VILLAGE OF MILAN N.M. – At the Village of Milan Board of Trustees regular meeting held on Thursday, September 16 at 5 p.m., all trustees were present, and the agenda was approved as presented. During the ‘Citizens to Address the Board’ section, an official from Milan Elementary School invited the board to attend the school’s Color Fun Run that would be held on Sept. 30. The official also asked the board if the school may utilize Mirabal Park for the event, and if they may request for some officers from Milan Police Department to also attend and help with the event. These requests were approved.
Mayor Felix Gonzales then announced that there were no decisions made at the closed meetings held on August 25 and August 30. Next, the meeting minutes for an August 11 Board of Trustees workshop meeting and an August 19 Board of Trustees regular meeting were approved. The August 2021 budget report and municipal court cash journal were also approved, and then the board got down to the ‘Action/Discussion’ business.
First, the board approved Mayor Gonzales’ recommendation for the village manager position: Linda Cook. According to Gonzales, Cook came with many recommendations and they were excited for her to start work on Monday, Sept. 20.
Finance Updates
Next, the board received a village finance update from DFA Financial Consultant Michael Steininger, whom Village Financial Director Candi Williams has been working with since July of this year to clean up village finances. According to Steininger, since his last major update given to the board on July 15, 24 outstanding joint utility checking account bank reconciliations and 36 outstanding payroll checking account bank reconciliations have been completed. Another notable improvement Steininger pointed out was that as of July 15, the village’s due to/due from accounts were out of balance by about $1.2 million, but as of Sept. 16, the accounts were out of balance by $105,000.
According to Steininger, most of the out of balance issues were found in the payroll account. Steininger believes that many duplicate entries were being made and moneys might have been transferred without being physically transferred. One of the major indicators for this belief was that Steininger found over $500,000 outstanding deposits in the payroll account, despite the fact that the payroll account only had $30,000 in it. With much of the cleanup work being complete and only a few more issues to correct, Steininger said he would be stepping back the week following Sept. 16, but that he would still be around to assist and train Financial Director Williams, as well as help prepare for the audit that will occur in the month of October.
Next, the board approved an acknowledgment of “Receipt of DFA’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Approval Letter, dated August 27, 2021, per Statuses 6-6-5 and 6-6-6 NMSA 1978”. The trustees heard a preliminary engineer report regarding the village’s water system from a Wilson & Co. representative. The report indicated that while much of the village’s water systems are aged, they are “adequate” for the foreseeable future, and that the main issue is with the wells. The report included a restoration plan for the well systems, split up into three separate phases. Phase 1 would cost $1.3 million, Phase 2 would be $1.3 million, and Phase 3 would be $570,000; so about $3.2 million in total. The representative emphasized the many benefits to restoring the full well system, and he said that if funding could be secured soon, full system restoration could be completed by this time next year. The board approved acceptance of this water system preliminary engineer report. Finally, the board agreed to approve lower, more reasonable rental rates for village owned buildings. “If we want to attract people, we need to lower the rates,” said Clerk Denise Baca, and the board agreed.
Department Updates
Milan Fire Department Chief Daniel Urioste went first, reporting to the board that for the month of August, MFD received 90 calls (40 calls up from July) and 628 calls this year so far (67 calls up from this time last year). Chief Urioste alone said he gets about four calls a day. Urioste also reported an increase in calls related to incidents on Interstate 40. According to Urioste, MFD had just finished facilitating a series of firefighter type 1 trainings. Urioste also reported that he would be heading to Socorro to help teach a “live burn” class, and then starting October 2, MFD would begin EMS/first responder classes. MFD would also be conducting their annual pump testing in October for all Cibola County firetrucks. Urioste said having the pump testing equipment at their station has saved a lot of time and money for the county because each station does not have to travel elsewhere to complete their pump testing. Urioste, who was named Vice President for the Cibola County Rural Municipal Fire Chiefs Association, has been working together with the organization to create grants and proposals for other stations in the area for equipment and other needs.
Milan Police Department Chief Carl Ustupski then spoke, reporting that for August, MPD received less calls compared to the summer. Ustupski said he expects to see an increase in auto accidents with the legalization of marijuana, and that MPD and other area departments have already been increasing saturation operations and traffic stops. There were five “shots fired” incidents in August. Ustupski mentioned an interesting but costly program that detects gun shots within 82 feet of detectors, and said that because of the cost, the village may be able to rent, but not afford the system. Ustupski is also interested in starting a program where a pastor named Randy Thatcher could serve as a resource for officers, so they have someone to talk to in the midst of everything they do and see. Ustupski also reported positive developments in which the GHS head football coach asked MPD to attend the football games (one of MPD’s officers is an assistant coach). The police chief also said he would like to establish some sort of food pantry effort in village.
After Chief Ustupski’s report, Trustee Rosanne Lopez and Mayor Gonzales brought up incidents that they had heard about and questioned the chief about it. Neither knew all of the details but had heard that an officer tried calling a supervisor in the middle of the night and could not reach them. Lopez questioned MPD’s supervisor system, as well as the decision-making abilities of the MPD officers. Chief Ustupski did not know exactly what incident Lopez or the Mayor were referring to but said that he trusted the guys he worked with and said he would not have hired them if they could not make decisions. “I trust these guys to make decisions. We got a good bunch, and if you guys get a chance to talk to them, you’ll see they’re very smart… They’re going to do their job for this community,” said the chief. After much discussion and little mutual understanding or resolution, all parties decided to continue the discussion later, when they could discuss the issue in more detail.
Finally, Fire Chief Daniel Urioste was selected as Employee of the Month, and then the trustees provided their closing comments. Each trustee echoed the same sentiments – congratulations to Urioste, gratitude to village employees, and condolences to the family of Billy McElroy, who worked for the Village of Milan for 16 years before retiring in 2020 at 90 years old and passing away at 91 on September 15, 2021.