By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a regular meeting July 3, 2025. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Trustees, Peter Erickson, Olga Amador and Ralph Trujillo attended. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza did not attend.

The council approved the agenda with some changes in order, past meeting minutes and department head reports.

Mayor's report

Lopez said the streets have started to look really good with all the projects they had done. The group that had did the projects in town will be attending the next meeting to provide a report. The YCC (youth conservation corps) kids had come and helped with the project and did an excellent job. "We are super happy." Lopez said he had received a lot of positive comments.

He had been gone for a couple of weeks and that had been the reason for canceling the regular meeting last month, as he had been helping assist the Trout Fire efforts as a safety officer. He thanked all the law enforcement people, first responders, national guard and everyone that had been there to assist. They all had done an excellent job. The Santa Clara Fire Department had been out there shuttling water for the helicopters. Many of the other departments had been out there, also. It had been a hectic time, but they all had great teamwork

The council went into closed session.

The council came back into open session.

New business

The council approved the amended Grant County New Mexico joint powers agreement for consolidated public safety answering point.

Resolutions

The council approved resolution 2025-20 to participate in the local government road fund program administered by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The village participates in this each year.

The council approved resolution 2025-21 for the village to adopt the Grant County 2025 hazard mitigation program. Leandra Esparza, city clerk, said this will be an almost 400-page plan. This resolution comes before the council every five years, and it looks at how to reduce damage to infrastructure and community services in the event of severe weather incidents. Lopez said these plans have been something the village does all the time anyway.

Hiring raises and terminations

Lopez said Ronald Martinez had been busy at the academy and passed all his requirements to be a certified police officer. This will bring the village up to four patrol officers and all certified. Lopez congratulated Martinez.

Martinez thanked them for the opportunity and said it had been a tough journey. The physical part had been the hardest for him.

The whole council congratulated him on his accomplishment and Police Chief Lonnie Sandoval had sent a letter to the council asking them to adjust his pay rate to $22 an hour due to his graduation from the academy and now being a certified officer. The council approved a pay rate increase of $22 an hour for Martinez.

Lopez wanted to address the issue of the firefighters being paid by the federal government for the work on the Trout Fire. Larry Montoya, fire chief, said he had done the paperwork, and they should be paid middle of August because he had started the paperwork right away. Montoya added the SMART board had really been helping.

First regular meeting to be held Thursday July 10, 2025, at 6:00 pm
Second regular meeting to be held Thursday July 24, 2025, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned