By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held a regular meeting March 25, 2024. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Mayor Pro Tem Eloy Medina, councilors, Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales, and Gilbert Ortiz. Gabriel Ramos, city clerk, also attended.

The council approved the agenda after some questions were brought forward on the consent agenda. Frances Gonzales wanted to know why $700 had been charged to three departments for "Text My Gov." Ramos said they had spread it out because those departments would be benefiting from the service. Frances Gonzales still had concerns and Ramos told her that if the council wanted that done differently they would. Some discussion went on around that issue. Medina wanted to table the part of the consent agenda that approved attendance to the financial officer association spring meeting for Martha Salas, incoming clerk/treasurer and Tanya Ortiz, deputy clerk. Salas had since declined the job.

Public input

Senator Siah Correa-Hemphill addressed the council with an update on the recent legislative session. She thanked them all for their leadership. She had met with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Grisham asked her what her district needed. Hemphill went over her long history in Bayard and how much the community meant to her. Bayard had been funded $1.6 million for the wastewater treatment plant. The 30-day session addresses the budget mostly. "I am on the committee for committees, and we listen to all the bills and determine which ones are germane, have physical impact or a governor's message." They had the highest number of bills introduced, 777, with 107 passing both the senate and house. The governor can pocket veto any bill and does not have to give a reason.

"I am on the finance committee and hear those pertinent to the budget." They helped improve access to health care. She commented she had been proud of HB7 Health Care Affordability Fund for low-income residents. New Mexico places fourth in the country for suicide. They had prioritized the mental health care system. "The pandemic caused many mental health problems with the closure of schools." SB41 would have set aside $12 million for mental health initiatives. It didn't pass but Hemphill said she would reintroduce again if she won the next election. She also brought up the funding she and Representative Luis Terrazas had secured for the community center.

She asked if they had any questions. Ojinaga asked why they had not obtained funding for the vocational center to be in Bayard. Hemphill said it had not been her decision. However, the reason had been mostly due to funding available. Freeport McMoRan had donated land but the cost to build new came out to be more than anticipated.

Ojinaga asked Hemphill when electric cars would have to pay for the roads also. He alluded to the fact of taxes being charged on every gallon of gas that citizens pay to keep the roads up. Since electric cars don't use gas, they will not be paying to drive on the roads. Ojinaga said, "They are riding for free." Hemphill said "They needed to work towards fees for people with electric cars or look for more creative ways to get those funds. The clean fuel bill could be one of those ways."

Ramos thanked her and Terrazas for all their help getting the $1.6 million for the wastewater treatment plant and funding for the renovation of the community center.

The mayor proclaimed March 18, 2024, as Devahnie Madrid week. Madrid is a member of the Cobre High School wrestling team. Through hard work She has had 13 wins and 9 loss record. She placed fifth at the 2024 state championships. She also had been the first girl to place with the NMAA (New Mexico Athletic Association) for wrestling at Cobre High School.

The council approved the consent agenda with one change. The Clerk and Financial Officer Association spring meeting will be attended by Tanya Ortiz, deputy clerk and the next clerk/treasurer.

Old business

After some discussion the council approved leaving the community center rates the same. Ramos had provided the council with documents for their review and asked them for their input. Ojinaga wanted the funeral rates to stay the same, but contracts should be paid at the first of the month. He said they should not have to wait. Ramos said he could write a letter to the only two contracts they had and ask that they pay at the first of every month. Medina wanted to know if this had been a problem and Tanya Ortiz said one tends to pay every two months. Ramos said both have existing contracts that don't specify paying monthly. Medina didn't want to raise any of the rental rates. Ojinaga said he had brought it up because of the renovations that they will be making. Medina said the funding for the renovations comes from the taxpayer and now they are talking about raising the rates because of the renovations. Gilbert Ortiz said they should leave them the same.

New business

The council voted to postpone the decision on the pal policy until further information has been acquired. Ramos said the pal policy had been used before comp time. The department heads received 4 hours every month for attendance to the council meetings. The time had been added to their vacation time. Ojinaga wanted to know why they did comp time if they had this policy. Ramos read the policy and what they could do and the process of changing it. Kristina Ortiz, past clerk/treasurer had attended and went over the history of both and why the council had made the changes and kept the pal policy.

Michael Paez, maintenance director. and Robert Terrazas, wastewater treatment plant director, wanted to keep both. Medina asked them how they kept track of the pal time and comp time. Medina suggested bringing in the department heads before the council meetings and avoiding them having to spend 2-3 hours in the meeting. Frances Gonzales suggested having their report first on the agenda so they could leave. Ramos suggested that they move their reports to before executive session, so they don't have to sit and wait to report.

