[Music]
You're live.
Good afternoon. Welcome to the city
council meeting. Today is Tuesday,
September 2nd, 2025. It's approximately
100 p.m. I'm Mayor Eric Enriquez. Before
we start, I want to mention that we have
the ASL American Sign Language available
for interpretation up in the front. We
will start with a moment of silence for
the brave men and women of the United
States Armed Forces and for our local
Los Cusus Police and Fire Department
that keep our city safe 24/7, 365.
If you join us in the pledge.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
Okay, we'll start off with presentations
and certifications. Councelor Mccclure
will be conducting those
now. Hello everyone.
Um, this one will be for the Rio Grand
Rotary Club Day for Ken Martin, Eddie
Bins, and Carol Bray. Come on up. I
think I have to get a little closer.
Okay.
So whereas the Rio Grand Rotary Club was
established in August 1975 and is
celebrating 50 years of service in our
community on September 12th, 2025.
And whereas the Rio Grand Rotary Club is
part of an international network of
Rotary Clubs with 1.4 million members
worldwide that practice self-s ser
practice service above self. And whereas
the Rio Grand Rotary Club was
established in Los Cusus by individuals
who wanted to extend Rotary's reach in
southern New Mexico including Eddie
Bins, John Floyd, Robert Hegler, and
Ernie Williams. And whereas Rotary clubs
worldwide have members from all
vocations in a community, doctors,
lawyers, bankers, educators, business
people, government leaders, and the
service industry that want to work
together for a bettering better living
conditions on the local, state, and
national level as well as worldwide. And
whereas the Rio Grand Rotary Club
membership is made up of people from
various occupations who want to come
together and make life better for the
needy. And whereas the Rio Grand Rotary
Club has been a major sponsor of worthy
service projects in our community
worldwide, such as Polio Plus, Msia
Valley Hospice since its establishment,
the dress a child project, the
construction of Unidad Park, the joint
project with Rotary Clubs in Mexico. Now
therefore, we the mayor and city council
of Las Cusus New Mexico do hereby
proclaim September 12th, 2025 as Rio
Grand Rotary Club Day. Would
you like to come say a good word?
My name is Ken Martin and I am the
president this year of the Rio Grand
Rotary Club. I'd like to express our
thanks to Mayor Enriquez and the council
for this proclamation. It's been a real
delight and joy to be a part of the
Rotary Club and Rotary International. As
a third generation Rotary member, I'm
grateful to my father and my grandfather
for setting the groundwork so that I can
follow along in their steps in providing
service to the community,
to the nation, and to the world through
uh through projects such as eradicating
polio. We are this close in the world
from eradicating polio and we just need
a little bit more to get over that hump.
So, thank you all very much for being
here. Thank you for this this
proclamation.
[Applause]
Okay. Next, we'll have Mandy Leatherwood
uh doing a presentation on the
government programming award.
Yes.
Right. Thank you, Mayor and Council. I'm
really excited uh to be here today. I
have some good news for you. Uh I'm
Mandy Leatherwood. I'm the
communications director and I want to
talk to you about the NATO government
programming awards. Uh what is NATO? It
is the National Association of Telecom
Officers and Advisors. If you don't
remember it, it's okay. I have to look
it up every year. Um we're really
excited because just two weeks ago, we
had the government programming awards
and the city of Los Cruus took home
several awards. And so I wanted to share
with you um on this slide a photo of
Adrien Guzman and Nathaniel Bidding.
They are the team. They're not out here
with me right now because they're in the
back actually doing the work of running
uh this council meeting and televising
it live. Um some of the things that are
really exciting about the government
programming awards, it recognizes
excellence by local governments
nationwide and all of the submissions
are peerreed and judged. And so what
that means is the people looking at
these and judging them and scoring them
are also local governments. And I think
that that's really important because so
often um we're competing with things
that are um trying to sell a product,
but really the work that we do in the
communications office is more
educational and informative. and knowing
that other government professionals are
recognizing the quality work that we do,
understanding the challenges we deal
with. Um, I'm just really proud of the
fact that we came out on top. Uh, we had
several awards. We had three awards of
excellence. Those mean that we won in
those categories. Three awards of
distinction, which means that we were in
the top tier, but somebody edged us out.
Um, and then one honorable mention. And
so, um, I really thank you for the
opportunity to share a couple of the
awardwinning videos. And so, the first
one that we won for, um, I'm actually
really proud of this one, it was what's
my line made of? And it was part of the
lead and copper education. I know that
there has been a lot of misinformation
in our community about us not uh
communicating well and I just want to
let you know that we're being recognized
nationally for doing such a great job.
And I'm going to read actually some of
the comments from the judges. These
aren't what I've said. This is what
others have said about us. Uh the
speaker was extremely knowledgeable in
the subject and that was enforced by how
he performed the examination himself.
The information and visuals are conveyed
well for someone such as myself who has
no knowledge in this field. This is
informative and compelling. It was clear
and concise all the way through. And so
I'm going to take a moment to actually
show you this video.
Good morning, Los Cusus. My name is
Jacob Gavales. I am the supervisor for
meter valves and hydrants for the water
department. This morning I'm going to
demonstrate how we are going to identify
both sides of the water lines type of
material on both city side and customer
side inside the meter boxes.
Locate your service entry line which is
located near the sidewalk in front of
your property line. So next we're going
to demonstrate how to remove the lid
without disconnecting the cable. So, if
you just tug on the lid, you can tell
that there's an earth cable attached to
it. You don't have to lift it very high.
There's plenty of slack of cable. So,
then we can just set this lid aside so
we can start determining what type of
material we have inside the box. Coup
tools. You might need a little garden
shovel. It'll make it easier to dig it
within the box. That way, you won't have
to use a regular size shovel because
it's very confined space. and also a
simple screwdriver so you can scrape on
the copper line or any type of material
to identify what you're what you're
dealing with. If needed, use a chart
like the pictures here to determine the
material or what will be included on our
lead and copper rule revisions website.
And these are the type of materials
you'll come across inside your meter
boxes. This is a copper waterline. It
looks a little bit like it has uh rust
on it. It'll have that patina look. And
then this is a polyline, a plastic water
line. This is the most updated type of
material we are installing. Now, once we
have removed the meter lid and kind of
got the cables out of the way, we're
going to start to expose customer side
and city side.
And all you got to do is dig around the
angle valve going down.
Just be gentle. Try not to hit the meter
or the plumbing too much. and you'll
start seeing the type of material that's
there. As you can tell, this one is blue
poly, a blue plastic line.
So, we don't have to worry about uh
customer side being copper, lead, or any
other type of material besides poly. So,
now we're going to take the dirt that we
dug up and move it to the other side.
And let's dig up city side and let's see
what type of material the city side has.
As you can tell, city side is also blue
poly. So this whole entire service line
coming from the main into the customer
side is all blue poly. So we can take
dirt that we removed and put it back.
That way your line doesn't freeze over.
If you weren't able to dig inside the
meter box for maybe there was landscape
bricks for somebody to raise a box some
type of other obstructions. You'll have
to dig outside of the meter box and dig
straight down probably at the most 6 to
8 in. and then you will start coming
across your type of material that's
going into your property line.
So once we have determined what type of
material we have on customer side and
city side,
we would like for you folks to please
take a picture and send it to
leadlocrus.gov
and we'll take it from there.
