GRANTS, NM – County Manager Kate Fletcher, City Manager Andrew Valencia, and Interim Village Manager and Finance Director Candi Williams gave updates regarding their respective municipalities and current projects being worked on in the City of Grants, the Village of Milan, and Cibola County.
Valencia gave updates regarding the construction being done on Santa Fe Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue. The closure on Santa Fe Avenue that detours down High Street is now reopened, but there will be a closure on El Morro Road on the corner of Sonic and leading to Diamond G, for work on the waterline that runs underneath the street, this closure should last around two weeks. As for Roosevelt Avenue the bridge is almost completed, and the construction on the corner of the street lights should be completed soon. Construction will soon begin for Gunderson Street and Davis Street as well as the new Mesa View Elementary school and construction is expected to last about a year possibly longer.
Williams gave updates regarding the construction on Airport Road for phase two and three. Phase two is nearly complete with phase three expected to begin soon. Phase three will consist of redoing the box culvert that is in front of the Airport Animal Clinic as well as other infrastructure in the area. The village is working with the clinic to make sure all customers to the clinic are able to access the building and to get the services necessary for their animals.
Fletcher gave updates regarding the roads that are being worked on, those that have been completed, and new roads that they want to construct and maintain as well as some that they are wanting to vacate. Following the completion of the road in Candy Kitchen the county is looking to begin construction on the road in Timberlake. The county is
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looking to vacate a few roads, these roads have no residents and very little foot traffic, due to this the county is wanting to vacate the roads and to no longer maintain them. The county is also looking at adding a few roads one of the key ones is on Caldera Road and this is in order to bring these roads up to standards so the county can maintain them for the residents, for this road the county will need to get each resident to agree to give the county the easements that they own so they can maintain the road.
Each municipality was adamant about wanting to work together and to also workshop Coffee with the Managers to make it more accessible to the community. Some of the ideas that were mentioned regarding Coffee with the Managers was a possible venue change, a time change, and to allow department heads to present or answer questions regarding their specific department. Each municipality agreed that they will meet with each other to discuss possible changes to Coffee with the Managers and to communicate their various concerns.
Valencia gave updates regarding the Grants Fire and Rescue and their PRC license to bill individuals they medically transport. Due to the situation surrounding Superior Ambulance the city has decided to have Grants Fire and Rescue acquire a PRC license as well has to have some of their firefighters acquire paramedics licenses. The city has some uncertainty whether or not they can completely trust Superior Ambulance to stay in the area, and also since Superior Ambulance has reduced the number of ambulances in the area to having only one, due to this Grants Fire and Rescue and the City of Grants have decided that it would be best to have more ambulances available by providing that service through Grants Fire and Rescue. Fletcher was hesitant towards this and told Valencia that they should decide carefully whether they should continue with this idea, because if they end up challenging Superior Ambulance with their PRC license it could lead to a loss in GRT and possible increase to taxes on the community to account for the losses.
All managers discussed the possible changes that can be made to the Coffee with the Managers meeting to make it more accessible to the community. Some of the changes that were brought up is a possible venue change and a possible time change. The managers suggested a possible time change to later in the morning or later in the afternoon. The managers also suggested possibly allowing department heads to present or answer questions at the meeting and that it would be beneficial to hear from them. Fletcher also recommended that the managers meet together to discuss possible changes and that each of the managers need to work together to communicate better.
Coffee with the Managers is currently held on the first Thursday of each month at 8 a.m. and takes place at the Coyote Del Malpais Golf Course.