By Lynn Janes

The town of Hurley had a workshop and regular meeting June 9, 2026. Reynaldo Maynes, Aron Phillips, Ester Gil, Robert Candelaria and Jason Cox attended.

Public input

Archi Padilla hoped the council would be voting yes on the adoption of the animal ordinance. She knew last time they didn't have everyone onboard but reminded them that,  besides the language on the community cats being important, but  also the increase in fines especially for dogs running at large. She thought it would help people do a better job at controlling their dogs to avoid those fines and help the animal control officer. It will provide more public safety and fewer animals in the shelter.

Kendra Milligan had come to speak to the council about Tree New Mexico an urban forestry nonprofit that plants trees in people's yards for free. With the help of volunteers, they had already planted 125 trees in Silver City. Now they will be reaching out to the rest of Grant County to participate in the program. They want to bring it to Hurley on October 17, 2026, and would like to have the council's help. The group would be planting diverse trees that would go with the plan Hurley had in place. The trees will be climate ready and require less water. She left information with the council.

Loretta Marrufo also came representing Tree New Mexico. On August 29, 2026, they will be in Bayard planting trees and ask the people of Hurley to come and see how the program works. They had been able in the past to plant fifty trees in two to three hours, but it all has been organized ahead of time. Maynes asked how big the trees would be, and she said they come in fifteen gallon buckets. For every tree they plant they give an equal number away.

The council approved ordinance 11-L animal control ordinance with Cox abstaining. The council discussed the new increased fines this would allow.

The council approved resolution no. 16-2025/2026 authorizing the town to enter into a funding agreement with the ISC (Interstate Stream Commission). Darlene McBride, town clerk, said the town had been awarded funding along with Santa Clara and Bayard to do an asset management plan for water infrastructure. Many state funding agencies will now be requiring the assets management plan to obtain funding.

The council approved resolution 17-2025/2026 adopting the fiscal year 2028-2032 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP). McBride said they had a workshop in which this had been discussed, and it prioritized projects with the help of Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments director. This list would just the be the formalization of the plan.

The council approved the Stage 2 fire restrictions requested by Jay Madrid, fire chief. He said it has continued to be dry, and July 4 would be coming up. It will be similar to the Stage 1 but charcoal and outside burning appliances would be prohibited. Approved gas cooking devices will be permitted but must be attended to at all times by a competent adult. Fireworks sale and use will be prohibited. These will be citable offenses. Another restriction will be the use of campfires or firepits. The use of combustion-powered equipment such as chainsaws, mowers and trimmers will be prohibited. If they have an operational spark arrestor they may be used with caution. Welding and open flame operations will only be allowed with a valid permit issued by the fire chief. All permits will be automatically suspended during red flag warnings, high wind advisories or fire weather watches issued by the national weather service. These will remain in affect until conditions improve. Fines will not be more than $500 or 19 days in jail or both and citations will be issued with no exceptions. The council and Madrid talked about signage at the parks so people would be aware and or ribboning off the grills. Madrid said the other municipalities would be enacting Stage2 also.

The board approved the transfer of the 2015 Ford Explorer from the police department to the fire department. Madrid said he and the former police chief had talked about this because Madrid's vehicle has been having problems and currently all the medical equipment has had to be in the mini pumper. This will allow them to have a vehicle they can dedicate to medical equipment once Madrid's vehicle has been fixed. Very little will have to be done to convert it.

The council approved the attendance of the court clerk to a court clerks' conference in Ruidoso on June 29 – July 1, 2026. McBride said this would be an annual conference and provides good information and networking. They also have training available. In the sessions they will be made aware of all the updates they need to know.

The council went into closed session to discuss personnel matters related to the police department.

The council came back into open session. Maynes said they had only discussed what had been listed and no decisions had been made.

The board approved a motion to postpone the appointment of a police chief until the next meeting.

The council approved the consent agenda that included meeting minutes and department reports except for the library.

Mayor and council reports

Phillips said he looked forward to having some of the projects done and moving forward.

Gil thanked Candelaria for the party in the park for the kids. The pool had been opened with no admission, and he had cooked a lot of hot dogs.

Candelaria said they had a good turnout for the party in the park. He wanted to do more events like it in the future. Maynes asked if he had anything to report on the IT side of things. He had been working with the police department to have them squared away. Maintenance had some issues with their wireless network, so they had to make some changes.

Cox did not have anything to report.

Maynes said they will have the HMS mobile unit that would help the residents and also later a dental unit.

The next regular meeting will be July 14, 2026, at 5:00 pm

Meeting adjourned.