Thank you. Uh there is one more thing
that I' I'd like to note. I know that
we've um heard some concerns that we're
not communicating with some of the
Spanish speakers in our community. On
everything that's on YouTube, you can
put in closed captioning. It's easy. You
just click this button. Um and then in
the settings, it goes to whatever
language you want. Uh Spanish is on
there. And once you click it once, it
actually automatically goes to that. So
if you're watching um this type of video
once, it continues to show your video
that way. um at the city and especially
in the communications office, we know
that it's really important that everyone
have access to all of the information
that we put out. So, all right, back to
the PowerPoints.
Um we also got an award. I'm going to
skip this one because I've taken up a
lot of your time. Um for the zipper
method, we work with public works.
Again, that one's also on our YouTube.
But this last one I want to share with
you um was I can't do every job. and it
came as an idea from HR working with our
city manager and asked him um if he
would please help us put a video that
welcomed new employees to the city. But
um my team worked with him to say let's
actually take this um a step bigger and
use it as a recruitment video. And so
I'm going to again read some of these
comments again not from me from the
judges that said this joke is so
relatable it feels like reality. Um, I
we enjoy how much buyin there is from
the city manager. I enjoyed everything
about this video. I would go work for
the city of Los Cruus if my VA boss had
such a great sense of humor. In fact, at
the award show, um, Nate and Adrienne
shared that there several people came up
to them afterwards and said, "We wish
our city manager had that sense of
humor." And so with that,
[Music]
Greetings and salutations. I'm city
manager and I oversee all the operations
here at the city of Las Cusus. But let's
be honest, I can't do every job here.
No, seriously, I've tried.
Welcome everybody. Econ is going to show
you one of our Madagascar missing
cockroaches here at the Music Nature and
Science.
All right, while we up, butt down, palm
up, 90°
[Music]
proposed budget, enterprise funds, debt,
service, CIP after week after.
[Music]
All right, bottom up.
That's why I rely on talented
individuals like you to help make our
city great. Join our team today.
[Applause]
Okay, Connie, you're ready for
Hollywood.
Um so I I listed here um we work with
many departments. Um I I am so lucky to
have talented and creative uh members of
my team from video to digital media to
marketing to community engagement, the
volunteer network and our support staff.
But we can't do it without all of our
departments who give us information and
content. So, I want to thank all of our
departments, but I also want to thank
management and city council because your
support makes it uh possible for us to
do this work. And so, I'm I'm lucky to
get to work with all of these
individuals every day. So, thank you
very much.
Thank you, Mandy. Great job. And uh to
your team and everyone else and
especially to Nate and Adrian,
congratulations. Good job.
Next we have jobs jobs of the week. Uh
Sarah Rainey.
Good afternoon. Thank you. My name is
Sarah Rainey. I'm the onestop
coordinator for the Southwest Region of
America's Job Center New Mexico. for
jobs of the week. Starting out for the
city of Los Cusus, we have a library
page starting at 1502 an hour. That
posting closes on the 8th, so very very
soon. We also have for the city a
receivable representative for 1557 an
hour and that one start that one closes
on the 8th as well. So those you need to
check out real quick. We have for the
White Sands Missile Range, we have
quality control analysts that is 3850 or
3855 to 4855 and that one closes on the
17th.
We have an emergency case worker for El
Cavario United Methodist Church, $18 an
hour and that posting closes on the 25th
later this month. We have a pro
production forklift driver for Olam
Spices and Vegetables. That one starts
at 1554 an hour and closes on the 24th
as well. And then for Hosiandas at Grace
Village, we have a caregiver starting at
$13 an hour up to $18 an hour. The
posting closes on the 20th.
Just a recap of our opportunities and
events that we've got going up. Uh
Mountain Shadows hiring event will ha
well happened on will happen tomorrow.
Sorry, today's the 2nd. Um in our office
on Alama. So, if you're looking to do
caregiving um and you're ready to work,
go interview ready, take your resume, be
ready to talk to them. They are hiring
actively. We also have our career
essentials um at HSC in Anthony. That
one's a little further out, but for
those of you that are watching or in
that area on the 9th, you can receive
one-on-one employment assistance,
program referrals, and everything you
get in our offices here. um 9:10 and the
26th H&R Block will be in our offices as
well. Same thing as the Mountain
Shadows, they'll be doing a tableabling
event ready for you to apply. Bring your
resume, come interview ready. They're
hiring actively right now. Also,
Community of Hope job readiness, that's
our monthly event. We'll be on the 17th.
We're looking for volunteers. Anybody in
the in the community is welcome to come
and be a volunteer to conduct a mock
interview. So that'll be practicing
interview skills with those people that
are out there looking for extra
assistance, little feedback of how to
get themselves ready for an interview.
We have all the materials provided, so
you don't have to come with a grand
knowledge, but if you want to come
volunteer, reach out to me. And then
just a note, um something that we
haven't mentioned very often, um our
American Job Centers is in Hatch every
Tuesday. So, um, that's another
opportunity for those that cannot make
it all the way down here to Los Cusus,
but is still here in Donana County.
And that is all. If anybody has anything
that you need from us, you can reach out
on employee&mm.com and there's a contact
us button or any of our social media.
Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Next is pets of
the week. We have Carol
Good afternoon. I'm Carol Nilson,
digital content specialist with the
Animal Services Center of the Messia
Valley. Um, our Clear the Shelter
special is officially over and so we're
still crunching the numbers, but it
looks like we got pretty close to 300.
So, thank you for everyone that came out
and supported us. Uh, for our dog of the
week, we have Coral 89047.
I may be a bit older than my fellow
ASCMV adoptables, but that just means I
have a wealth of love to share. With a
friendly nature, I'm ready to shower you
with sweet kisses. I have a special
talent for climbing, so I'll need a
little guidance to channel my
adventurous spirit. While I enjoy
exploring on my own, I'm also friendly
with other dogs, and I'm currently
perfecting my sit command, especially
when treats are involved. I've been on a
few exciting field trips, field trip
adventures lately and had an absolute
blast. But what I truly desire is to
find my forever adventure buddy.
And our cat of the week has actually
already been adopted. So, we're super
happy Phil for Sylvester.
Uh, and as always, we I forgot to update
the adoptions aren't free in September.
So, um, but our long-term residents, we
like to highlight because the longer
they stay at the shelter, it's harder
for them to thrive. So, we would love to
see our longestterm residents find their
homes. Boxer and both Pickle have been
with us 247 days now. Coette 239 days,
Cookies and Cream 229 days.
And this weekend, we are going to be at
Petco from 9 to 12. So, definitely come
on by. It's always a good time to say hi
if you can't adopt. Um they love u
getting to socialize and it's a good
opportunity for them and as always bring
someone who's ready to adopt. So and you
can find more information on our website
asv.org or via social media as well.
Thank you.
Thank you Carol.
Mayor I just want to give a testament to
Coral's amazingness. She's been to my
house. She uh is extremely well behaved,
extremely thoughtful. She you should
take her home today. Like she she will
fit right in and learn everything. And
um I'm so lucky that the animal services
center has these field trips. I've also
taken out Boxer um for for trips. He's
um extremely sweet and good-natured and
and was really excited to be hanging
around with um a bunch of different
folks in the park. So, as always, if you
ever want a dog and it's not a
discounted adoption, hit me up and I
will happily sponsor any adoptions that
you want to take part in and or I'll
give you a report on the amazing
behaviors of of every dog at pretty soon
every dog at the shelter I I'll have
visited. Thanks.
