By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a meeting March 28, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza trustees, Olga Amador, , and Ralph Trujillo attended. Peter Erickson did not attend.

Mayor's report

Lopez said they have been moving forward on projects to change downtown and they have some great plans. The slab for the Mercado will be poured soon with the help Freeport McMoRan provided and will have funds leftover for landscaping. Work on the outside of the Bradley Hotel will be starting in June 2024. They have had a few people looking for space for a small business. One wants to put in a coffee shop. Currently the village will be looking for funding to do a pump track that could be used for several things. The Bellm Street project should be done by the middle of May 2024. April 6, 2024, Fort Bayard will be having a BMX bike race, and it should bring in 500-600 people. The following week Sheila Hudman, village administrator, said will be a 10k run for SASS (sexual assault support services). In June Freeport McMoRan will be having an employee picnic at Fort Bayard with approximately 1500 people.

New Business

Mike Stone, Stone McGee, and Company, attended to give a presentation to the council on the 2023 audit. The audit had been due December 15, 2023, and it had been turned in on time. The state has taken a while to review. The audit had an unmodified for the financial statements and the village had not been required to have a decision for federal funding because they had not received enough federal funds to be required. The audit did have a comment. It had to do with 200 expenditure transaction that didn't have the correct dates. Stone explained that much of that has to do with glitches in the accounting software.

Eloy Medina, Gila Regional Medical Center EMS director, came to address a complaint about the fire department and their answering a call requiring medical assistance. He had called the state EMS Bureau and the information they had received had not been true. Anyone can respond and provide basic first aid, stop the bleed and CPR. "Your fire department is in line, and I ask you to support them. They are a great group of guys." He went over some of the other information that they had been told that had no basis.

Reynaldo R. Maynes, a resident, asked the council if they could have a speed bump installed on the 400 block of Maple Street. The council approved the installation after some conversation. Maynes said any help would be appreciated because the speeding on the street has been out of control. They discussed the best place to put the speed bump. Lopez commented the street has a lot of traffic and it probably would be helpful.

Resolutions

The council approved resolution 2024-08 authorizing the village to become a signatory for the joint powers agreement that established the New Mexico Self Insurers' Fund. Hudman said this would allow them to get the best insurance rate for the village.

The council approved resolution 2024-09 authorizing the purchase of real property from several people for 417 and 419 Fort Bayard Street. Further described as lot 17 and the north 15 feet of lot 19 of block 6 in the amount of $8,000. Yvonne Gonzales, village attorney, said this property had been identified in the 2013 economic plan for the village. "It is good to be owned by the village and now they can move forward with clean up."

The council approved resolution 2024-10 authorizing the purchase of real property. The addresses include 421, 423, 425, 427 and 420 Fort Bayard Street. Further described as south 10 feet of lot 19 and lots 21, 23, 25 and 27 in block 6. It will be purchased in the amount of $32,000. Gonzales said that could be the location for the pump track, skateboards, bikes, and other activities. They now can move forward with the cleanup of that property.

The council approved resolution 2024-11 accepting the fiscal year 2023 audit.

The council went into closed session.

The council came back from closed session and said no action had taken place.

The council approved the hiring of Clinton D. Ford, a certified officer, for $22 an hour with a one-year contract. The employment will be pending a physical. Police Chief, Lonnie Sandoval said it has been hard to find certified officers. Currently they will have four certified officers including the chief after one finishes the academy.

First regular meeting will be held Thursday April 11, 2024, at 3:00 pm
Second regular meeting will be held Thursday April 25, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned