City Council

MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING ARTESIA, NEW MEXICO DECEMBER 13, 2022 The City Council of the City of Artesia, New Mexico met in the City Council Chambers at City Hall on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 5: 00 p. m. in regular session with Mayor Jonathan Henry presiding, and the following present to wit: Mayor Pro Tern: City Council Members: Jeff Youtsey Wade Nelson Sam Hagelstein Richard Townley Ignacio Mariscal Jarrod Moreau Raul Rodriguez George Mullen Also present: City Clerk/ Treasurer Summer Valverde City Attorney Cass Tabor HR Director Jerry Conde Absent: None It was determined that a quorum was present. The invocation was given by Councilor Rodriguez and all joining in the Pledge of Allegiance. New Requests for City Facilities: None City Departments and Employees None Special Reports None Consent Agenda Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve the consent agenda as written. Seconded by Councilor Hagelstein and upon vote, the motion carried 8- 0.  Minutes, December 13, 2022 Page 2 CONSENT AGENDA December 13, 2022 1. Approval of Minutes November 22, 2022 November 22, 2022 Court of Appeals 2. Consideration of Bids: A. * 3. Contracts, Leases and Agreements: A. * 4. Appointments: 5. Personnel Resignations, Hirings, Promotions, and Transfers: Upon recommendation of the Mayor, subject to successful completion of required pre- employment testing, permission to: A. * Hire: Name Department Position Rate of Pay B. Accept the resignation of Kevin Evans, WW Assistant, Wastewater, effective December 2, 2022. C. Accept the resignation of Rachel Martinez, Receptionist, Finance & Admin., effective December 9, 2022. D. Accept the resignation of Jerrod Ornelas, SW Equipment Operator I, Solid Waste, effective December 9, 2022. E. Accept the resignation of Dillon Ripley, Certified Police Officer, Police, effective December 19, 2022. F. Accept the resignation of Thomas Griffin, Equipment Operator I, Streets, effective December 7, 2022. 6. Dates of Hearing: A. * Approval to set a public hearing on January 10, 2023, on the question whether the Alcohol and Gaming Division of the NM Regulation and Licensing Department should approve or disapprove the transfer of ownership of Canopy Liquor License No. 1327 for: 1) Application Number: 1246149 Name of Application: Los Agaves, LLC Doing Business As: Los Agaves Restaurant Proposed Location: 611 N. 8th Street, Artesia, NM 88210 7. * Travel and Training: A. * Fire— Permission for one ( 1) employee 8. Routine Requests for City Facilities: A. * Richard Slaughter on behalf of First United Methodist Church— Will be holding a Live Nativity on December 18, 2022 from 6: 00 pm— 9: 00 pm. Request approval for permission for street closure on the block of Grand Street directly in front of 500 W Grand Ave. between 5th Street to 6th Street from hours of 3: 30pm to 8: 00pm.. 9. Routine Resolutions ( to be assigned a number by staff): A. * 10. Budgeted Items:  Minutes, December 13, 2022 Page 3 11. Quarterly Journal Entries: 12. Non- budgeted Items: 13. * Payment of Bills A. * Permission to pay bills thru December 31, 2022. Public Hearings- including consideration of final passage of any ordinance as to which proper notice has been published. None Period for Hearing Visitors None Comments from Public Officials and Contracted Services None Committee Reports: A. Budget and Finance— Councilor Moreau sad they would be having a meeting on December 14th at 3pm. B. Personnel— None C. Police and Fire— None D. Planning( Project Management, Code Enforcement, Permits and Inspections)— None E. Recreation— None F. Infrastructure( Streets, Garage, Cemetery, Parks, Water, Wastewater, Solid Waste, Facility Maintenance)— Mayor Pro Tern Youtsey reported a meeting was held Dec. 1st where they were able to get a plan laid out for a new disk golf course. They also reviewed contested utility bills and change orders for the 20th St. construction project and the water tower paint job. G. Government— Mayor Pro Tem Youtsey said they would be having a meeting on Thursday h Dec. 15`  Minutes, December 13, 2022 Page 4 Personnel Per HR Director Jerry Conde there were no reportable workers comp injuries or accidents involving city vehicles for the month of Nov. Public Safety A. Police Department: Police Chief Roberts presented the council with the stats report and stood for questions. There was a question from Councilor Mariscal about the reports of incidents involving dogs. Chief Roberts said this is something they tend to see when we are short an Animal Control Officer due to only having one Officer currently available to try to respond to all the calls coming in. He said they are in the process of trying to get someone hired. He also noted that the weather could