City Council

MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING ARTESIA, NEW MEXICO April 11, 2023 The City Council of the City of Artesia, New Mexico met in the City Council Chambers at City Hall on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 5: 00 p. m. in regular session with Mayor Jonathan Henry presiding, and the following present to wit: Wade Nelson Sam Hagelstein Ignacio Mariscal Raul Rodriguez George Mullen Jarrod Moreau Richard Townley Also, present: Summer Valverde, City Clerk/Treasurer Cass Tabor, City Attorney Absent: Jeff Youtsey Sam Hagelstein 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: A. * Artesia Arts Council— request to use Downtown Main Street between 2nd and 4th Street for the 2nd Annual City of Champions Comic Con( C4). Requests road closures as stated on application and request waiver of fees. Contingent upon proof of insurance and state approval. City Clerk Summer Valverde and Kandese Green with the Artesia Arts Council gave explanation and clarification of street closures because of application responses. Ms. Green did state that it will be 2nd and 4th streets for closure. Ms. Green also gave the date to the event will be happening on May 20th Ms. Green also gave explanation of the Comic Con' s 2nd Annual event. She also explained how last years event went well and she had citizen asking her to make it bigger this year, hence the request for street closures. Councilor Rodriguez asked about the advertisement response of the food trucks. Ms. Green Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve request. Seconded by Councilor Moreau and upon vote, the motion carried. City Departments and Employees None. Special Reports None.  Minutes, April 11, 2023 Page 2 Consent Agenda HR Director Jerry Conde gave announcement of new hires. Mayor Henry gave clarification to all listeners on our Facebook Live, that we are announcing our hiring and their salaries, and this has nothing to do with raises. He wanted to make this clarification to those that were questioning him about this. Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve the consent agenda as written. Second by Councilor Mullen and upon vote, the motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA April 11, 2023 1. Approval of Minutes March 28, 2023 2. Consideration of Bids: A. * Approval of an On- Call Utility Repair, Excavation & Trenching Services Contracts. 3. Contracts, Leases and Agreements: A. * Approval for the First Amendment to Industrial Park Lease Agreement( Renewal for an Additional 10- year term) for J & Jay, LLC, at 2801 N. Freeman Ave. and 208 Fletcher Road, Lots 3A and 4A of Block 1 of the Navajo Refining Replat. 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 Pav 1. Lucciano Molina Wastewater Wastewater Assist. $ 2, 507 p/ mo CA22 B. * Accept the Resignation of Michael Rebman, Museum Supervisor, Museum, effective April 14, 2023. 6. Dates of Hearing: 7. Travel and Training: A. * Police— Permission for one ( 1) employee to attend the LE Coordinator' s Symposium in Albuquerque, NM. 8. Routine Requests for City Facilities: 9. Routine Resolutions ( to be assigned a number by staff): 10. Budgeted Items: 11. Quarterly Journal Entries: 12. Non- budgeted Items: 13. * Payment of Bills Public Hearings—including consideration of final passage of any ordinance as to which proper notice has been published. None. Period for Hearing Visitors  Minutes, April 11, 2023 Page 3 None. 11 Comments from Public Officials and Contracted None. Services Committee Reports: A. Budget and Finance— Councilor Moreau stated they had a budget meeting last week. There is the budget adjustment resolution. Discussion was also about unfreezing positions and focusing on positions opening going forward. He also stated we need to consider inflation and budget adjustments this year and the next couple of years or until the overall economy goes down some. He stated that we are starting to get into the budget season and looking at the budget for next fiscal year so, expected to hear reports on budget in the council meetings. B. Personnel— Councilor Mullen stated they had their meeting and discussed things pertaining to the comp study. 