This one addresses additional county reports.

[This is the seventh in a series of articles on the Grant County Commission meetings.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

After a discussion and two county reports, [links at the bottom of this article] at the work session on June 21, 2022, commissioners heard more county reports.

Facilities and Grounds Maintenance Supervisor Jason Lockett presented the General Services Department report, as General Services Department Director Randy Villa is serving as interim county manager. Lockett said the Covid-safe remodel at the administration center is pretty much complete except for punch list items. "We continue to work on the fields and the park at Bataan Memorial Park. The pavilion and concession stand are being rented, and we are booked about two months out on the reservations. The Cliff Arena bleachers at the Fairgrounds are about 90 percent complete."

He said the Cliff-Gila playground equipment should be delivered in about the second week in July. All the old playground equipment has been removed and was sold.

The Gila Community Center repairs are ongoing, and the Black Street facility renovation for use by Magistrate Court is on track.

"We are very happy to report that May 2022 had the highest enplanements since Advanced Air started flying into Grant County Airport," Lockett said. "We had 573 passengers boarding from Grant County Airport."

He noted that May fuel sales associated with firefighting totaled 52,041 gallons of jet fuel, with gross sales at $378,923.34. In June, through June 15, sales totaled 32,986 gallons of jet fuel for gross sales of $240,995.77.

"I want to thank the airport staff," Lockett said. "They have been working long hours."

He also noted that Corre Caminos transported 150 riders for the Wild, Wild West Rodeo.

Future projects for the department include a containment area and new fuel tank, plus an ARFF (aircraft rescue firefighting) fire truck at the airport, all fully funded through state aviation funds. The department will do electrical work at the Fairgrounds in several areas and will work on a fire ancillary system upgrade at the Gila Senior Center kitchen. Lockett noted that two bids were received for the upcoming runway and taxiway maintenance project at the airport, funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and state aviation grants. Maxwell Asphalt, Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah, was the low bid at $600,989 with New Mexico gross receipts tax. The other bid was from American Airport Maintenance from Tucson, AZ, with a bid of $744,196.27 with NM GRT.

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings confirmed that Lockett had said he had sold all the old playground equipment, because several residents had asked for it. Lockett said: "Yes, and the new equipment will look great."

Procurement Officer Randy Hernandez gave the fiscal report in place of Financial Officer Linda Vasquez. "We are doing the fiscal year close out. I remind you to get any outstanding invoices in as soon as possible."

He noted the final budget to be submitted to the state before July 31 "is coming down the road."

Villa gave Road Superintendent Joe Grijalva's report. "He is now officially our road superintendent. He has made a good impact on the community. The road crews are addressing complaints by spot blading trouble areas. The department will submit its 2023 Local Government Road Fund projects to the New Mexico Department of Transportation this week. June 20 will be the start of chip seal projects and may extend into the week of June 27. Future projects include curb and gutter at North Hurley Aqua Blanca and setting culverts and lifting and capping the road on Little Walnut Road."

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards said she was happy to see Grijalva become superintendent.

Villa said the county would recruit for his former position. "I think it's important to guide our employees and to fill positions with our staff."

Adam Baca of the Internet Technology Department said he is doing sitewide implementation of remote monitoring connectivity. "We will be able to remotely connect to address issues and manage security. We are also implementing anti-virus sitewide. The local IT department will have an exclusive IT contract, so we can sever ties with our current contract services. We had an internet outage outside of work hours and Robert came in to test the redundant/failover connection for the Administration Center. That's how we know it works. Another future solution we are working on is to back up all the servers and data. It will allow the IT Department to control it all. I remotely attended the New Mexico Counties conference for IT directors."

Villa said he had hired an emergency manager, who will start work in July. "We are working on updates in the manager's office, so we can get an executive assistant. I think it's crucial, so we will proceed. We have put an allocation of $80,000 toward security at the Courthouse and at the lift station. We used ARPA (American Rescue Protection Act) funding, but we also have it in the budget."

District 4 Commissioner and Vice Chair Harry Browne, who was leading the meeting, asked if the funding would roll over into the next fiscal year. Lockett said he believed they could encumber it before the end of June.

Villa said the county has a new employee doing the county parks. "We have to get him a vehicle to make sure he can get to the parks."

Billings asked about a position in Cliff. Lockett said the position is a part-time contract to help with upkeep in Cliff-Gila.

Locket also introduced the new county electrician. "Yes, his name really is Benjamin Franklin."

The next article will get into the review of the regular meeting agenda, as well as reports and decisions made at the regular meeting.

For previous articles on this meeting, please visit: https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/72686-grant-county-commission-holds-lengthy-work-session-062122-part-1 ; which addressed the Gila National Forest presentation on the Black Fire and potential flooding impacts; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/72716-grant-county-commission-hears-several-presentations-at-work-session-062122-part-2 ; which addressed the SE Group presentation on the Outdoor Recreation Plan; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/72717-grant-county-commission-hears-several-presentations-at-work-session-062122-part-3 , which addressed the Lodger's Tax Advisory Board report; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/72765-grant-county-commission-hears-several-presentations-at-work-session-062122-part-4, which addressed the Tu Casa update; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/72852-grant-county-commission-hears-several-presentations-at-work-session-062122-part-5 which addressed the potential of a general obligation bond issuance on the General Election ballot; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/72896-grant-county-commission-work-session-062122-part-6, which addressed possible abandonment of a county road and county reports from the Detention Center and the Planning and Community Development Department.