[Editor's Note: This is part 5 and the final of a multi-article series on the Grant County Commission special meeting on Sept. 26, 2023, which lasted almost three hours. This one continues with presentations from individual Grant County Volunteer Fire Departments.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The special meeting on Sept. 26, 2023, continued with reports from individual volunteer fire department chiefs.

Fort Bayard VFD Chief Eugene Rodriguez said he would give a summary of what his department needs. "I can't say replacing the ladder truck is my top priority, but it is ay top priority because the cost of it keeps going up. It goes up by 10 to 20 percent every quarter. I got a quote to replace the exact truck we have and it's at $1.5 million. It needs to be replaced. I talked to the county manager. I have no way and not enough funds to pay that much, so I will need assistance from you guys to replace that truck. Fort Bayard has multi-story buildings. Granted no one is in them now, but if someone is in them, we have to go save them.

The nursing home is a single story, but these apparatuses have tools that help us fight fires. We are able to get on single-story roofs a lot safer, rather than getting on them with ground ladders. There are only two ladder trucks in the county, and right now Silver City Fire's truck is down, in the process of getting repaired, so we are the only ladder truck in the county right now. If anything happens in the city, they are calling us to respond."

He said the department also needs to replace a 1997 Ford Bronco that carries equipment for them. He said two tenders need to be replaced within the next five years. "We have another one that is older and is basically just a water carrier, and when it breaks, it is probably not feasible to repair it. The only reason maybe to replace it is because Hanover does not have the 40,000 gallons of water, so they need our two tenders and the older one for a total of 5,000 gallons. The service vehicle gives us half a point on the ISO, but it's not fully equipped and would need at least $60,000 to outfit it. If it breaks I'm not going to repair it. We moved an engine to Hanover that is a six-seater so now that they have more personnel they can get to a fire together. It's running well, but by time and age, it will need to be replaced. We do have a UTV that we use for EMS and fire. We've run seven EMS calls behind Fort Bayard. Now that it has a rescue skid behind it, it kicks up a lot of dust, so we probably need a UTV that is specifically built for EMS, with a closed cab and air-conditioning. I haven't gotten an estimate, but it might be something that we could go into together with Whiskey Creek to get one, so we can go to the Dragonfly area, too.

"Our old brush truck is getting turned into a rope rescue truck and hopefully get the UTV trailer hooked up to it so it's constantly available," he continued "We took delivery of our brand new brush truck. It went back to Texas for repair, but it will be ready tomorrow. We are going to try to get Station 1 at Fort Bayard painted next spring, but we have to get permission from the state, because it is owned by the state. We are working with General Services on getting a 100-year lease on our land. They said it would have to go through the Legislature. If we get the lease, we would put in a training center for the county and have a burn building and tower. It would help our ISO points throughout the county. Right now, Silver Fire allows us to train at their facility."

He said Station 2 at Ivanhoe out at Santa Rita will get painted this winter. "We need to have the inside refitted with LED bulbs to save electricity. We do have a 40,000 gallon water storage, but we did not get a pump. We do now have a pump that needs to be installed, but we had an issue with getting electrical to it. I would like to get a gasoline-powered generator there. Station 2 also needs a generator and some proper stairs to get up on the loft. Station 3 at Hanover needs a 40,000 gallon tank and a generator, and we need a washer for the personal protective equipment. We have a grant request in for radios for all the trucks, so everyone has the same radio. Most of our radios are analog, and the county isn't in the digital age yet, but hopefully we will get there soon. We need two thermal imaging cameras for the engines. We also need airbags for lifting crashed vehicles. Silver did have them, but they have reached an age where they can't be used anymore. Right now in the county, no one has any. That's something we want to get, especially there near the mine. We've already had two semis roll over. We want gas monitors on our engines, and we want rip bags, which basically are SCBAs (self-contained breathing apparatus) in a bag that we can go into and rescue an injured firefighter, with extra air. We have two and would like two more, with one for each engine. We also need more AEDs (automated external defibrillator). We need more fire hose, seems like every year 10 to 20 percent of our hose needs to be replaced. We need hose bit covers, because some engines are missing them, and it's a safety and liability issue if a hose falls off and hits a vehicle. We need chainsaws for structure fires. We need a pallet of foam every year or so. It's probably something the county could use, a foam trailer to carry Class B foam. it would have helped on the tire fire and it works on diesel spills. The airport has it, but the truck cannot leave the airport."