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)— None. G. Government— None. Personnel A. Stats HR Director Jerry Conde stated there were no reportable Worker' s Comp injuries for the month of March 2023 and no reportable accidents involving City vehicles for the month of March 2023. B. Consideration and approval for reinstating the frozen position of Water Tech in the Water Department C. Consideration and approval for reinstating the frozen Custodian position in the Museum Department and permanently transfer that position to Facilities Maintenance Department D. Consideration and approval to reinstate staffing in the Streets/ Parks Department from 11 to 13 positions. Councilor Moreau commented on the position that will be fulltime that was once a Museum Department position but now will be available for all departments. Councilor Rodriguez made clarification on this position that will be in facilities maintenance; it will float to different areas of the community. He also commented on he was glad to see that the Streets/ Parks is getting help as well. 11 Mayor Henry also stated that one of these positions will be for Jaycee Park and this position will be able to attend the whole park.  Minutes, April 11, 2023 Page 4 Ft Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve the positions as stated on the agenda. Seconded by Councilor Mariscal and upon vote, the motion carried. Public Safety Police Department: Police Chief Roberts greeted the Mayor and Council. Chief Roberts stated stats are in their packet and briefly gave stats. Fire Department: Chief Hope greeted the Mayor and Council. Chief Hope presented the stats packet to the council and stood for questions. Councilor Townley asked why it showed that Artesia' s crime stats are high online; a business owner asked him about that. Chief Roberts responded if they are looking at older stuff only; we have been reporting more correctly for several years now. But there usually is a two year to four- year delay in stats you can get. Chief Roberts went into explaining how stats are reported and how one can get them to the council. Mayor Henry asked about the structural burglary and how it' s been consistent. Chief Roberts gave an explanation on structural burglary and the difference between this and residential burglary to the council. Councilor Mariscal asked how we are doing/ dealing with the homeless in Artesia. Chief Roberts responded there are a lot of gracious people around that help them out. We don' t have much of a homeless population problem. They tend to go more to bigger cities. They have more amenities for them. No other questions. Community Development Community Development Director Jim McGuire greeted the Mayor and Council. Mr. McGuire reported his stats and stated there be a correction on the monthly permit report on the fourth one from top of the report that it should say building not electrical. Mr. McGuire continued to give his stats. Councilor Rodriguez asked if there was any way to go about letting citizens know what can and cannot be dumped in the dumpsters and what can be done about a lot of stuff outside the dumpsters that hinders property owners from accessing their back gates. How can we educate the citizens about this. It has been going on for a long time. Mr. McGuire responded we can have Suzy and Jimmy get together and see what we can come up with on these matters.  Minutes, April 11, 2023 Page 5 There was discussion on how the county deals with similar issues and how there are differences from county and city with codes. Councilor Mariscal asks what the procedures are on inspecting a place. Mr. McGuire explained his procedures how Suzy goes about inspecting and citing. Councilor Mariscal also asked about vehicles that are just sitting on the streets and properties. Mr. McGuire also explained to Councilman Mariscal about the procedures on vehicles sitting on properties as well. Infrastructure A. * Discussion and possible direction on the plan for the Splash Pad Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair greeted Mayor and Council. Mr. Landfair explained to the council he gave them about four or five potential structures on splash pads to review and possibly narrow down to one. Mr. Landfair went through each structure and explained each one. The council also gave their feedback on what they would like to see and the safety features they would like to have for the kids. Mr. Landfair stated these designs are not final, it' s just to give them a general idea of what they would like to have. Each councilman gave their thought and opinions on the splash pad. B. * Consideration and approval to move forward with the demolition of the Armory Building on Centre and 4th Street. Mr. Landfair explained to the council we need to move forward on this. He also stated they are asking for a budget authorization on this if they approve. Mr. Landfair stated there is lead in the building and we would never be able to sell it like that. He also stated that the Armory in front of it also has asbestos as well as dead birds in the walls. There was talk on how we could repurpose them, but it became problematic with the asbestos and lead. We' d end up spending