be partially to blame as well since animals that may be left outside try to seek shelter and could end up getting lost. Mayor Henry had a question regarding potentially fraudulent Facebook posts that could affect people in town. Chief Roberts said there' s not too much the police dept. can do about going onto a post and saying if it' s accurate, but he said if you have questions, you are welcome to call, and they can tell people if it is something going on in town. He also encouraged people to be vigilant about posts that could be possible scams especially when it involves meeting with another individual. Councilor Rodriguez brought up the gentlemen who collect donations at stop lights and noted that sometimes they are getting out in traffic and could possibly cause an accident. Chief Roberts agreed there is the potential for a problem but said they do go out each time they are there and remind them that they can' t obstruct traffic. B. Fire Department: Fire Chief Hope presented the stats packet to the council and stood for questions. Councilor Hagelstein had a question about the large number of sonic booms we have been experiencing. Chief Hope said it is the Air Force doing training exercises. Mayor Henry mentioned a meeting with Devon Energy to which Chief Hope said they did receive a donation from them and are very grateful. Community Development Planning& Zoning Director Jim McGuire presented his stats report and said they have been working on doing some follow up to letters that had been sent out. He then stood for questions. There being none, Mayor Henry thanked Mr. McGuire for all the work he' s been putting in.  Minutes, December 13, 2022 Page 5 Infrastructure Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair gave the Council an update on the work being done on 20th St. He said there will several outages during this. He also reported some repairs that need to be done to the train tracks and offered some possible suggestions on how to offset the cost of those repairs. Mr. Landfair then stood for questions. Councilor Hagelstein asked about a completion date for the work on 20th. Mr. Landfair said in this phase of the project there are 39 work days remining but said he cannot give an exact date since there are multiple factors that affect what days they are able to do the work. City Attorney None City Clerk City Clerk/ Treasurer Summer Valverde requested permission to hold a hearing on Jan. 10th for an ordinance to opt into the local election. After a brief explanation of what the ordinance will entail, the Council needed to weigh the options presented to them involving the length of their terms due to the election' s changing date. A discussion was held to determine whether they would rather cut their terms short by 3 months or extend them by approximately a year and a half in order to fall in line with the voting dates of the county. A vote was held, and it was decided to cut the terms short with only Mayor Pro Tem Youtsey and Councilor Moreau abstaining. A motion was then made by Councilor Rodriguez to grant permission for the hearing and was seconded by Councilor Hagelstein. The motion passed 7- 1. Ms. Valverde then presented the Council with the financial report. She said she has been meeting with department heads getting ready for the mid- year budget review and getting everything put together for the budget committee review. She also gave an update on the ongoing compensation study and said they are hoping to be able to present numbers to the personnel and budget committees by Jan. or Feb.  Minutes, December 13, 2022 Page 6 Mayor 2,, Mayor Henry expressed his excitement for the upcoming retreat and said he is really looking forward to finding new ways to communicate with all the departments and making sure the community is being properly informed on what the Council and City are doing. New or other business from Councilors Mayor Pro Tem Youtsey wanted to wish a Merry Christmas to the staff as well as the City of Artesia. Councilor Mariscal offered congratulations to the Bulldogs on their state championship and thanked everyone involved in putting together the employee appreciation luncheon. He also wished everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year. Councilor Hagelstein also thanked Smith Engineering for sponsoring the luncheon along with everyone who donated and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Councilor Rodriguez thanked city staff for everything they do and also Smith Engineering and Artesia Main Street for Light- up Artesia and wished everyone a safe and happy holiday. LAdjournment There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6: 08pm December 13, 2022. Jonat an Mayor ATTEST: tMt,. CF r, T '/ Summer Valverde- City Clerk/ Treasurer S ql A r r, v c, . 1.