GRANTS, NM – A Special City Council Meeting was held on June 21, 2023, at 12 p.m. The meeting mainly was centered around purchasing new equipment and items for the Community Pantry, this includes a 2023 Ram Truck, a cargo van, hoop green houses and a walkin freezer/cooler. BAR eight was also an action item and included discussions regarding budget adjustments for Superior Service Ambulance, the golf course, the senior center, and the community pantry.
The meeting began with an agenda adjustment where discussion about a budget adjustment. This was moved to the top of the agenda. The agenda moved forward, and the first discussion began with City Manager Donald Jaramillo speaking about how the City of Grants became owners of the community pantry and received funding in order to purchase a new building. During this, Jaramillo also explained the reasoning behind the special city council meeting. It was called in order to push through reimbursement items to keep the purchase grant they received for the community pantry.
Jaramillo stated, “A year and a half ago we were approached from the Council Of Governments and the community pantry to become the owners of the new location of the community pantry located on Sakelares… The estimated cost of the building is $1.5 million.” Jaramillo later goes on to say that the city of Grants received a $1.8 million purchase grant which was reimbursed except for the tax lien portion which totaled to $747,000. Jaramillo said, “We’re in contact with the state. They’re aware of what is going on. They know we’re trying to purchase some equipment, that way we don’t lose that funding that the state wouldn’t reimburse on the tax lien.”
Discussion moved to the approval of the purchase of a 2023 Ram Truck for the community pantry. The truck will be utilized for transporting waste materials and for delivering large items and equipment. After the presentation, during the questioning portion from the council, Councilwoman Beverly Michael tried asking Jaramillo a question regarding the amount of money that was not reimbursed by the state, which she has tried asking multiple times already.
Councilwoman Michael said, “I was not intending to be out of order. You’re mentioning a $747,000 back tax lien, so how are we paying that? What’s going to happen there? That’s a lot of money.”
Point of order is once again called with Mayor Garcia saying, “We’re on the discussion/action of the Grants Community Pantry truck, not the tax lien right now.” Councilwoman Michael then says she is not willing to move forward with the agenda until her question is answered.
An argument ensues with Councilwoman Michael eventually stating that she wants to make a motion to table the discussion until her question is answered. Also, during this argument Councilwoman Michael makes the following statement: “There’s no order. You don’t know what you are doing here. This is wrong and this is a travesty. This is not okay to do this to the citizens of Grants and not explain to them where $747,000 is going to come from. The citizens deserve to know Mr. Mayor and you are keeping it a secret.”
Following this statement Mayor Garcia responded by saying, “I gaveled you and I gave you the opportunity to [ask your question] right after point of order.” Following the argument Villalobos came before the council again to answer Councilwoman Michael’s question. He explained that the tax lien was already paid by the city through the general fund, because of this, to keep the grant they need to spend that $747,000 with reimbursement items.
After the explanation the agenda moved forward and the purchase for the truck was approved. Following this the purchase of a cargo van for the community pantry was also approved. The next discussion/action item was the approval of the purchase of hoop green houses for the community pantry. The reasoning behind this purchase is so the community pantry will have more open space to grow their own fruits and vegetables as well as making compost beds. These greenhouses will also be available to the community so individuals can also use this space to grow their own vegetables as well. The purchase was approved, and they moved forward to the final discussion/action item which was the approval of the purchase of a walk-in freezer/cooler for the community pantry. The reason behind this purchase is for the community pantry to have an area to store food and goods, as well as provide a place for businesses and individuals to store food and goods in case of an emergency or when it is necessary. The purchase was approved.
Residents interested in watching this meeting back can find on the City of Grants Facebook page as well as the City of Grants NM YouTube Channel under the title “Special City Council Meeting - 06/21/23.”