Thank you again, Carol.
We appreciate all of your support,
Councelor Karen.
Yep. Thank you, C.
Thank you, Carol. Thank you.
Next is a conflict of interest. Does any
member of city council, city manager, me
any member of the city staff have any
known conflict of interest with any item
on the agenda?
None.
So, next we'll have public
participation. We'll allow up to three
minutes. no pending litigation or items
on the non-consent.
Uh at this time I also want to mention
that since it is election season uh
please refrain from using this time as a
political platform and Katrina will
assist.
Mayor, council, all the folks here today
and those watching online. I'm Lyn
Moore. Today I bring more documented
facts about the city's non-compliant
activities regarding the new lead and
copper rule. Last meeting, the assistant
utilities director said updating online
inventory records in real time created
too much confusion. I've seen this
characterization used by officials who
are caught cooking the books. It's a
classic put down of the public. In
reality, we the public are not confused.
We can tell the difference between
before and after 1986. We can discern
when half the city has been left off the
map. We have no difficulty understanding
when the city clerk tells us in response
to an IP request that the city does not
actually have any records notifying new
customers of their pipe material despite
the assistant utilities director's false
claims to the contrary. See handout one.
We may be just riffraff in councelor
mccclure's view, but we're not stupid.
We know when we're being lied to.
Handout two shows that EPA requires
water systems to notify new customers of
their service line material. So, why
hasn't the city notified all new
customers as required and produced
records that prove it? This is a clear
violation. Handout three sets out facts
regarding the city's pattern of
characterizing pipes as non-LED without
any stated or justified basis. These
properties constitute 33% of 81
properties sampled. This means the city
has no justification for characterizing
one-third of the properties as non-LED.
It's just making things up. Without a
basis, they can't be believed. Why isn't
there a basis for every property?
Handout four is a property whose lines
are classified as non-LED without any
basis. The record doesn't add up. While
both lines are characterized as non-LED,
the symbol on the map indicates this
property is unknown. The custom line is
characterized as non-LED galvanized.
That's all. We don't know whether this
galvanized line is or was downstream of
a lead line, which would require
replacement. It doesn't say. This shows
the folly of relying upon a
characterization that has no basis
whatsoever. Last meeting, the assistant
utilities director used the same mantra
that Steve Petta has used. The city
doesn't have a lead pipe problem. This
means an impartial assessment of the
city's piping required by EPA is not
underway. You all should be disturbed by
this overt bias against finding the
truth regarding Lasus's piping. The city
is using these strategys to avoid
finding lead pipes. Characterizing
piping as non-LED without any basis
whatsoever. Falsely characterizing lead
piping as non-LED because of
installation after the lead ban. Leaving
half the city off the inventory. Using a
pipe inspection technique that's not
highly accurate. Relying on water
sampling only with no records or field
inspection only with no records. Not
finding lead pipe saves the city a lot
of work. It's clear that's the goal. The
rule imposes many requirements that are
hinged on whether certain kinds of lines
are identified. The city is making sure
it doesn't identify much. Has the city
no sense of decency? How much longer
will the city allow its staff to flout
the law and the well-being of its
citizens? Thank you for this opportunity
to speak.
Mayor, city council, I'm Liz Rodriguez
Johnson. At the August 4 meeting, the
utilities director said, quote, "We
believe we're meeting all requirements,"
unquote. That's an astounding statement
given that given all the EPA
requirements Lasclusa's utilities is
clearly not meeting. Most have been
brought to their attention, but here's a
partial list. EPA requires that water
systems sample consumer taps upon
request. See handout three from the June
16 meeting and handout four from the
July 21 meeting. Why hasn't Les Cruz's
utility sample the water of consumers
who requested it as required? This is a
clear violation. Why hasn't the city
publicized an offer for people who don't
know that this can be requested? EPA
requires that water systems notify
owners of galvanize requiring
replacement pipes within 30 days of
submission of the inventory. See
handouts A and B from the August 4
meeting. Why hasn't Las's utilities
notified all the galvanize require
placement folks as required? Why does it
plan to put this till the last part the
last quarter of the year? This is a
clear violation. These folks appear to
be located in the older parts of the
city. Is this another example of Lasur's
utilities unequal treatment of city
citizens? EPA requires a proven
evidence-based technique for identifying
the nature of piping. See handout one
from the August 4 meeting. Why has Ocus
utilities use utilized two techniques
widely? Water sampling only with no
records and field inspection only with
no records that are plainly not
evidence-based. These are obvious
violations. Handout A from the August 4
meeting shows EPA requirements that the
inventory include all property served by
the city. Previously, I provided you
handouts showing 33 neighborhoods
without water hookups. Why does half of
the city not have water hookups on the
map? This is a clear violation. The
majority of the omitted neighborhoods
are mobile home neighborhoods. Why are
many of the folks who live in mobile
homes left out? To receive a grant, the
city promised to prioritize
disadvantaged populations. In fact, EPA
requires this prioritization. See
handout A.
But the director said that the city is
only planning to complete it in 2027.
That's not keeping faith with the
disadvantaged people of Las Cruuses. Nor
is disappearing from the inventory all
the information about the disadvantaged
neighborhoods. It suggest that the grant
was obtained under false pretenses. How
many properties in the city's oldest
areas has the city inspected? Where are
the records? The city should make sure
the health of all the citizens is
protected. That should be top goal, not
using as many tricks as possible to
avoid finding lead pipes. That violates
the rule and that puts thousands of
vulnerable Lasen's residents at risk.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Thank you for this
opportunity to speak with you today. My
name is Leavonne Hart and I am the
director of the spay and neuter action
program, SNAP. I wanted to give you a
brief update on this spay and neuter
program that we have with the city of
Los Cruus's.
As you know, we really got started on
this program um at the end of last year
and started putting out the word to all
of Los Cruus's residents on January 1st,
2025.
For the fiscal year ending June 20 30th,
2025, under our contract with the city
of Los Cusus, SNAP facilitated the spay
or neuter of 243 cats, 352 dogs
uh for a total of 595
spay and neuters for the animals, the
companion animals of lowincome Los Cusus
residents. We also facilitated 293
rabies vaccinations and 272 microchips.
We saw an increase during that time of
over 35% in the number of vouchers
issued to residents for spay and neuter
surgeries. So far, during the first few
weeks of this fiscal year, we are seeing
an even larger increase in the number of
residents requesting
uh vouchers. In fact, I ran the report
last week and it scared me. It's like a
100% increase over last year, same time.
Ah,
to assist in getting all of these dogs
and cats fixed, we held five special
spayneuter clinics for Los Cruus's dogs
and cats last spring. Thank you to
Shoeacher's Vet Clinic and Kalista
Animal Hospital for hosting these
events. Over 130 dogs and cats were
fixed during those clinics. Thank you
also to Dr. Carver of the Mosquite
Animal Vaccination Clinic who held a
special vaccination clinic at our
offices to get a large number of those
dogs and cats ready for their surgeries.
The dogs and cats did not thank us. Most
of all, I want to thank all of you for
your support of this program. Truly
together we are making a difference in
the lives of Los Cusus residents and
their companion dogs and cats. Now we
need to talk start talking about what
more we can do.
