By Lynn Janes
Silver City held a regular meeting December 13, 2022. The meeting started with Mayor Ken Ladner calling the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance and salute to the New Mexico state flag. Council members attending the meeting included Lucian Farmer, Jose Ray, Nicholas Prince, and Guadalupe Cano.
The council approved the agenda.
Ceremonies none currently.
Proclamations none currently.
Council comments
Ray wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Prince thanked all the employees and wished everyone happy holidays. He reminded everyone to shovel their sidewalks when it snowed. He said it had been a great year and felt fortunate to work with great people and government.
Farmer wished everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. He commented on the great growth the town has seen recovering from the pandemic.
Cano said she had a list for her comments. She thanked everyone who participated in Homenaje A La Virgin De Guadalupe (Tribute to the Virgin of Guadalupe). "It was a great experience." She recognized Officer Frank Canas for acting in the play. Javier Marrufo for being the cook, photographer, tech, and acting in the play as well.
She wanted to recognize Officer Little. She saw how well he handled an accident and the people involved.
Cano expressed concern about the parking at the Knights of Columbus. When the Commons has a food distribution day it creates blockages up the street and some issues need to be addressed with it. She also pointed out that the handicap parking at the Knights of Columbus does not work well as you have to jump the curb to get to it. Brown said currently they have been working on fixing that issue.
Recently Cano said she had to call central dispatch twice concerning the side streets downtown. When it snows, they plow the main road but not the side streets. She asked that they include the side streets in the future.
"The weeds on Hudson Street at the bridge have gotten so high you can't see the signs." Cano asked if someone would look into getting them cut back.
She congratulated Farmer and Prince for surviving their first year. She added, "Feliz Navidad and enjoy your friends and family, see you in January."
Ray commented on Homenaje A La Virgin De Guadalupe (Tribute to the Virgin of Guadalupe) and what a great event it had been.
Ladner also said it had been a great event and thanked everyone that had been part of it. He thanked everyone involved in the lighted Christmas parade. "Volunteers make our town move, you do so much." He wished everyone a happy holiday and new year.
The council approved the minutes from the meeting November 22, 2022.
Public input
Mic Smith addressed the council with some concerns. She said in past meetings they had talked about the number of dispensaries and not having them all downtown to preserve the historic part of town. Smith said she has been for the legalization of cannabis. However, she and a lot of people have not been happy about so many downtown. She specifically spoke about the old post office. "I was a little shocked and also the people doing it are from out of state." She said the town is up to ten dispensaries. "That is a lot for our town, and most are from out of state." This does not give our local people fair and equitable access to a new market. She pointed out an artist group that had wanted that (old post office) space but had been having problems with funding. A lot of people, tourists, come here to experience the art and history of the area. "Are we just looking for people who want to come here and get high? Just a question."
Reports from staff
Bart Roselli, museum director, gave the council a report on what has been going on at the museum and what has been planned. Without the town's help he said they could not keep going.
In the past every year they do a Victorian Christmas but this year they did a Victorian Christmas and More. Roselli said the museum needs to be more representative of the area. They had LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) at the event and they had posole and sold out. Stuart Hooker read cowboy poetry, and people loved it. He thanked Alex Brown, town manager, for all his help and support.
Roselli wanted to recognize Georgiana Duarte, president of the museum society, for all her hard work raising $200,000 this past year for the museum.
Frist thing he said they have been looking at, how to diversify their audience.
Second has been to reach out to young people. They received a grant from New Mexico Humanities and will be working with the schools. The museum has reached out to the teachers to use the museum resources to add to the curriculum.
Third thing to do has been to focus on local stories. Roselli said this area has so many fascinating stories. One of the local stories he talked about had to do with Arturo Flores. This man had impacted national politics. "He fought for the rights of the Hispanic miners and is an important historical figure."
They have a ranch exhibit that shows the history of ranching in the area. They will be using forty different ranches in the exhibit.
Roselli turned the presentation over to Javier Marrufo an employee of the museum. Marrufo has been working on a project, Chihuahua Hill history. He said he had interviewed 80 people and had 5,100 minutes of interviews. Joe Ray and his mother had been part of the project. "It was a project that really needed to happen." It has brought people into the museum and seems to have struck a chord with the community. "Other museums in the state have reached out to see what we are doing."
Roselli encouraged everyone to go see the exhibit "The Life and Times of Arturo Flores." Marrufo added that they had an interview recording of him and it can be heard at the exhibit.
Cano said she had gone to some of the presentations, and she would ask that they diversify with the speakers. "It is always the same ones."
Prince thanked them for documenting so much.
Ray told Roselli to tell everyone about the bingo they have to raise money. Roselli said "They only do it once a quarter, so it is legal." They use the Murray Hotel ball room, and it has been very successful and well attended.
Farmer thanked him for what they had been doing and collecting primary source history. Ladner echoed what Farmer had said.
Manager
Alex Brown, town manager gave a brief update on current projects.
Freeport McMoRan had donated $250,000 for the recreation center project in the past and had now added another $250,000 for the project.
The recreation center design has been suspended until the construction manager at risk process has been completed. He said that should be the end of January.
Brown said, "He had gone to the golf course, and it was packed."
They will be looking for more funding to do the Little Walnut project. Brown said the state has $60 million available for colonias funding this year. The town can apply for up to $6 million.
The funding for the project on 32nd Street project should be finalized shortly.
