper. A copy of the ordinance and the plat of the annexed property will be filed with the Grant County clerk's office and be sent to the secretary of finance administration. It will also be sent to the secretary of taxation and revenue. Salas said once all of that had been done, they could move forward on seeking funding to start the master plan and public input on what residents would like to see done with the land.
The council approved resolution 11-2025 for the regular local election. This year they will have elections for two council members for-four year terms, and one municipal judge for two years. August 26, 2025, will be the candidate filing deadline. For write in the deadline will be September 2, 2025, and early voting begins October 7, 2025, at the county clerk's office. Early voting at the community center will start October 18, 2025. The council positions up for election will be Frances Gonzales and Ortiz. The judge position up for election will be Jose Diaz.
The council went into closed session.
The council came back into open session. Ojinaga reported no action had taken place.
Action for personnel
The council approved the resignation of a maintenance employee.
The council approved the hiring of a temporary maintenance employee. Salas said he has requested three months. They finally had a good applicant who did well in his interview. He has requested temporary due to attending college in August. He might be able to do evenings so possibly could come on full time. He will start at $15.50 an hour and after he has done the probationary period, it will go to $17.00 an hour.
Department head reports
David Terrazas, wastewater director, said they have been meeting their numbers. He had been working with Trumm Engineering on a project and has been waiting on some paperwork and then will be setting up a meeting. It will be a preconstruction meeting. Trumm has been working with the contractors that will be putting in the capacitors.
Cindy Renee Provencio, head librarian, said they will be hosting the New Mexico summer reading program and have been working with nine students. She thanked Wendy Spurgeon, board members and community members for all their help making everything a success. They had received a donation from Fight Like a Girl of $300 and Sarah Ortiz, current Miss New Mexico gave a donation of $100. Plus, they have had some smaller donations. It has helped with providing breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Cobre Consolidated School district had provided chrome books for the students in the program plus bus transportation. Provencio will find out if they received the LOR fieldwork grant at the end of the month. She continued with some various grants she has applied for and the help from the community. All activities for the library have been posted on social media and advertised. Some events have been canceled due to the air quality currently.
Frances Gonzales thanked her for all she had been doing reaching out to the community and networking with different organizations. She had been impressed to read about it in the Grant County Beat. The grants Provencio has been applying for have really helped a lot.
Chuck Gray, beautification committee chair, said they had participated in the June 6, 2025, community cleanup.
Frances Gonzales said over by where she lives, she has a concern over a property near her on the corner that has a lot of wood and cars. She asked for the fire chief to check it out. If anything sparks it could set the whole area on fire. They have a lot of code violations
Gabe Gonzales, fire chief, said they had answered three calls for fires in May, a gas leak and heavy smoke. They had 42 EMS calls in which 35 had been in Bayard. The others had been in Hurley and Vanadium. The department had conducted training in May and went over each one they had done. He provided an update on all the equipment for the fire department. The rescue 1 unit remains in Las Cruces awaiting a light fixture.
The department had not had any safety incidents in May and the community service they performed had included going to the elementary water fun day and helping with traffic control during the Cobre High School graduation as well as crowd control.
Gabe Gonzales had two applicants that will be introduced at the next firefighter meeting. The department plans to donate the amphibious vehicle extrication system to Hurley. They had been trying to obtain the system, and they had one that had not been really used. The generator has not been working so Hurley will take it and have it repaired. He had also applied for a $10,000 grant from the State Farm Good Neighbor Grant for bunker gear for the new members.
Since the council had approved the stage two fire restrictions, they will be posting it and handing out flyers throughout the city.
Ojinaga asked the fire chief when Lotta Burger would be opening. He had a lot of calls. He didn't know because he had not heard back if the issues had been fixed. When they had initially responded to a call they reached out to the state fire marshals code enforcement officer and he actually issued the shutdown order. No one had reached out to Gabe Gonzales from the business so he didn't know if the repairs had been done and what the plans for reopening would be. As soon as he knew he would let them know. The violations had been pretty severe and needed to have them fixed for the safety of the employees.
Michael Paez, maintenance director, after a three-year process the community center parking lot will be about 90 percent done. They have just been waiting for a few minor things for the inside of the building. Some new tables will be coming, countertops for the kitchen and a sink will also be coming.
Carillo said he would probably be giving out a letter of recognition to Captain Manuel Galaz. First Carillo had been trying to find out the individual that reported the graffiti. Galaz had caught them, four individuals ages 14 down to 11. He said that would be the good news, but the bad news that concerned him had been the reason they had done it. The little gangs have been trying to come back into the city. The kids all had the same tattoos affiliated with the gang. The graffiti they have been posting calls out another gang. He had reached out the Homeland Security to find out what some of this graffiti meant. They submitted charges to the juvenile probation office including restitution.
Carillo has two uncertified officers that will be graduating in June. He said he would let the council know when he received the invitations.
He had been talking to Salas about the money left over in the law enforcement fund. He has been looking at the purchase of another Durango.
Carillo addressed the man that had made public comment earlier in the meeting. He had a plan for the problem that he would be emailing to the council so they can move forward with it. "We are taking enforcement action and doing the best that we can.
Next month he will be doing some more recognition letters to give out because he thinks it will be important. They had also received the radios from Freeport McMoRan and have not had any issues with the repeater or communication with dispatch.
Carillo said code enforcement has been doing letters and will have a detailed report for the council soon.
Salas said the office has been preparing for the end of the fiscal year by closing things out including purchase orders. They had participated in the cleanup and filled eight dumpsters, and Freeport McMoRan had paid for the dumpsters. The Copper Collaboration meeting had been last week, and Freeport McMoRan had attended also. Hurley will be cleaned up next, on July 25, 2025. Through Copper Collaborative Bayard will be taking the lead on applying for a grant through the state and it will be a regional grant. The purpose of the grant will be to hire an individual to help with cleaning up all the areas. They will also be designated to obtain funding for trash compactors that people can come dump at.
Salas said they have had a lot of calls about the community center being hot and the swamp coolers just are not working. Paez will be obtain quotes for a HVAC system. He will be bringing a quote, and it will be paid for with capital outlay funding. They hope to have the project scheduled by August. It will be a heating and cooling system.
Carrillo had something to add to his report. The sheriff's office and state police have reached out to the department in reference to fires. On officers' days off, if they want to work, they can sign up at the sheriff's office. They may need to have barrier units that need manning, and this would be outside their normal hours. Bayard will remain covered. The department had been given forms to have the officers reimbursed. He wanted the council to know if they received calls that the officers were seen working out of their jurisdiction they would know why. He reiterated that Bayard would always be covered first.
Frances Gonzales said they had a lot of positive feedback on the new Text My Gov app. More people have begun to sign up for the service. Currently they have 76 residents signed up.
Ojinaga said the cleanup day had gone well. He had arrived at 6 am. Salas said they spent six hours and had four truckloads of trash. Freeport McMoRan had also sent some employees to help, and thirty volunteers showed up so that had not been only city employees
Ojinaga had been attending all the fire meetings. A lot of people have been worried about the fire.
Next regular meeting will be held July 16, 2025.
Meeting adjourned.
