By Lorie Hildebrand

Mayor Richard Bauch and all of the Trustees attended the Thursday, May 9, 2019 for the session called to order at 6:03 p.m. The Mayor’s report noted that two meetings a month seemed to work well. Meeting agendas were shorter and more business was getting accomplished. A new agreement with the Santa Clara Police Department will see Code Enforcement being taken care of by at least two PD officers. They attended Village Code training and are now ready to make sure Village residents are abiding by the Code laws.

Water and Sewer Maintenance has been very busy the last two months. The aging of both water and sewer lines shows up in some of the problems that appear. Roots, cracked or rusting out of pipes, and lack of proper maintenance many years past have begun to catch up. “Now is the time to be pro-active on prevention,” the Mayor said.

Also in the Mayor’s report, Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS) now has its temporary mobile clinic up and running next to the Senior Center in Santa Clara. The older YCC kids are working on the park over by the Senior Center right now. A grant from Freeport MacMoran paid for equipment. Applications for the younger YCC kids are still open until May 24.

The JPO office seeks work projects in Santa Clara for 10-12 kids through the summer. They are requesting project ideas from the Village Council. They have some equipment, but would need project specific items from the Village. Ideas put forth by the Council included pulling weeds for disabled senior and clearing areas at Fort Bayard before mowing.

The Mayor then brought up the idea of an Advisory Committee for the patrons of the Senior Center. This Committee would visit with the Seniors on a regular basis, find out their wants and needs, then have fundraising projects to allow HMS to use the funds for items identified by the Advisory Committee. The Mayor asked the four village Trustees to volunteer along with him, to set this up. All agreed.

The Mayor asked Trustee Patricia Montgomery to report on the opening weekend of the Mercado. Saturday May 11 kicks off the opening with free booths on a first come, first serve basis. Every weekend after, booths will cost $5.00 See the “Santa Clara Mercado” Facebook page to sign up.

Discussions included helping the County replace some of the damaged tiles at Bataan Park. The Village could get granite monuments to replace them. A discussion on a new water rates ordinance would change the $400.00 dollar connection fee to a flat rate fee of around $25 for a tap-in fee, with residents then hiring a contractor to connect their water with the city line. Backflow preventers and shut-off valves would be highly recommended. Only three new tap-in fees were collected so far this FY.

Draft interim budget was tabled until the next meeting. A special meeting may be called earlier if needed. Miya Cuhen, Deputy Clerk for the Village, finished her six-month probation period and received a $1.00 raise. She is now making $11.00 per hour. Next Village Trustee meeting will take place May 23, 6 p.m.