CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. — The Cibola County Board of Commissioners held a regular commission meeting on Thursday, February 24, at 5 p.m. Three commissioners were present at the meeting: Commissioner Christine Lowery, Commissioner Robert Windhorst, and Commissioner/Chairman Daniel Torres. The agenda was approved, after removing three items from the agenda first.
The items that were removed included a resolution authorizing and approving submission of a completed application for financial assistance and project approval to the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) regarding Cibola County’s HVAC System; a consideration to publish an ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of a loan agreement and intercept agreement by and between the county and the New Mexico Finance Authority for the purpose of financing the costs of purchasing and installing an HVAC system in the County Administration Building located in Grants, New Mexico, and to fund a loan agreement reserve account; and a consideration to approve requisitions over $20,000. Cibola County Projects Coordinator Judy Horacek said these items just needed a little more time before consideration. The shorter agenda was then approved by the board.
The board heard a public comment from Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon board member Les Gaines. Gaines was reportedly unhappy because the county did not service a road within the Mt. Taylor area like they had in previous years. According to Horacek, the county has a new road superintendent, and when the quad officials brought the request to the superintendent to blade the road in question two weeks prior to the event, the superintendent brought the issue to County Manager Kate Fletcher, because that service was technically not allowed due to it being in violation of the Anti-Donation Clause. Therefore, with the late notice of the request, the reconsideration of the service as being an “anti-donation,” and the lack of time to put the issue on a meeting agenda, Fletcher went ahead and denied the request. Gaines said that decision ended up costing the quad $5,000, though it was not specified how. “He [Gaines] did say several times that they’re volunteer groups, they all volunteer, they all have full-time jobs, it’s a lot on them, they profit nothing from this, so I can understand that but, you know, our hands are tied too. There’s only so much we can do,” said Projects Coordinator Horacek.
The board went on to approve the meeting minutes from a January 11 special commission meeting and a January 27 regular commission meeting. The board then heard two presentations, one from Manager Fletcher and County Finance Director Paul Ludi regarding the budget and finance report, and the other from County IT Director Jessie Carwile and County PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) Manager Mindy Cunningham. According to Horacek, the finance report was looking good as usual, and the point of the second presentation was for Carwile and Cunningham to tell the board a little more about the purchase of a Tyler Software upgrade, which would be a convenient upgrade for all county departments and would particularly assist in protecting the county from cyber-attacks and increasing overall security/cyber security. “There’s certain portions of the Tyler program that everybody could use… It’s something that would move the county forward,” Horacek said regarding the upgrade.
The Board of Commissioners then approved Resolution 2022-20 Budget Adjustment Number 4, which was explained during the finance report, which can be found on the Cibola County website. The board also approved Consideration of FY22 Economic Development Professional Services Agreement, which Horacek said was an “easy pass” for the board. Finally, with all other items having been removed, the board approved the Consideration of Purchase of the Tyler Software Upgrade. Upon return from an executive session, Chairman Torrez stated no final actions were taken, and he concluded the meeting by announcing that the next regular commission meeting will be on Thursday, March 24, at 5 p.m. The Board of Commissioners also recently held a special canvassing commission meeting on Monday, March 7, at 5 p.m., during which they convened as the Canvassing Board in order to canvass the 2022 municipal elections for the City of Grants and Village of Milan.