By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held a regular meeting June 17, 2026. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Mayor Pro Tem Eloy Gonzales, Eloy Medina and Charles Gray. Martha Salas, city clerk, also attended. Gilbert Ortiz did not attend.

The council approved the agenda.

Public input

Kendra Milligan came to speak to the council about Trees New Mexico. They have been working with the Bayard beatification committee to plant trees on private property in Bayard. They will have 50 trees to plant on August 29, 2026, and will be planting trees in people’s front yards to combat the heat island effect. “We need volunteers to help plant the trees.” A whole variety of trees will be available to choose from. Tree New Mexico has been working in Albuquerque since 1990 but received a grant to make it spread statewide. They have already planted 125 trees in Silver City since October 2025. People may sign up by accessing their website at treenm.org. It will be a free service.

Milligan asked for a secure place for them to store the trees the day before. They will have 100 trees and hope to plant the additional 50 to volunteers that come help with the planting. She asked for any support the council could provide. The council wanted to know more about the trees they would be providing and Milligan said they would be native and climate ready. Trees New Mexico has planted about 15,000 trees in the state currently. Once they have a name and address for people that want a tree, they will visit the property and determine with a landscape architect what would be the best placement of the tree and also make sure they will not be hitting any water lines and such by having them marked. An excavator comes and digs the hole and then the volunteers come and plant the tree. They have had a 90-95 percent survival rate for the trees.

A resident had come to speak during public comment for he and his neighbors. They have been concerned about the number of people living in travel trailers. That has not been allowed in the city of Bayard unless they have a permit or in the process of building a home on the property. It has created a disturbance for some people.

Dolores Charon came to thank Gray for his help having her weeds cut and some of the branches cut. Since the fire happened, she has needed some trees taken care of.

Verenice Gutierrez had come to introduce herself as the new superintendent of Cobre Consolidated Schools. She wanted to invite them to come talk with her at any time and she wants to know the community. She has a place on the Cobre webpage to schedule a time to meet with her. “I am excited to serve the community.” Although not born and raised here she had been born and raised in El Paso but started her career in New Mexico at Gadsden schools. She wanted to get to know the mayor and spoke to some funding that would be available with a gas pipeline that would be constructed in the Sothern part of Grant County and the state of New Mexico.

The council approved the consent agenda that included minutes from three meetings, accounts payable and department head reports. It also had the attendance of the court clerk to a conference in Ruidoso and elected officials and staff to attend the New Mexico Municipal League annual conference.

Planning and zoning

Cordell Jones, planning and zoning chair, said they had received a request for permission to bring in a doublewide mobile home to 1107 Canyon Street. They had provided a planning layout of how the home would be positioned and it meets all of the standards. Planning and zoning did not have any exceptions and recommend approval. Currently the lot does not have city services, and they will have to make those arrangements. Jones said also they will have to provide a building permit and approval for records. The council approved the recommendation.

New business

Jason Godfrey, Better Cities, had come to do a presentation on the vision plan they have made for the acreage Bayard had recently acquired. He said they had great community engagement and met with some of the council members. Godfrey said they viewed this as a once in a generation opportunity and they had approached it with two primary principals. One they cared deeply about the community because they have been involved with the mining district and Grant County for ten years.

What every they do must help and uplift the community. Houses will be a piece of it but also jobs and community gathering spaces. The second part they look at it from a zero budget standpoint. He spoke to private development and how they would attract it to gain those taxes to use to finance public amenities.

With this plan they had looked at the topography of the land and development priorities. He said if they had any feedback, questions or comments the development of the plan still could be adjusted. At this time, they had received 157 survey responses and felt that had been a lot of community input. A lot of consensuses for outdoor recreation and housing had come from the engagement of the community. Godfrey pointed out they have a high poverty rate and low wages. Housing would need to be affordable but with the low wages it would not be attainable. Wages would need to increase or lower housing costs and that brought up a qualitative concern. The quality of housing will be important to attract people to want to live there.

They will have to create a place for people to live with generational opportunities. The land has two primary constraints with one being a floodplain in the middle and the second will be the contours of the topography. He had a map for the council that highlighted the areas that could be developed. The next thing to consider will be site access to utilities. He identified the easiest to develop first using the map.

Godfrey said their market research said a market for homes in Grant County over $500,000 has been identified. Incomes do exist to purchase these homes, but they don’t have a supply. He felt a developer could be enticed because some of the land has gorgeous views and with homes in that range it would also generate a lot of property tax. They had also looked at incomes in Grant County and found 943 households that make over $150,000 a year and they could afford a $500,000 home.

