By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a meeting April 25, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Trustees, Olga Amador, Peter Erickson, and Ralph Trujillo attended. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza didn’t attend.

Mayor’s report

Lopez had attended the Tommyknocker, mountain bike event at Fort Bayard, and said he had met some great people and people from other parts of the country. At the same time a softball game had been going on there. “I have not seen that many people out at Fort Bayard in years and it was good to see.” May 11, 2024, Fight Like A Girl will be having an event at Fort Bayard and Lopez said he had been asked to speak. Freeport McMoRan will be having a two-day picnic event at Fort Bayard coming up and will have about 1,500 people participating."

The slab for the Mercado has been poured and next they will start landscaping. Lopez said they will be looking for more funding to do some upcoming projects. Leandra Esparza, village clerk, has been attending some training for her position. “I want our employees to get the best training.” Lopez mentioned the funeral for PFC Richard Pitsor that would be coming up. He had died in a POW camp during WWII and came from this area. His casket would be escorted from El Paso by a group of veterans. “We didn’t know him but need to respect his service.” Lopez added he had been attending a lot of meetings and making connections that would help the village. 

Senator Siah Correa Hemphill attended the meeting to give the council a presentation on the recent legislative session. She told the mayor, “I am glad you attended the Tommyknocker event. It is an example of what our strength is in the area and the possibilities for outdoor recreation opportunities.” She said she always contributes to trail development in any way she can. 

According to the census, New Mexico has not experienced any growth. People have been moving and it has caused a decline in the number of students in the schools. Hemphill said she hoped they will be able to obtain the funding to build a new high school for Cobre. Deming has a beautiful facility. She had received a call from a teacher at Cobre a few years ago saying all the desks had cracks in them. “We need nice facilities.”

Hemphill said they had secured $500,000 for the Bataan Memorial to continue the improvements and hoped for more to renovate the homes at Fort Bayard. They had also secured $600,000 for broadband in Santa Clara, $300,000 for parking improvements,  $250,000 for historic building renovations and $150,000 for maintenance equipment for the village. 

Public safety had been a hot topic at the legislative session. “I try to look at the root causes of these problems and the solutions for them. We need our first responders and law enforcement but in the long term what do we need?” She had done an interview with someone from Mexico that said they don’t have a fentanyl problem. They have problems with violence and drug trade but not fentanyl. They said they have family, community, and culture. Hemphill said, “We saw that taken away with the pandemic, schools closed, no predictability, no community. Long term we need to combat that fear. We need to invest in outdoor recreation and community events.” 

She had spent her allocated fudning on health initiatives, Tour of the Gila, food security and arts and cultural events. They had invested in a 3 percent raise for all state employees. The Legacy Fund, conservation for soil and water, had been budgeted for $300 million. The legislature had also allotted $5 million for food banks and an increase in SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) funds for seniors and disabled. 

“I will be going into the schools more. Teachers are still burnt out from the pandemic.” She said she sits on the Finance Committee and they would like to see the 4-day and 5-day school week continue to be a local decision. They have not recognized the challenges of rural areas. 

Lopez said she had touched on some good things and folks need to be better educated. “We want to connect families in Santa Clara with the events and things like the water park.” He also spoke to some of the upcoming projects that would bring families together. 

The council went into closed session.

The council came back to open session and said no decisions had been made or actions taken.

Public Comment.

Amador gave an update on music and movies in the park coming up. They will be starting music on June 15, 2025, with the Illusion Band and bands on June 21 and 28. They will also be starting movies in the park starting in June and they will be on Saturdays. 

New Business

The council approved a quote for field equipment from Fire Chief Larry Montoya. The amount of the quote came to $4,205.12 and will be paid from funding received for the fire department. Lopez said this will afford them better preparedness for grass fires than they have had in the past. 

The council approved the appointment of Reynaldo Maynes as alternate municipal judge. Lopez said they had received two applications. They have needed a judge for some time. Yvonne Gonzales, village attorney, said he would be receiving the required training and could start May 15, 2024. 

Resolutions

The council approved resolution 2024-12 adopting the required community development block grant annual certification and commitment. Leandra Esparza said they do this resolution annually and went over  the projects it would cover, one of them being on Fort Bayard Street. 

First regular meeting will be held Thursday May 9, 2024, at 6:00 pm

Second regular meeting will be held Thursday May 23, at 3:00 pm 

The speed signs have been installed, and Lopez said they make him check his speedometer. They talked about possibly obtaining one or two more for some other areas. 

Meeting Adjourned