By Alexis Rico

On August 13, 2020, the Village of Santa Clara held their regular meeting through Zoom at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Richard Bauch, Mayor Pro-Tem Albert Esparza, Trustee Olga Amador, and Trustee Patricia Montgomery were present for the meeting. Trustee Arnold Lopez was absent from the meeting.

The meeting began with the approval of the agenda for the meeting, the minutes for the regular meeting held on July 23, 2020, and the department monthly reports.

Mayor Richard Bauch used his report to update the trustees on departments and projects. The maintenance department had recently left to get training in Albuquerque for pavement work.

"The maintenance department is traveling for a one-day class in Albuquerque," Bauch stated. "They will be returning tomorrow evening. We have been waiting to place them in this class for a while, so we are very fortunate to be able to do that. We have a number of paving projects that need to be done."

Bauch stated that the village will find out soon whether they will qualify for a grant.

"We can use this grant for sidewalks and paving," Bauch said. "We already have the Colonias. If all goes as planned, we will be able to combine the two projects and can complete the Colonias line."

Lastly, Bauch explained to the trustees about the new street signs and numbers that will be implemented in Santa Clara.

"We have just received a shipment of over 800 house signs," Bauch stated. "We are beginning the process of working through those so we can distribute them to the residents. The way they will work is that you will stop at the stop sign and will see the number of the building or house and the block will be ahead."

Under New Business, the council discussed the placement of a stop sign on Cleveland and New Street.

Trustee Olga Amador stated that she wanted stop signs placed on opposite ends in an effort to slow down traffic on the street.

Bauch stated that there use to be a speed bump in that area.

"But it was poorly built in my opinion," Bauch stated. "So, we took out the speed bump, but never replaced it. I do agree that we need a stop sign there. The residents in that area have been complaining of traffic and speeding. It is a busy area. The stop sign might be a good approach as opposed to a speed bump in that area."

All of the trustees also agreed that a stop sign will help to slow down the traffic in this area and approved the placement of a new stop sign on Cleveland and New Street.

Bauch did also state after the approval that it may take a while to get the stop sign up with the maintenance training that is going on at the moment.

"But I cannot wait to see it when it is up," Bauch said.

The second item discussed by the trustees under New Business was the approval of agreement services contract for grant writing and consulting with David Chandler.

Bauch opened the discussion by expressing his approval of the past work that Chandler has done for the village.

"He has been extremely successful in getting grants for us," Bauch stated. "We have been very successful, and I think he has done a wonderful job. I think it would be wise to keep him on and continue the agreement. He applies for all kinds of stuff; we are not always successful, but he has a very good track record."

The other trustees agreed and approved the agreement services contract for grant writing and consulting with David Chandler.

Resolution 2021-01 - Ratifying the Vote of Village Council on July 9 to vacate a portion of Spring Street was then discussed and approved by the council during the meeting.

Village Clerk Sheila Hudman explained the resolution to the council and explained her parts in the process of the resolution.

The trustees then discussed and approved the ordinance for permission to publish the Intent to Adopt an Amendment to Title 8 of the Municipal Code. The code for this ordinance includes public utility chapters 1 through 3 and adds additional chapters 4 and 5.

Bauch stated that the trustees had previously received some grants, but this ordinance is the completed version of all the received grants.

"We will have a public notice put into the newspaper to get public comments," Bauch stated. "We will discuss the comments and suggestions at a later date, likely the second meeting in September."

During the public comments section of the meeting, Trustee Patricia Montgomery wanted to discuss with the other trustees about the work of Animal Control Officer Shirley Weigel. Montgomery expressed that she is not satisfied with Weigel's work as there is a particular situation on her street (South Bellm Street) where a resident has six dogs, which is against the city animal ordinance which only allows a resident to have four dogs without needing a breeding license. Montgomery also stated that the dogs are very loud throughout the day and nothing seems to be done about the situation for several months.

"I have no idea what she is doing and what is going on there," Montgomery said. "I would like to know what she is doing about the situation."

Bauch originally stated that he was not sure what could be done about the situation, but he would look more into it. Bauch did state that he knew Weigel had issued citations about the situation, but the court had not addressed them yet.

Hudman added that Weigel had issued two citations in which both were for the number of dogs and the noise level. The citations have not been heard in the court because the Municipal Court was closed in March of 2020 because of the COVID-19 virus and precaution enforced by the state and had only recently begun to review citations.

Village Attorney Yvonne Gonzales stated that she would look into a citation for the noise level of the animals that could possibly be directed to the code enforcement office because of the nuisance ordinance.

Bauch stated that he was happy with the work from Weigel and was not sure what more she could do to alleviate the situation.

"There is only so much she can do," Bauch stated. "She can't seize the dogs. She can only cite them in court. I don't know how she can alleviate the problem. That's the judge's decision how they handle that."

Gonzales also approved of Weigel's work as the animal officer thus far. But she would be looking more into the situation on South Bellm Street.

The trustees want to go into a closed session during the next regular meeting that will be held on August 27, 2020, to discuss the situation more in detail.

Police Chief Lonnie Sandoval wanted to commend the work of Officer Joe Flores during the public input portion of the meeting.

"I wanted to recognize one of my officers, Joe Flores," Sandoval said. "He assisted Bayard on a call of a person that had OD'ed. He assisted in administering Narcan to the person. They administered three doses of Narcan, and the person was able to be revived. I wanted to let people know of the great work that he has been doing for us. He has done an excellent job."
Bauch stated that the village is very appreciative of Flores's efforts as an officer for Santa Clara.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 p.m.

The second regular session meeting for August will be held on August 27, 2020, via Zoom at 6:00 p.m.