The presentation move to business opportunities on highway 180. This area will be around the First American Bank and will be easily developed. He said, “The retail vacancy in Grant County is .5 percent and you cannot find properties to rent. The vacancy rate for offices is zero.” He felt they could build spaces, and it would be profitable.

In their community engagement people had asked for a Bayard Plaza that reflected the mining heritage and would have a gathering place. They had come up with a concept that would create a gathering place and create an incubator space for businesses. It would be a popular way to have pop up markets and food trucks. It will develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem. One of the critical issues for the area will be to create jobs. He said the median wage in Bayard has been $35,000 and a 34 percent poverty rate.

The city has very little industrial space, but they talked about creating a training facility with Western New Mexico University. It could be a way to build the economy. He also spoke to small spaces people could test their ideas giving them the resource to translate their passion into a business in a small scale and said no place in the country has this.

The recreation component had been something the community had real interest in. He had suggested trails in the beautiful areas of the land. He said Priscilla Lucero, Southwest Council of Governments director, had funding available for this purpose and an industrial park spoken about earlier. The state has been interested in seeding industrial parks.

Godfrey will be sending this information to Salas and Lucero. The council posed some questions. Medina wanted to review the floodplain. He had concerns about building permits and funding in those areas. Currently they do not have a floodplain manger in Grant County.

The council approved appointing Kim Clark as Que Linda Community Beautification grant administrator. Salas asked the council if they had any questions for her and they didn’t.

The council approved the purchase of equipment and software with a contract for the police department vehicles. Hector Carrillo, police chief, said this would go together with their body cams. Currently they do not have this capability with the police units which will be dash cams. This will put two units in the vehicle, one for the front and one for the prisoner in the vehicle. The funding will come out of the law enforcement protection fund. It will initially be $91,000 and $17,000 thereafter each year.

The council approved the liability waiver for volunteer access to the animal shelter. Carrillo said Gray had asked that they have more accountability and he had agreed. Carrillo had worked on this policy so they knew who would be entering the facility and currently he has not idea. They will have a sign in sheet and the reason for them entering. Gray said he would like to see more accountability than presented because he worried about the times the animal control officer would be off or absent. He went through a few scenarios. Carrillo explained what they have been doing and because of not having an animal control officer the police officers have been handling the calls. What they have been doing has been to follow the animal as opposed to picking them up and then speak to the owner and talk to them or cite them. They have tried to avoid bringing them to the shelter since they don’t have an animal control officer at this time.

Carrillo said they have had a verbal agreement with the volunteers. If an animal needs care they will take them to Arenas Valley Animal Clinic. Medina asked how many volunteers they had entering the shelter. Carrillo said he thought they had about a total of ten. Medina suggested they have a camera at the shelter, and it would have a record of all that came and went. They discussed adding a camera at the shelter. He worried about someone doing something stupid to the dogs also and a camera would be a deterrent. Salas will look into it.

The council approved the stage two fire restrictions.

The council had a discussion and update on the situation at 607 Grant Street. The owner of the property, Randy Medina had joined online, and the council had been provided photos of the property. Yvonne Gonzales, city attorney, provided a recap of the situation before Randy Medina would be able to speak.

Yvonne Gonzales said on May 7, 2026, an order had been issued under the mayors signature to clean up the property and demolish the house. The certified copies had been received by him on May 13, 2026, and the order allowed him 30 days to accomplish this. Before May 20, 2026, they had received two handwritten letters from him asking for and extension. In the letter he also opposed the demolition, and he intended to repair and refurbish the residence bringing it up to code. At that time, she had written him a letter dated June 3, 2026, and told him he had to have the yard cleaned withing 30 days. This has not been done. As for the demolition she decided to bring it before the council. She also wanted to schedule a special meeting to address the situation.

At the request of Yvonne Gonzales, she has had Adobe Techniques go by the house and observe the situation from the street. She said he had 25 years experience in the construction business and has been well known in the area. He has said the electrical replacement will cost $20,000; plumbing will be $15,000 just to bring it up to code. A third of the house has been burned and the roof completely gone. The assessor’s office shows the house to be 1,492 square feet and the roof will be $50 a square foot and repairs at $120 a square foot to make it habitable. Yvonne Gozales said again she asked for a special meeting to be held to handle the situation and provide Randy Medina ample opportunity to state his case. She suggested the construction person be allowed entrance on to the property and into the house to make a better estimate but did not push due to liability. Bayard has continued to receive complaints on the property.

Yvonne Gonzales did note Randy Medina had the doorways boarded up and had a criminal trespass warning against the person that had been living there and burned down a third of the house.

