[Editor's Note: This is part 2 of multiple articles on the Grant County Commission work session on Aug. 8, 2023. It continues with county reports.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The Grant County Commission work session on Aug. 8, 2023 continued with county reports.

General Services Director and Fire Management Officer Randy Villa presented his report.

He began with maintenance. "They are currently working on ADA and the parking lot of the Silver Street complex. On Bataan Memorial Park, with some funding we had, we have added a driveway by the pavilion. At the Fairgrounds they are working on some demolition in order to construct new offices."

For the airport, Villa said fire season started early in April and without much precipitation, it's been an active one. "We've for the past month sold about $469,000 worth of aviation fuel. We currently have two DC-9s and helicopters at the fire base for fire control in the Gila. We have three construction projects going on. The first is for excavation for the fuel farm and added fuel storage. Projects are also addressing runway restoration to help drainage and repair cracks. All work is going on at night after aviation is completed for the day. It does not impact emergency helicopter transfers at night. These projects are funded by the state and include pavement maintenance at the T-hangars."

District 2 Commissioner Eloy Medina, who also serves as EMS director at Gila Regional Medical Center, asked for an estimated time of completion. "The runway restoration does impact fixed wing night transfers from the hospital."

Villa agreed and said he didn't know of a completion date, but he would ask.

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards asked if the airport has resolved the fuel shortages.

Villa said, the fuel farm storage will help alleviate the shortages. "We've been lucky that we've had enough fuel for the fire season and for Advanced Air. We are contracted with Advanced Air, and they do their refueling here for the flights in and out."

As fire management officer, he noted that the county volunteer fire departments had answered 70 fire calls and 60 EMS calls in July. "On the topic of volunteer fire departments, we have a VFD fire chiefs meeting every fourth Monday of the month. We talk about their needs, their budgets, their training. Each chief gives an assessment of his or her department. If the chiefs don't show up, they don't get the information they need, although we do send it out by email. I haven't seen the Lower Mimbres chief but once since she's been chief. This meeting is important for the chiefs to show up, participate and learn about what we do. Firefighters are ordinary people doing extraordinary things."

"I can't hold their hands," Villa said. "Finance is the most important. In the Lower MImbres they need a new brush truck and new radios. The problem is they do have turnover. They need to be proactive. The meeting with the chiefs is a public meeting. Each department has an amount that they can spend on equipment, for instance, without approval. We want to make sure we get a five-year plan for each department for equipment and maintenance. People volunteering also have to do a lot of training for the job. I've done the best I could to help them all succeed."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce asked about the article he had seen about the Glenwood fire station potentially closing in Catron County. County Manager Charlene Webb confirmed the closure. "The volunteers have aged out."

Villa said he is taking classes on how to recruit for the VFDs. "I know the Pinos Altos VFD has booths at events to try to recruit for their volunteer force. All the VFDs are training together. We know we have to help one another out. We work together. The Cliff/Gila VFD has been fighting a lot of fires. We have mutual aid agreements among our departments, including in the municipalities. We want to assure you and the county manager that we will get this straightened out, until it is not an issue we have."

Ponce said he had forgotten to tell Detention Center Joseph Andazola something. "At the New Mexico Counties conference, they made it a priority to increase funding for recruitment and transfers for sheriffs' offices and detention centers." Andazola acknowledged hearing that.

Next came the financial director report. Financial Officer Linda Vasquez said she has is preparing two requests for proposal and a bid with release dates to be determined. The two RFPs address first, banking services and second, grant writing and consultant services. The bid is for a Fleming Tank Road drainage improvement project. She also noted that the accounting specialist position has been filled with Carolyn Castillo scheduled to begin Aug. 14, 2023.

The following report came from Road Department Superintendent Joe Grijalva. He said blade men are performing routine maintenance; road crews address complaints as they come in; road crews are also doing shouldering and patching of 2023 school bus roads. "The Road Department will be chip sealing with the town of Silver City the week of Aug. 14. And we'll be chip sealing the school bus roads on the week of Aug. 28. We have completed the installation of warning lights on Airport Road, except the one that needs a battery. For future projects, we have two low-water crossings on Noonday Canyon Road. We will have to lift sections of road and set culverts. We also will finish the special project on Little Walnut and install bus stop warning lights in the Tyrone townsite. As always, we ask for patience and understanding from the public as we work to address work orders."

Edwards said she was approached by a Wind Canyon resident who appreciated the improved maintenance on the Wind Canyon roads.

Medina said he had heard concerns from residents in the Noonday Canyon area. "It seems to come up often in your reports. Do you have a plan?"

Grijalva said the department plans to try out different materials in September. "The ground has nothing to bind materials to. We have constant issues with it breaking up ever since I've been with the department. We want something that stays compacted and stays put. We hope the new materials will be better."

Ponce said he wanted to compliment Webb and Hernandez on what they've done on the Crum, Franks and Arenas Valley roads for the work they've planned out there. "The word is getting out about them, and the calls have gone to zero. So, I just wanted to thank you."

Internet Technology Director Adam Baca presented his IT report. He noted that Robert Hood had been promoted to Network Administrator, "so, he'll be taking on that higher level of responsibility immediately.
Because of the promotion, that vacated the IT specialist position, so I'm recruiting for that currently. I hope to have some candidates by the end of the month, so we can interview and get that position filled."

He noted that the department had almost completed the managed network switch equipment process. "We are now working on the new server infrastructure and continuing with the GovPros payment system implementation in the Treasurer's office. We are running into problems with Tyler and with communication on the issues. Our future project include website redesign, and content management with Tyler ERP (enterprise resource planning) and Tyler Cloud SaaS (Software as a Service). We are bringing the website to a more modern style. It will be done in the latter half of the year."

[Editor's note to all report givers, PLEASE explain all acronyms. I know you know what they mean, but I and the reading public don't always know what they mean!)

The next article will begin with the review of the regular meeting agenda and will include information on the public hearing as well as beginning elected official reports.

For the first article in the series, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/79844-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-080823-part-1