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Craig Gergen - CC The Pipes Department was recognized during the January 25 City Council Meeting for their hard work and dedication to keeping the water system going. They are on call, work long hours, and work in inclement weather. From left to right - Mike Childs, Jessie Ramirez, and Jorge Mendez.
After a brief recess, the Grants City Council reconvened on Jan. 25 for appointments, wastewater bonds, budget update, and recognitions.
The second half of the city council meeting saw the approval of Sean Erice to the Cemetery Board for a two-year appointment.
Re-Appointment of Barbara Wesley to the Animal Service Board was approved for two-years.
Re - Ap p o i n tme n t Sandy Encino to the Animal Service Board was approved for two-years.
Sean Erice was appointed to the City Charter Advisory Committee The appointment of Sean Erice filled the “At Large” vacancy for the City Advisory Committee. District 1 is the only position needing to be filled.
Authorization of the sale of the City of Grants Water System Improvement, USDA, Revenue Bonds was reviewed. The USDA process and total amounts borrowed was explained. The USDA offers both a grant and loan program. These are used to fix the deteriorating water and sewer system, but also perform improvements.
Going through the bond process, as a good faith measure, bonds are issued. Linda Melendez said for these bonds, the repayment will be from the revenues from the water and wastewater system. She also stated these are rewrites of existing bonds because the process is lengthy. According to City Manager Donald Jaramillo, planning and design must be completed before the USDA releases the funds.
There are two parts of funding. One is for water and the other for wastewater. The loan for water improvements is $3,323,000 with a monthly loan payment of $9,238 totaling $110,856 annually.
The wastewater loan is $3,008,000 with a monthly payment of $8,934 totaling $107,208 annually. Ms. Melendrez stated a total of 480 payments by the city will made completing the payoff in 40 years.
The city received a Budget Adjustment Financial Report. Cibola County Finance Director Paul Ludi and the new city Finance Director Victor Villalobos presented their report to city council. Mr. Villalobos has been under the guidance of the Cibola County Finance Department which stepped in to assist the city at their request. According to the financial report, it took a team of volunteers weeks to clean up the reports so they could fairly represent the city’s actual financial position.
Mr. Ludi wanted to thank Audrianna Wengert, City Payroll/Asset clerk, Candi Williams, Village Finance Director, and Gloria Pargas, County Budget Analyst. According to the report, this team was able to keep their own entities in proper shape and get Mr. Villalobos to a spot where he could move forward and start managing the actual data entries, procurement, and the budget. It was also stated in the report the team is confident in Mr. Villalobos’ ability to provide reliable fiscal data and recommendations to the city.
Mr. Ludi also encouraged the city to cross train to ensure functions can continue if illness or other issues arise.