Randy Medina said at this time he had his hands tied since October because of being in treatment. “I have made mistakes and am trying to get me life back together.” He asked for an extension until he finished treatment. At that time, he will be able to correct the issues on the property. He said, if need be, he could have it demolished for less than the attorney had quoted. He wanted the council to know that some of the pictures they had of his property had not been his property and explained the property lines. He had not wanted anyone on or in his home but since he had not been there it happened. The council discussed some of the photographs with him.

Randy Medina said again he has been trying put his life back on track and deal with some health issues. He had an advocate join him from the facility he has been at. The advocate, Kyle Berkshire, said Randy Medina had been doing very well and working on himself but does not have the means or time right now to take care of these issues. He attends classes all day and added again he had been doing well and a group leader. He referred to a city ordinance in Bayard in which he would be allowed some more time. Yvonne Gonzales said the ordinance he referred to had not been a part of the abatement ordinance.

Gray made a motion to grant him a 90 day extension, but some confusion came from that motion. They all debated back and forth for some time on costs, legal fees, demolition etc. Gray said his point has been to advocate for the neighbors, but he said, “I am not without humanity.” The council continued to question how he would be able to financially do these things once he finished his treatment.

They amended the motion to allow him until September 13, 2026, and the yard must be cleaned and the house demolished. After that the only recourse he had would be an appeal process in the courts. No one seconded the motion. They went back to the original motion.

Eloy Medina pointed out that first they had provided estimations on making the home habitable and up to code and now the lawyer has said it must be demolished, and it would be a contradiction. This conversation continued and what motion to recognize.

Salas pointed the council to read the agenda. It says discussion/action - update in situation on 607 Grant Street. The attorney had asked that they have a special meeting to look further into the situation. They withdrew all motions. They set a special meeting for June 24, 2026. Eloy Medina abstained from any vote due to Randy Medina being a family member.

Ordinances and resolutions

The council approved resolution 14-2026 authorizing the submission of a USDA rural business development grant. Salas said she had been working on this for economic development for the G-Boys and Mi Ranchito businesses. She will be the representative for this grant, but this will just be the application.

The council approved resolution 15-2026 authorizing the filing of an application with NMFA (New Mexico Finance Authority) for a technical assistance program. This will help them do a preliminary engineering report and will be 100 percent funded for the wastewater treatment plant.

The council went into closed session for personnel matters and real property and water rights.

The council came back into open session and said no motions had been made in closed session and only discussed items listed on the agenda.

Action for personnel

The council approved the hire of Hope Lozano as the animal control officer. Carrillo said they had four applicants, and Eloy Gonzales had been part of the group doing the interviews. They had done two interviews with her, and she understood what would be expected and she would be working with the volunteers at the animal shelter. He felt confident she would fit the needs of animal control and the duties that come with it. Eloy Gonzales said he agreed.

The council approved the completion of the probationary period for Albert Dominguez, a police officer. Carrillo said he had come to them from a different agency but had been certified. Carrillo cited his stats since December 1, 2025, he had 47 arrests, 5 DWI, conducted 342 traffic stops and issued 196 citations. He had also investigated 5 accident reports.

The council approved the promotion of Louis Gomez to sergeant. Carrillo said he had shown exceptional leadership and since they had the position open, he decided to open the position up in house first before opening it up outside of the department. He had been with the department for four years and he had also served as an animal control officer. Carrillo recently found out the younger officers seek him out for questions, and he helps them. He recently received training to train other officers and that will take a little of Carrillo’s plate. Eloy Gonzales had participated in the interview process.

Department head reports

Carrillo’s report said they had answered 202 calls for service with the county assisting on 7 of those calls. He wanted the council to see the stability they have in Bayard as far as coverage and grateful for the help the county provides on some calls. He wanted to address how they would be handling overdose calls from now on. They have had assistance from EMS and the Grant County Detention Center to provide them with Narcan, and all officers will wear them in their uniforms. They have some masks coming, N95 to protect themselves on any overdose call. A few incidents recently have made them look at things a little different.

Carrillo said they would be participating in Summerfest along with having a booth. Medina told them they needed N100 masks.

Stephen Estrada, wastewater director, provided an update on the different equipment and what they had done to repair it each one. They had also gone to assist Lordsburg with their ball fields. He said Lordsburg had helped them many times and they would be hosing all-stars the following week.

Sam Arellano, public works director, said they had been busy in town with weeds popping up everywhere. They had also been cleaning around and behind the shop. Maintenance had also started working on the alley ways to clean and cut branches. He continued with a list of what they had been doing.

Mayor and council reports

Eloy Gonzales and Eloy Medina did not have anything to report.

Gray said the beautification committee had done their first of the month clean up by the old HMS building. They had tried to cover all the graffiti with paint but needed more. They had also done the area at the intersection of highway 180 and highway 256.

Next meeting will be held July 15, 2026

Meeting adjourned.