By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a regular meeting July 10, 2025. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza, trustees, Peter Erickson and Olga Amador attended. Ralph Trujillo did not attend.

The council approved the agenda, past meeting minutes and department head reports.

Mayor's report

The Bradley Hotel stucco job now has finished, and Lopez said it will still need the color added but it looked great, and they had done a great job.

Lopez thanked Esparza for filling in for him while he had worked on the Trout Fire. He also recognized the staff for always doing a good job and wanted them to know how much he appreciated it. The projects would be finished for the summer, but they have already started planning the next phase for next year.

Public comment none currently.

New business

Allyson Siwik, director of the Gila Resource Information Project, attended to provide an update on the Southwest New Mexico Forestry Network project. She would be addressing two things, the draft of the plan for Santa Clara and some updates. Several of the other people working on the project had attended. They will be planting a thousand trees in Santa Clara, Bayard, Hurley, Lordsburg, Deming and Silver City. The comprehensive plan covers fifty pages, but she also had a four page snapshot for the council. The public may still comment until August 15, 2025, at swnmforestry.org. All three mining communities can be viewed at the website.

The current plan had come from interviews with the staff and residents plus surveys. They had also taken into consideration the Santa Clara comprehensive plan. Based on the input from the village they had four goals. Santa Clara community forest would strengthen pride and promote economic development, contribute to the health and wellbeing of the residents and nature. Proactive management and a skilled staff would be another. The fourth had been added because of the link of Fort Bayard to Santa Clara and economic development. They will have an extra level of management to deal with the state and how to address that.

She identified nine project areas. They will include the entrance to Santa Clara, parks, walking trail and Cameron Creek. Siwik said they would also had funding available to help with writing a grant for the pump track with grant language that could increase the acceptance. They will be looking to help find funding for irrigation that will help with the maintenance of the trees.

Siwik had some art renderings of the areas for the nine projects. She went over some of the areas they had already done with the YCC (youth conservation corps) kids. They had also removed some of the invasive trees and dead trees. Some trees had also been pruned back. Siwik and Shiela Hudman, village administrator had gone around the village to identify places that storm water from the streets could be harvested to help with watering the trees.

The project will be offering training in the care for the trees but will also offer a certification class at WNMU (Western New Mexico University) and will be helping residents with questions about their trees. They are hoping to launch the classes at WNMU for certification in fall of 2026.

She encouraged the public to check out the plan and provide comments.

Lopez didn't have any question, but they had a lot of people coming in and working and a lot going on but, on his part, he had been able to meet a lot of people and do different jobs. "I made good friends." It had been a very good project and had already received many compliments on how the village looked.

Everyone had been respectful and said the leadership of the project had gone a long way with the kids working, and it had all been positive.

The council approved creating a fund to manage the Santa Clara senior center with an annual budget of $250,000 for revenues and $250,000 for expenditures. Hudman said Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS) had decided not to do the program anymore. Each community will have to take over the senior centers. "We want to keep it up and running." She will be meeting with Bayard and Hurley to help with financial support. It will cost the village $60,000 to $65,000. Hudman had been working with other entities about funding from the state. Because of state requirements they have to create a fund in the budget. The senior center will continue to function separately, and the village will just have to deal with the finances and management of the employees.

Lopez and Hudman had talked, and if they didn't do anything it would be an empty building. He felt that Hurley and Bayard would generously help.

The council approved resolution 2025-22 authorizing assigned officers for a project. Hudman said this would be for the grant agreement made with Hanover Mutual Domestic Water. They had received capital funding two years ago but due to their audit status could not utilize it. Santa Clara had entered into an agreement with them to manage their finances and became the fiscal agent. The state has reauthorized the funding to the village to manage. Hanover's well two has been down for a long time and this funding will revitalize it.

Lopez said he had bragged about the council and staff in Santa Clara. He thanked them for all they do.

Second regular meeting to be held Thursday July 24, 2025, at 6:00 pm
First regular meeting to be held Thursday August 14, 2025, at 6:00 pm

Meeting Adjourned