Editor's Note: This is part two of the Grant County Commission Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, work session and covers county reports.

By Mary Alice Murphy

Gila Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Brian Cunningham presented the first county report heard by commissioners at their Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014 work session.

"I want to clarify once again that the financial report I give you is more than a month old," Cunningham said. "We will present the latest report for September at the board meeting this Friday. At the end of the first two months of the fiscal year, July and August, we had a positive bottom line of $336,000. We are off to a good start for the year. We have 143.2 days of cash on hand. We are in the midst of a third-party audit. The results have been sent to the state, and the preliminary report is positive."

He said the positive bottom line is due to strong support from the commissioners, the legislators, the community, the hospital board members and the caregivers, as well as that the hospital followed its plan in a disciplined way. "We went from being down $9 million at the beginning of last fiscal year, to a positive number at the end of August. It was no accident, this turn-around. The home health and hospice transition will be mostly complete by mid-November and we will have a report on where the caregivers went, whether to Horizon, within the hospital or to AmberCare, which is likely coming to town to provide services."

The hospital is hiring is own general surgeon, Dr. Friedman. A right-of-first-refusal agreement has been made with Tri-State Care Flight for emergency flights to other facilities.

"I wanted to let the commissioners know that Tri-State will be leasing and placing a modular building on the hospital campus for crews' quarters and maintenance," Cunningham said. "They are paying the costs contractually and will remove it if they leave.

"And Ebola," he continued. "Like every other hospital in the country, we have been following the situation closely at GRMC. We deal with infectious disease every day. GRMC takes it seriously. We are meeting almost daily and have modified our training and processes. We have increased drills and have identified where we can isolate someone. We have a group of caregivers trained to deal with this. The infection control team will work from identification to treatment to waste disposal."

Commissioner Ron Hall said the difficulty with Ebola is that it is happening at the same time as flu season, where patients have some of the same symptoms. "You took a lot of hits during the turn-around, but I appreciate what you've done. It has been well-planned and well thought out."

"I can't say enough about the caregivers," Cunningham said. "Especially in this Ebola training, this group is volunteering, in spite of knowing they may be putting themselves in harm's way, and the reason is because they care so much for the community."

Hall noted that more people are dying of the flu than of Ebola.

"We're dealing with it all the time," Cunningham said. "We feel well prepared. I guarantee you Gila Regional will step up and do the best it can for the community."

Commission Chairman Brett Kasten asked Cunningham about the safety net pool funding and whether some had gone to the previous fiscal year.

"Yes, the auditors made clear that $1.8 million of the funding had to be put toward the January to June portion of the year, with the rest, about $5 million to be spread out over the rest of the calendar year," Cunningham said.

Kasten asked about the $187,000 in indigent funding the commissioners would approve at Thursday's meeting. Cunningham said he thought the indigent funding was for Detention Center inmates' health care costs.

Chris DeBolt, Grant County Community Health Council coordinator, reported on the Red Hot Children's Fiesta, which is a cleverly disguised health resource fair. "We had 40 community partners, more than 2,100 attendees, 26 new children signed up for Imagination Library, and Zoo to You from Albuquerque, which used this year's theme, Let's Get Buggy, had more than 1,087 come to the booth, before they lost count."

She also said the Oct. 11 Mimbres Valley Health Fair, which was part of the Mimbres Valley Harvest Festival, was the biggest and best yet, with screenings all day long. "We had more than the 254 people who signed in, gave out 141 flu shots, 70 pulmonary tests and 100 lab tests for cholesterol and Hepatitis C. We ran out. Doctors and physician assistants from Hidalgo Medical Services went over the results with those who were screened."

On Oct. 11, the health council hosted a Community Investment Fund workshop for those wanting information on applying for funding. Sixty attendees got help for their applications. "Our assistant coordinator, Kendra Milligan, just texted me that the health council received $2,500 for planting trees in the community."

