MILAN, N.M. – All members were present for the Village of Milan Board of Trustees special meeting held on Monday, July 26 at 4 p.m. Before approving the agenda, Trustee Ellen Baca questioned whether the meeting was advertised enough or even at all. Village Clerk Denise Baca reassured Baca and the board that the meeting was advertised appropriately, and a motion to approve the agenda followed.
Before moving onto three separate resolutions dealing with financial matters, Accounts Payable Clerk Candi Williams made a call to the Special Director of the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration Local Government Division, Michael Steininger, who also spoke to the trustees at the July 15 regular meeting regarding village finances. Steininger was included in Monday’s meeting so that he could answer any questions the trustees had regarding the financial resolutions listed on the agenda. The first, Resolution 2021-018 FY 2021, concerned some fourth quarter budget adjustments, which would bring all of the financial totals into compliance, said Williams. Trustee Baca asked a few questions about the format and specific figures on the budget adjustment sheets, and Steininger was able to make clarifications and answer those questions. Resolution 2021-018 was approved.
Moving on, the board look over Resolution 2021-019 FY 2021, which included the fourth quarter report that would be turned into the DFA. Resolution 2021-019 was approved. The final resolution to be considered was Resolution 2021-020 FY 2022, consisting of a budget adoption for the upcoming fiscal year. The board approved this resolution, and thanked Williams and Steininger for their patience and assistance. Heading into the future, Williams said she is going to continue learning and working together with Steininger, who says that he is already in the process of developing a “crosswalk” that will make it easier to transition from having so many village financial accounts separate to combining them slowly but surely. “The important thing is that the financial statements are meaningful to you,” said Steininger.
Following the financial resolution approvals, the board of trustees approved an emergency purchase for Well B-35. According to Clerk Baca, the crew working on the well ran a camera down the well to assess more of the situation and found that the well needs a new screen and bowl assembly and repair immediately. The cost for this emergency purchase is about $33,000.
Next, the trustees discussed and approved a membership agreement for the Text My Gov program. Trustee Roseanne Lopez asked how many departments across the Village of Milan would be participating in the program, to which Williams informed her that all village departments would be participating. Lopez also inquired about the maximum number of texts that can be sent out in a year, and whether that threshold would be a problem, especially considering all of the participating departments. Williams reassured Lopez that no one has ever met or gone over that threshold. For back ground information, Williams and Clerk Baca also added that new phone will not be needed to utilize this program, the program will operate via an app that citizens can download; the entire county, including the City of Grants will be participating, and citizens of Cibola County may sign up to receive texts from the City of Grants, Village of Milan, and Cibola County if they wish when downloading the app.
Finally, after approving the Text My Gov membership agreement, the board approved an audit contract. Clerk Baca let the board know that the contract was the same as last year, being for the same auditor and the same price. The contract must be approved yearly, and this is the Village of Milan’s second year working with and approving a contract with their current auditor.
During board comments, Trustee Baca and Trustee Chris Archuleta had no comments, while Trustee Lopez, Mayor Pro-Tem Vivian Brumbelow, and Mayor Felix Gonzales all expressed the same sentiments of gratitude towards Accounts Payable Clerk Williams and Special Director Steininger for their continued hard work, patience, and teamwork in assisting the Village of Milan with their finances.