On Thursday, February 2, Cibola County Manager Kate Fletcher, Grants City Manager Donald Jaramillo, and Village of Milan Manager Linda Cooke met for coffee with the public.
County Manager Kate Fletcher started the meeting by discussing the Sheriff’s Department’s need for cameras, radars, and other equipment for Sheriff’s Department vehicles. Also mentioned was repaving the parking lot at the County Building Complex with new signs being added.
City Manager Donald Jaramillo stated he was more comfortable going into the budget process this year and thanked the county budget team for their assistance with the budget while the city was transitioning with a new finance director.
Mr. Jaramillo stated there are three upcoming projects in the future. One is the Roosevelt Avenue bridge project and he stated it will be reduced to one lane during the project. The second project is the wastewater venture on Santa Fe Avenue. The third endeavor is the Rodeo Grounds.
Kate Fletcher brought up the issue of private prisons being phased out and the state taking control. Some of the concerns centered around staffing the facilities and the cost of housing prisoners. She stated private prison corporations have a large pool of employees to pull from other locations including out-of-state, but if a staffing issue occurs in a state-run facility there is no place to pull other staff.
Jaramillo noted the three entities (county, village, and city) are working together. The county manager stated the county did not approve bonuses for the Sheriff’s Office to prevent jumping from one agency to another.
Grants MainStreet Director William Yarborough asked about ongoing efforts to get youth from the JROTC program interested in law enforcement or the National Guard. Mr. Yarborough was seeking ways to keep young people in the community. Undersheriff Marez agreed these young people would make great officers.
Mr. Jaramillo then stated, “We need to be at every career fair and different events. We don’t promote the city enough.” A citizen in the audience raised concern over the price increase of water, sewer, and trash which is dictated by the Consumer Price Index. Donald went on to explain the city took over pipes and not water. After ending the contract with Jacobs, the city had to purchase new equipment to conduct proper work on pipes.
Upcoming road pavement projects were also highlighted. The city manager said the next streets to see repaving will be Peel, Stephens, and High Street from the church to El Cafecito.
The Village of Milan Manager stated the project to move the city hall incurred various inspector issues which have set the project back. “ They tell us ‘you don’t need permits to do that’ then come back and say we needed permits and have to tear out the sheetrock for the electric work to be inspected.”
Coffee with the Managers is the first Thursday of the month at the City Golf Course at 8 am.