By Lynn Janes
The Village of Santa Clara held a regular meeting September 25, 2025. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza and Trustees, Olga Amador, Peter Erickson and Ralph Trujillo attended.
The council approved the agenda, past meeting minutes and department head reports. They did change the order of the agenda moving the closed session.
Mayor's report
The big project with the outside of the Bradley Hotel had finished and now the village will be looking for funding to renovate the inside. Lopez said he had already received comments from people on how good it looked.
He and Shiela Hudman, village administrator, had attended the Copper Collaborative meeting with Freeport McMoRan (FMI). The other mayors from the mining district had also attended, and they had talked more about the affordable housing in the future within Santa Clara, Bayard and Hurley. Water rights had also been part of the conversations. A lot will be changing with the help of FMI and having another water well online. He said they still had red tape to go through.
The previous day they had a variance hearing for the lot Cobre Schools would like to purchase for staff housing to use as a recruitment tool. The council voted to allow the variance.
Yvonne Gonzales, village attorney, said the council voted to approve the request for a variance and it becomes final after a 20-day appeal period for the public. She continued with the description of the property and it being one lot turned into two. Cobre Schools will be placing two small, manufactured homes on the lots for staff purposes. Applicants have had trouble finding affordable housing and have not been able to take open positions at Cobre Schools. She thought even Silver Schools has had this problem.
The council had voted to divide a 5,000 square foot lot into two lots. Cobre Schools will be putting 640 square foot homes on the land at 527 Fort Bayard Street.
Lopez felt it would be good for Cobre Schools and the village. It will be a pilot program and show it can be done in every community. He looked forward to working with the superintendent on the project.
Lopez asked Lonnie Sandoval, police chief, if he had anything to report. They have two new units coming in, one in October and the other in November. They have an opening for an officer, but Sandoval said he will be trying to hire one that has certification already. The department has started using some software that will cut down on having to have ticket books. "The wave of the future is to go paperless."
The department has become cross-commissioned so if they have a call to Fort Bayard, they don't have to wait for the county to come take over.
Lopez asked Larry Montoya, fire chief and animal control officer, if he had anything to report. Their new brush truck will be ready in October. He continues to receive a lot of EMS calls.
The council asked Sergeant Ford, who had attended the meeting for some information about some pedophiles that had been arrested. Ford said the county had taken it over because their officers had trained for the issue. Another one had happened, and the county has taken that one as well. It has been an area regularly patrolled. The council asked if they had been registered offenders and Ford said no only when convicted will they have to register. Some discussion went on about the crimes and registered sex offenders. The laws have changed. Because the county will be doing the investigation they will have limited information, and the county has also been short-staffed and down five deputies but had hired two recently.
New business
The council tabled US Solar representative Connor McCarthy a second time due to them not attending to provide a presentation.
The council approved an application by Randy Maynes to move a 30 x 76-foot 2025 double wide mobile home to 404 Maple Street. Lopez has spoken to Rosemary Arciero, code enforcement officer, and they had met all the requirements.
The council approved an application by Rosalind Gandara and Servando Saurez to move a 32 x 72-foot 2026 double wide to 1201 Jasper Street. Arciero had also said they had met all the requirements.
The council approved the purchase request by Montoya for a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 in the amount of $71,100.00. Montoya has been using a 2006 hand-me-down from the county and it has 140,000 miles on it and has issues. This will come out of the fire fund the state provides every year and will not come out of the village general fund.
The council approved the RFP (request for proposal) award for the abatement of asbestos and lead based paint at Fort Bayard. Leandra Esparza, village clerk, said this will be for the buildings that the Forest Service will possibly occupy.
The council approved the sale of 527 Fort Bayard Street to Cobre Consolidated Schools. Cobre School Board had already voted to purchase the property. Gonzales said they will be moving quickly on this, because the funding expires in June of 2026. She added this would be compatible with the affordable housing ordinance. The village will retain the right of purchasing if for some reason it came up for sale. This will be different from the first right of refusal. She continued to explain the positive impact it could have.
Lopez thought this would be a good first step, and Santa Clara will be leading the way with the program.
Resolutions
The council approved resolution 2025-32 to participate in the transportation project fund administered by the DOT (department of transportation). They had passed the match waiver last meeting, and this will be for the funding. Both will be for Maple Street projects
The council approved resolution 2025-33 ratifying the agreement between the village and Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments. They do this each year and receive help with applications for grants.
Proclamations
The council approved the proclamation for October 2025 Domestic Violence Awareness month. Dolores Charon had attended and spoke to the events they would hold during the month. They read through the proclamation. Charon had brought flyers and would bring them flags. Lopez said they would do everything they could and appreciated her coming back again to have the village participate. Charon asked that the police department come to the event at the Women's Club October 1, 2025, so they could provide the purple ribbon magnets for their vehicles.
First regular meeting to be held Thursday October 9, 2025, at 5:00 pm
Second regular meeting to be held Thursday October 23, 2025, at 6:00 pm
The village employee party will take place at the armory December 18, 2025. Lopez wanted all employees to attend with their families. More information will be sent out.
Lopez wanted to remind everyone the election wase coming up and Albert Esparza and Peter Erickson would be running.
The Tamal Fiesta will take place November 8, 2025. Amador said they still need more vendors. If anyone has interest, they can contact city hall. People don't have to just sell tamales; they can sell other foods and items.
Meeting Adjourned