Uh one of the things um I have gave you
a handout on the front. It kind of goes
over some of the numbers. The other side
we need volunteers.
So, anyone out there in the community,
um, if you're interested in helping us
with this program, we need volunteers.
So, please contact the SNAP office. Uh,
we particularly need Spanish-speaking
volunteers as we have a significant
number of our clients who are Spanish-sp
speakaking. We are also seeking board
members. So if anybody would like to
serve on as a board member on our uh on
SNAP, please also give us a contact.
Thank you.
Good afternoon here in council. My name
is Frankie Lawrence. Um, I'm a senior
citizen that attends the aquatic center
on a regular basis and currently
it is out of order. We have not been
able to go there for a while. And as you
know, the Los Cruz's community is
growing quickly with senior citizens and
those that have surgery and the the
water is very beneficial for our
well-being and recovery.
With that, I was hoping that we could
get it going again. Uh it's been out of
commission several times in fits and
starts.
Although um we try to go on a consistent
basis, it's not possible when the PO
pool is entirely closed. So anything you
can do to help us get it going, we I
would really appreciate. Thank you.
Good afternoon, mayor and council. My
name is Lucas Turnin. I'm a resident in
District 2. I'm here today um to ask for
your help in um trying to stop something
horrible happening in our county. Uh
last week the Donana County Commission
um made moves to approve $165$165
billion dollar bribe from a Texas-based
tech company to build a data center in
southern part of the county. I recognize
and I understand that the city and the
county are are different entities, but
um part of the egregious nature of this
issue that has come up is that um they
only gave the community three weeks um
to do anything about this. Um if you
have seen the news or attended, you saw
that dozens and dozens of residents were
at that meeting asking the county to not
move forward with this. um the risks to
our groundwater and our drinking water
which legally are two different things
um is very very great. Data centers are
entirely too um they they require too
much water for a community like ours
here in the desert. Um in my role as the
energy pro uh policy director at
Progress Now New Mexico, I myself am
concerned specifically about the energy
use of of this data center. Um, part of
part of what they are working on, this
Border Plex company, comes from a
memorandum of understanding that they
signed with the governor that grants
them permission to use a loophole in the
state's energy transition act where they
can build gas plants, hydrogen plants,
nuclear plants, um, on their micro grid
and have that energy excluded from the
state's uh, movement towards renewable
energy.
because they will need interconnection
with El Paso Electric
um to get started. Those power plants
will be connected to El Paso Electric's
grid and as the area's largest user of
EP electricity um and the city making
its own moves towards some
electrification efforts um where we get
that electricity matters to residents.
Um, and if El Paso Electric is getting
energy from gas plants on this micro
grid, they're excluded from the ETA, we
can we can't necessarily in good
conscious use that energy um if our goal
is to reduce emissions, protect the air
and the water uh of our residents. So my
ask is is that what in whatever official
capacity you can from your seats on the
council um with your relationship with
the county, please help us fight this.
Um at the very least give us more time
um to have the community properly engage
with this um to be to learn more about
it, to learn what the risks are. Um this
is a big deal and uh we need as much
help and support as we can get. Thank
you.
I'm sorry.
Good afternoon. Uh, my name is
Marielleen Boowberg.
Will you um The mic can move
just so you can speak closer into it.
Thank you.
Is that better?
Okay. My name is Mary Ellen Boowberg.
I've been a citizen, a resident of Los
Cusus, New Mexico for the last 30 years.
Um, I've raised my family here and I
have enjoyed many, many benefits in the
city of Los Cusus. One of the things
that I'm enjoying currently or trying to
enjoy currently is the availability of
the Las Cusus Aquatic Center and the
access that I have to be able to go
every day and get the exercise that I
need. I have some some um motor issues
that limit my ability to be in the
natiatorum pool um which is available
right now. But the other pool, the one
that we use at the aquatic center has
been inoperable for a month and a half,
two months
at least. Yes. And now I was there today
um using the warm water pool and I have
some concerns because the water that is
sitting there now is be is stagnant and
it's becoming very dark and now I'm
growing concerned that there are going
to be problems for the warm water pool
that many people have to use other than
the the cold water pool which is in the
niatorum that that water is cold and and
so I'm concerned about what could grow
there. I don't know if they've just
filled it with um chlorine to just keep
it from growing. I mean, to me, I think
mosquitoes could even get in there and,
you know, set up a home. So, um we're
we're a group of senior citizens who I'm
finally able to enjoy my retirement. my
my service here in Los Cusus has always
been either through the um state
government or through Los Cruus public
schools and and now it's my turn and and
you know I'm hearing all of the things
that people need. I'm I'm I'm really
desiring that you guys pay a little bit
of attention to that pool because it it
really is I've researched where other
states they have nothing nothing
compared to this pool. And so I wonder
what those senior citizens are able to
do. You know, it's if you can't walk,
you've got to be able to get some
exercise and movement somehow. And being
in the water is key to that.
Thank you. And this is this is my pool
buddy.
My name is is uh Bob Hal and I uh agree
with everything that Mary Ellen said.
Excuse me. Uh we have been
waiting to have that uh the cur the
channel repaired and it hasn't happened.
So I guess our question is when will it
be done? Is it being worked on? Is
somebody paying attention to it? I don't
know. Anyway, thank you very much for
your time.
Please make it work. Please.
Excuse me. One sec. Um, if uh David's
Well, they're leaving. We're going to
give them an update, but uh you can give
an update on the swimming pool at the at
the end of comments.
Oh, there's
Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Uh David, if you
don't mind, a quick update.
Yes, Mayor. David Savio, interim
assistant city manager for the record.
And we are aware that the pool is down.
We have some electrical and pump issues
that are going on at the pool. We are
actively working to get those fixed at
this point in time. We did have a vendor
come out to look at the old pump to see
if we could re repair it and also
looking at replacement pumps to get the
pool back up and running as soon as
possible.
Uh if you don't mind after the meeting I
can meet you outside and give you my
contact information.
Okay. Thank you.
Go ahead.
Okay. Hello council. Lley Hornsby,
resident of district 4. Um, also here to
talk with you all about our shared water
supply which is at risk um by project
Jupiter which um I know that that's a
county jurisdiction. Um but I'm
surprised at how many non-county
Democrat politicians are supporting
that. Right. We see our state senators,
uh, representatives, our federal,
congressional, um, representatives
taking a stand on this. And so I just
want to encourage um any of our city
council leadership um to use your
platform and privilege um to protect our
water here in Los Cusus um the water at
our in our county at large, the air that
we breathe which is going to be impacted
by this data center, right? and for our
community not to adopt another boom and
bust um industry which New Mexico has
been um burned by time and time again.
Um that is what AI is. And so again, I
know that the vote is not before this
council, but I just appreciate you all
um those of you that are using your
voice um in this issue. Um, and I
encourage you all to really listen to
the constituency um, and what we want
for our communities, understanding that
um, we we know what's best for our
communities and there's not, you know,
we don't like a zillion powerpoints from
a corporation that wants to just profit
off of our um, land and resources is not
necessarily going to plate us. So,
um, that's all for now. Um, we'll talk
soon about GRT, which I know you all
are. I still have a minute left. This is
longer than county commission. County
Commission, we have two minutes. City of
Las Cruises, we have three. Um, as GRT
um comes up and you all are deciding how
to spend that, just remembering that
public safety is community safety. It's
how we use our infrastructure to take
care of each other, especially the most
vulnerable in our community. So, as
you're thinking about um the capital
outlay projects that you'll be
dedicating that money to um really
asking if that funding and that
infrastructure is going to be supporting
all of our community members, the most
vulnerable among us.
