Commissioners Brett Kasten and Gabriel Ramos from left, and Ron Hall at right, present plaque of appreciation to former county manager, Jon Paul Saari.

By Mary Alice Murphy

Grant County commissioners, as their first act of business during the Tuesday, Sept. 9, work session, invited former County Manager Jon Paul Saari to come forward. The commissioners presented Saari with a plaque of appreciation for his service to the county and community.

 

"It was a hard decision to make," Saari said. "I was leaving great employees who are friends and like family, rather than employees. The hardest part was going from answering the phone 2000 minutes a month to no one calling me.

"I'm looking forward to serving the public in a new way," Saari said. "My new job is about listening. (Commissioner) Gabe (Ramos) has been very helpful."

Commission Chairman Brett Kasten said the commissioners appreciate everything Saari has done and does.

Financial Officer Linda Vasquez presented the financial report. She said expenditures, not including payroll for the period ending Sept. 8, 2014, was $731,819.84, including a check to Mira Loma Construction for $41,324.88 for the fairground exhibit building, a check to Sacaton Construction for $58,418.78 for the Tyrone Fire Station expansion; $162,000 to Artesia Fire Equipment for a new fire truck for Tyrone Volunteer Fire Department. Payroll was for $208,835.78, for a grant total expenditure of $940,655.62.

Items to be discussed at the regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 9 a.m. include, revisions to the Sheriff's Office personnel descriptions. Sheriff Raul Villanueva explained the changes were made to clarify language and status of employees.

Kasten noted it seemed lieutenants were given a little more authority to reprimand officers.

"Yes, but I will receive and review all reprimands," Villanueva said. To a question about what "superior officer" meant, he explained the superior officer is the undersheriff.

County Attorney Abigail Robinson said the language in the policy to be voted on at the Thursday meeting would be more specific.

Commissioner Ron Hall said he thought it was important for the sheriff and other elected officials to review policies and procedures.

The next item of business will be approving the certification of property tax rated, which Robinson said were being reviewed by Assessor Mary Guthrie.

"I just received them," Guthrie said. "I will call the schools to make sure the rates are correct, and I will compare them to last year's rates."

Under resolutions, commissioners will approve the sale of bonds to be funded by a raise in the gross receipts tax, which will fund a continuum of care to treat substance abuse, renovation of the interior of the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center, and upgrade electrical systems in the County Courthouse.

"The sale of bonds are set to begin Wednesday," Robinson said. "The preliminary amount is $6,505,000, which could go down, depending on interest rates." She said the bond attorney would attend the Thursday meeting to report on the sale, which will take place over the next couple of weeks.

Commissioners, as the Grant County Indigent and Health Plan Claims Board, will consider an indigent burial by Terrazas Funeral Chapels.

During county reports, Kasten introduced the new county manager, Charlene Webb.

"Yesterday was my first day," Webb said. "I'm excited about the opportunity to work with all of you. We will continue to strive forward with your goals."

The next report was by Brian Cunningham, county-owned Gila Regional Medical Center chief executive officer.

"I will give an update from the August Board of Trustees meeting," Cunningham said, "but the finances are as of the end of July, the end of the fiscal year. We closed out the year with negative $2.4 million, after a negative $9 million at the end of the previous fiscal year. We are in the process of a third party audit, which will be completed in the next week or two. Based on the preliminary audit findings, the bottom line for fiscal year 2014 could shift in a positive direction. Some of the safety net pool funding we received may go into the 2014 year, as it is retroactive. The reimbursement for the linear accelerator, which was completed before the end of the fiscal year may also to into the amount."

He said things continue to move in a positive direction, with the hospital holding 152 days of cash. The transitions of home health and hospice continues to community organizations, with another New Mexico-owned group, Ambercare, interested in moving an office to Silver City. "We expect an announcement in the next week or so. I want to clarify a key point. We want to bring the hospital to the right size for the region and establish the core services that cannot be duplicated in the community. Home health and hospice can be duplicated."

Cunningham said the hospital is also looking at the assets of home health and hospice. "There are rumors we are selling patients and caregivers. We cannot sell them. They are human beings. We can sell our provider number, which would be of value to Ambercare. We are working through the process. If we don't sell it, it will just expire." He explained that a provider number is necessary for an agency to be able to bill for services. "It takes a lot of time to apply for a new one, and in the meantime, without one, an organization cannot bill for services. The number we have is for Grant County and the general area. We have legal counsel looking at the fair market value for the provider number. We didn't sell the business; we didn't sell the license."

Kasten said he had had a positive experience with Ambercare.

"Patients will have a choice of where to have services, and caregivers will have a choice where to work," Cunningham said.

"We are also transitioning the emergency room to Innova, a regional smaller company, from EmCare," Cunningham said. "The transition should be complete by January, and will raise the bar of service."

The hospital is also transition the air ambulance services. "We will continue to develop a right of first refusal agreement to Tri-State. A patient can choose what service to use."

Kasten asked how the groups developed their rates. "Don't they seem exorbitant?"

Cunningham said each group sets it own rates through the Federal Aviation Administration. He noted that Tri-State will be about half the cost of the current holder of right of first refusal, Native Air.

Kasten pointed out Tri-State has had a "couple of hiccups lately."