Ramos introduced Wesley Hall from Stantec to address a recommended bid package. Hall said the staff had been great to work with and thanked them. The project had to do with North Foy Street and Alta Vista Drive. They had put out the bid before but had received high bids and the companies putting in the bids had been very busy. The city had obtained additional funding and Stantec had broken it down into 5 bid lots to make it more flexible. This recommendation would be for bid lot one, the main portion and bid lot two and five. He showed them on a map what that would include and added that if the budget allowed, they would do as much as they could on the others. The council approved the bid package.

Chuck Gray, chairman of the beatification committee, addressed the council with an update and request concerning procurement. They recently had a Bingo and profited $891. They will be having another one April 10, 2024, and expect better participation. March 27, 2024, they would be having a city cleanup day. The committee had met recently to decide what projects they should do next. They reached out to the Southwest Railroad concerning the left behind railroad ties and old equipment, and they came and did a site visit and will be cleaning it up. They had also spoke with the property manager affiliated with Silver Care about cleaning up that property. Gray said that might take a little longer.

Gray went over his problems having to adhere to procurement procedures and his experiences. He went over all his affiliations with past entities and knew the procurement procedure well and its purpose. They have guidelines and it regulates the master framework. He went over all the New Mexico laws. He brought up the council wanting to see music in the park. Using procurement policies to obtain a band would not work. He wanted to see this changed so they could just find a band and pay them. Having to get three quotes would not work in this instance. Ramos explained the reason for the three quotes, and it keeps everyone on the right track and helps with the audits. Medina said, "We are only the fiscal agent, so they own the money and raise the money." Ramos pointed out that the city will still be responsible.

They discussed for some time the cost in time to get those three quotes and how they cost money and don't save it. Gray said, as a taxpayer, "I don't want to see that wasted time." He clarified that if it pertained to something big, yes, but the little things, no.

Ramos suggested they become a 501c3 and they could avoid the procurement procedure. Frances Gonzales said, "That is not so easy to do." Ojinaga suggested they look into it. Ojinaga and Ramos discussed issuing them a credit card for small purchases. Tanya Ortiz suggested a petty cash fund for them.

Gray said, "We are just trying to make the town better."

Ordinances / resolutions

The council approved moving forward with the necessary action to have the current five members for planning and zoning increase to seven members. They will have to post an intent to amend the ordinance for 15 days, then after voting to approve it will be posted again for 5 days before it becomes law. Frances wanted to add to the proposed ordinance the requirements of the quorum and that it be put in the Silver City Daily Press legals. Ramos said he would add the quorum requirement.

The council approved moving forward with the process of implementing a new ordinance to address political signs after some discussion. Ramos said the municipal league attorney had recommended not doing the ordinance unless the council makes it applicable to all signs. It would open the city to scrutiny for freedom of speech. He read the full letter he had received from the municipal league attorney. Frances Gonzales said she had looked at case law and it could be done. Ramos asked her for a copy of that information. Ojinaga asked why Silver City can do it. Ramos said they have done away with it because it had been unenforceable. The ordinance will just be for city property and political signs.

The council went into closed session to discuss the hiring of a clerk / treasurer.

The council came back into open session and reported that no action had taken place.

Mayor, council, and department reports.

Gilbert Ortiz said that the little league has been very happy with Michael Paez, maintenance director, and his staff, the fields looked beautiful. They had discussed how to use some of the unused space around the field and talked about adding more bathrooms, batting cages for practice and trees. He also added that the electrical panel at the concession stand needed to be upgraded.

Medina said his comments on comp time were not meant to be a personal attack on the supervisors. "It is a bottom line issue. It is not personal, we just need to be sustainable."

Eloy Gonzales said Gray and the beautification committee do a lot for the community and they need to help them. The committee also cleans the streets. He thanked Paez and his crew for fixing the sewer lines and said they had done a good job.

Ojinaga thanked Paez and commented the fields looked great and he had received calls from residents passing on their thanks. Ojinaga had recently attended a USDA meeting and they had many speakers. "They spoke all day long on a lot of subjects." He had spoken to three ladies he did not identify but said have been working on the renovation of the Mine Mill Hall. The city had asked an engineer to come look at the best way to reroute the water away from the building and the ladies said they had a cheaper plan. They had also talked about the moving of the train depot and making it into a museum.

Ramos said he had attended the Grant County Dispatch Authority, and they need a director and encouraged people if they knew someone interested in the job to contact them. He had also attended the Grant County Water Commission and said that the project has been moving along well. He had met with representatives from Representative Gabe Vasquez's office. Bayard can't apply for any more funding for the wastewater treatment plant but can for other drainage issues. They do need to have shovel ready projects to apply for federal funding because the funds must be used within a year. They have $956,000 for the wastewater treatment plant that needs to be used as soon as possible. Ramos said this would be his last meeting. "I want to thank you for the opportunity to work for the city. It has been a pleasure."

The next regular meeting will be held April 8, 2024

Meeting adjourned.