Okay. Thank you.
Mayor Council Juan Garcia, a scrusus is
steeped in violence. Just last week at
the CCJ, the surge in juvenile crime was
laid bare, grim and unsettling. property
crimes, drive by shootings, rampant drug
use, the massacre at Young Park, the
gangs turning on each other, domestic
violence, it all stacks up, casting a
very dark cloud over the city. If we
don't cool things down and find some
respect for opposing views on both
sides, political bloodshed might be
next. I've noticed a trend at recent
local events like Save the Vote and the
protest against the new abortion center
in Las Cruus. The atmosphere feels
charged
and some people, militant agitators,
seem one step away from letting things
get out of hand. Peaceful protest is a
core American right. Whether the issue
is genuine or manufactured outrage, just
because someone believes abortion or
ending an innocent life isn't healthcare
doesn't give the opposition
license to stir up violence or try to
scare those who disagree into shutting
up. Shoving a bullhorn in someone's face
or screaming at them, rushing the stage
isn't going to win anyone over. I've
seen plenty of protesters waving signs
attacking federal agents for doing their
job or warning of the quote
militarization of the community. There
are people that fly the flag upside down
making a mockery of our national anen
which I find very troubling or lumping
together legal and illegal immigration.
As someone who immigrated here legally,
I find it disrespectful not just to me
but to the millions who follow the rules
and respect this country enough to do
things the legal way. Most of the time I
just avoid the situations entirely or if
I'm there I keep my distance and quietly
watch.
A final word of caution and this also
goes for irresponsible comments by
elected officials. Not everyone who
shows up to protest is there for the
right reasons. I hope LCPD continues to
monitor these events because there are
always a few waiting for an excuse to
light the match. If that happens, if
someone crosses a line, the outcome
could be devastating. Resentment towards
president is boiling over and is
bleeding into our streets. Don't let
rage or a reckless impulse drag us into
something we can't undo. This community
cannot survive the added poison of
political violence. Once that's
unleashed, there's no telling where it
stops. We will continue to advocate for
peaceful protest and a civil discourse.
Thank you.
Greetings, mayor, council. Uh, my name
is Jay Chot. I'm a resident of District
5. We just like to note for the record
that peaceful protesting, while it is an
American pastime, uh, doing things like
hanging the flag upside down, burning
it, stuff like that. People have done
that for a while, too. So, that's also
freedom of speech. Uh, just wanted to
throw that out there. Um, I also wanted
to echo the similar sentiments that some
of my peers have expressed about Project
Jupiter. Um, I'm not inherently opposed
to industrial developments, but you
know, when they don't really answer
questions and it seems like they're kind
of trying to rush through things and
it's inherently an industry that uses a
lot of water and, you know, big
businesses, big manufacts
may come through and make promises a lot
and then years later it turns out to be
lies when they start polluting the local
water. There's examples like with XAI
over in Tennessee and there's countless
other data centers across the country
where this has happened. So they pollute
the environment um especially if they
have things like uh fossil fuel uh power
generation that goes into our atmosphere
and we have to deal with that as a
community. So it seems kind of counter
to me that we're encouraging them to do
that but then the rest of the state has
to go towards renewables. So I'm just
hoping you guys can kind of push some
accountability there. um having the
elected officials on the county
commission kind of be responsive to the
public here and not just kind of ignore
them or silence them. I recognize it's
not necessarily a city issue, but you
all are elected officials within the
county. Um so I hope you could speak to
that. Um as far as some other stuff
goes, I'm hoping we could do more public
engagement outside of working hours. Um
I know we've had some stuff in the past.
I wasn't here earlier in the summer, but
it'd be nice to see that more so that
people who are most impacted by these
types of policies can get some feedback
and input into it. um and have an
environment where they can all come
together and talk with you all about
that. That'd be nice. Um and then I also
wanted to kind of advocate for public
transportation more. Um I know it's very
important. We need more people to be
able to use it. And while it's a tool
and a resource to the people who need
it, I think it should be something
that's more comfortable for everyone
involved. Um especially somebody like
myself. I live 20 minutes away from
NMSU. And so it's pretty inconvenient
for me to use the bus or any public
transport. But if there were a lot more
opportunities around the city, maybe
it'd be more convenient for me in the
future or if I happen to go to MSU and I
just want to pop downtown, stuff like
that. I know I'm pretty busy all around
town, so it's difficult for me. But just
having more of that always good. So, but
thank you all for letting us have public
comment. And I hope you'll kind of push
the county to be a little more
accountable with this project, Jupiter.
[Applause]
Howdy. My name is Lonnie Montgomery. Uh,
mayor, members of the council, I want
you to know I love you guys. And when I
say guys, I mean like uh the president,
Mr. Hut says. That's uh men and women.
And I do know what a woman is. And we're
not in the commissioner's office in
Diana. So I guess we can pray. I'm going
to. So, dear Lord, I pray today for
better skills
for the people on the board here and in
skills and discernment and understanding
to become better public servants and
make wiser decisions.
And uh so much for that. So, I was going
on to my what I call the riff raff
report. and the riff raff were doing
pretty well as far as I know, but I'm
not allowed to mention names, I guess,
because of political things. So, but
I've written down like five names and uh
they take uh office in Congress and to
me they're voting the wrong ways.
They're voting against women.
They vote for having trans men compete
against women and take away their awards
and their scholarships and everything
else. And to me the that is hating
women. And another group I think they're
uh taking care of too is our uh kids and
our grandkids and our great grandkids.
They're taking the bet debt on there and
they add to it all the time. They don't
didn't want to vote
so that we wouldn't have a 63%
increase in taxes. They voted against
that. I mean, they voted for that in
their voting the way they voted. And as
far as the state goes, we uh I think
we're getting in toward complete
insanity. That means you're voting doing
the same things over and over and over
again as everybody knows. But uh we keep
electing the same people and they spend
billions of dollars on education and
according to Mr. Obama that would make
us 56th in the nation as far as
education goes. So we know what sort of
education he got. But uh so we just in
as far as uh teaching go, we have uh
allowed kids to read library books that
encourage teenage boys to use younger
boys and girls as their sex objects.
Also, according to New Mexico law,
teachers can have the people take the
things to make them what they're not
supposed to be. Men to women, men, and
women to men. and also set up the uh
operations which you can take in as soon
as this big thing is built in Los Cusus
to take over there and take off the
breast or the genitalia or whatever in
that particular area. Okay. Thank you.
To be continued in the riff raff
segment next week or the week after
that.
Hello uh council members of Los Crisis.
I do want to kind of mirror the
sentiment of some of the my other peers
of saying that uh we should try to do
whatever we can to try to stop Project
Jupiter.
Could you state your name?
Oh, sorry. My name is William Morland.
