By Alexis Rico

On January 14, 2021, the Village of Santa Clara Council met for a regular meeting session through Zoom at 6:03 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 all present for the meeting.

The council began the meeting by going over the agenda and then approving it.

The council then took some time to go over the department reports. The council had no comments, concerns, or questions about the reports and approved them.

For the Mayor's report, Mayor Richard Bauch went over a few items with the council.

Bauch informed the council that the museum and the theater project had been moving along and was making progress. He then discussed with the council about the 2021 60-day senate.

"The 60-day senate session is about to start," Bauch said. "This year will be a little different. Normally we would go up there to the Capital to present and discuss things. But that does not seem possible this year. We are hoping we can still present our plans and projects through video calls. It will be a little different this year. But we will see how that will go. I will keep up with the progress of the senate."

Bauch stated that the Village was beginning to receive interest in the RFP for creating the design for the water project on the water line for Bellows.

"Hopefully for the next meeting we will have some recommendations for the project," Bauch stated.

Lastly, Bauch discussed with the council about the highway project and the comments he has received about it.

"The highway project is coming out very ,very nice," Bauch said. "We have received a lot of compliments about the project and people are looking forward to being able to use the sidewalks. The project should be finished very soon. The Bridge project should begin soon as well. In February I think. This will be another really nice project. Although it will be a bit challenging in the first very months as the bridge will need to be taken out completely."

The council then discussed the approval of Resolution 2021-08, which is a resolution adopting a pre-tax cafeteria benefits plan effective November 1, 2020.

Village Clerk Sheila Hudman explained to the council that this benefits plan had been presented to the Village by Gabriel Ramos.

"It helps with tax-reduction for the employees," Hudman said. "The employees are covered at this time with the plan before it goes into effect.

Hudman informed the council that this resolution was to approve the plan and the Village can then pay the company for the benefit plan.

"All the employees are pretty happy about this plan," Hudman said.

The next item on the agenda was the intent to adopt an Amendment to Title 8 of the Municipal Code - Public Utilities Chapters 1-3 and add additional Chapters 4 and 5.

"A great deal of work and research went into this ordinance," Bauch said. "It has taken a great deal of time, but I do think it turned out very nice and is well explained. I would like to commend the legal team for all the work that was put into it."

The council made a motion to adopt this ordinance after tabling it for several meetings.

The council went into a closed session around 6:30 p.m. as there were a few items that the council needed to discuss.

The council then went back into open session at 7:16 p.m.

Once the council was back in session, Bauch stated that he would like to recommend the hiring of Bill Hudman for the Maintenance supervisor position.

A motion was then made by the council to approve the recommendation for the hiring of Bill Hudman starting on January 18, 2021, starting at $18 an hour.

The meeting was properly adjourned at 7:19 p.m.

The next regular Village of Santa Clara meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2021, at 6:00 p.m.