VILLAGE OF MILAN, N.M. — The Village of Milan Board of Trustees gathered on Thursday, February 10, at 5:30 p.m. for a village workshop. Mayor Felix Gonzales, Mayor Pro tem Vivian Brumbelow, and Trustee Ellen Baca were present, while Trustee Christopher Archuleta and Trustee Roseanne Lopez were absent. There were not any citizens looking to address the board, so they moved on to updates from Village Clerk Denise Baca, who spoke via Zoom about items that needed some discussing. First, Clerk Baca mentioned an ordinance, Ordinance 284, which amends an ordinance passed back in January of 1996 and increases the annual salaries of both the trustees and the mayor.
“There was a problem when we converted,” explained Village Manager Linda Cooke, “and some of the figures got kind of mixed up. So, in order to correct that, we had to do an ordinance.” When Trustee Ellen Baca asked if this was something that would take effect now or after the elections in March for the next term, Manager Cooke said it would take effect immediately because “this is correcting something that was already done.” As for the finance side of things, Village Financial Director Candi Williams said that the board would see a simple Bar Number Seven report and house cleaning items for the month of February. “So, it’s very easy this month,” Williams said with a laugh. Manager Cooke also said that all she would have for the board is housecleaning items as well, adding that herself and her crew went through an organizational chart of village employees and began moving people to positions “where they needed to be instead of where they were.” Mayor Pro Tem Brumbelow then asked whether the village was going to put on an Easter egg hunt or not. Manager Cooke responded by saying that they had not discussed it yet because they were waiting to see if COVID would “calm down a little bit” first. According to Cooke, many employees in the last month have had to take sick leave due to family members being exposed or having COVID, so it has been a bit hectic the past month. Clerk Baca said she wouldn’t need as much time to plan an Easter egg hunt as she would the Fall pumpkin patch, but that she would need to make some orders by the last week of February at the latest.
During board comments, Trustee Baca thanked Manager Cooke for all of her hard work in cleaning things up and preparing documents for the board, and she also thanked Williams for her hard work as well in finances and all the nice paperwork she does.
Brumbelow commented, “I know it’s hard to stay home and use the mask and all of that, but it seems that every time we turn around, we know somebody or somebody in our family is getting sick, so let’s all just hang in there. Hopefully it all goes away pretty soon or at least slows down.” Village of Milan Planning and Zoning will have a meeting on Thursday, March 3, at 4:30 p.m. The Board of Trustees will hold a regular meeting on Thursday, February 17, at 5:30 p.m., a workshop on Thursday, March 10, at 5:30 p.m., and then a regular meeting on Thursday, March 17, at 5:30 p.m.