Village of Milan Officially Selects Interim Manager and Approves New Organizational Chart

MILAN, NM – Village trustees used their final regular meeting of 2023 to discuss the reallocation of funds for the Milan Police Department, approval of a Memorandum of Agreement with Cibola County for medical direction for first responders and establishing an affordable housing plan. The Board of Trustees held their final Regular Meeting for 2023 on December 21.

The village officially appointed Candi Williams as their Interim Manager after former-Manager Linda Cooke abruptly left the position. Trustees also approved a new organizational chart to better manage departments and be able to quickly review staffing positions. The new organizational chart adds a new Information Technology Director, as well as a pool department.

Williams, whose official position is Village Finance Director, presented the finance report for November 2023. The village received their first quarter approval and there were no changes. $270,691.67 was accumulated from Gross Receipts Tax, this amount was from the business activity in September, collected in October and distributed in November. All accounts are within balance, according to Williams who said all departments are within budget authority. The village played 18o payables with 84 payments for a total of $302,101.47. 25 projects are expected over the next few years, the majority of which are reimbursement- based. Due to this there will be a point when they might have to use some of their savings which will be reimbursed. The board approved the finance report.

The board approved the resolution for acceptance of audit. The Office of the State Auditor gave a short overview of the audit and highlighted some of the key pieces. The auditor said that currently the village is a very clean entity. Currently, the village has $4.3 million in their general fund which is about 18 months of operating funds. Due to this the village can take advantage of capital projects, state and federal monies and the village was encouraged to go out for more federal monies and bring in more outside monies. No findings were found in the audit as well. The village was also highly recommended to close some of their accounts that have small balances to avoid any internal fraud.

The village directed to reallocate funds for the police department for the second grant they received for retention. Williams gave a short presentation on options for what to use the grant for to make some improvements in the department. The funding received covers $225,000 of salaries and benefits for any new officers hired after July 1, 2023. Option one for a total of $135,626 will be used to purchase two new squads for MPD. Option two will use some of the reallocated funds to give a $1 raise to each of the officers and support staff excluding Chief Carl Ustupski and Lieutenant Barbara Kohn based on merit and time served. This would use $47,420.85 of the reallocated $191,512.80. This will leave $165,579.15 to purchase the two squads in option one. Officers then would only be eligible for the cost of living increases other employees would be getting for FY 25 and possibly FY 26. This leaves the remainder of $8,465.95 for equipment and training. The board decided to direct for option two and to include Ustupski and Kohn in the raise which will leave $4,305.95 for equipment and training. Currently they have not voted for the reallocation of funds, and this will be done in next month’s meeting.

The board approved two on-call contacts for Stanley Bridge/Roadway improvements and phase two and three for Airport Road. The contract for Stanley is $344,287.85 including NMGRT. The contract for Airport Road is $451,193.27 and construction is estimated to take around 260 days.

The village accepted the Regional Recreation Centers Quality of Life Grant in the amount of $200,000 for playground equipment. Mayor Felix Gonzales had signature authority and decided to place the playground equipment at Kearns Park.

A memorandum of agreement was made on October 26, 2023, by and between Cibola County and the Village of Milan for medical direction from the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine for first responders. In the MOA it states, “The County will pay the $12,000 annual fee for Medical Direction through the University of New Mexico, Department of Emergency Medicine. The County will tender an invoice to the Village of Milan for a portion of those costs, in the amount of $1,500 annually.” The board approved the MOA with Cibola County.

The board approved the acceptance of ENDWI grant and STEP grant agreement and authorizing Mayor Gonzales as signatory authority. The ENDWI grant is in the amount of $1,998 and the program funds overtime enforcement for DWI checkpoint and DWI directed patrol program. The funds are used to maintain the program, as funding allows, and to expand the program in areas of the State with high rates of DWI. The STEP grant is in the amount of $2,511 and it provides funding for sustained enforcement program to target specific traffic problems such as speed, DWI, road rage, distracted and reckless driving, fatigue/drowsy driving, occupant protection, and crashes involving pedestrians, primarily through the use of Safety Corridors.

The board approved the intergovernmental agreement between the District Attorney’s Office and Milan Police Department for warrant backlog. The agreement was approved last month, but they had to make a change to the agreement to take out the sheriff’s department from the agreement. MPD will be primarily working on warrants in Milan but will also work with GPD with their mutual aid agreement.

A resolution for establishing an affordable housing plan was approved. The resolution states that the governing body of the Village of Milan desires to implement an affordable housing program for the Village. The resolution will allow the Village to utilize some of their public such as public lands that the Village owns, and they could work with developers to establish affordable housing.

Updates were given by various departments. Ustupski gave updates regarding MPD. In November they had 267 calls for service, 155 offense reports, 16 arrests, 161 traffic stops, five auto accidents, 15 alarms, and 12 medical calls. Total incidents recorded by regional dispatch was 437. They completed taser training for all department members and currently officers are getting required state training completed through Virtual Academy. With the increase in traffic stops they have had an increase in DWI arrests and narcotics seizures. Also, with the increase they have had several vehicles flee from officers. They had two close calls that almost led to officer involved shootings. They hired a new officer, Kamron Elkins, who previously worked at CCSO and will need to complete the basic Law Enforcement academy. They also lost one officer who recently resigned. The officers also participated in passing out eight food baskets that included turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Fire Chief Daniel Urioste gave updates regarding the Village of Milan Volunteer Fire Department. In November they had 60 calls, four fire calls, 22 EMS and rescue calls, one EMS rescue, three accidents without injuries, four accidents with injuries, and 26 combination calls. They are almost completed with Station one phase two remodel and a final walkthrough is expected soon. Wildland training is being scheduled and Chief Urioste and Captain Chris Miles will be attending EMS annual refresher training and will be renewing their EMS licensure prior to March 31.

The meeting ended with some announcements: the Planning and Zoning board will hold their Regular Meeting on January 4, at 4:30 p.m. and the Board of Trustee Regular Meeting will be held on January 18, at 5:30 p.m.