The next presentation came from Whiskey Creek VFD Chief Daniel Salaiz, who gave his five-year plan. "Since I was sworn in as chief in 2011, we have always worked with a five-year plan. In 2022, we began a program to replace all our SCBAs. In 2022, we purchased eight and with a 2023 grant, we will purchase eight more, as well as masks and 20 SCBA bottles. The department also purchased extrication equipment at a cost of $23,000, and we plan to purchase two more sets of extrication equipment over the next two years. This year, we have purchased eight new sets of bunker gear, and we just repaired the roof at Station 3. We also purchased some additional land on Rosedale Road to expand the station on Rosedale. We also had the Rosedale station painted. We took delivery this year of a new command unit at a cost of about $89,000. Our goals for the rest of 2023 are the repair of the Station 1 roof, which they just completed. We are also putting a parking area at Station 2, of which they just started the groundbreaking, and should be completed within the next week or two. We put in for the state Fire Marshal grant for 25 handheld and 15 mobile radios, which is part of the department's radio replacement program. If the grant is received it will put the department about four years ahead on its radio replacement program. The grant, if received, will pay about $100,000 of the total, leaving the department paying about $60,000. We are also looking to replace all PPE by the end of the year for a cost of about $25,000, and that's probably a light number. We have 22 members on our roster and it's about $1,500 a person to replace the gear for them. Engine 3 needs replacement and we will finance it in several ways. One would be trading it in for about $100,000. The department will also put in for a grant in 2024 for $300,000 to go toward the purchase of a new engine. We expect a carryover of about $200,000 in fire funds to pay for that as well, giving us about $600,000 to work with. The remaining balance will be financed through the New Mexico Finance Authority. We also are looking toward a total renovation of Station 1 in 2024, because it's not up to code. That particular building was built in 1980. If funding does not allow for both an engine and the remodel, we will determine which is the priority at that time. In 2025, the department plans to have the roof resealed at Station 2. That year, we will also evaluate if new replacement bunker gear is needed."

"It is also my intent to secure two sets of bunker gear for each firefighter, so they can wash them between fires," Salaiz continued. "It reduces the carcinogens they are exposed to in structural fires. Some don't want to wash their gear because they don't have a second set. In 2026, we want to replace a water tender. One tender has had issues since the day it was purchased and had 13 months of downtime. and is currently down for electrical issues once again. In 2027, the department will look into an expansion of station 2. The plan is to add three bays and storage on the east side of the station at an estimated cost of $500,000. We understand that our priorities may be changed over the years and may be subjected to the current financial status of the department. We will attempt on this plan to maintain the proper priorities of the department. The line officers meet monthly to discuss the operating budget, priorities, the status of the department and our finances. Our intent is not to replace an apparatus at 20 years. We have had good luck in keeping them well maintained and functional, but it depends on the apparatus." He gave an example of two different engines, one of which has had little downtime and the other a great deal of downtime.

"It is the intent of the chief to have a working and transparent relationship with the county commission and the fire management officer," Salaiz said.

He broke down the hours. "We have had a total of more than 2,000 hours of training for the department this year. As for calls for the department, these do not include the calls that were missed. We have had a total of 71 calls with 43 EMS and 28 for fire. For 13 of the calls we provided primary or mutual aid, and we also received aid about 13 times. So, about 60.56 percent of our calls are medical. Right now, we have three licensed medical personal in our department, two EMTs and one first responder. We have three personnel in a basic EMT class right now. We are responding to about 35 to 40 percent of our calls. That's the reality of it due to the number of personnel and the licensed ones. We are recruiting with signs out in front of the station. In two years, we've had only one phone call as a result of the signs. We will be looking at different avenues for recruitment."

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne said he was curious as to what happens to the other half of the calls that "you are not able to respond to."

"For most of the medical calls out in the county, we do a dual response with Gila Regional," Salaiz replied. "We do respond with personnel who can hopefully get there before the ambulance and get started on rendering any type of life-saving aid that may be needed. On fire calls, we have a mutual and automatic aid agreement with Fort Bayard. As soon as we are paged out on a fire call, Fort Bayard should be paged with us. We have done that to ensure that we will have enough personnel. If we don't give a response, Dispatch should go down the list to the next closest in area to the call to provide aid."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce thanked the fire chiefs for their service and their reports.

