VILLAGE OF MILAN, N.M. — The Village of Milan Board of Trustees gathered for a workshop meeting on Thursday, December 9, at 5:30 p.m. All trustees were present. Mayor Felix Gonzales opened up with a prayer for all of the people sick from COVID-19, and then the pledge of allegiance.
With zero citizens waiting to address the board, the trustees moved on to the discussion portion of the agenda. Village Clerk Denise Baca went over the major items that would appear on the agenda at the next regular trustee meeting, which will be on Thursday, December 16, at 5:30 p.m.
A cannabis ordinance and a pawn shop ordinance that were supposed to be acted on at a November 29 special meeting will be put on the December 16 agenda. The November 29 special meeting was canceled due to the fact that not enough trustees were able to attend and establish a quorum for the meeting. The Dec. 16 agenda will also include a hearing item, which will allow community members to voice any of their concerns regarding the cannabis or pawn shop ordinances.
Baca also said that the agenda would include a resolution to accept a match waiver for construction of the Airport Road project and an oversight agreement with Wilson & Co. for the project. Cibola County officials are supposed to make an appearance at the upcoming regular meeting to give a presentation regarding the American Rescue Plan Act and ARP funds. Baca then said the agenda would include consideration of a legal representation agreement, to which she asked Village Manager Linda Cooke to elaborate on.
“As you know,” Cooke said, speaking to the board, “we have a lawsuit… in regard to the water rights. The tribes are requesting so much water rights, but we’re also in a position where we need to turn in a document saying what we want out of the settlement. So, it looks like it may be starting to come to a head, so we have contacted an attorney, and this attorney specializes in water rights. So, we’re looking at possibly going ahead and signing the agreement for him to represent us, as well as help us identify projects that we need from the settlement for water rights or for water projects.” Trustee Chris Archuleta responded, saying, “Sounds good to me.”
Clerk Baca proceed by saying that the upcoming agenda would also feature a COVID-19 policy for the Milan Fire Department. According to Village Financial Director Candi Williams, an auditor will also be making an appearance at the Thursday meeting in order to go over the Village’s audit findings with the board and answer any of their questions. Williams handed out some audit booklets and encouraged the board to review them before the meeting and try to come up with any questions they might want to ask. Clerk Baca said the agenda will include a resolution to go along with this presentation that will accept the audit. Finally, Baca said the agenda will include a volunteer firefighter payper-call policy.
Next, Williams presented a situation to the board in which she would be seeking direction on. Williams started off by informing the board that she and Cooke had stopped by the bank yesterday to finally open the village’s new pooled cash account — an important step in a series the village has taken to convert their finances to a pooled cash system, eliminating the need for hundreds of separate accounts. While setting that account up and moving monies around, Williams came across an account called Police Bond. “It has $6,344.73 in it. These are all forfeited bonds from before 2017. They’re forfeited, they’re ours, but… we need direction on where to mark them to. I’m still looking to see if there is a specific place that they must go, but everything that I’ve found says once it’s forfeited it becomes yours.” Trustee Ellen Baca asked how the bonds are forfeited, and Williams said that happens when individuals break the bond by getting re-arrested and therefore forfeiting the bond. Williams recommended that they direct the account funds towards transportation expenses be cause “fuel wasn’t budgeted enough,” especially due to high fuel prices. “It’s not going to solve our fuel problem, but it would help,” said Williams.
With that being the last of the discussion, Mayor Gonzales provided announcements. The next regular Village of Milan Board of Trustees meeting will be Thursday, December 16, at 5:30 p.m. the next Village of Milan Planning and Zoning meeting will be on Thursday, January 6, 2022. The next Board of Trustees workshop meeting will be on Thursday, January 13, 2022.
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