"On our health and wellness plan, we will be looking at senior issues as our first priority in family resiliency and also at early childhood," DeBolt said. "In community health and safety, we are working with the Disabilities Advisory Council to roll out the resource center soon. In domestic violence and sexual assault, the priorities are domestic violence and bullying—the prevention, intervention and treatment. We are also partnering with the Adult Substance Abuse Continuum of Care."

Hall said he, Mike Carillo of the Detention Center, and Susie Trujillo of GRMC Project Development are on the committee. "Working with you and getting all your data is invaluable," Hall said to DeBolt.

Carillo gave his report and said the Detention Center has two vacancies and two newly hired applicants being trained. The needed facility repairs have been completed. The Inmate Support Group has met with County Manager Charlene Webb and Silver City Town Manager Alex Brown to discuss funding requests. Carillo said the average daily population from Oct. 4-17 was 63. The recidivism from January to Oct. 17, all males, coming in with new charges has been 31. "The other disturbing factor is that the individuals who have recidivated have multiple recividisms. We are looking at 55 for the year. It is costing us thousands of dollars. And this isn't including the females, the statistics for whom I haven't yet checked."

To a question from Hall, Carillo said the cost to the county is $4,200 a day for recidivism.

"We need to make them productive in our society," Hall said.

"I agree," Carillo said. "The majority of the recidivists have substance abuse issues."

"Almost 100 percent, according to law enforcement, have issues with substance abuse," Hall concurred.

Carillo said the problem is the recidivists get out of jail and while they are out, they re-offend and end back in jail. He said he had talked to a fence company, about three gates, two of which would be automated and one manual. "We expect a proposal for multiple fences." To another question from Hall, Carillo said the jail is close to completion on its investigation of a recent escape by two inmates.

Road Superintendent Earl Moore said his department has all six blades running, getting ranch roads fixed after the monsoons, so the ranchers can ship their cattle.

Commissioner Gabriel Ramos asked Moore if the department has a rotation for re-chip-sealing roads, because he receives questions about it.

"We generally take care of the bus routes first," Moore said. "We have a rotation every five years for major routes and every seven years for other routes. When the department was short of money, the rotations were skipped for four or five years. We're trying to get back on the rotation schedule. We are now getting about half of what we used to get from the state from the Local Government Road Fund."

County Planner Anthony Gutierrez said the LGRF monies are going to the Roadrunner project and until the bonds are paid in about 2020, "we won't see any additional funding."

He said he attended a flood plain conference, and left it to participate in the Freeport Community Investment Fund panel to help applicants develop their applications. "Last year, we had, I think 38 applicants. It's amazing the needs for the non-profits. I thank Freeport for giving $500,000 total to these groups every year."

Gutierrez said the Gila/San Francisco Water Commission, of which he is chairman, was asked by the Interstate Stream Commission to prioritize the projects. "We are going to look at them today. It's crunch time."

He also announced the ISC would be holding a meeting in the Grant County Administration Center on Friday, Nov. 14. He was unsure of the time at that point.

Gutierrez said Rosedale Road had a declaration of prescriptive rights that was never filed in the Clerk's Office. The road has issues with portions that have no right-of-way allocation, although the certification is available from the state.

He said a new mapper started in his office the day before, and a replacement ordinance officer for Dori Dominguez's position had been "stolen from the assessor's office."

General Service Director Randy Villa said Public Works is trying to get the Shooting Range high house completed. Some work had been finished at Bataan Park, and his workers were shutting down swamp coolers and winterizing county-owned buildings.

The volunteer fire departments are getting together with State Forestry for training, he said. "We will be recognizing several VFDs for their ISO rate drops, which makes the residents' insurance less expensive." He predicted because of a good monsoon season, "we will be right back with the fire fuels next year."

The Tyrone VFD Station expansion is just about done, and Whiskey Creek VFD had an inspection to determine its ISO rating.

"In Corre Caminos, we want sustainability," Villa said. "We are working with the manager on staff and dispatch training."

