By Lynn Janes

Before the meeting started a brief work session took place to address items on the agenda. Mayor Chon Fierro called the session to order. Also, in attendance Mayor Pro tem Raul Villanueva and councilors Eloy Medina(by phone), Jose Diaz and Frances Gonzales.

The board had a document for accounts payable and Diaz had a few questions for Kristina Ortiz, town clerk. Ortiz addressed each one and gave an explanation.

The council went over a few items on the fire report and wastewater reports.

On the agenda the board will be approving or not the administrative staff training at the NMML (New Mexico Municipal League) winter conference in Albuquerque. Ortiz explained she had not decided who would be attending but it would be good for all to attend. The board agreed that they all should attend, and the training would be important for all.

The next item on the agenda had to do with the Stone and McGee audit and if it would be awarded for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Ortiz said this would be the second year of a three-year contract at a cost of $36,153.

The board discussed if the executive session would be necessary for the hiring of the new officers. Gonzales wanted to as she did not have familiarity of the individuals.

Ortiz gave the board a quick rundown of projects. She said the lighting project currently is happening. However, the ornamental lights are still in transit. The railroad repairs should start shortly but they are waiting for vendor costs to come in. Ortiz went over all the streets that need repair and outlined what each one needed. She said security cameras had been installed except for the public safety building. She said that the public safety building would need a different system and at a cost of $40-$50,000. The other three buildings had cost $10,000 and cost $55 each a month for service.

Ortiz said the roof for the public safety building is still waiting on the contractor obtaining the necessary bonds to do the project. She said she hoped that would come in the next week so they could get started.

The wastewater treatment plant now has the screw press installed so the project is on the way to getting done.

Diaz asked about the little league bathrooms and maintenance told him they are almost done.

The town of Bayard held a regular town meeting July 11, 2022. The meeting started with Mayor Chon Fierro calling the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Attendance at the meeting included Mayor Chone Fierro, Mayor Pro tem Raul Villanueva and councilors Eloy Medina (by phone), Jose Diaz and Frances Gonzales.

The council approved the agenda with one change that approval of audit be put under new business and not the consent agenda.

Public input

Mr. Ojinaga, a resident addressed the council concerning two derelict houses. One of them the Hernandez house that had burned down. He wanted to know when it would be cleaned up. The council told him Mr. Hernandez had called and said he would be hiring someone to tear it down and he had until October 21, 2022, to do the job. He addressed the other house that he had been talking to the council about for many years. Fierro said they had been trying for 20 years to deal with this issue. The town had even offered to buy the property, but it is now owned by the family and no consensus could be reached with them. Mr. Ojinaga said someone must be paying the taxes, and what is Bayard going to do. Villanueva said they needed to contact the assessor's office to get the owner's contact. Ortiz said she would contact code enforcement and see where they were with the property.

The council approved the consent agenda that included the regular meeting minutes for June 27, 2022, accounts payable report for July 11,2022, fire report, and wastewater report. The consent agenda also included Gerald Polk attending NMWWA (New Mexico Wastewater Association) school for certification and the attendance of all the administrative office attending the NMML (New Mexico Municipal League) winter conference for training.

New business

The board approved the award for the 2022-2023 audit to Stone and McGee. The cost being $36,153.

The board voted to go into closed session concerning the hiring of new police officers.

The board came back to open session.

The board approved the hiring of two new police officers. Anthony Macias hired as a captain at $29 hour and Manuel Galaz hired as a lieutenant at $28 hour.

Mayor and councilors reports.

Villanueva wanted to thank the staff for all they do.

Gonzales had a few announcements. She said the library would have a poet and author at the library on July 18,2022. She also wanted to remind everyone about the event at Cobre, Summer Fest on July 30 and for everyone to go.

Diaz said he didn't have anything but thanked every employee for a great job and the public for coming. He also asked if the office had gotten them on the list for low-income residents to help with the water bills. It would give help up to a $300 credit. Ortiz said it had been submitted

Fierro thanked all the employees and said he appreciated the good job they do. He said in the past he had not been happy about the grader not being repaired but had investigated further and found it had been rarely used and should be put up for auction. Ortiz said they would get a list together with the department heads for an auction.

The next regular meeting will be held July 25, 2022 

Meeting adjourned.

In a previous meeting the original statement made had been incorrect, but was corrected after posting. It read:

Chief Carrillo said he had a comment. He told Diaz he sounded like he had been yelling at that meeting when the issue of the minutes came up. Diaz pointed out he had addressed Kristina Ortiz with the issue. I looked at the minutes and half had been missing so how can I act on that.

Chief Carrillo did not make this statement it came from Chief Euphemio Gonzalez.