Um
I I know it's a county issue, but as uh
Donana Countyy's biggest municipality, I
feel like it's part of our obligation to
kind of help stand up for the smaller
municipalities in our county, especially
since um from a lot of the sentiment I
get from some of the people that live
outside of town, they don't know what
this project is. we're the biggest
people or we're the biggest uh voice in
this and if we don't stand up for them
uh the drought situation that we've been
having could get worse. Heat islands
which data centers could cause can drive
away rain and that's on top of the issue
of them wasting water. Another smaller
issue that I've uh been noticing, and
it's funny that I'm coming up and
talking about this near the tail end of
summer, but uh a lot of the public
transportation bus stops here in town do
not have shade, and that could be a big
issue, especially if someone like me who
barely misses buses,
uh through no fault of my own, has to
now wait an hour outside. I feel like
having some reprieve near those bus
stops would be really useful to everyone
who has to use that transportation
system to get in and around town.
Thank you.
My name is Jim Hurst. I'm here to speak
on behalf of uh or in favor of
uh Jupiter,
the Jupiter project. Um
that area referred to uh as chaps often.
um is barren of any economic development
and
the economic development that is coming
to the area in the form of the data
center will bring its own
infrastructure.
It will uh be able to tap new aquifers.
It will be able to generate its own
power. It will be uh virtually
self-contained
and it
should spur other economic growth in
that area.
I heard the word used a bribe and uh
somehow it's going to chase away other
rain. I don't know how that happens. Uh
I don't think there's corruption
involved. Of course, government is
corruptible, but to presume that there's
corruption is most unfair. Um,
I also think that
economic issues can or I mean economic
and um environmental issues can be
addressed. It's wrong to presume that
it's going to be a boondoggle.
Um,
I trust capital to operate in its own
interest. I don't believe people will
invest billions of dollars into
enterprises that they aren't sure are
going to work. Um, they might be wrong,
but at least they're trying to make
money, not trying to lose money. And um,
we should hear this. We should hear both
sides, get all the information we
possibly can before we say no. Um,
I think some people have been very quick
to say no
and I think they need to look at all the
facts
and also
um
have some sympathy for the economic
development of that region.
Uh that's jobs. Economic development is
just another word for jobs. Jobs are
just another word for prosperity.
So thank you very much.
Good afternoon, city council mayor.
Thank you for having uh public comment.
I really appreciate it.
I don't know if any of you saw the
agenda or were just not able to attend,
but the um
And can you state your name?
Oh, Donna Striker. I'm so sorry. I
always forget my name. I'm old. I forget
it. Um last week uh courts, crime, and
justice legislative committee met at um
NMSU. I was there all three days, not
for every minute. And I if and when they
come back, I'd love to have more
participation with the community and the
council. I was there for Fernando MSAS's
comment and his presentation which was
wellreceived by the legislative body
that was there on the committee. The
police department did a presentation on
youth and crime and it was disturbing
and if you have not seen the video I
would definitely ask you to have chief
story share that video with each and
every one of you. the faces of the
legislators was telling and I don't
think that there was one negative
comment about the fact that something
needs to be done about crime not only in
our city but in this state Albuquerque
and the country and if you could please
watch it it would be um helpful I think
as things come up in our community um
and unfortunately uh RDA was not able to
come to the third day but there was a
conversation about competency and there
was a shift there was a huge shift Um
that day it appeared that there was more
collaboration and perhaps more openness
to hearing that we need to do something.
We meaning the people, the communities,
the councils, the legislature, etc.
There was one thing that was very
disturbing to me and it embarrassed me
for my community and that's when a
senior senator
put down my counsel and put down my
community
and basically pointed fingers which I
thought was extremely unprofessional of
that particular senator. I try really
hard not to name names because I don't
think it serves any purpose but it was
inappropriate. I don't agree with
everybody all the time ever or anybody.
That's just not human. But it was
disrespectful
and it really bothered me that he said
those things about my council and
pointed a finger at us in the audience
and said, "This is your fault." And I
thought that that was childish,
immature, inappropriate for a senior
sitting senator. And I'm sorry those
comments were made in a public forum. It
was not appropriate at all. Thank you
for your service.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. Tim
Jenkins here. Um, I would like I wasn't
planning on speaking, but I would like
to just second I was also there for the
two-hour presentation for the Los Cusus
Police Department.
And it was very very powerful and very
sad at the same time. But the
presentation that they gave, I think it
sent a very loud clear message to our
senators.
And my concern is that we need to look
for every possible way
to change the crime in this city. It's
heartbreaking.
Um,
we are getting ready to spend and we're
going to go out to an intersection
tomorrow, I believe, and talk about
spending $11 million
on homeless and unhoused.
And we're getting ready to spend $10
million for an the largest abortion
clinic, but what are we doing about the
mental health? That is my concern. Thank
you.
Good afternoon, city council. My name is
John Paul Palamino and uh I'm also here
to talk about uh uh project Jupiter. I
believe that it is a uh not good for the
uh county and the city of Los Cusus. And
as the leadership of the city of Losus,
the largest uh population of the county,
I believe it is imperative for you to uh
encourage your colleagues at uh the
county to uh stop this program from uh
going forward. Um thank you.
Hi, my name is Diana Alba Solar. I'm the
project coordinator for the New Mexico
Local News Fund. Sorry, I'm just trying
to get this a little tall here. Um, I'm
here today because I wanted to introduce
myself in this role as I'm I'm a
longtime journalist here in Los Cusus.
I'm still I'm working part in a
coordinator role, part in a journalist
role. Uh the New Mexico Local News Fund
is this nonprofit organization that's
looking to support a variety of forms of
local news statewide. And so we have
different projects and initiatives that
are going on to do this. Um just
recently we've begun discussing with a
national initiative called documenters.
Documenters is a is a project that
trains citizens to become um attendees
of public meetings and document them to
put them out in for public consumption.
This is in part to try to help um
empower residents in an era where local
news has seen a lot of decline in terms
of the numbers of journalists that are
here and uh reporting in communities.
It's not exactly
um a replacement for journalists, but
it's a way to uh get more coverage in
terms of just reporting. There's many
meetings that um journalists rarely if
ever go to that still have public
importance and citizens might be
interested in knowing what is going on.
Uh so I'm just here today to just give
you a heads up that we are doing this.
We're trying to inform different public
bodies that we're starting this project.
is still in the very infancy right now
and so it probably won't be till the
first quarter of next year where we
actually like you know recruit citizen
citizens to participate. They go through
a training through documenters and then
uh they get paid um to cover different
meetings and so um I'm interested in
getting feedback both from you all as
well as just members of the public who
might be here and might be interested in
becoming a document down the road. Um,
but my email address is
dianamlocalnews.org
if you're interested in that. And I'll
also leave some cards for the city clerk
in case my email is a little different
on this one because it feeds into the
the same email address. But um, yeah,
just wanted to put that on your radar
and thanks for the opportunity to talk
today.
Next we'll go to the acceptance of
agenda.
Move to approve grant.
Second.
This is on the motion to accept the
agenda as presented. Councelor Mccclure.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes. Councelor Graham.
Yes.
Councelor Craran,
yes.
Councelor Fletus is absent. Councelor
Beno,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
So, next we'll go to item 7.1, which is
a public hearing. So, the public hearing
is now open at 2:09 p.m. Is there anyone
who would like to speak for or against
the issuance of the liquor license?
Seeing none, the public hearing is now
closed. 2:9 p.m.
Move to approve grant. Second, Corinth.
Okay, Adam.
