[Editor's Note: This is part of a series of articles on the Grant County Commission work session of Feb. 8, 2022 and the regular meeting on Feb. 10, 2022. This one continues county reports at the work session.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

Randy Villa, General Services director, gave the next county report at the Feb. 8, 2022 Grant County Commissioner work session. He said the work on the Hurley lift station pumps would begin Feb. 14. And the week after that the reline at the courthouse and the detention center sewage grinders would begin. The ARPA funds for covid-safe renovations for the sheriff's department and the planning department will start in the next few weeks as well. The bleachers are on order for the county fairgrounds and the concrete for the slab and ADA compliance is scheduled. The Cliff-Gila playground equipment is about five weeks out. The shooting range in 2021 had 3400 shooters, including the general public and clubs like 4-H. It was shut down for several months for Covid. "We are using a punch card system out there now, which makes it a lot easier to have them pay up front. You can get the punch card from Kevin (Hubbs) at the front office here."

The DWI-YSAPC (Youth substance abuse prevention coalition) has upcoming events to combat underage drinking and how to combat it.

Villa said he asked for run information from the volunteer fire departments. "I didn't hear from all of them, but from the ones I did hear from, Tyrone VFD had 293 calls last year, with 20 being fire and 198 for EMS, plus calls that may get them called out, but are false alarms75 ; Fort Bayard VFD had a total of 54; Whiskey Creek had 125 calls, with 26 of them for fire; Pinos Altos VFR has 288, with 29 fires and 249 for EMS calls. I want to thank the volunteer fire departments. We have procedures and policies so we're protected from Covid-19."

Future projects he listed included a containment area and new fuel tank at the airport; fairgrounds electrical work in several areas; the DWI program working with the DA's office to create a probation program for veterans; and Corre Caminos working to increase ridership.

He said the PAVFR would hold a community meeting on Feb. 9 at the Wagon Wheel station and another community meeting on Feb. 23 at the station in Pinos Altos.

"I didn't want to forget, so I have it twice on my notes about the April 9 rededication of the Bataan Memorial at Bataan Park," Villa said. "We are hoping for three new buses for Corre Caminos by March. And on Feb. 12, the New Mexico Pilots Association is holding their annual meeting here. They are flying in and back out."

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings asked if anything was happening concerning the Gila Community Center. "I got two concerns about it, and I responded to them. Heat has been put into the Exhibit Hall at the Fairgrounds. Could it be used as a community center? In talking to constituents, it didn't seem to matter whether the center was in Gila or Cliff. Jason (Lockett, Facilities and grounds maintenance superintendent) told me that they would need to secure the building at the Fairgrounds."

Villa agreed that there should be some sort of community center for the two unincorporated areas. "In my opinion, it would be best to have the community center in Gila next to the playground for which we have equipment coming. But, we do have the exhibit building for lease."

District 2 Commissioner Javier "Harvey" Salas said the county needs to present a recommendation to the commissioners on what to do.

Billings said the bottom line is that the people there need a place to meet. "It seems like a replacement for the current building would be down the road. I think there are still groups meeting at the Gila Community Center, in spite of its condition."

Villa said he didn't know that, but that "we will get together some recommendations."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce said with the playground equipment coming, "I'm torn between the two places, but I'm open to ideas."

Salas said he has received calls from the Mimbres and wondered if the county has any plans for a community center in that area. "They seem to think they are forgotten. I would like to see it be considered."

Villa said it depends on if the county has any property for a community center in the area. "Where the senior center is, it has many restrictions on the use of the property. Because the property was donated, it comes with restrictions."

Salas said he would like answers for his constituents.

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards asked about the Roundup Lodge in Mimbres.

Villa said he knows the community has agreements with various organizations. "Who opens it and closes it, I don't know. I know people meet there."

Edwards asked the square footage of the building in Gila, and Villa said it was about 800 square feet, but he would get the exact square footage to her.

Billings asked about the price of a metal building. "I know that's the cheap part. The rest is more expensive."

Edwards said she had looked up the price of a metal building of that square footage and it would cost about $50,000, with probably more than $100,000 for the heating, restrooms, etc.

Ponce said he wanted to talk about Bataan Memorial Park. "What's next out there?"

Villa said he and others would visit the park that week.

Salas said he knows the project is being done in stages, with the drainage and the infrastructure first. "What's next? Improvements to walking trails, shade structures?"

County Manager noted that all these items on Mimbres and the Bataan Park are items on the ICIP (infrastructure capital improvement plan) as well as part of the Outdoor Recreation Plan. "Hopefully, we will get some funding."

Salas asked: "Say we get our ask on Bataan. What will be the timeline to expend the funding or can we wait for a master plan?"

Zamora said the two items for Bataan are $750,000 and more for the master plan. "We need something on the direction where we need to go, so staff can work on it."

To the timeline for expending capital outlay, Planning and Community Development Director Priscilla Shoup said: "We have four years to spend capital outlay."

Salas asked if the county has to spend it before it can get more funding, to which Shoup said, no, but for the CDBG (community development block grants), the county usually has one year to expend it."

Procurement Officer Randy Hernandez said the county cannot apply for any CDBG funding for two years. "We have to expend it before we can reapply. Capital appropriations are different. They are state funded, and we can have two grants for the same project at the same time." He also explained that the timeline for the CDBG expires next month. "We may have to ask for an extension."

Financial Officer Linda Vasquez reported that she is working on the budget. "The step plan is key to it. On Feb. 11, I will send out budget worksheets to the departments. On March 22, is our first budget workshop. We will hold our exit audit tomorrow (Feb. 8, 2022) and we will submit it by Feb. 16."

