VILLAGE OF MILAN, N.M. — The Village of Milan Board of Trustees held a special meeting on Tuesday, May 17, at 5:30 p.m. Normally, a regular meeting would have been held on Thursday, May 19, but the trustees moved the meeting so that it would not interfere with high school graduation week activities. All trustees were in attendance at the Tuesday meeting, the agenda was approved as presented, and during public comments, the village attorney took the opportunity to introduce a fellow attorney, whom he said would fill in for him at times when he is not available. The attorney described his fill-in as a UNM graduate who received her attorney license in 2020 and has been with his firm since the start. The young attorney has worked with Taos County, City of Corrales, and City of Española. The board gladly welcomed the additional attorney.
The board approved meeting minutes from an April 1 Board of Trustees organizational meeting, April 14 Board of Trustees workshop meeting, and April 21 Board of Trustees regular meeting. Next, the board received a presentation from Cibola County Emergency Manager Dustin Middleton.
In Middleton’s presentation, the emergency manager talked about the nation-wide fire program called Ready, Set, Go! Middleton discussed how the fire risk for Cibola County is higher due to it being surrounded by forested lands. Cibola County has recorded 284 wildland fire incidents in the last five years, and there have already been 20 so far this year, said Middleton. While RSG! is a national response program, it is very much focused on “collaborative efforts at the community level” and “creating communities adapted to the fire threat.” More information can be learned about these efforts and precautions at https://www.cibolacountynm.com/departments/e mergency_manager_fire_ marshal/ready,_set,_go_fire_resources.php, www.iafc.org/wildland, or www.wildlandfiresg.org. Middleton also talked about how him and his crews will be visiting residents of communities that are “intermingled” with wildland areas to provide more information on the program and how they can be prepared for fire threat. Middleton pointed out that the program makes sure to identify the roles of fire departments, the responsibilities of residents, and the steps they can take to work together. Middleton gave examples of ways residents can reduce the “ignitability” of structures, by removing or thinning extra trees, brush, or foliage near the structure, removing pine needles from roofs, keeping wood piles or other radiant heat sources at least 30 feet away from the house, and maintaining “defensible spaces” near and around homes. A step that community members can take in the “Set” stage is register for the county’s Code Red emergency communication system. Community members with special needs can call the county’s dispatch center ahead of time so that the county can prepare a list and mark those homes as needing assistance first, should the time ever come.
Concluding the presentation, Middleton opened up the floor to questions or comments. Trustee Chris Archuleta expressed his appreciation for everything the fire fighters and first responders are doing during this time, and Middleton said they are doing their best but are in great need of volunteers.
For the Action/Discussion portion of the meeting, the board started off by approving and accepting the municipal court cash journal for April 2022, the finance report, and Resolution 2022-016 Budget Adjustment Bar #10. Financial Director Candi Williams went over financial figures and praised the village’s new pooled cash system for saving time. The village still has three financial accounts they need to close, but they have some outstanding items that they are working to resolve first.
The board approved a professional service agreement/contract with the local company Air Pros for HVAC services. The contract was approved with a compensation cap of $60,000, but Village Manager Linda Cooke assured the board that purchases above $20,000 would be brought to the board for approval. Village Clerk Denise Baca then explained Resolution 2022-017 Confirming Participation in Transportation Project Fund for Willow Drive. Baca explained that not many of the village’s streets qualified for this specific funding opportunity because there are standards of traffic flow, proximity to the interstate, etc., that had to be met. Willow Drive, which Baca said is not in ideal condition for the residents and wheelchair-bound children on that block, meets the criteria for this funding opportunity, so Resolution 2022-017 would allow the village to apply for funding for the project, as well as request a match waiver if they are to receive the funding. Baca said the entire project would cost $2,610,000, and the match would be $130,500. The resolution was approved by the board.
The next four agenda items required direction from the board to publish four separate ordinances: a fireworks ordinance, an ordinance to opt-in for elections, a water rates ordinance, and an expenditure accounting reporting ordinance. The fireworks ordinance would allow the village to limit the sale of fireworks to a certain extent. The election ordinance would allow the county to facilitate village elections so that the county clerk wouldn’t have to. The water rates ordinance allows the village to more easily alter water rates by method of resolution rather than ordinance, which is in response to an overall inflation locally, statewide, and nationally. Finally, the accounting reporting ordinance requires for individuals or entities receiving funding from the village to report to the village regarding how the funds are used, and if they do not, they won’t receive funding again for a period of two years. The trustees approved a direction for village staff to publish the four ordinances.
The board also approved Resolution 2022- 018 Preliminary Budget Adoption, which the board reviewed and Financial Director Williams covered at the last workshop meeting, which can be viewed on YouTube via the link https://youtu.be/9qlj0yCH 0bU. Finally, Resolution 2022-019 PERA Amendment was approved, which Manager Cooke explained to be a positive step for employees to put a little bit of something more in their paychecks.
Community members can listen to Milan Fire Chief Daniel Urioste and Police Chief Carl Ustupski deliver their departments’ monthly reports for the month of April at the May 17 meeting via the YouTube link https://youtu.be/dUamv7 KG44Q.
There will be a Milan Planning and Zoning meeting on Thursday, June 2, at 4:30 p.m., a Board of Trustees workshop meeting on Thursday, June 9, at 5:30 p.m., and a Board of Trustees regular meeting on Thursday, June 16, at 5:30 p.m. Also, Milan will have a Trek for Trash cleanup event on Saturday, June 11, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.