By Alexis Rico
The City of Bayard Council met for a regular session meeting on September 14, 2020, via Zoom at 2:02 p.m. Present for the meeting were Mayor Chon Fierro, Mayor Pro-Tem Raul Villanueva, Councilor Charles Kelly, Councilor Eloy Medina, and Councilor Adrian Ortiz.
The council began the meeting with the pledge of allegiance followed by the review and approval of the agenda for the meeting.
As there was no public input for the meeting, the next item reviewed and approved was the consent agenda.
The consent agenda consisted of
• Approval of the minutes from Regular Meeting on August 24, 2020.
• Approval of Accounts Payable Report for September 14, 2020
• Approval of the Wastewater Report or August 2020.
• Attendance to the Criminal Investigations Training for Brandi Pyron in Albuquerque on October 20, through October 23, 2020. Cost being $395.00.
Under New Business, the council discussed the approval for Magdalena Palomarez for the installation of a 2020 14x86 mobile home at 1009 Watson Street, with approval of Special Use permit allowing installation of a mobile home.
Clerk-Treasurer Kristina Ortiz explained to the council that the installation of the mobile home would be placed in a R1 single-family residence area that excludes the use of mobile homes. The council would need to approve the installation of the mobile home and a special permit would be needed to allow for the mobile home to be placed at this location.
"What ended up happening is, through the housing assistance grants that are available throughout New Mexico, the State provides funding to either rehab or replace existing homes for individuals that qualify for the project," Ortiz stated. "In doing so, before they knew about the zoning, they had already demolished and taken down the existing home thinking they could move forward with the project. I spoke with the agency that is funding the project and they are willing to proceed with anything that is required to move forward with providing the individual with a home. So, what we did per the regulations and the planning and zoning since we would have to go with a special use permit which would allow the use of a single-wide in this regular residential area we had to contact the property owners within the 100 feet parameter of the property."
There was a total of ten property owners that were contacted for a public hearing on September 10, 2020, to receive comments on the installation of a mobile home in the residential area. Ortiz stated that only two of the property gave a comment and were in favor of the installation of the mobile home.
"This mobile home is a much-needed structure for this individual as her old dwelling was so bad and in need of repair that there was exposed electrical wiring running through it," Ortiz stated.
The council agreed to approve this item and move forward with the project after the discussion.
The next item that the council discussed and reviewed was the Approval of the Infra-structure Capital Improvement Plan.
"I categorized the projects based on the evaluation sheets that were provided," Ortiz stated. "There are a couple of items that may need to be moved up or be replaced with the other items. One, in particular, is item number 13 which we have for public safety improvement. This project included the installation of a new roof for the public safety building. We have heard from the fire chief that at the building there have been several leaks in his area of the building and in the lunch area. We may need to move this item up so that we can ensure to get the funding for it. Another item that may need to be moved up is item number 12 which is for the library water damage. I still think that item needs to be moved up. What I think we could do is move these items up to number 9 and 8 and just move the other items further down."
Ortiz explained to the council that she had done her best to allocate enough of a budget for each of the projects since there were no cost estimates. The first project was the street improvement projects. Ortiz stated for this project they will just keep seeking funding until they have enough for it.
The second item is the Highway 350 improvement project. The town has been working with Stantec consulting services to establish the project area, come up with the plan and the design, and talking with property owners in gaining easements to continue with the project. The only area of concern was where the Silver Journal is located since the slope of the property off the highway is steep. Ortiz stated that they would have gone off of the DOT landmarks and the property owner is not in favor of giving up that much of the property for the project.
"I do not think we will have the funding within the easements to move forward with the crosswalk project for this area," Ortiz stated. "There is not enough space on that property without them giving up some of the property. We may need to just leave that area out of the project. We may not have enough time to finish that project. The project will continue on all of the other areas."
The proposed project priority list for the 2022-2026 ICIP is:
1. Street Improvement Project
2. HWY 356 Sidewalk Project
3. Recreation Improvements
- This includes the continuation of the Little League and park repairments. Ortiz stated that the council still has about $34,000 in funding for this project. She has requested $55,000 for the ICIP.
"We will just see what we can get," Ortiz stated.
4. HWY Street Lighting Project
5. Water Tank Rehabilitation
6. Wastewater System Improvements
7. Drainage Improvements
8. Public Safety Building Improvements
9. Library Wall Improvements
10. Water Distribution System Improvements
11. Sewer System Improvements
12. Public Safety Equipment
13. Community Center Improvement
- Ortiz did state that she does have a cost estimate coming soon about fixing the cement in the driveway area for the community center.
14. ADA Municipal Improvements.
15. Equipment Purchase
16. Hurley Avenue Improvements
17. City Hall Expansion Project
– Ortiz stated that this is a long-running project. But there are no funding sources available and would likely have to come from a loan in order for the town to get enough funding for the project to be complete.
18. A new Fire Station
19. Solar Project at the Wastewater Plant.
20. Outdoor Library Extension
– Ortiz did state that the town had not been awarded grants for this project.
21. Train Depot Improvements
22. Cemetery Fencing
- Council discussed starting with fencing the front of the cemetery similar to the Santa Clara cemetery.
23. Mine Mill Museum
- Ortiz stated to the council that they are waiting to hear back from the possible source of funding. They stated that they would reach out when they are ready to proceed.
The next item under New Business was the consideration of the transfer of five X2-Tasers with accessories to the Silver City Police Department.
Police Chief Alirez had recommended to the council an asset transfer to the Silver City Police Department for five X2 Tasers with accessories no longer in use by Bayard Police Department. The Council approved this item unanimously with no further discussions.
Under the Ordinances/Resolutions portion of the meeting, the Council approved Resolution 23-2020 Infra-structure Capital Improvement Plan.
For the Mayor and Councilor reports, Councilor Kelly asked if maintenance could begin repairing some potholes.
"I would like to see maintenance work on potholes," Kelly stated. "They are starting to come out this time of year again. So, I would like to see them being worked on."
Kelly also stated to the Council that the generator behind the police and fire station is almost running, but that at the moment it is not working.
Ortiz stated that she would be attending the State Board of Finance meeting on September 15, to request the funding for a certain project.
"We will be completing our records destruction tomorrow," Ortiz stated. "It should be completed after three days and about 300 pounds of shredded paper. I did request a cost estimate for a tree cutting service from Silver for the property on McKee Street.
Ortiz also stated to the Council that there is a Colonias meeting on September 15, as well.
"This is for the third well project," Ortiz stated. "We are requesting an extension as we were not able to complete all of the funding for the cost prices for the project. We also have a bee problem in the casing in well number 3. We are looking into removing the hive from the well at the moment."
Fierro stated that he had toured the sewer plant with the Hurley Council and the Superintendent.
"The sewer plant is not in good condition," Fierro said. "We looked through the papers and plans and found out where the money is going to. We are looking into having a meeting between the towns every 2 months to discuss fees and where the money is going."
Fierro also stated they will be beginning to give out citations on late payments and that he would not be present for September 28, 2020, meeting as he would be out of town.
Fierro concluded his report with a discussion on an article about the CARES act funding.
"We are having several individuals training to see how we can utilize this funding and how it can be used to help residents and businesses," Fierro stated. "There are some things I have to look into before we can make any decisions and let the residents know."
The meeting was adjourned at 2:43 p.m.