Edwards noted that she expects the commissioners will likely have two other presentations on the March 22 Commission work session.

Vasquez said she expects no particular concerns on the audit, "other than it's late because we had to wait on the hospital report."

Edwards said it should be the last year that the hospital report is late.

Joe Grijalva, acting road superintendent, gave his report and said the cold weather has caused some issues with getting the trucks in and out to finish trouble spots on Bear Mountain Road. "I will submit this week the 2023 local government road fund projects to New Mexico Department of Transportation. This month we will start hauling chips to designated stockpiles. We plan to work on filling bar ditches on Redrock Road, start a low water crossing at Whitewater and curb and gutter in North Hurley in March, and set culverts on Little Walnut in April. We are about a month ahead of schedule on our projects. We hope to get approval for next year's projects. I am making a spreadsheet of all the county's paved roads and when they are due for maintenance next."

He concluded his report by saying: "As always, we ask for patience and understanding from the public as we work to address work orders."

Ponce said he has heard from a lot of people wanting lighting for the Arenas Valley and Kirkland roads intersections.

Grijalva said he called the District 1 Director Trent Doolittle and "he said he would get back to us with the process. It will be a long process, probably 1-to-2 years out."

Salas asked if maybe a solar-powered light would work, "if we wanted to do a test on one of our own roads?"

Grijalva said he would look into it. Ponce said he didn't understand the one or two years out. "We're not asking for a string of lights. I'll call Santa Fe if I have to."

Grijalva said there are more restrictions on state rights-of-way.

Zamora asked the intent of the lighting. "Is it just to light the intersection?"

Ponce said: "We don't want to light the highway, just the turns and just at these two intersections."

Edwards noted it was a "true hazard turning onto Kirkland at night."

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne said he likes the idea of a solar light. "The school (Aldo Leopold Charter School) had to wait on PNM for two years."

Zamora said he could not guarantee the light. "Joe doesn't have it in his budget. We have to research how much it's going to cost."

Salas said just putting up a light would probably cost $200 plus the support. "Can we use our right-of-way or will it be an obstacle?"

"We owe you a report on it," Zamora said. "We'll do some research on what we need to do and how much it would cost."

Edwards said, on a different topic. "I appreciate the time and energy you have spent on my topic. Months ago, I got a complaint about trees growing u through the communication lines that belong to CenturyLink. CenturyLink refuses to do anything about them. I'm sure the county has done all it can to address the issue. My constituent talked to CenturyLink and they told her there is no way they will address the issue. We know the problem doesn't belong to us, but we know the company will do nothing. What is our recourse with an uncooperative entity?"

Zamora said he didn't know. "I think I'll need to engage with the company. I'll get with the attorney and see how much it will cost to raise the issue to a higher level."

"I fear we will be held responsible, so I appreciate your raising the level," Edwards said. "There are volunteer elms growing up through the lines. A lot of the trees are dead. If they fall down, PNM will come out to cut them down, but not CenturyLink, which has said they will only address the issue if they fall into the road or pull down their lines. Constituents feel like it's a danger."

Zamora said the trees are in the county's right-of-way.

Browne thanked Grijalva for meeting with Tyrone folks.

Billings asked about the striping of roads that were long since paved.

Grijalva said Cottonwood would be striped after its chip sealing. "Little Walnut, we will hold off for the end of the year and see what is going to happen."

Adam Baca, internet technology director, introduced the new IT specialist, Robert Hood. "He has hit the ground running. We are also growing our team by interviewing next week for a part-time administrative assistant. The assistant will handle some of the typical daily operations, such as checking the server rooms, making sure there are no alarms, managing the ticketing and passwords and also helping Emergency Manager Gilbert Helton with keeping up with responses, just daily operational tasks."

Baca said his department is working on the implementation of a new meeting agenda and minutes system. "From NOVUS, we will move on with another solution. We are working on other applications for your iPads and we will make sure you can hit the website. Possibly next month, these will be implemented. We made an effort to enroll the county in information streaming and for 24/7 monitoring for public IP addresses to assist with possible cyberthreats, vulnerabilities and attacks. The additional set of eyes will help the monitoring. We are doing a nationwide cybersecurity review to assess the county where we are with IT security. It is a key component if we want to apply for the Homeland Security grant program. If you get an email that you are not sure about, call me or Robert and we can help assess it."

He noted the county is currently contracted with Spectrum, "but we are working on scaling down and making most of the services in house and will have them in place before Spectrum is ending. We are making calls to vendors for a site-wide antivirus platform. We will configure and deploy firewalls for the airport and Corre Caminos."

Zamora said Baca is already taking over the help desk part of Spectrum services. "We have Adam and Robert. That will for sure reduce that portion of the Spectrum contract. We are chipping away at the contract."

Baca said: "I think we are in the process of dealing with some of the more important issues in house. We want to enroll in malicious domain blocking. It will provide an additional step toward security. We continue to review and implement IT policies. On Feb. 22, we will participate in a computer data demonstration for Dispatch, for the new CAD implementation. Part of that is making sure the Sheriff Department new laptops are programmed and ready."

Ponce asked Baca if he had discussed with the Clerk's Office on whether the new system for minutes, which are a legal requirement, has her stamp of approval.

"We had a training session with the Clerk's Office to make sure they are comfortable with the new system," Baca replied.

Browne asked if some of these requests would require a budget adjustment.

Baca said he would talk to Vasquez about the issue.

The next article will get into the discussion on an ordinance and then into the review of the regular meeting agenda.