March 11, 2025 Work Session of the Grant County Commission

[Editor's Note: With the help of a new reporter, the Beat will begin to catch up with county meetings that fell through the cracks due to not enough time for the editor to write them. This addresses the March 11, 2025, Grant CountyCommission work session.]

By Michael LaReaux

No motion for agenda discussion or public input took place.

Under director reports, County Fire Chief, Roger Groves, presented first.He said fire activity is gradually increasing. The department is working on financial reports for the state. Reviews of volunteer fire departments continue. Last month stations were inspected in conjunction with the Fire Marshall's office to determine ISO status. Lower Mimbres VFD is no long on probation. An ISO inspection is necessary to improve their rating for property owner insurance rates. ISO rates on a scale of one to ten, with one being the most desirable score and ten being the least desirable. Most stations hold a rating of five.

The department continues to work on procuring equipment for aircraft firefighting, and expects to receive delivery in the middle of June. PERA (Public Employee Retirement Association) reports are due. Incident command teams are still being worked on. At the previous day's fire, four chiefs participated with three departments. One highly experienced person on the ground led ground crews in cutting line. "The operation was effective. The fire, which occurred at the top of a mountain, was contained relatively quickly. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but there is a possibility that the fire is related to a solar installation." Various training sessions and meetings help the department prepare for what is anticipated to be a busy season.

District 5 Commissioner Tom Shelley asked about recruitment and retention. Groves said last year saw a total of eight new members in 2024. Call volume information was unavailable due to the department's transfer to a new system.

Firefighters who attend fifty percent of calls, training sessions, and business meetings earn credit toward a retirement benefit with PERA. After ten years of service, a firefighter is eligible to receive a small monthly payment of approximately $125 per month. The benefit is potentially higher depending on years of service. A 16-year-old firefighter can earn service credits but will have to wait a considerable amount of time before collecting any benefits from the system. A service credit requires a full year of service. Ten years of service entitles a volunteer firefighter to a small retirement benefit. An "excluded member" is one who chooses to remain in the department without participating in the retirement program. The PERA requirements have changed in the past year, and there is a new form which the presenter had not seen. A regional fire planning meeting would occur on March 12. The meeting involves all of southern New Mexico, and Grant County has no specific role in the meeting.

The Detention Center Administrator Joseph Andazla presented his report. The facilicy has one officer opening, with four officers in training. The Center is currently working on emergency plans and finalizing escape routes. The center has hired a new kitchen supervisor and is working on a system for locking up utensils. The population that day stood at 83 detainees. This number is trending downward. Twenty-eight detainees participated in the R.I.S.E. program. Funding for this program ends on July 30th, and the Center will reapply for additional funding. This will be the fourth time the Center has applied for this grant. Juvenile Community Corrections works with kids on probation. Previously, they operated a learning lab for students who had been expelled or suspended from school. R.I.S.E. participants gave the students a presentation. This presentation was not designed as a "Scared Straight" program, but rather to provide insight and inspiration to struggling kids from the point of view of someone who had made similar life choices. Half of the students who viewed the presentation asked for some kind of assistance or therapy, indicating that the program had a positive effect on those who saw it. The Center is in the process of implementing a program called "SUCCEED," an evidence-based curriculum with 13 sections, which will be used in later stages of the RISE program. The State will train staff in April and begin implementing the program in early May. The greenhouse is completed, but severe weather damaged the structure. A warranty should enable repairs to the structure to happen without additional cost. The shower renovation progress is 45 days out, as workers who enter the facility to work must pass a background check. Detainees will have to be moved for the duration of the project. The showers will be repaired in their entirety. The vendor selected offered a 10-15 year guarantee, which will enable the facility to move forward.

JCC's Visit to the detention center has been cancelled. Unsafe road conditions due to inclement weather prompted the Center to reschedule the visit. A presentation to UNM students was originally slated for the Criminal Justice Department, but will be expanded to include the entire student body. The presentation will discuss detention and corrections, and how they work. The Center believes this program could become a valuable recruiting tool. "We have a commissioners' inspection scheduled on March 27th after the regular meeting."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce asked about the cost of housing an inmate, and how much the state will reimburse for it. Andazola offered to do research and supply the commission with updated information.

Emergency Manager Scot Fuller gave the next presentation.

The state has so far provided no input on the HAZMAT engagement plan. This indicates that the state is proceeding in a way that requires no action from Grant County. The department is finalizing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan grant. Timelines and dates are needed to complete the grant, and that work will be finished in approximately one week. The department has placed pamphlets at City Hall and the post offices, and runs PSA messages on the radio and on social media. Red Flag warnings are also posted on social media. Fuller announced a meeting would take place on Wednesday regarding Public Safety Power Shutoff in conjunction with the Forestry Service and PNM. This is a highly sensitive subject. Fuller said he had to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) just to read about the procedure.

"We submitted and education grant and BLM (Bureau of Land Management) approved it. Another grant is also in also in the works and will be completed by the 23rd.

Code Enforcement – "I will be detailing what happens at each court hearing. Defendants are being granted multiple extensions, and progress is being held up by the courts."

District 4 Commissioner Eddie Flores asked about the definition of an active case.He complained about a lack of subpoenas that would enable the County to present evidence. However, in the case being discussed, the defendant pleaded guilty, and therefore no evidence was necessary. The commissioner expressed a desire to have no more than ten active cases at any one time but understood that limitations in staffing make this goal a challenge.

