By Lynn Janes
The town of Hurley held a special meeting November 14, 2023. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ed Stevens, councilors Nanette Day and Keana Huerta. Reynaldo Maynes did not attend.
The council approved the consent agenda. Lori Ortiz, city clerk, gave the council an update on how the Copper Cleanup went. It had been a little slow, but it will be an annual event and possibly the next one would be in the spring when the weather would be a little warmer. They had looked at new Christmas decorations, garlands for the poles but if they purchase them, they will have to do every other one. Maintenance will put up a tree to decorate in December. Next year they will add some more new decorations.
The police department had gotten 180 calls and made 9 arrests and several citations. The fire department had 4 calls in October.
George Esqueda of Stantec attended the meeting to give them an update on the projects done and coming up. The city had applied for a match waiver on the street improvements and had received it. This will be for paving and sidewalks. Some of the projects would need environmental certification. He asked for the council to give him all the information upfront to know what they needed for the Big Muddy project and the town hall building (Chino building). He reminded them to make sure their audit would be up to date so they would be eligible for funding.
Stevens said, "We have a lot of projects for the next few years that will be a positive change for the town."
The council approved the task order for the Big Muddy recreation park improvements. Esqueda said they needed to develop how they wanted it laid out and they would need to bring in a landscape architect.
The council approved the task order for the town hall (Chino building) improvements. It is a historic building and will need ADA improvements. Esqueda asked for a layout of what they wanted in the building, like office space, meeting rooms, etc.
The council approved the purchase order for the road safe traffic system. This would be for street signs. Some streets didn't have signs at all and 89 would be needed.
The council tabled the approval of the solid waste collection services. They needed a few days to review the two bids sent in. A special meeting would be set for November 22, 2023, to address the award.
The council approved the award of legal services to Mynatt Springer of Las Cruces, New Mexico, the town's current provider. They had received two proposals. The other came from Cuddy McCarthy, LLC, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The council approved Judge Mateo Madrid's attendance to new municipal court judge orientation in Albuquerque.
The council approved the completion of probation for William Jason Cox, animal control officer.
The council approved the hiring of Austin Whitehead as code enforcement officer, pending completion of background check.
The council approved the hiring of Christopher J. Baca as police officer, pending completion of background check. He will be attending the academy.
Day said they have been working on the library, sorting all the books and cleaning. The library will open in January on Thursday and Friday mornings and the first Saturday of every month. She also asked for any volunteer help.
Next meeting will be held December 12, 2023, at 5 pm.
Special meeting will be held November 22, 2023
Meeting adjourned.