By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held its regular town meeting November 29, 2021. The meeting started with Mayor Chon Fierro calling the meeting to order and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Attendance at the meeting included Mayor Chon Fierro, Mayor, Pro tem Raul Villanueva, and councilor Charles Kelly, Adrian Ortiz and Eloy Medina.

The agenda for the meeting was approved.

A discussion for action was tabled concerning the approval of an employment contract for the clerk treasurer. The reason for tabling the contract came from Mayor Fierro. He wanted to postpone until he was able to talk with the town attorney and risk management at New Mexico Municipal League.

A closed session was held to discuss personnel maters concerning hiring Louis Frank Gomez as animal control and code enforcement officer. Also discussed hiring of police chief and administrative leave with pay for Jesus Lopez.

The council returned from closed session and approved the hiring of Gomez at $13 hour after completion of all pre-employment requirements and Lopez's administrative leave with pay.

Resolutions needing approval by the council got approved. The first two were presented at the last meeting but didn't have the three council votes needed to approve them because they were not in attendance. The first was resolution 19-2021 for the project on North Foy Street and the other resolution 20-2021, the donation of property from the United Steel Workers Local 9424. The third resolution 21-2021 was for the financial statements and budget adjustments. Clerk Kristina Ortiz said she makes adjustments at the end of each quarter. One big adjustment was for an air conditioner for the fire department. They didn't have enough money to cover it so some monies from the general fund were used. The income for the town had been $1.3 million, expenditures $1.4 million and had a balance of R4.8 million.

The consent agenda was approved and consisted of several items. They approved the minutes of the regular meeting October 12, 2021, accounts payable November 22,2021, police report for September and October 2021, fire inspector training for Adrian Romero, attendance to DFA budget workshop (online), clerk's certification and clerk institute program, and accept the resignation of Melissa Gonzales.

Public Input

Someone attending said maybe they could look at what others, towns had done with clerk contracts. See what others had done that worked and didn't, find their strengths in each one and use those.

Sherri Edwards thanked the council for the clean up on Virginia street. She said there were still some problems, but it had gotten much better. Mayor Fierro thanked Chief Carlos for his diligence at resolving the problems.

Someone also thanked the chief for his attendance to the beautification committee meeting. She said no other chief had ever attended.

Patricia Stone wanted to address the allegations by Chief Alirez last year against the clerk for taking a check for the city made out to her. She asked if there had been any external investigation. There had been an article in the paper and then nothing else ever came of the incident. Ortiz, the clerk answered the question. She explained that there had been a miscommunication with a person about a permit for planning and zoning. She had told her to put her name, Ortiz, on the envelope and the person misunderstood. The check was deposited in the city account and the council and mayor made aware of the incident. Stone complained about no transparency and that nothing ever came out in the paper to explain this. She said there needs to be checks and balances. Villanueva agreed and said they need transparency. Fierro told her she was more than welcome to come to city hall and look at the records.

Old Business

The potholes on Dayhill have not been repaired. Maintenance said they were waiting on materials and procurement of equipment. Some equipment needed to be rented. He said it would happen the beginning of next year. January he would have an update for the meeting and all the costs.

New Business

A woman gave a presentation on the proposed cannabis ordinance. She had an extensive letter she gave to everyone on the council. In short, she wanted them to follow the same laws that they have for tobacco use. She said much of the ordinance was unenforceable and discriminated against the cannabis user. She outlined everything and gave examples. She said it was a civil rights violation. She referred to people being afraid of secondhand intoxication. She had spoken to one of the cannabis business owners and they had told her that was not possible and explained why. She said the town of Bayard was recriminalizing cannabis use that was just decriminalized. Fierro and Villanueva said the ordinance was tabled until the attorney looks at it, but it was not for the council to do but needed to be hashed out with attorneys. Villanueva pointed out that this was new for the state, and it was a learning process for everyone.

The city of Bayard received a complaint about ATVs and side by sides racing up and down Foy Rd late at night and traveling on roads they are not supposed to be on. ATVs are not allowed on paved roads and side by sides cannot be on main roads, they can only cross them.

The council approved a $750 matching fund for the Five Points Initiative.

The council approved the election results from the Grant County Clerk. Ortiz felt the council should officially accept the results because the GC clerk had done all the work and provided all the personnel. The election will be bringing in Frances Gonzales and Jose Diaz for the council beginning January 1, 2022.

Initial and preliminary work for wastewater repairs were approved by the council. Ortiz said now they can look for grants.

The council approved for the city of Bayard to be the fiscal agent for the LEDA project – G Boyz Beef Jerky

Ortiz read a statement she wrote about a fraud incident Bayard fell victim to. Bayard was taken in by a spoofing scam. A scammer was able to infiltrate the email by posing as Morrow Enterprises a current contractor of Bayard for the wastewater facility. Emails were exchanged with personnel for weeks. When payment was due, they gave instructions for depositing the monies. A partial amount of $115,000 was transferred. Fortunately, the staff realized there was a problem and didn't pay them anymore. The incident was reported to the state police. Ortiz is working with the FBI, state and local auditors, insurance and IT services to rectify the problem. They are changing policies and one is using encrypted email. Ortiz said this happens a lot and many small towns have lost millions.

Mayor and councilors reports

Villanueva asked what are we doing for Christmas? Ortiz said December 18 they would have Santa Clause, candy, a couple of trailers following Santa and Chief Gonzales would be heading that up. They would soon have a large artificial tree and welcome sign coming into town. Villanueva also wanted to thank Charles Kelly for his service, and he would be very missed.

No one else had a report to give. Ortiz said she was still advertising for an accounts payable clerk and police officer

Mayor Fierro said they had been discussing solar energy for the wastewater treatment plant. It had been discussed for years. Ortiz said there had been requests for proposals but had not had any responses. She said without grant funds it was hard to get anyone interested. Fierro asked the superintendent about the water. He said they had new equipment and didn't foresee any problems. The levels were okay and didn't feel there was any cause for concern. Fierro asked Ortiz what was happening with the roof at the safety building. She said that Stantec had done a walk through, and they were now waiting on the bid. Ortiz said the lighting project has bids due next week. The lighting project is for hwy 180 and 356.

The next regular meeting will be December 13, 2021

Meeting was adjourned.