Fire Management Officer Randy Villa said that completed the reports. "If you have any questions, let me know and I will pass it on to the chiefs."

Under new business, the first item considered an ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) allocation for the Tu Casa lift station. Facilities Supervisor Jason Lockett said he is requesting $39,431.87 for a lift station rehab. "For some background, the lift station is failing due to what I will call 'value engineering' [to commission laughter] at the time, so we're suffering the consequences now. The pump rails are failing, the fasteners, the basket wasn't put in correctly and the lid is failing."

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings asked how old the lift station is and Lockett replied it came online in 2016.

"Interestingly enough," Billings said, "I was late to the meeting this morning because I was looking at a 40-plus-year-old lift station I have that is still operating. Who can we hold accountable for something that is that new?"

Lockett said it's tough, because it was a previous contractor and the same problem "we ran into with the conference center roof. It's kind of that parable that you get what you pay for. It's failing and we don't want to shut down that facility due to it failing. With that funding we are replacing parts and getting it up to par where it should have been at the beginning."

Commissioners approved the ARPA allocation for the Tu Casa lift station rehab.

The next item was an ARPA allocation request of $10,786 for a Detention Center backflow replacement. Lockett said they want to replace the backflow preventer that has been in place since the Detention Center was built in 2012. "It's at the point where you can't put in a repair kit anymore. It's worn out. We want to get it done in a timely manner and that is the cost for the whole thing. It will also help with the accreditation of the facility."

Commissioners approved the ARPA allocation for the backflow preventer.

The final new business requested the use of LATCF (Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund) monies for replacement of obsolete doors at the Detention Center. Lockett said the automatic sliding doors are controlled from the facility's control center, "but they are not longer making parts for them, so they need to be replaced. We are trying to get these doors ordered before they stop making parts for our doors at the end of the year. We do have some parts that are starting to fail. The price for the doors is $135,798.13."

Ponce asked if it qualifies for ARPA dollars. County Manager Charlene Webb said yes, ARPA funding had been used previously for projects like this.

"I'm throwing this out because ARPA has strict stipulations and we have to have the funding encumbered by a certain date, whereas the LATCF funds are a bit more lenient with stipulations, with the only thing you can't use it on is lobbying," Ponce said.

Webb confirmed that there are no other stipulations on the funding, other than the lobbying. "They can be used on almost anything and don't really have a deadline."

Ponce moved to pay for the Detention Center doors using ARPA funding. Commissioners approved the allocation.

Billings had no commissioner report. Browne said they had seen a chart earlier of scores on the schools. "Cliff did really well with a 62. It was a spotlight school. I just wanted you to know that Aldo Leopold Charter School got 65, and their special education classes do better than Silver High. It's a public school; I'm proud of it and just wanted you to know that."

Ponce said he talked to Dave Wallace at BLM and he feels comfortable with the chemicals they are using and how they are using them on the thinning project near Pinos Altos. "I did ask if they could do better at teaming up with the county and municipalities to get out the information to alleviate some of the calls and problems. My biggest thing was having the communication and bring it to us and maybe putting it on our website. I don't think they did a very good job of getting the information out."

Webb said that the emergency manager Scott Fuller was getting calls from residents about that, so "I will ask him to get in touch with Mr. Wallace."

Browne thanked him for addressing it. "It did prompt my memory. State Forestry is also involved. I've been quite dissatisfied with their communications, too. People remember the Rico Fire, which wasn't that long ago. Some of the people up there think that the way they thinned exacerbated the fire. I have no idea if that's true or not, but that's the thing that a public presentation can help bring people to ask those questions and get answers."

Ponce said: "I think maybe we can get some more presentations soon and start working on that. I hear people at Walmart say they watch the county meetings, so they know what's going on. I think we have a pretty good audience here."

The meeting adjourned.

To read the previous articles in the series, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/80558-grant-county-commission-held-special-meeting-092623-part-1  ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/80607-grant-county-commission-held-special-meeting-092623-part-2  ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/80659-grant-county-commission-held-special-meeting-092623-part-3  ; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/80756-grant-county-commission-held-sept-26-2023-special-meeting-part-4 .