Sheriff Raul Villanueva said his department has been "extremely busy. We are preparing for Halloween and encourage the public to be aware and observant. The Cobre/Silver football game is also that night."

Treasurer Steve Armendariz said the county had collected to date $5.3 million for 2013 taxes, $198,000 of which had been collected since June. "If we look at the 10 years 2004-2013, we see a 98 percent collection rate. We have $1.5 outstanding, $52,000 of which fell off the tax rolls from 2004, because it is longer than 10 years. In 2014, we anticipate collections to be about $5.86 million. On this October 1, in one day, we received $23,000 in taxes. Those are the prepaid ones by mortgage companies. Through yesterday, this month we have received $53,600."

He said he was trying to work with the Property Tax Division to keep properties from falling off the rolls. Fourteen properties are listed for a tax sale at 9 a.m. Nov. 19. "Traditionally most are redeemed before the date. We get the tax portion, and the state gets the penalty and interest. New tax bills will go out this week. They are due Nov. 10, and delinquent after Dec. 10 for first half 2014 taxes."

Clerk Robert Zamarripa said early voting had begun in his office weekdays and Saturday, Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Early voting at the Bayard Community Center is Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Nov. 1. Election Day at eight voter convenience centers is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 4. Voter convenience centers, where any voter registered in Grant County may vote on Election Day, include:
• Tyrone Community Center – 100 Turquoise St., Tyrone, NM
• Silver City Woman's Club – 1715 Silver Heights Blvd., Silver City, NM
• Grant County Business and Conference Center (Next to ACE Hardware) – 3031 Highway 180 East, Silver City, NM
• National Guard Armory – 1990 U.S. Highway 180, Santa Clara, NM
• Bayard Community Center – 209 Hurley Ave., Bayard, NM
• Hurley Community Center – 312 Carrasco Ave., Hurley, NM

Polling locations in rural areas include:
• Precincts 1 and 2 can vote at the Cliff School
• Precincts 3 and 4 can vote at Sapillo Creek VFD
• Precincts 5 and 10 can vote at the San Lorenzo Elementary School
• Precinct 6 can vote at the Redrock church
• Precinct 7 can vote at the Pinos Altos VFD
• Precinct 31 can vote at the Hachita Baptist Church
• Precinct 35 can vote at the Mule Creek Community Center
•
Absentee/Early Voting: To request an Absentee Application contact the clerk's office at 575-574-0042 or print out an application by visiting www.grantcountynm.com and going to the County Clerk page. The ballots are due in the County Clerk's office by 5 p.m. Nov. 4.

Zamarripa reported that as of the morning of the commissioners' work session, more than 1,700 ballots had been processed from mail-in ballots and from those voting absentee in person.

County Manager Charlene Webb said the county had sent in its recommendation for Boutique Air to provide essential air service to the Grant County Airport. "I spoke with Melanie Goodman of Senator Tom Udall's office and she told me Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich had sent a letter supporting our recommendation."

Webb said the IRS bond audit, which was extensive, was going well and due by Oct. 31. Independent auditors would be doing the fiscal year end audit, which was due in November. "I have also talked with Mark Valenzuela of George K. Baum and Company about refinancing the 2005 bonds. The bids are out for the Sheriff's Office vault. And we anticipate putting out a request for bids to renovate the Conference Center in March or April, for construction to begin after August 1, tentatively."

Ramos said he has met with the Magistrate Court Manager on getting people to do road clean up. "I also attended an internal emergency management plan meeting, which went well."

Hall said he was continuing his work on the Adult Substance Abuse Continuum of Care. "We also held another meeting on the animal ordinance. It will take several more months."

Kasten said at the most recent New Mexico Association of Counties meeting, the group wanted to have its meeting in Silver City in August 2015. "But if we'll be under construction at the Conference Center, maybe we can put it off until 2016."

The next meeting, and only November meeting, a combined work and regular session meeting of the County Commission will be a change of day, date and time to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, because of conflicts. Zamarripa said his Elections Bureau would have voting results ready for a canvass for a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7.