Cobre High Girls Varsity Volleyball Team Champions Photo courtesy of Tanya Ortiz

 By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held a regular meeting December 9, 2024. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Pro Tem Eloy Medina (phone), Councilors Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales and Gilbert Ortiz. Martha Salas, city clerk, also attended.

The city of Bayard proclaimed the week "Cobre High Volleyball Team Week." They had recently won a state championship, but due to having played one game too many, according to state rules, they received second, which was deemed unfair by many.

Consent agenda

The council approved the consent agenda that included minutes, police department report, wastewater report, maintenance report, fire department report, library report and accounts payable report.

New business

Chris Lemme, president of Silver City Recycles, came to do a presentation to the council. This proposal has also been made to Silver City town council. The purpose of their nonprofit has been to reduce waste being dumped in the landfill. One of the wastes being dumped at the landfill has been biosolids. This could be solved by turning it into compost. The biosolids already have been processed with many filtrations and it removes many of the contaminants. Currently the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) says dumping biosolids in landfills would be the least desirable and composting the most desirable.

Lemme had already approached Silver City, and they had done a test run on a small amount and it had been very successful. With biosolids the main concern has been human contagions. It has to be considered a hazardous material when transporting to the landfill and has a cost for every load. If composted instead it would be unregulated and can be beneficial. It could be used for composting, gardens, farms and landscaping. The compost does have to meat EPA standards with testing.

Silver City Recycles had three proposals for the council. The first proposal would be they would manage, run operation and do all the testing necessary and work with the wastewater department. They would be asking for the same fee the city currently has to pay the landfill. Bayard would be saving money in the transportation of the biosolids to the landfill. Lemme said the benefit for Bayard would be having all the compost they wanted, and Silver City Recycles would remove the excess at no charge to Bayard. He estimated that would be about 300 tons of compost a month. Robert Terrazas, wastewater director, said they currently pay about $200 a truckload and do two a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lemme said the only cost to Silver City Recycles would be the wood chips needed and labor but as a nonprofit their costs would be considerably lower. Salas thought they spent about $1,600 a month but needed to verify that information.

The second proposal would be for Silver City Recycles to be a consultant for a year and teach the staff how to do the process. They would have training requirements because of the EPA.

The third option would be a hybrid of the two and that could be done different ways.

With Silver they have started slow and Lemme suggested the same for Bayard. Salas said they needed to look into it further and find out all the fees involved. Medina asked where they would be transporting the biosolids. Lemme said the composting process would all be done at the wastewater treatment plant. Medina had concerns adding on to the workload of the Bayard wastewater employees. Salas added they had to do more research and look at all the options. The council tabled the proposal for further discussion when more information had been obtained.

Public input

Christopher Muniz, administrative assistand Bayard Elementary, addressed the council with a request to install a library box in the park next to the community center. It would be a place to donate books and take books. They would install the box and take care of any maintenance in the event of graffiti or destruction. Salas said she would have it on the agenda for the next meeting. The council could not comment or discuss on public input.

The council tabled the real estate purchase agreement between the city of Bayard and Foy Incorporated. NMFA (New Mexico Finance Authority) needs a purchase agreement to move forward. The council wanted time to review the contract. Salas will be putting it on the agenda for the next meeting. Medina asked if it would be a standard purchase agreement and Salas said yes.

The council approved the expenditure of the land survey by Allsup Land Surveying. The quote for the survey had been under $10,000 so procurement requirements of having three quotes did not need to be done.

The council approved contracted labor for a utility clerk. The utility clerk had resigned, and they needed someone on a part time basis for now to do the job and cover the office when need be. Esther Mendoza had worked as a utility clerk for Bayard some years ago and had agreed to work on an as-needed basis at $15 an hour. The position will remain open until someone has been found to fill it. Currently they have not had any applicants.

The council approved the holiday schedule.

The council approved the memorandum of agreement between Bayard, Hurley and Santa Clara for the Copper Collaborative. This group had been started with the help of Freeport McMoRan and Santa Clara will be the fiscal agent for any funding concerning affordable housing. The group will be requesting $50,000 for someone to coordinate the projects. They will be looking to rid the three municipalities of abandoned homes and cleaning up properties. Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments executive director, will be assisting on finding funding.

The council approved for the mayor and some staff to attend Grant County Days in Santa Fe January 28-30, 2025.

Ordinances and resolutions.

The council approved resolution 21-2024 open meetings changes. Salas provided the council with two options. She said it takes about a week to prepare for the council meetings and having them on a Monday has been very difficult. She asked for them to be moved to Wednesdays and only have one on the third Wednesday of the month or two meetings a month. She said they could still have special meetings if needed. The council chose to have one meeting a month on the third Wednesday. They will still start at 4:30.

The council approved resolution 22-2024 that authorized the assignment of an authorizing officer for the wastewater treatment plant improvements. It will be a $1.6 million capital outlay grant.

Planning and zoning

Cordell Jones, planning and zoning chair, addressed the council in regard to the usage of 112 Foy Street for an auto repair business named Bros Detailing Enterprises. It is part of the property owned by Johnathan Alvarado at 113 S Douglas Street. Planning and zoning had not reviewed it at this time, but he wanted the council to be aware of the issue. Alvarado and the two that would be running the business attended to answer questions. The business will face Ford Street. Planning and zoning has a number of concerns and Jones had provided a list for the council to review.

