MILAN N.M. – The Village of Milan Board of Trustees held a regular trustee meeting on Thursday, July 15 at 5:30 p.m. The board approved the minutes for a June 9 workshop, a June 17 regular meeting, and a June 25 special meeting, and then subsequently approved the cash disbursement journal for June 2021 and the municipal court cash journal for June 2021.
Finances
Following these approvals, the trustees heard from Michael Steininger, the Special Director for the Department of Finance and Administration Local Government Division, via telephone. Steininger had been contacted to assist with village finances and he gave the board a lengthy presentation and update on how that has been going. “We’ve made pretty good progress in cleaning up the balance sheets,” said Steininger. According to Steininger, both himself and Milan Accounts Payable Clerk Candi Williams have been working closely together to clean up the village’s many financial accounts. Williams and Steininger have dealt with the majority of the accounts but are now handling some of the more “problematic” accounts. Steininger explained that they are identifying the problems and making the necessary corrections. A problem was reported in regard to the payroll company the village is utilizing, but Steininger did not suggest switching payroll companies because, despite the one problem, the payroll company deals with everything; while most payroll companies just deal with federal and state finances, and that’s it.
According to Steininger, last year the village was “out of balance” by about $20,000, but this year, they are out of balance by $1.2 million. The village’s financial issues have reportedly been worked on by a variety of people – some who helped the problem and some who made it worse, said Steininger. The DFA Special Director said that he will soon be suggesting that the village converts to a pool/consolidated cash system because of the complexities of their finances, but he will not recommend any definite action until all of the accounts are cleaned up. The village’s auditor is updated and will squeeze Milan in last, giving them time to get everything situated and work on the financial reports that must be done by federal and state deadlines.
Department updates
The board received updates from both new Fire Chief Daniel Urioste and Police Chief Carl Ustupski. According to Urioste, MFD received 79 calls for June, six being fire related. The county and village are still under a burn ban. The chief is looking to fill the position that he previously held before accepting the chief position. Chief Ustupski followed, reporting an uptick of violence in the village. There were 21 domestic disturbance calls in June alone. “Getting a little more violent in our community here…. Hopefully we can turn that around. I have faith in our community,” spoke Ustupski. The MPD chief also reported receiving resignations from two of the department’s experienced officers; four or five applicants have expressed interested in joining MPD. Furthermore, MPD will start working closely with Cibola County Sheriff’s Department’s narcotics unit; MPD is saving the village and themselves $17,512 by going with an outside entity for new laptops; Ustupski has been receiving anonymous complaints regarding some of his officers; finally, Ustupski read a letter from the Milan Elementary School principal thanking MPD and Ustupski for re-establishing relationship with school and looking out for them.
Action/discussion items
The trustees heard a presentation from Cibola County Planning Coordinator Anna Larson regarding the American Rescue Plan – the same presentation given to City of Grants and Cibola County governing bodies. Larson discussed a potential project for Elkins Road, which she said could be an access point to the upcoming Milan Industrial Park if there were ever any issues with the access points crossing the railroad tracks. Trustee Ellen Baca thanked Larson and County Manager Kate Fletcher following the presentation: “It’s about time the entities come together…”
The board proceeded to swiftly approve “Resolution 2021-016 Participation Local Government Road Fund Agreement”, “Resolution 2021-017 Match Waiver Request - LGRF”, and “Joint Powers Agreement - NMSIF”. Trustees also discussed whether or not to get rid of the ordinance requiring a fire chief contract – a discussion sparked by former Fire Chief Keith Austin, who brought the ordinance to the board’s attention before he left, saying he never had a contract. The board agreed to have Village Clerk Denise Baca draft a contract for consideration for the next special meeting.
Village manager
The board went into closed session to discuss the village manager and fire chief positions. Upon reconvening, Mayor Felix Gonzales stated that no decision was made.
Announcements
There will be a Village of Milan workshop on August 11, a regular trustee meeting on August 19, and a Planning and Zoning meeting on August 12.