Cunningham said investigation continues in the helicopter accident in the northeastern part of the state. Tri-State has a partnership with Elite, which is the owner of the fixed wing aircraft that recently crashed near Las Cruces.

"You are staying on top of that, aren't you?" Kasten asked Cunningham.

"Yes," Cunningham replied. "It will not be a contract. It's an agreement, and all our agreements have an out. We already have agreements will all these agencies. If Native Air is out on a flight, we go to the next provider. Tri-State will keep a helicopter right on our pad and will have crew quarters."

"I like that if the patient doesn't want one group, it can choose another," Hall said.

"The provider may be out of the area, but you do have a choice," Cunningham said. "We will explain the consequences of waiting for another provider to arrive."

He said the hospital is also keeping abreast of the changes that may allow veterans to choose local services.

Ramos asked about the level of staffing.

"We, like the rest of the nation, have a nursing shortage," Cunningham said. "However, we are near full staff, with the use of traveling nurses. We want to turn that around.

Ramos asked if the hospital tracks surveys on outpatients.

"Every patient receives a survey," Cunningham said.

Kasten asked Cunningham if he were sending someone to the Interim Legislative Health Committee meeting in Truth or Consequences, to which Cunningham said a couple of people planned to attend."

Detention Center Administrator Mike Carillo said his facility has no vacancies, and the two more recently hired officers were being field trained. "I am asking for an assessment for our critical incident practices," he said. "I met with law enforcement and emergency room representatives and discussed medical clearance. We got a lot done and we have a better understanding of one another. I invite the emergency room staff and you, Mr. Cunningham, to take a tour of the facility to better understand what we can do."

He said for the first time, all officers have vests and will be required to wear them. "All sergeants will receive training. I would like for all their seconds, which I would like to call corporals, to also receive the training, so they have the first line training."

Carillo said the jail had received a proposal on inmate support to cut down on recidivism. "I hope we can get some funding."

The average daily population for the past month has been 71, with a 6.89-day average stay.

Planning Director Anthony Gutierrez said FEMA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had done an inspection of the floodplain management program. "Fish and Wildlife has given us more requirements. If there is a development, we much made a determination if there is critical habitat."

"I submitted the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan," Gutierrez said. "We fixed a few errors. We are trying to fill Dori's (Dominquez, ordinance officer) and Violet's (Villegas, mapper) positions. After receiving some in-house applications, I chose to go out to the general public for more applicants. Dori's position is not union; Violet's is. It is difficult to find the technical skills needed at what we pay. We are trying to separate GIS and the mapper from title search. We don't use a lot of GIs, but we need to. It's difficult to find anyone even with minimal qualifications."

Ramos noted the retirement of the two lost the county more than 50 years of experience.

General Services Director Randy Villa said public works is working on senior centers to reach state compliance for hood ranges. "Gary Stailey is brining out probation juveniles for clearing weeds at the cross-county race route for an upcoming meet. The Detention Center roof is leaking, but is still under warranty. The company will repair or replace."

He reported a new employee for the airport, who needs training, but "we are making sure flights are covered on a daily basis. No one is answering the request for proposal for fuel for the airport. Justin (Reese, public works manager) is going to a meeting in Ruidoso, where hopefully he can find some vendors. We will have another airport action plan meeting in October. We had four companies submit interest to provide air service to the county airport."

Villa said Corre Caminos would bring its budget for approval, with some possible increases in fares. He reported a national fire conference would be held in Silver City in 2015. He said the Tyrone Volunteer Fire Station was on schedule to be completed by the end of the month.

Robinson said several meetings would be held for input on the essential air service providers.

Villa said the shooting range high house construction would begin next week.

Vasquez noted that the 2015 final budget had received approval by the state.

Villanueva said he had one vacancy due to a retirement. "I sent some staff for training to Las Cruces. I stress that we train more here, so the smaller agencies can benefit. A lot has been going on in the city and county. My guys help the city."

Treasurer Steve Armendariz said the Property Tax Division was in his office. "We mailed out delinquent notices and hope to have an influx of payments to clear them. We are waiting to get the tax rolls from the assessor. November 1 is out target date to send out tax bills."

Guthrie said she would have a report on Thursday.

Liz Gomez, clerk deputy 3, said the bureau of elections personnel were in training this week.

Robinson noted there would be no second meeting in September because of the county fair. The next meeting, after Thursday's regular session, would be a combined work and regular session on Oct. 7.

Ramos said the eco-watershed group received a presentation by Highlands, which will team up with Western New Mexico University to GIS the Gila National Forest. "We also had meetings with the Forest Service on the travel management plan appeal, but don't know how well it went until we hear from them." He said he had had a meeting with WNMU President Joe Shepard on the GIS program and on grants for funding it. He will have another meeting with Shepard and the athletic director to try to get baseball back to the university.

Kasten announced the county fair from Sept. 25-27. Thursday after the meeting the commissioners will tour the detention center. "I'm excited for the EAS opportunity to see what each airline will offer. We will make the decision in October."

Villa said public works personnel were preparing for the fair. Kasten asked that the construction area be fenced off and that the contractor not be working during the fair to which Villa responded he would make sure the are was secure.

The regular meeting will take place at 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11.

 

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