Currently the property does not have any services of its own. They will be using electricity from one meter owned by Alvarado. The septic has been attached from Alvarado's property and the water does not have a meter. They had torn up the street some years earlier and because the property had not been used the meter had not been replaced.

The septic being used has to be stipulated that it cannot be used for any waste from the auto business. They would need to know how the fluids such as radiator, transmission, etc. would be handled. They currently do not have trash collection. One of the business owners answered that question. They had already found a collection business for the fluids from the cars that would be disposed.

The legal definition does not show it zoned commercial but for single family residential. However, Jones said the property has been used for commercial purposes since the early 1900s and that could be found in the records. The records don't show anywhere it has been approved for commercial use. The council would have to agree on a special purpose agreement. Jones said they would not be opposed to that. He did recommend the city impose a time limit of one year on conditional use and to be reviewed annually so if something becomes not in alignment with the requirements the permit can be pulled. He also recommended they apply for city services on the property and an agreement on how the waste would be handled.

The discussion came around to the reason for this had been the business had been cited for not having a city license and conducting business. One of the business owners said they had not been aware of the zoning because it had always been a commercial space, and they had been waiting on a federal ID number to come and apply for a license. He said this has been their first business. and it has been a learning process. They wanted to be successful and work with the town. He added the plan to bring kids in to the learn the business and teach them a career. In the past it had been a welding shop and even a Model T paint shop. Planning and zoning would be in favor of the business if all requirements would be met.

One of the owners said they would be using plant-based organic car washing products. Ojinaga said he didn't want to see another place with cars piled up and referred to another business and the problems it had caused. One of the business owners said they had a three-day rule and that would not be a problem. Ojinaga asked what times they would be conducting business. The said 9:30 am to 7:30 pm at the latest. They had started as a detailing business, and they saw a need for people to be able to have their vehicles repaired that didn't come at an extremely high cost. They will be reasonably priced and want to help the people of Bayard.

Salas said once they meet the requirements of planning and zoning and have been approved, they will come before the council for a business license. Nothing should be happening until the requirements have been met and the license has been obtained. The two business owners provided their names to the council—Patrick Morones and Kyle Waldrip. They said this had all been a learning experience for them. Salas commented planning and zoning needed to have a special meeting on this and have it moving forward. The council will table until it comes back in front of them.

The council went into closed session

The council came back from closed session and said no actions had been taken.

Action items resulting from closed session.

The council approved the demotion of lead man in the maintenance department.

Hector Carrillo, police chief, had brought forward an applicant for the open position of police officer. Frances Gonzales and Medina had voted no, and Eloy Gonzales and Ortiz had voted yes. Ojinaga broke the tie with a yes.

Other action

The council approved the hiring of a temporary part-time person as a library assistant. Cindy Renee Provencio, head librarian, recommended Barbara Susan Bradley. She had been volunteering at the library and had done well with story time and crafts with the kids. She is also retired and has a flexible schedule. Salas said it would be a temporary position without benefits and will pay $14.75 an hour for approximately 16 hours a week. This will allow them to open up on Saturdays for six hours and the rest of the time will be determined by need.

Salas presented the letter of resignation from the utility clerk to the council. No action had been needed.

Mayor and council reports.

Terrazas said the plant had been running well.

Michael Paez, maintenance director, said the project on the million-gallon tank had been moving along, and all structures were in place. It will be completed in April 2025.

Provencio said that all the programs for the library had gone well and had been well attended over the Thanksgiving break. Each event had 13-25 people attend. The library will have a winter break program coming up, but she didn't have it ready to provide to the council. The second library board meeting would be happening in a few days on Thursday at 4:00 pm. Their main focus will be to start a comprehensive policy for the library which currently does not have one. The Silver City Library has given them theirs to use as a template. She had already drafted the first sixteen pages and would make sure it worked for Bayard. Provencio has been working on obtaining quotes for a website and logo. This will allow them to have a place to post the policies and put upcoming events and news for the library. It will also link to the city of Bayard website.

Andrew Gonzales, fire chief, said they would be doing Shop with a Cop. They will also be doing a parade with Santa Claus. They recently had two more volunteers join and will be working on a Facebook page.

Carrillo said they now only have one more position to fill. He had recently attended a New Mexico Police Chief conference in Ruidoso. The legislature will be trying to keep the retention funds for law enforcement. The legislators that spoke to them said they also would be presenting some legislation for mental health bills to help the police departments. The officers do take crisis prevention classes and the next one available will be in February 2025.

In his absence Frank Gomez, animal control officer, and Captain Galaz, they had worked with one of the teachers, Lucinda Valencia at Bayard Elementary School for Shop with a Cop. Silver has been doing this, but it didn't benefit very many Bayard students. They had been able to raise $3,000 to do the program. Some of the donations came in at over the $125 asked for and some came from businesses in Silver City. Currently they had 33 kids that will be involved. Carrillo hoped they had more donations and could shop with at least 40 kids. One business had donated $1,000 and another did $500. The teachers had chosen the kids from each school.

Carillo said he had received the new Durango they had ordered. He thanked the council and said it could be seen outside. Ojinaga said they try to obtain everything that has been needed by the employees. Carrillo thanked him and the council for their support and almost always finding a way to provide them with what they need to do their jobs better.

None of the council members had anything to report.

Next regular meeting will be held January 15, 2025.
The meeting for December 23 will be canceled due to the holidays.

Meeting adjourned.