GRANTS, NM –The City of Grants held their Regular City Council Meeting on June 26, at this meeting they approved to look further into changing the name of Santa Fe Avenue to Historic Route 66, an ordinance to allow for the municipal court to charge fees and establishing an affordable housing plan.
It has been a discussion for years on if Santa Fe Avenue should have a name change to Route 66. At this meeting the council approved for their attorney to look further into the next legal steps they should take to change the name to Historic Route 66. With this name change the state will add two signs to each end of the city limits, but any other signage is the responsibility of the city to change. A question that was brought up by the council was regarding address changes for public and private property along Santa Fe Avenue. All businesses and property that currently have an address that is located on Santa Fe Avenue will have to change their address to state Route 66 on any legal documentation, advertising, etc. following the name change.
Three individuals were appointed to various boards, Debee Petree was appointed to the Animal Care Center Board for a two-year term, Josephine Hurtado was re-appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a two-year term, and Jae Lauree King was re-appointed to the Library Advisory Board for a two-year term.
Police Chief Maxine Monte and Fire Chief Mike Maes gave updates for their departments. Monte said that they have been conducting several training courses during the month of May. One of the events that GPD participated in was a DWI awareness event with a summer school program from the high school. They had an elder awareness event at the Senior Citizens Center. Monte also spoke about the JOLT program; the program is leadership training and allows for students who just graduated high school to learn more about law enforcement and what goes into having a career as a police officer. Out of 20 students who participated 17 of them graduated from the program.
Fire Chief Maes spoke about the flood, on the day of the flood many departments assisted with rescues, road closures, and clean up, Grants Fire and Rescue, Grants Police Department, Cibola County Sheriff’s Department, Cibola County Emergency Management, Public Works Department, Pipes Crew, Street Department, Maintenance Department, Parks Department, Cibola County Road Crew, and the City Manager. Maes said, “In my 20 years with the City of Grants, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen the City Manager get out and get involved.” They had six individuals rescued from their vehicles on first street. One individual rescued from their vehicle on Washington and Bradley. Three individuals rescued from their vehicles on Elm and Mt. Taylor. One individual rescued from their vehicle on Anderman. Three individuals rescued from the port-a-potties at the Riverwalk, and three individuals rescued from their vehicles on Washington and Jefferson. In the midst of all the rescues, the Fire Chief’s vehicle is out of service, due to water damage. Two of the firefighters were in the water when a metal dumpster was floating down the street, the firefighters managed to get out of the way but the dumpster hit one of the units and damaged it. Maes said, “There was a lot of issues out there that day, there was a lot.” For personnel Maes is looking at just over $2,000 in overtime for the Grants Fire and Rescue personnel. As of 3:30 p.m. on June 26, the fire department distributed 3,300 plus sandbags to residents and businesses, with a 10sandbag limit per household.
Pump one at the 66 lift stations failed over a month ago, due to this failure the city approved to send the pump in to get repairs in the amount of $48,096.55. Pump two was originally scheduled for repairs, but will have to be pushed back until pump one is repaired. One of the major issues with the pumps is the amount of trash that ends up in the pumps, which causes damage.
With new legislation being passed by the State the city passed an ordinance to allow for the Municipal Court to collect fees. The ordinance will amend the City Charter Sections 4.01 and 4.02 and will also repeal ordinance 98-1029. The fees include a $40 administrative fee per citation written in the Grants Municipal Court, a traffic safety feel of $10 for penalty assessment misdemeanors and traffic citations, which will be credited to the municipal traffic safety education and enforcement fund.
The city council approved ARC to update the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Grants in the amount of $77,000 for a one-year timeframe. The comprehensive plan will include identifying existing conditions of the city, gathering data and identify issues and opportunities as well as discussing recommendations, goals, and policies.
While a bore under Santa Fe Avenue was being done as part of the USDA old water/sewer project a water line was hit causing the roadway at intersection of Iron Street and Santa Fe Avenue to raise. The city did a temporary patch while the project was completed, NMDOT let the city know that the patch did not meet the state standards and it would need to be redone. The city approved payment to TLC in the amount of $24,547.50 to repair the asphalt at the Iron Street and Santa Fe Avenue intersection.
The city council approved a resolution adopting the fiscal year 2026 to 2030 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan. The projects included in the ICIP are as follows, in order of importance: water system improvements, wastewater system improvements, Davis Street and Gunderson roadway improvements, Domestic Violence Shelter reconstruction, Roosevelt parallel pressure relief line, Recreation Center improvements, lift station replacement, cemetery expansion, ladder truck purchase, Anderman Road and bridge reconstruction, Regional Indoor Multipurpose arena phase two, Roosevelt Avenue Reconstruction, Candelaria Sports Complex improvements, Route 66/Santa Fe Avenue design, Police Department roof improvements, fire station improvements, Sakelares Boulevard reconstruction, Nimitz Drive reconstruction, City Hall master plan, golf course pump station improvements, Grants Bio-Park development, Senior Center master plan, wastewater treatment plant sludge drying beds, street sweeper, Grants Arroyo Trail, NM 547 (Lobo Canyon) pedestrian facility, and George Hanosh Boulevard improvements.
The council approved the purchase of a Dodge RAM 4500 Ambulance in the amount of $366,350 for the Grants Fire and Rescue. The council also approved a Memorandum of Agreement between the Cibola County DWI Program and the City of Grants Police Department. With this MOA, GPD will receive $3,333 for permissible activities and/or equipment as applied for in its funding request.
The council approved a resolution Establishing an Affordable Housing Plan. The resolution states, “the governing body of the City of Grants, desires to implement an affordable housing program for the City.” This affordable housing plan will allow for the city to work with potential developers without breaking the antidonation clause in order to establish more affordable housing within the city.
All meetings are livestreamed and available to watch live or replayed on the City of Grants Facebook page and the City of Grants NM YouTube.
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