more than if we just rebuilt it, he stated. Councilor Mariscal stated with the price of the demolition, it won' t get any better. Mr. Landfair responded with no sir. Councilor Moreau made a motion to approve to move forward with the demolition of the Armory building on Centre and 4th Street. Seconded by Councilor Rodriguez and upon vote, the motion carried. Mr. Landfair then gave a brief update. Mr. Landfair stated on 20th Street as of today there is only 60 days left on the project contract. They are moving at a good pace and looks like they will finish on contract time. Mr. Landfair announced the DOT is doing a mill and fill project on Main Street from 7th to 13th Street. Mr. Landfair explained how the project will go fast unless they run into problems but typically it will go fast. He explained they will begin working from outside lanes then inside lanes. He continues to state that DOT will have equipment out on April 21 St, start on the 24th and scheduled to end by May 4th. He goes to remind the council this is a DOT project not a city project. He then stood for questions.  Minutes, April 11, 2023 Page 6 Mr. Jim McGuire asked if they would be helping the intersection. Mr. Landfair responded with yes, they will. Councilor Mariscal asked about the dump site on Fairgrounds Road on how much trash there is out there. Mr. Landfair responded with that is county' s trash point, not cities. Councilor Moreau asked about the vector truck. Mr. Landfair briefly gave him an explanation of the truck and its use. Councilor Mariscal asked about his DOT drivers and how many he needs. Mr. Landfair explained to him how many there are in some departments and how many he is still lacking. City Attorney None City Clerk A. * Consideration and approval of Budget Adjustment Resolution 1820 City Clerk/Treasurer Summer Valverde greeted the Mayor and Council. Mrs. Valverde stated this resolution encompasses the positions and addition to budget line items for purchases. Then stood for questions. 11 Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve Budget Adjustment Resolution 1820. Seconded by Councilor Moreau and upon vote, the motion carried. Mrs. Valverde also stated there will be a special meeting for review on comp study, hopefully the first week of May. Mayor A. * In accordance with Section 3- 11- 5 of NMSA 1978 I submit following names of Appointive officers for confirmation by the Artesia City Council: Summer Valverde— City Clerk/ Treasurer Jerry Conde— Human Resources Director Byron Landfair— Infrastructure Director Jim McGuire— Community Development Director Kevin Hope— Fire Chief Kirk Roberts— Police Chief Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve the names as written. Seconded by Councilor Mariscal upon vote, the motion carried. B. * In accordance with Section 3- 11- 5 of NMSA 1978 I submit all current full time and part time regular employees as well as all probationary and as needed employees to 11 the City of Artesia as of April 11, 2023, for confirmation b the Artesia City Council  Minutes, April 11, 2023 Page 7 Councilor Rodriguez made a motion to approve the names as written. Seconded by Councilor Mullen upon vote, the motion carried. Mayor Henry commented and thanked the new council members for completing a full year being on council. He also welcomed back the council members that have been on council already. Also thanked them for guiding him and new members. New or other business from Councilors Councilor Nelson also thanked everyone for their first year. Councilor Townley also thanked everyone and Summer in helping them get oriented into their positions. Also thanked the department heads for being patient with them in their first year. Councilor Mullen thanked the department heads and councilmen and mayor. Also stated he likes they way they are headed forward in the decisions we are making and leadership we have. He also gave a shout out to a citizen for putting out water for the workers every day. Councilor Mariscal also thanked all the department heads and everyone for doing a good job. He also thanked those that had participated in the Car Show Event this past weekend. Councilor Rodriguez made a comment about posting the new Cemetery Hours to Byron. Also thanked everybody for their hard work. He also thanked council members. Councilor Moreau made a comment that he was excited that they are getting to the end of the comp study review and its results. Also, he is excited to see that all the employees are paid accordingly to their positions. Adjournment Th e being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6: 04 P. M. on April 11, 2023. Jon nry, Mayor ATTEST: Summer Valy eh City Clerk/Treasurer 1N1