Thank you, Mayor. Adam Matroya Community
Development for the record. Uh before
you, we have a proposed liquor license
at an existing restaurant for our Ruby
Tuesdays Las Cruises located at 2611
North Telshore Boulevard. Uh this is an
application just the transfer of
ownership of the existing liquor license
at the establishment which is liquor
license number dis1199.
Preliminary approval was uh provided by
the state alcohol alcoholic uh beverage
control uh division uh to the city on
July 17th of this month. I'm sorry this
year. Uh request for an extension was
done by the city in order to get it
before y'all uh in the required time
frame. that extension was approved. Uh
this was sent out to all reviewing
parties within the city internal
reviewers to review to see if there were
any issues and all reviewing staff saw
no issues with the proposed application
showing the uh location of the property
here. I think we all know where Ruby
Tuesdays is. Sam's tell and the
interstate just giving the idea of where
we're at. So your options are one to
vote yes and uh approve the proposed
liquor license or two to vote no and
deny. Uh that is the conclusion of my
presentation and I stand for questions.
All right. Thank you, Adam. Any
questions? Christine,
this is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-033.
Councelor Mccclure,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Footus is absent. Councelor
Beno,
yes.
And mayor,
yes.
Next is item 7.2, resolution number
26-034,
a resolution allowing the Donana County
improvement special assessment program
to operate within the city of Los Cusus,
including programs such as commercial
property assess clean energy.
Move to approve. Second.
Good afternoon, mayor, members of city
council. My name is Isaac Colin and I
also have Eric Christensen online with
Adilante Consulting. And the resolution
before you is the adoption of CPACE
program to operate within the city of
Los Cusus.
Here's some background to provide
context about CPACE. CPACE stands for
commercial property assess clean energy.
It is an alternative source of financing
for commercial property owners to
finance projects that enhance buildings
energy resilience through long-term
fixed financing.
CPACE can cover direct and indirect
costs related to these types of
upgrades. And eligible properties can
include any privatelyowned, commercial,
agricultural, industrial, or multif
family properties that have five or more
dwelling units.
Here's a little snapshot of the US map.
Currently, we have about 90 CPACE
lenders that have helped 3,300
commercial buildings with a total
funding of 7 billion for these upgrades.
How to establish the CPACE program. In
2023, the New Mexico legislature passed
House Bill 228, the improvement special
assessment act, which allows counties
and municipalities to establish
improvement special assessment programs
like CPACE.
Counties and municipal municipalities
need to get opted in to allow these
projects to operate in their
jurisdiction and have access to the
CPACE funding. New Mexico economic
development department has contracted
with Adalantha Consultant to be the
statewide program administrator for the
CPACE program.
Uh CPACE funding
CPACE funding is flex excuse me CPACE
funding um is solely from capital
providers and does not rely on any
government subsidies nor does it rely on
any public funds.
Some of the typical measures funded by
CPACE is lighting upgrades, HVAR
systems, micro grids, EV charging
stations, uh roof replacements, and a
slew of other upgrades that are eligible
through the CPACE program.
Some of the general benefits for CPACE
pro uh financing is it provides 100% of
the direct can provide up to 100% of the
direct and indirect cost with fixed
financing rates with terms up to 30
years. CPACE also has a three three-year
look back period which allows commercial
properties that have maybe done some of
those upgrades maybe about a year or two
ago can also capture some of the CPACE
benefits and financing as well. Since it
is a tax assessment program, it is um
not a personal guarantee. It is a
property lean and it does stay with that
property. So then invent if the property
owner does want to sell, they are able
to go and transfer that lean to the
future property owner as well.
some of the benefits for property owners
and developers. Of course, it helps uh
with a lot of the upfront costs that we
see with these larger scale development
projects. Not only is it um helping them
get that going, but it's also increasing
the property value since a lot of these
building uh uh are resilient and they're
going to be keeping that building
envelope uh for the useful life.
And again, uh for the owners, if they
are wanting for some reason to sell a
property, it's not going to be uh with
them. the lean will be transferable up
on sale with that property as well.
Some of the uh benefits to operating in
the city is it helps create new jobs and
businesses as well as during the
construction of these upgrades. uh if we
see a business and they're wanting to
such as like the Boys and Girls Club
want to do an upgrades, we're able to go
and do those upgrades, provide jobs, and
keep sustainability jobs in those
buildings that we're also upgrading as
well.
By having uh these upgrades, it also
helps with the uh lower the operating
cost for the end user and they'll be
able to help sustain that business
throughout the life of that business as
well.
Some of the uh benefits for uh existing
capital providers and existing lean
holders is it creates a strong uh a
strong building for those those capital
investors and making sure that that
building is going to be staying up for
the the rest of that loan that they have
if they're an existing uh lean holder.
Uh they're able to see uh the collateral
improved on that building without having
the credit risk since it is not going
through their business. is going through
the special attacks assessment
and there are your standard council
options. Also, like I said, we have uh
Chris Eric Christensen from Atlanta
Consultant and he's online if you guys
also have any questions regarding CPACE
as well.
Yeah. Counselor Matise.
Yeah. Can I ask you what kind of
feedback have you gotten if any and and
if you have if you could just report
that um from banks you know banks
holding the mortgages.
So
in other words what you're saying is
every bank has has approved or has
knowing that there's an additional lean
on on that property.
Yes. So uh for your uh to answer your
question council mayor members of city
council with uh respect to the to the
lean holders we have to make sure that
we get uh all the different lean holders
that are going to be agreeing to this
since this is a property tax assessment
it is placed as a primary uh on the
capital stack and so we have to have
consent from all the other prop lean
holders. So if there's maybe a loan from
a private capital as well as sepace, we
have to make sure that we're consenting
on both of those uh lean holders and and
they're knowing that the CPACE is going
to be also incorporated on that capital
stack for the the payments as well.
Does that answer your question?
Yes. Thank you.
Any other question? Was there anything
else that um you would like to add? Um,
you said his name is Eric. That's
online. If there was anything else he
would like to add.
No, no, uh, additional information
really. I think just to kind of um, add
to what Isaac was saying about lean
holders, just with projects that we've
seen in other counties in New Mexico,
um, we've had a number of banks kind of
give that that leanholder consent uh,
that has allowed Cpace transactions to
take place. And for if whatever reason
uh as Isaac mentioned a lean holder uh
doesn't want to give that consent then
that's their right and then the the
transaction wouldn't happen. So they
they are protected in that way.
Okay. Thank you.
Seeing none Christine.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-034.
Councelor Mccclure.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
No.
Councelor Graham.
Yes.
Councelor Karan. Yes.
Councelor Fletus is absent. Councelor
Bencomo.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Motion passes.
Next is item 7.3.
Council bill number 26-003,
ordinance number 3095, an ordinance
repealing and replacing chapter 18,
nuisance sections 18
through 1. Move to
approve 182.
Second, Graham.
Go ahead, Brett.
All right. Good afternoon, Mayor
Council. Um, Brad Douglas from the legal
department. For the record, I will be
joined by the very hesitant, uh, Michael
Roach, uh, from codes enforcement. He's
the codes enforcement supervisor.
