By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a regular meeting March 13, 2025. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza and Trustees, Peter Erickson, Olga Amador and Ralph Trujillo attended.

Mayors report

Lopez addressed a situation that had occurred in Bayard, a structure fire. Santa Clara opened the Armory in case anyone needed it that had been victims of the fire. However, the residents had wanted to stay there in the area of their homes. He had reached out to Martha Salas, Bayard city clerk, and let her know Santa Clara would do what they could to help. “It’s going to be a long road for them, I am sure, but if there is anything we can do as a village we’ll help them out.”

Lopez and Sheila Hudman, village administrator, had done a final walk through a few days previously of the street and sidewalk project. Stantec has also been involved, and the project had come out well.

They had started work on the back parking lot. They had Southwest Concrete doing the job with funding received with the help of Rep. Luis Terrazas, it had been some of the junior money he’s allotted each year. They will also be working on the road from the cemetery down to Lariat Road. The work had been put on hold due to the contractor’s computer software being hacked making them unable to put out work orders. Lopez hoped they could finish soon.

Lopez had met with the organization that would be planting the trees. They will start by trimming up all the trees in the park.

Lopez has been waiting on a quote to chip seal many of the streets and when he receives it, he will bring it to the council. He said hopefully they could fix all the potholes also.

The owner of the new restaurant apologized for not opening on March 1, 2025, as intended. They had a death in the family. They hope to be open by the end of the month. The restaurant will do a soft start up to see how it goes and make adjustments if needed. Lopez had walked through and said it was beautiful, and everything was brand new. They had also been waiting on some more equipment but have passed all the necessary inspections.

Lopez said he would keep them updated on well number four and hoped to have it working 100 percent by later in the month. Then they can shut down well number three and use the colonias funding to start working on it.

Hanover’s well went down because of electrical problems. It had been old and never taken care of or updated. Bayard will be supplying them with water until they can bring in a contractor to work on the wells. Dement Electric will be working on it. Lopez explained the process and what Santa Clara would be doing in the effort and how it would be handled. Freeport McMoRan has been made aware of the situation in Hanover and what will be done.

Lopez pointed out this would be why the Grant County Water Project would be important, and how it will provide a needed service to the area. He brought up the 200-acre-feet of water rights the Freeport McMoRan had donated to village, and he hoped to start on that project in June 2025.

He had met with PNM and the plan for shutting down the electricity in the case of a wildfire or possibility due to critical weather. He said they have a power plant right near Santa Clara. It serves Bayard, Hurley, Santa Clara and part of Silver City. It services as far as Cliff. PNM said if they felt that the winds had reached dangerous speeds, and the lines would be stressed they would shut off the power. PNM will be using national weather forecasts and weather modeling along with feet on the ground to make the decisions. PNM will strive to let people know 24 hours ahead of time. All the information will be put in the village newsletter and water bill.

Public comments none currently

New business

The council approved the quote obtained by Fire Chief Larry Montoya from Municipal Emergency Services for SCBA masks in the amount of $7,203.50. Montoya had been out late on calls, so Lopez explained the masks. The masks have a life span, so even if not used they have to be replaced periodically. The cost will come out of the fire fund. All have to be replaced.

The council approved the quote from Heiman Fire Equipment for tools in the amount of $5,527.30. The new water tanker had come with most of the fire tools they needed but they still needed some others. It will be paid out of the fire fund.

The council scheduled two budget meetings. One will be April 10, 2025, at 5pm and the other will be May 8, 2025, at 5pm

Resolutions

The council approved resolution 2025-08 which authorizes the application to the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) for funding. It will be for water utilization projects. Leandra Esparza, city clerk, read the full explanation of the application and explained it would be for planning and engineering. It will be to help the beginning stages of the water project.

Lopez had forgotten to say in his mayor’s report that he had been helping out maintenance by doing backhoe work and did it for six or seven hours recently. “I’m just helping out if I can when they have been busy. He had done a ride along with Officer Dominguez one night and said they put their lives on the line every night no matter what community they serve. That night the officer had been busy. He had seven or eight stops. “He does an excellent job for us and is committed to the village.”

Lopez and Montoya had gone out to look around for encampments and didn’t find anything. “Everyone needs a place to stay they just are doing it in the wrong places.” Lopez has been trying to keep an eye out for the village.

The Silver City Hot Shots had asked to do some training at Fort Bayard. They asked to take down some rotted tree branches and Lopez had agreed. They had done a good job and cleaned up the debris. Lopez added that Santa Fe had also approved the training. The trees had been a hazard and would improve the look of Fort Bayard, as well as safety for people walking in the area.

They had left free firewood for the residents and Lopez invited people to take what they needed.

The council didn’t have a closed session.

Public Hearing March 19, 2025, at 5:00 pm
Second regular meeting to be held Thursday March 27, 2025, at 4:00 pm
First regular meeting to be held Thursday April 10, 2025, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned