By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a meeting July 11, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza, trustees, Olga Amador and Peter Erickson attended. Ralph Trujillo didn't attend.

Mayor's report

Lopez thanked the residents for all their patience and cooperation on the Bellm Street project. "We will have to keep a close eye on the speed limit, so no one gets hit." He had been referring to the new road from the project.

Today had been the last day for the AmeriCorps kids and they had a lunch for them. They had included the mayor of Bayard because the kids had worked both places. Lopez said they "did a great job for all of us" and learned a lot in the process. Their supervisors also did a great job.

The village had demolished the last house, the Pena house. The contract for the demolition had been awarded to Adobe Techniques and Lopez said they did a great job. They will have some holes to fill in to do the park.

Lopez said the Bellm Street project still needs to finish the Caddel Crossing and then will be doing the sidewalks after that.

Lopez welcomed Rosemary Arciero, code enforcement officer, back to work after her knee surgery. He also thanked Larry Sandoval, animal control officer and fire chief. He included the police department and said they never have a boring day. The staff all show up at 8 am every morning and he thanked them for the job they do.

Lopez said they have been looking at the cemetery and have been devising a plan but would come to the council when they had solidified how to make the improvements.

New business

Dolores Charon, El Refugio, addressed the council concerning the upcoming domestic violence awareness month in October. She has been volunteering for three years. Last year Bayard had participated in the domestic violence awareness month. She asked that Santa Clara be part of it also. She will provide the purple ribbons, pins and brochures. Bayard will be participating this year along with Hurley. El Refugio has helped 10,500 people affected by domestic violence since 2014.

Lopez thanked her for sharing and said this problem has been nationwide. "I myself support this. Education on this issue is important." The council agreed and voted to participate and will be doing a proclamation.

Robert Young addressed the council on a piece of land he would like to divide into six mobile home lots. He provided them with a sketch for the 2.9 acres. Each lot would provide 100 feet of frontage. In the past he said water pressure had been a problem, but he had measured it, and it came to 80 pounds pressure. He provided a sketch because he has been waiting for the surveyor to be able to do the plat. Young said he had received interest from people wanting to purchase them. He will be selling them at $30,000 owner-financed for 12 years. If Santa Clara requires that he have the road paved he will not be able to sell the lots at that price and will have to double it. He asked the council if he could move forward with the project. Sheila Hudman, village administrator, asked if he would be providing the water taps and he said no. Hudman said that might be a problem because service lines can be very expensive so people will need to know this at the beginning. Yvonne Gonzales, village attorney, said they would need a final survey and a public hearing. She cautioned that they would have to receive complete plans. In the past the village had been stuck with expenses because they could not be collected from the subdivider. Code enforcement will also have to be involved in the process. Young will need to have the approximate cost to each resident to bring in water and sewer. The village will not be bringing it in.

Lopez asked Young if he had received an easement from BLM for the water and sewer. Young said he had spoken to them, and they had said the village would determine if they could tap into the line. If the village will allow them to tap in, BLM will provide an easement. Lopez wanted to know who he had talked with and asked Young for that contact information. He didn't know but would go back on his notes and provide that. Lopez said they would need to have more information before a decision could be made. He didn't want to delay the project but also not move too fast. "We need to be in a good position before we move forward."

The subject of fire hydrants came up and Young said he would be willing to install hydrants. They said they thought that would be around $8,000 each. Lopez said they needed to have another meeting before they move forward and make sure they will be doing everything correctly. He added the council could override him on this.

The council approved the audit services with Beasley, Mitchell and Company for the cost of $30,328.00. Hudman said they had used Stone and McGee for the past 8 years and by requirement of the state they must find a new auditor. An RFP (request for proposal) had been sent out and they had only received this one. This will only be for one year and Hudman said they would be charging less than Stone and McGee.

The council approved the quote for stucco from Grado Stucco and Plastering in the amount of $56,850.00 for the Bradley Hotel. Lopez said they have been well known for many years for stucco work. Their quote had come in at the budgeted price. Grado will start the project end of July or early August.

Resolutions

The council approved resolution 2024-18 adopting the ICIP (Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan). The top five will be presented to the legislature. Number one will be the parks, some things need replacement. Number two will be equipment. Number three will be the water system. Number four will be the bike path and five, broadband. Lopez said it would be nice to receive funding for all of them. In the past year they only received one out of four but the year before that they had received funding for four out of the five.

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 hiring of Albert Dominguez as a police officer, certified. He will start at the certified officer rate and have a six-month probation period.

Second regular meeting will be held Thursday July 25, at 6:00 pm

First regular meeting will be held Thursday August 8, 2024, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned