By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held its regular meeting November 10, 2022. Mayor Richard Bauch called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza, Trustees Olga Amador, Peter Erickson, and Arnold Lopez attended.

Before the council could approve the meeting Mr. Tom Caddel said he had a problem with the item concerning the issue on the fence in the alley because it had not been two weeks as required by the village. A discussion took place and Bauch took it off.

The council approved the agenda for the meeting with the change of the new business item concerning the fence in the alley at Caddel Crossing.

The council approved the minutes from the October 27, 2022, meeting.

The council approved the monthly department reports.

Mayor's report

Bauch talked about the village getting ready for the Tamal Festival and thanked everyone for their hard work putting it together. He announced the lighted parade happening on December 3, 2022.

New Business

Wendy Anderson from Ameresco Solar joined the meeting through Zoom. She joined the meeting to give a presentation to the council. She had a project for the village to consider. She started by saying that New Mexico has taken a large leadership role in bringing in solar energy to the state. They have started a community solar program that is applicable to all. She sent a packet with a site map to everyone on the council. The area in consideration would be ten acres just northwest of the Dollar Store. Ameresco would construct a 2-megawatt solar system. This program would provide an income to the village for the leasing of the land. Residents could sign up through PNM to subscribe and receive a ten percent discount on their electrical services. She talked about providing education on solar at the schools, providing jobs for local people for construction, and jobs for continued maintenance.

Bauch asked for clarification on the benefits to the residents. Anderson said if they subscribed, they would get a ten percent discount on their PNM bill. No fee would be charged to sign up. An effort to offer to the residents would be made first and then it can be subscribed to by anyone with PNM service.

The project would be for 25 years and at that point it could continue or Ameresco would remove all equipment and fences. They would also return the land to its original state. Anderson told them the project would take 3-6 months to get started. They would know by March if the project would be accepted by the third party involved. If the project had not been accepted the first time they could try again.

Bauch said currently the village uses solar on the well fields and one of the buildings and it has been very beneficial. Sheila Hudman, administrative assistant, said she had been working with Anderson and the panels would not cause any reflection problems with the sun. They would be nonreflective.

A question about the square footage of panels that would be installed, and Anderson didn't know exact but did some quick calculations and it would be about 4,000 square feet. They also addressed the zoning change they would have to make for the project.

Bauch asked the council how they felt about the project and if they would like to move forward. Hudman said this had not been for an approval but to just see if they would be interested in moving forward with the project. The council approved moving forward with the project.

After some discussion the council approved cutting the curb to install a driveway at 706 Cottonwood Street. Paul and Ben Hernandez will coordinate with the maintenance department and maintenance will cut the curb and Hernandez will fix the driveway. Bauch did inquire if doing this would cause any drainage problems and Hernandez said no.

The council approved the request from Police Chief Sandoval for the village to enter into a two-year contract with FirstNet AT and T for $179.96 per month. The current service with Verizon is $205 a month. Sandoval said FirstNet had been designed for law enforcement and provided them with a separate band that would be more reliable. Hudman said they would be receiving new phones at no cost and the old phones would be repurposed for other employees that had been sharing phones. Sandoval said even though it would be a two-year contract if they had any problems, they could back out of it.

Old business none currently.

Resolutions none currently.

Proclamations

Amador read the full proclamation to make November 19, 2022, the official day of the Tamal Fiesta Y Mas and Bauch presented them with the proclamation. Raul Turrieta one of the organizers, said in past years they only had four people to organize the event, but this year had a lot more help.

Ordinances none currently.

Public comments

Reyna Garay addressed the council. She said she had run into a resident while fundraising, and this resident needed some help from the village. The resident needs help with wheelchair access on her property and where she gets out at her home a stop sign hinders her and the sidewalk has a gap making it hard to get across. She brought photos to show the council. The council spent time discussing what could be done to help this resident and fix her problem with access. Hudman and Bauch said they would look into what they could do and get back to Garay.

Tom Caddel addressed the council. "When are you going to take that fence down? You know it is illegal, you all know. It is a right of way, and you need to take it down." He said the police chief wouldn't do anything either. "If I did that you would have me arrested." Bauch explained the situation with the fence to the council and what had transpired with the owner of the property. He said he has been concerned that if they take down the fence the village would be liable. Yvette Gonzalez, the town attorney, asked the location of the fence. She said the village had been reasonable for some time and needed to move forward and cite the person. Bauch said he had talked with the owner, and he has refused to take the fence down. Bauch said they could take the fence down and put barbed wire on his part. Gonzalez said to let him know by registered mail what will be done in two weeks and that a lien would be put on his property for the cost of taking it down. A discussion went on for some time on the issue. Gonzales told them again to have the man cited by code enforcement and give him a reasonable amount of time to take it down. If not done, send a registered letter letting him know the fence will be taken down, and a lien put on his property for the expense of the village doing it.

Closed session not held

Hiring, Raises, Terminations, etc.

Bauch wanted to recommend that they reinstate Cadet Kevin Vigil to police officer. He has been attending the police academy and graduates the next week. He further wanted to recommend increasing his pay to $18 an hour and put him in at the rank of sergeant. Bauch said he had been with the village for a year and a half and had done a very good job for them and had been a great asset. Vigil had also signed a two-year contract with the village to stay. The council approved the recommendation.

Next meeting

Second regular meeting for November 24, 2022, canceled.
First regular meeting to be held Thursday December 8, 2022

Meeting Adjourned