Grants, NM – A Regular City Council Meeting was held on July 26. During this meeting two individuals were appointed to the planning and zoning commission, the approval of a voting delegate for the NM municipal league was discussed, the ordinance for a code of ethics and code of conduct was approved, and a few other actions were taken.
The meeting began with approval of the agenda. The agenda was approved with one change, putting discussion 1.1 City Manager Appreciation Day to follow the discussion/action regarding the city manager’s contract. Following the approval of the agenda was a discussion regarding charter compliance, which no one came forward to ask questions.
Citizens then came forward to address the council. Seth Ward was the only citizen to address the council, he said that he wants the council to consider implementing a voting system where voters will be able to rank the candidates in order of who they prefer. He said, “We’re not getting the participation of some of our citizens and volunteering and helping… It may be that we have a cut and dry boat where many people say… I’m not going to support this because I didn’t vote for this person… By doing this ranked choice voting you end up with some sayso involved in your elected officials.”
The city council minutes for June 21, 2023, Special City Council Meeting Minutes and June 28, 2023, Regular City Council Meeting Minutes were both approved. Bruce Prichard and Josephine Hurtado were both approved for re-appointment to the planning and zoning commission for one-year terms.
The council had a discussion and action on approval of Grants City Council, New Mexico Municipal League 2023 Annual Voting Delegate. The attendees for the NMML Conference are Mayor Erik Garcia, Mayor Pro-Tem George Garcia, and Councilor Fred Rodarte. It was stated in a document provided by the NMML, “Each member municipality in good standing that is registered and attending the annual conference shall be entitled to one delegate vote in electing officers, deciding municipal policy and voting upon all other questions at the annual business meeting.” The council made a motion to nominate Mayor Erik Garcia as the voting delegate.
There was a discussion on public safety, the first to address the council was Fire Chief Robert Hays. Hays said that the department is on par to hit 2,700 responses to calls this year. 81 percent of calls were for medical emergencies and only 3.8 percent were for anything fire related. Hays also mentioned that due to many of the service calls being EMS-related, many firefighters now need to be certified past EMTbasic to intermediate to give the individual better pre-emergent care before they are taken to the hospital. The department was able to purchase two Zoll monitors which monitors heart rate, oxygen, pulse, etc. These monitors will allow the firefighters to give better pre-hospital care. Hays also said that the department will be approaching the council in the near future to purchase new AEDs. There have been eight structure fires, four in the community and four outside.
Continuing with public safety Chief of Police Maxine Monte addressed the council. Monte said that they are still currently down three personnel, which means that they have 16 at the moment. With the added two certified officers that were hired on the department is able to spread the caseload which brings up the morale. It also gives officers more of an opportunity for training as well as for vacations. The department currently has five applicants all are non-certified. Monte said the Bike Rally was uneventful the only calls they responded to were from locals. The Police Department is also partnering with the schools and local businesses to provide active shooter training. Monte said, “If you need active shooter training, contact Grants Police Department and we’ll definitely provide that.” Monte also said that crime is steady, and they are moving forward with having some extra patrols out at night. “We are being there for the community and trying to assist when we can.”
The next discussion/actions were on BAR #9, the fourth quarter budget report and the final fiscal year budget. All these actions were approved. Some of the highlights of the budgets were that the final fiscal year budget is $348,000 over the targeted GRT and for the first time the GRT distribution was over one million dollars.
An ordinance adopting a code of ethics and a code of conduct was then approved by the council. The ordinance was drafted from the version submitted by Councilor Beverly Michael and included in the June 28 Regular City Council meeting agenda. According to the attorney the ordinance includes a lot of the same terms that were in the first draft, and it also incorporates a disciplinary structure. The council approved in adopting the ordinance. The council made a motion following the approval of the ordinance to take a five-minute break.
The agenda moved forward with Discussion/ Action- Approval of Paving of the 700 Block of Flagstaff in the Amount of $51,597. The council approved the paving. The next discussion/action was approval oof additional cost for paving of Peek and Anderman streets in the amount of $40,638. The council approved the additional cost.
The next discussion/action is approval of adopting the FY 2025-2029 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan. Shannon DeVine and Brandon Howe made a presentation for the ICIP. The ICIP is due on August 18 which is a month earlier than last year. The ICIP is a planning tool that helps the city list priorities for infrastructure projects. Some of the projects listed on the ICIP are old Grants water and sewer system improvements, Roosevelt parallel pressure relief line, cemetery expansion, Davis Street and Gunderson Roadway improvements, and many others. The council approved the FY 2025-2029 ICIP plan.
The agenda moved forward with Discussion/ Action – Approval of Compass Engineering and Construction, Rt. 66 Sewer Manhole Request for payment in the Amount of $27,094.50. The original amount requested was $58,596.44 but this approval was tabled at the June 28 meeting in order to give Compass the opportunity to negotiate the price down. The next discussion/ action was approval of LGRF cooperative agreement, W. Roosevelt Ave. from 4th St. to intersection of Warren and Iron. The cooperative agreement was approved by the council.
The agenda moved forward with Discussion/ Action – Approval of Resolution Municipal Arterial Program Cooperative Agreement, Roosevelt Ave. from Lobo Canyon (NM547) to Sakelares Blvd. The cooperative agreement was approved by the council. The next discussion/actional was approval of purchase of MICROTRAXX SwingLoader SL436 in the amount of $123,750. The purchase was approved by the council. The next discussion/ action was approval of repairs to Stator at WWTP at JCH for $41,027.66. The council approved the repairs.
Following this discussion, the council went into a closed session to discuss the City Manager’s contract. Afterwards the council voted yes to return to a regular session. To continue with the executive session the council motioned to terminate the City Manager’s contract without cause. The final discussion was City Manager appreciation day, with Mayor Garcia highlighting the work that former City Manager Donald Jaramillo accomplished.
August’s Regular City Council meeting has been canceled. A Special City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 23 at the City Hall Council Chambers located at 600 W. Santa Fe Ave. Agendas will be available on August 18.
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 channel.