By Alexis Rico

On September 10, 2020, the Village of Santa Clara met for a regular meeting through Zoom at 6:00 p.m. at the Village of Santa Clara town hall. Mayor Richard Bauch, Mayor Pro-Tem Albert Esparza, Trustee Olga Amador, Trustee Patricia Montgomery, and Trustee Arnold Lopez were present for the meeting.

The meeting began with the approval of the agenda, the minutes for the regular meeting held on August 27, 2020, and the monthly department reports.

"The Animal Control monthly report is more in-depth," Bauch stated. "Thank you, Patricia, for requesting this. It gives us a bit more insight into what is going on with animal control. Also thank you Shirley for providing the extra information."

Bauch also stated that there was a question about citations for the month. Bauch believes the citation officer had not cited anyone, but he would get in touch with the officer to clarify.

For the Mayor's report, Bauch gave an update on the new house numbers and street names for the readdressing project.

"We are beginning to see a number of the house numbers up," Bauch stated. "Albert is doing a very good job with the numbers for the houses. We are more than halfway through with giving out all the numbers. There are a few that need to go up. Also, a reminder, as I need to do this also, is to remove the old number. Once they are all up, we can switch over completely to the new system. This is for the dispatch and 911 reference. I am thinking it should be complete by mid-October. Hopefully, it will work out very, very well."

Village Clerk Sheila stated that the residents had 30 days to put up the new number and take down the old number for the house.

"Redressed form maybe is needed for the abandoned houses," Hudman said. "It may take a while to gain access to put up the numbers. We would need to get in contact with the property owners."

Bauch also told the council about a number of speeding cars in certain areas of Santa Clara.

"Seems like people are not stopping like they should," Bauch stated. "I talked with the chief and will have more patrol officers around. When funds are available, we will look into putting more speed bumps in strategic places. People need to be more conscious of the speed limits and how fast they are going."

Under New Business, Alvin Dominguez of Bohannan Huston Inc. gave the council an update on the 30% design Maple Street Bridge project.

"We started the project in May, once the agreement was signed," Dominguez stated. "Right now, we are at 30% done. The existing bridge is well beyond its lifespan at almost 100 years old. We are proposing a wider bridge. We propose building a metal structure under the bridge with just one beam. That will help with the drainage. We cannot do much to help with the height of the bridge. We will increase the girder width to also help with the drainage. The plan for the completed bridge is 2 lanes for driving. It is also important is to add a pedestrian crossing."

"The water line will not be visible as it will be hung under the bridge," Dominguez stated. "Two possibly three power lines may be in the way of the project. We have contacted the business that owns the power lines to see if we can relocate the lines sometime soon. Bayard Street to Bellm will have new road reconstruction that will include sidewalks."

The last update discussed was the funding for the project.

"The Village received $800,000 from the NMDOT (New Mexico Department of Driving and Transportation)," Dominguez stated. "The cost right now is near $1,000,000. We are looking into other forms of funding through NMDOT and stimulus funding. We are working hard to get the extra funding for the Village to finish the project."

Dominguez stated that they are anticipating the 60% project design in January of 2021. They are looking into getting into the final design in late March to early April time. Construction will begin in the late summer.

"I am thinking the construction time will be about 4 months," Dominguez said. "I am extremely pleased with the way the project is going and the cooperation of the Village on the project."

"That is going is to be a wonderful thing once it is done," Bauch stated. "It will be a lot of work and some challenges, but it will be worth it once it is done."

The next item discussed by the council was Jerome Ortiz/JoeAdam Gallegos's request for permission to move a single wide mobile home into Santa Clara 402 S. Hutchinson / Aurora Street.

Bauch explained to the council that older manufactured homes that are being moved from one location to another need to be inspected to see if they are inhabitable before they can be moved to the new location. There is no age limit for the houses, but they need to be inspected. This is the reason for the inspection and the request.

"Code inspection officer has gone in to look at the home and has presented with a lot of pictures of the home," Bauch stated. "He has stated that the home looks good and inhabitable. The new lot also looks nice and clean."

After the discussion, the council approved the request made by Jerome Ortiz and JoeAdam Gallegos.

During the public meeting section of the meeting, Mayor Pro-Tem Albert Esparza asked if there had been any complaints with the number and street changes.

"There has been plenty of public notice about the street and number changes," Hudman stated. "There will be a cross-reference list for dispatch and 911 in-case there is some confusion. I think it will be okay."

The changes make things a bit more logical," Bauch stated. "It clarifies some things. I have heard from some people that they like the idea of the changes."

The council went into a closed session at 6:48 p.m. to discuss a legal matter and went back into open session at 7:57 p.m.

No statements were made by the council about the closed session discussion.

The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m.

The next regular session meetings are scheduled for September 24, 2020, and October 8, 2020, via Zoom at 6:00 p.m.