Adam Baca of the IT department issued a report. They continue with server virtualization. "The final servers are more complex to migrate to a virtual environment because they are database servers which are accessed simultaneously by multiple users. This makes it difficult to migrate the data without interrupting service. In order to successfully migrate the servers, we have to ensure that no one is writing any data to the database at the time of the migration." Only two servers are left to migrate. The new server platform will provide a faster, more reliable user experience. At the detention center, IT is implementing a new redundant firewall. This will ensure that key systems continue to function if some equipment fails, as well as provide content filtering. Betty (last name?) and Andrea Montoya (deputy county manager) continue to work on the financial rebuild. Tyler Technologies was asked to increase their product support and the department believes this project is moving forward positively. HR is working towards a new, updated applicant tracking system. "This will enable a potential applicant to create a profile and a resume online. Applicants will be able to apply and provide all necessary documentation digitally. Additionally, the department is completing work on the portable building that houses the RISE program. This includes finishing the business network and extending the security camera system. Future projects include implementing a backup power management plan. This will enable critical systems to be powered down safely in the event of an outage.

Joseph Holguin, Planning and Capital Projects Director, resented his report.

For projects under constructions, he had no milestones to report, but everything is going well. "The schematic design of the Public Safety building is one hundred percent complete. The next step is to develop construction drawings to be voted on in the next meeting. The Courthouse remodel is ongoing. The department is working with the Court to get feedback to ensure the design meets the Court's needs. The department is waiting for financial documents from New Mexico Finance Authority to move forward, and we should have documents by next meeting. The planning department worked with PWD (Public Works Department) to submit local road projects by March 6." TPF (???) Applications were due on the 28th for major public works projects. The department requested support in certifying county road mileage to NMDOT by April 1st. The mileage remains the same.

Public Works Director Jason Lockett provided a county facilities maintenance report. The administration building general breakroom has new countertops and seating. "Work continues on painting the detention center and on the conference center flooring. The detention center has a newly built mock cell door installation for training purposes. The front portico of the admin building has been resurfaced. Materials for the Detention Center laundry room are on order. The admin building bathroom remodel has been completed. The treasurer's office has been repainted. Work on the courthouse's holding cell has been completed, as well as the ADA storefront." Public Works sent an employee to locksmith school, making the department even more self-sufficient.

The prior commission approved a $70,000 budget for in-house projects. A member of the(Who) commission asked if this appropriation was sufficient.

Lockette replied that the department is saving money by doing more projects in-house. The money provided enables the department to complete projects in a timely manner. With more money, the department risks having unspent funds at the end of the year. With more projects, the department risks uncompleted work. Therefore, the money provided balances these concerns.

Lockett also presented the Fleet Maintenance report and said personnel completed fourteen oil changes and inspections, diagnosed and repaired four vehicles, and replaced the cutting edges of four blades. They replaced one blade entirely, adjusted brass inserts, replaced two windshields, and replaced a catalytic converter on FD2. The also replaced eight sets of tires.

The Road Deparment report, also by Lockett, stated that equipment operators are maintaining approximately 160-200 miles of road each month, adding aggregate to various locations. The department is taking advantage of a scholarship program to reduce the cost of CDL training. The $6,000 tuition would be partially covered by the scholarship, leaving only $1500 to be paid by the county. The department is preparing for CAP (capital) and SP (special project) projects. Work was completed on a water diversion project designed to protect an electrical transformer. In addition, a ditch was filled in to mitigate erosion, and tree removal was carried out at Duck Creek.

Any complaints or concerns regarding the roads should be directed to the Road Department. The information collected will be relayed to the appropriate personnel.

County Manager Charlene Webb gave a review of the regular meeting agenda for Thursday, March 13, 2025.

The first item on the agenda was a proclamation declaring drought conditions and a moratorium on the use of fireworks. Stage One restrictions would be imposed on Monday. The county can issue this proclamation every thirty days, as long as extreme drought conditions persist. If the weather changes, the county can choose not to renew these restrictions. This procedure has been successfully implemented in previous years and aligns with state statute.

"Tu Casa's advisory board fulfilled its mission, but is no longer necessary," she said. "The commission has determined that the board should be dissolved. This is a first step in returning Tu Casa to its intended purpose. The board concluded that it was important to get Tu Casa back to basics, fully functional, and running. Concerns about losing valuable recommendations were dismissed. The Commission created the board, but Hidalgo Medical Services runs Tu Casa [at that time}. The advisory board does not run the program. Information can be supplied directly to the Commission. Further discussions are necessary to determine the direction of the program."

Under Resolutions, the first,item E, R-25-17 , is a prohibition on animals in public buildings. Qualified service animals are authorized to be in public buildings, but emotional support animals are not. The resolution also authorizes animals that are part of a particular exhibit. Dogs should not be running loose in public buildings.

Item F, R-25-18, concerned the certification of county roads mileage required annually by NMDOT.

Next addressed R-25-19, authorization of an expenditure of funds for architectural services on the Public Safety building.

Next was R-25-20, a budget adjustment request.

Medina announced a meeting by the Gila Regional Medical Center rescheduled for March 25.

Ponce noted that a traffic signal on Highway 180 needed to be replaced. There is a difficulty in getting parts from suppliers, which might account for the delay in replacement.

Stout Clean Energy wants to utilize county roads and is meeting with landowners to discuss the matter. It was determined that someone from the Commission should attend the meeting to get more specific information. The Commission believes that the company is exploring alternatives in the event their primary plan fails. Stout Clean Energy already has authorization to use the roads, but other issues have arisen, such as easements, that should be addressed. The Commission will contact the company and ask for a written statement of their progress and intentions.

District 3 Commissioner Nancy Stephens pointed out the animal control ordinance fee structure is not strict enough to deter violations, according to public comments. Some constituents want peafowl added to the list of domesticated animals.

Abandoned vehicles and motorhomes present a potential fire risk.

On Highway 35, Bear Canyon is beautiful, but overhanging trees are potentially hazardous. The Commission discussed assessing which trees could be a danger.

The meeting was then adjourned.