By Lynn Janes
The town of Hurley had a regular meeting March 17, 2026. Mayor Reynaldo Maynes and Councilors Aron Phillips, Ester Gil, Robert Candelaria and Jason Cox attended.
Public input none currently.
The council approved the bid recommendation for the GO building abatement. George Esqueda, project manager Stantec, had come to present the bid. The first RFP (request for proposal) had been posted end of last year. They had only received one bid, but it had come in past the deadline. They posted the RFP again and received two bids. One came from Frontier Asbestos Removal and the other from Spray Systems. They had reviewed both companies and compared resumes, qualifications and price. Esqueda said they recommended Spray Systems to abate the asbestos, lead based paint, PCBs and mold for the GO building. The cost will be $127,926.58 including gross receipts tax. The town has a total of $309,128 to fund the project leaving them $181,000 left. It may only be used on the GO building for the above purpose.
This project will have the GO building ready for construction improvements and renovations. Maynes asked if it included the roof. Esqueda said the state had put out the RFP and he did not remember anything identifying the roof.
Cox asked about the timeframe of the project. Esqueda said the funding expires in September, but the project would only take about one month to a month in a half. Currently Spray Systems has been contracted to do some work for Santa Clara at Fort Bayard. Esqueda said he would contact Spray Systems and start the process for the contract and keep them apprised of the process. He told the council that Stantec would be happy to assist them with professional services with inspections to make sure all specifications and requirements of the state have been met.
The council approved the relocation of the artillery piece located at the American Legion building in Hurley. Joe Drake, VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 12 and two other members attended to make a presentation. This particular piece has been connected to the veterans in the area. It had been assigned to a New Mexico National Guard (Korean War) and regular army in World War II. The unit had been primarily made of up New Mexico volunteers. It had been assigned to the defense of the Philippines and many of those members had been part of the Bataan Death march.
The post will be having it refurbished in a proper state of preservation. They have three of these units in the area. One had been put at the American Legion in Silver City, one in front of the Deming Museum and this one they would be placed at Veteran Park in Santa Clara at the entrance coming off highway 180 by the armory on a permanent concrete slab.
They had looked at it and logistically it will be doable.
Phillips thanked them for their service.
Maynes asked when it had been made, and Drake said he thought 1943 and retired in 1962 when the army shifted to auto-loading artillery pieces.
Maynes wanted to be transparent and said this conversation had started over a year ago and the idea had been presented to the council and public. At that time no one had objected. Drake said they hoped to have it moved by the summer. A plaque will be put on it telling the history and that it had been donated by the town of Hurley. A plaque with the history will be put on the other two.
The council approved the purchase order for the installation of cameras by Advanced Communications. Kevin Vigil, police chief, said last year the council had approved the purchase of cameras for the inside of the police vehicles. They had received the cameras and now they need to be installed. The company will come from Las Cruces to do the installation of all five vehicles and should take two days. It will save multiple trips to Las Cruces for installation. The cost will come from the law enforcement fund.
Vigil asked that the council table the next item he requested, and they did. It had been for him to attend a pre-employment background investigation class. It would be something that could wait, and he said he needed to be in town. He would attend at another time.
The council approved the town clerk to attend a regional housing forum in Ruidoso. Darlene McBride, town clerk, will be attending along with other clerks in the area. It will be offered by the state to help to obtain information for residents about housing. Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments executive director, had recommended they all attend.
The council approved the town clerk and deputy clerk to attend the clerks' spring meeting in Las Vegas, NM. McBride said this was an annual meeting recommended for all clerks. She said they cover a lot of information that the clerks work with daily, and it helps them keep up to date with any changes. It has been a great place to network with clerks from municipalities of similar size. The municipal league has open sessions to help answer any questions they may have.
The council went into closed session the discuss the hiring of a police officer.
The council came back into open session.
The council approved the hire of Marcus Salas as a police officer.
The council approved the consent agenda which included meeting minutes and department reports. McBride addressed why they moved the consent agenda to the end of the meeting. It had been at the end some time ago, but Mayor Ed Stevens at the time decided he wanted the department heads to present their report but not have to pay a lot of overtime for them sitting in the meeting until the end. By moving the consent agenda to the end, the main business could be held at the beginning and make it more convenient to the public.
McBride wanted to thank Candelaria for helping them with their email transition. It had been a big change and challenge. "It was really appreciated." She added training would be available for the council and she asked if they wanted to attend to let her know so she could set it up.
Mayor and council reports
Phillips and Gil didn't have any report for the council.
Candelaria said they would be having an event in the park March 28, 2026, for all the families.
Cox said he would contact McBride about the housing authority meetings so he could start attending.
Maynes said he had met with the attorney on the animal ordinance and will be working on a timeline. They will be meeting again and he will be sending information to the council.
The next regular meeting will be April 14, 2026, at 5:00 pm
Meeting adjourned.
