By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held its regular town meeting January 10, 2022. The meeting started with Mayor Chon Fierro calling the meeting to order and leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
Attendance at the meeting included Mayor Chon Fierro, Mayor Pro tem Raul Villanueva, and councilors, Adrian Ortiz and Eloy Medina. Also, in attendance newly elected councilors Jose Diaz and Frances Gonzales.

The agenda for the meeting was approved

Public Input

A woman attending expressed concerns over the new police chief that was being hired. Mayor Fierro said he had worked with the city before but left to further his education. Mr. Cornel Stemley, new police chief, addressed the question. He said he returned to Bayard to give back to his community.

Patricia Gutierrez addressed the council next. She said she had grown up in Bayard but had retired recently after living in Los Angeles for 40 years. The reason for wanting to speak to the council concerns the increase in vandalism in the community. She said she had been communicating with several people on Facebook and she volunteered to bring their ideas and requests to the board. She said I am retired and have the time and leadership experience. "I want to give back to my community." Several people are going to start a neighborhood watch group. She asked if there was a place that they could meet and if there were any funds available for this. Kristina Ortiz, clerk treasurer, said the community center was available for that at no cost and she just needs to contact the staff at city hall to assist her.

Kathleen Herrera asked the council why after a year had there not been any progress on her burglary case. Fierro explained to her that the police chief at that time was no longer with them and then Joe Carlos took over the position and case, and he is no longer with us. Herrera said that was no excuse.

The council approved the consent agenda which included the minutes from the December 13, 2021, accounts payable report for January 10, 2022, fire report for December, wastewater report for December, and attendance to Grant County Day in Santa Fe for the legislature on January 25-27, 2022, for appropriate staff.

Closed session

The council went into closed session to discuss several personnel matters. Hiring Joseph Gomez for parks and recreation at and hourly rate of $12.75 hour. Possible disciplinary action for the maintenance department. Working hours for the police department. Increase Adrian Badillo's hourly wage twenty-five cents an hour after completion of water level 1 certification.

Open session

The council approved all matters discussed in the closed session. They also approved the resignation of Joseph Carlos and Aaron Ordonez.

New business

The council approved the expenditure of $26,768.40 for new computers, equipment, installation, firewalls, wireless, etc. for city hall, maintenance department and library. Ortiz said this didn't cover everything needed for upgrades, but they had grants they could look at for the rest.

The new chief of police Cornel Stemley made a presentation to the council concerning changes he wanted to make with the police department. He provided them with an outlined written plan. They needed to hire soon and quickly. He said he had a four-phase plan. One main thing he wanted to add was an investigation specialist. This person could help get the department caught up on open cases and keep them caught up. He said they need a stronger command system to get qualified candidates. The council expressed concerns about not enough patrol officers. Ortiz said they didn't have a budget for another employee in the police department. She said they could possibly look for grants, but it would only cover a few years and they would have to find it in the budget after that. The discussion went on for some time and Ortiz finally suggested a work session to discuss the matter. She said she just needed ten days ahead of time to advertise. The council agreed.

Councilor Gonzales wanted to address speed bumps in town. There are a few areas where there seems to be a problem that was brought to her attention. Ortiz said there were no ordinances concerning installing them. What the city has done in the past is request a petition from the residents affected, where it was wanted and a map showing where it is to be located. After that it is given to the maintenance department to check out and approve.

Ordinances

The council approved to adopt the economic development ordinance for G-Boyz processing facility. This is from the LEDA program with the state of New Mexico for helping businesses expand. G-Boyz wants to expand the facility and hire 15 new full-time positions within the next few years. Louis Marquez with the program joined the meeting via Zoom. Marquez said this program was only for people who were creating full-time jobs with the expansion. This is for a secured loan of $50,000. The city and Ortiz would be monitoring the progress and take corrective action should it not move along in the prescribed time. There would be time for public comment and a final decision would be made by February 14, 2022.

The council voted to table ordinance resolution 1-2022 open meetings resolution. There was a lot of discussion and disagreement concerning the time the meetings are held. Diaz wanted to change the meeting to 5:00 pm so more people could attend. Fierro said they had done that before and no one attended, and it was that way for years. Diaz wanted to have time to talk to the public concerning the matter.

The council approved the budget adjustment that the city needed because of the equipment and computers discussed earlier.

Mayor and councilors reports

Eloy Medina said he only had one thing to say, and it was his concern over Cornel Stemley's report. He said: "We need more patrolmen."

Frances Gonzales, newly elected councilor, said she wants to see the town get more patrolmen. She said the chief has some good ideas but is concerned it would be a top-heavy police department for a small town. She added in that she could be reached on her Facebook page or phone 575-956-8942

Jose Diaz, newly elected councilor, said he went back on history of town council meetings for several years and sees things that never get taken care of. He said: "We need to be accountable to the people and get these things resolved." He had a list that he gave out to the council. One item he addressed concerned the vacant lot that was a fire hazard, nothing had been done. He said it is still a problem. He said the railroad repairs, still not done. "We need to change the process starting today and be accountable to the people." Fierro said the fire hazard had been taken care of and Ortiz said she had a meeting with the railroad coming up and for repairs to get done in the spring. Ortiz asked Diaz to send her the file and she would give him an update on everything.

Mayor Fierro talked about the four to five buildings vandalized recently. He expressed the need for cameras on them. Ortiz said she just needed direction on what kind of cameras, and she would look and see what was available. Fierro brought up the canopies for the little league field. Ortiz said they had received one quote for $48,000. She said she was also waiting on a report from Engineers Inc. for site evaluation. Fierro ask Ortiz about the sidewalks that needed to be fixed and she said she was still trying to get hold of SW Concrete: they have not returned her call. Fierro said he had met with the mayors of Santa Clara, Hurley and a representative of Senator Martin Heinrich. Wild and Scenic bill was the first item talked about. They put together a letter to Heinrich with their concerns. The other item discussed was the wastewater treatment plant needed that would cost approximately $2-$4 million.

The next regular meeting will take place January 24, 2022.

Meeting adjourned.