Public hearing
The council approved the zoning change on property located behind the Walgreens and Verizon after the hearing took place.
Robert Rydeski and James Marshall, assistant town manager, were sworn in and presented the request for the zoning change.
Marshall said it would include four tracts of land and planning and zoning had approved the change. Currently the land to rezone has no development on it. None of the town departments see any problem with the change. All surrounding property owners had been contacted by letter and two replied with concerns on easements. It had been explained they would not have a problem. No other objection came up. Marshall went on to say this would not cause any adverse effect from the change. He had provided a map to the council to see exactly where the property was located.
Rydeski said he had lived here his whole life. This would be the first step of the plan for the project if they approved the zoning change. Next, he would be doing a feasibility study and then engage one of the two firms he had talked to about design. The one he has looked at did Angel Fire RV Park. He said he would be doing a high-end RV (recreational vehicle) park. Part of the park would have a restaurant that could be used by the community. He said he owned the building that held Hibbett Sports, and Verizon and it could be possiblly filled with something positive. The property has a total of 60 acres and some of it will be made into trails. Rydeski said he would work with the town to meet all the requirements, sewer, water, fire department, etc. The park would be bringing in gross receipts and lodgers tax for the community.
He asked the council if they had any questions.
Ray asked if he would have a dump station for the RVs. He said yes and would like it on the city sewer if possible. Prince commented on how they had been told at a conference recently that having a dump station in the community would help bring RVs in. He also added that he wanted the city to be part of the design process. Farmer said he would be favorable towards development and progress and ask that they keep the town in the loop.
Work session agenda
The council compiles a list of possible discussions to have at the next work session. The next one will be held at the second meeting in January. They have a list A-F. F being other issues not listed.
Cano started with the other issues not listed. She said they needed to discuss the needs of the police department and fire department. They needed to look at the salaries of all the employees. She said two officers told her they would be leaving because of some of the better deals out there.
One item on the list had to do with strategies to recruit a town manager and staff to replace those who will be retiring. Ray said the council should not be doing that. Cano said she disagreed that they do need to talk about this and plan ahead. Farmer agreed with Cano. Ray said: "We need to let them hire who they need to. I am old school and think it should be kept in house. We are just a town council and don't do the hiring and firing." Cano said, "I disagree; we do hire and fire." Prince commented that they should look at the process of hiring.
Prince pointed out that next year the legislative session would start on January 17, 2023, and some energy options will be available for the coming year.
Ladner wanted to comment on the discussion topic of the town manager and staff hiring. "We hire the town manager, but they are hired to do the hiring and firing for the town." He added that the council does not have the qualifications to do the process or negotiate with the unions. "We should not be micromanaging the town manager."
Cano said she has had two officers say they will be considering leaving because for example Las Cruces offers a large sign on bonus and $7 more an hour. "I found out about this on the street. We have a responsibility to keep the town safe. It is an issue if a bunch of first responders might leave." She added she had just been thinking of the future and being proactive. Ray said they signed a contract, and this should wait until the contract comes up again. Cano said, "They could leave now and if we lose quality employees, we have a problem."
Brown said he had originally brought some of this to the council's attention. He would be retiring, and they have some staff that will be retiring. They have already started looking to replace five in the next fiscal year. He said the council needed to hear both sides of the story. The two officers Cano brought up Brown said came from the only fully staffed department. One of them left for one of those jobs she talked about and has already come back. The fire department will have some changes due to the assistant fire chief retiring. Brown added that the fire department has been easy to staff that people have been lined up. They do have positions open they can't fill with office staff, but they don't hear them complain. Brown ended his comment with, "I would like to give you the other side of the story as long as we don't interject into negotiations."
Farmer said they should discuss strategies to retain and recruit the best employees.
Prince said this would be a good time for all of them to get on the same page.
They ended with the coming discussion to be about the legislative session pertaining to local energy options and strategies to retain and recruit employees.
Unfinished business none currently.
New business
The council approved resolution 2022-25. This resolution concerned an agreement between the town and the Tyrone Water and Wastewater Association. Brown gave the council a history of the agreement. In the 1980s Phelps Dodge made an agreement with the town to provide water, with a ten percent increase to the intown rates. In 2008 the homeowner's association had taken over and didn't have the cashflow to pay the town. At that time the town took over billing to each person. In 2011, they connected to the city sewer and that had been added to the bill. Those agreements have expired. Tyrone needs to upgrade the sewer and water systems and to get funding they had to be a separate entity, so the Tyrone Water and Wastewater Association has been formed. The resolution just changes the name.
The council approved resolution 2022-24. This resolution authorizes the execution and delivery of the colonias infrastructure project fund loan and grant agreement. This will be for the construction of the 32nd Street road and drainage improvements. The loan amount will be $217,600 and the grant amount being $1,958,400. Brown explained this will be the second and last needed funding and it will then go out to bid. The project will start in the spring of 2023. Brown added the road had never been built for the amount of traffic it has now. They will be taking it to the ground level and rebuilding. It will also include putting in sidewalks and bike lanes.
The board approved RFP (request for proposal) 22/23-2P. This will be for a professional site and study for Municipal Pool Councilman-Hunsaker of St. Louis, Missouri. This will be for the town pool project. Prince added, "This company has a great reputation, and the town was lucky to get them."
The council approved the cancelling of the December 27,2022 regular council meeting.
Meeting adjourned.