Um, and so I'd like to just briefly
discuss with you our proposed revisions
to chapter 18 of the municipal code.
uh as it relates specifically to uh
weeds or noxious weeds and rank
vegetation as it's currently defined uh
by sections 181 and 18 two. And so uh
you you may remember u
members of the public who have commented
uh on the weeds ordinance as it's
currently written. Uh it has been
reviewed by our Los Cusus Municipal
Court and at least one judge found that
the ordinance as it's currently written
is uh overly broad or possibly vague
raising constitutional concerns. Uh I
reviewed the ordinance and uh I also
have concerns and so I got with Mr.
Roach um and we looked at other codes
throughout the state to see if we could
maybe tighten our our own ordinance up.
And basically the purpose of the current
proposed revisions are to adequately put
residents of Los Cusus on notice as to
what is and is not acceptable with
regard to uh weeds. Frankly, that's it.
And so, oh, I think I said that the
proposed update would include more
specific definitions uh with regard to
the invasive species that are most
commonly encountered by our codes
enforcement officers.
Um if the ordinance was adopted as
currently proposed, our our codes
officers would have clear direction with
regard to enforcement
and um if adopted, that enforcement
would be focused on primarily the
enumerated species in the updated
ordinance absent some extreme nuisance
condition for species that aren't
enumerated. But the vast majority would
uh be focused on what our codes officers
are encountering on a daily basis.
I'll repeat myself a little bit, but the
overall goal is to confer proper notice
on Los Cusus residents with regard to uh
weeds and and unacceptable vegetation.
Uh again, uh this proposal is is to
ensure that constitutional safeguards
are in place. Yes, even for a nuisance
ordinance, we we take these matters very
seriously.
And it would also assist our municipal
judges in in interpreting those codes
violations.
And Mr. Roach, is there anything you
would like to say?
I a man a few words. Uh but I'll stand
for questions. And really, Mr. Roach
will stand for questions.
Council current.
And don't worry, Supervisor Roach, I'm
not going to do anything except call out
your my appreciation for you. So, nope,
not more of a comment than a question,
which I know everyone here loves always.
Um, but I just want to talk about what
this means in the context of um so as
city councilors, if you didn't know, if
you all didn't know, um we frequently
get called when a neighbor is angry at
their other neighbor. And I'm just going
to tell you that a large portion of the
calls that I get are people being mad at
their neighbors. Um,
of all sorts, many times it's something
that falls into Supervisor Roach's
domain. Sometimes it's things that fall
into Chief Story's domain. Um,
Supervisor Himenez also. But I I say
this to to to sort of contextualize this
in this way. I firmly appreciate the way
that we enforce nuisance codes that is
often codes officers and I try to sort
of encourage folks to actually talk to
their neighbors first because which I
know is not always easy but it's a wild
idea but if you're really mad at someone
sometimes you can talk to them about it
and it actually gets better especially
when it's something like a plant which I
would argue is very easily easily
remedied right we can have a convers
conversation about this. So, I just want
to sort of contextualize this in the
grand scheme of things. I support
guidance to what we should and should
not be cognizant of. I myself am self-p
policing. I'm out there plucking the
weeds. I don't know what they are. I
just pluck them all. Sorry. Um and I
don't spray. So, then I have to pluck
more. It it is what it is. I I urge us
all to consider
this. This is asking folks to be more
responsible citizens in a meaningful way
that is constructive and clear. It is
not an invitation to call the police on
your neighbors weeds. And so I'm urging
folks out there, please don't do that.
If you find yourself thinking, I'm going
to call my city counselor about my
neighbor's weeds. I urge you to first,
if you can, please go and talk to the
person themselves. Maybe they're having
a life crisis and they can't pick their
weeds after a bunch of rain. That's like
80% of the time what's happening. So, I
I appreciate that this is coming forward
and that this is giving folks a context
for which to understand what is what
might be a a useful plant versus a
noticeful plant. I urge us also to not
use this as a as a license to be mean to
each other. Um, fundamentally, I think
that's part of our bigger uh fundamental
problem. So, uh please look out at your
own yard first. Think about what weeds
you have there. make some time to pick
them. Um, go over and offer to pick your
neighbors. We do this in my neighborhood
um, routinely because some of my
neighbors have disabilities. Um, and so
I guess I I say thank you for bringing
this forward, but also please folks of
the public understand the context under
which we're all functioning and that is
as a community. Um, and policing
people's plants is not something I don't
think the city and I don't know if this
is Supervisor Roach's uh sort of object
objection, but it is mine. That is I
don't think we should be policing
people's plants or a myriad of other
things about them. So, please keep that
context in mind. I support this in the
idea that it makes better neighbors.
Thank you,
Council Mur.
I was going to second uh Officer Roach
for guiding me through some of the um
non-inforcement that we can and cannot
do through um codes, but uh how helpful
he has been with it, too. Um I think I
had asked at one point if we can do
photos and maybe that's not something we
can put in the codes, but if there was
an education campaign, even just a
pamphlet you can hand out, I think that
would be something that would be helpful
for some people who yes, I know we can
Google, but some people are going to get
in the weeds about things. So if we can
get do some sort of awareness campaign
much like we need to do for other things
I think that would be helpful for
because wow I don't know what kind of
bugs these are either bagworms e I don't
know. So thank you
councelor mccclure um myself and Mr.
Roach we can uh communicate with our
communications director and see if
there's something that we can push out.
Absolutely.
Councelor Matise. Yeah.
I I just wanted to share what council
Karan said that we uh the the calls that
I get are mostly uh neighbors uh not
happy with neighbors either parking
weeds. Uh and I just want to give a
kudos a uh a compliment to one of your
codes people. She uh came into my
neighborhood I think two doors down.
We've had some neighbors that have RV
and and big trucks parking in the in the
street and and I don't mind because, you
know, I just get out of there and and I
don't I don't look at things. Uh but
some neighbors really objected to the
and she explained the entire ordinance.
I mean, she was very thorough
and she spoke to I believe it was Sarah
was her first name and uh she was very
satisfied with the explanation and the
professionalism of that. I believe she
said she came from animal control and
now she's with codes and she did an
excellent job and settled down. Uh two
or three neighbors. Then when I came
back um some one of the neighbors
commented uh how professional she was.
So I think a pamphlet education and
maybe some type of um uh maybe an
outreach program with your codes people
meeting the public. I I think they would
really appreciate how professional these
people are and how they have to know the
law and thank you for your effort on uh
another
significant ordinance.
Thank you.
Okay. Well, thanks again. Thanks Brad.
Thank you u Roach and all your staff.
All the work that you do with the code
enforcement. Really truly appreciate all
that you do.
Uh Christine,
I'm I'm sorry. Are there any members?
Yeah. Are there any members of the
public?
I'll give you two minutes.
Diane Starbucks. For the record, I
didn't mean to interrupt you, but I
promised I would speak. Um speaking in
favor of this revised weed ordinance,
clarification of law is always a good
thing. Hopefully, the revised ordinance
will preserve native plant species and
maintain food and shelter for native
wildlife. I would like to thank Mr.
Douglas and Officer Roach for their work
on this ordinance. Uh, also on a more
personal note, I ask that you approve
this ordinance so I don't have to hear
my friend Jim Wilcox complain about the
weed ordinance anymore. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there anyone else from the
public?
Okay, seeing none. Thank you, Christine.
This is on the motion to approve
ordinance 3095.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Fletus is absent. Councelor
Bencoml,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next, we'll move to board appointments,
and there are none. Next is notice of
proposed ordinances. Uh, council bill
number 26-004,
ordinance number 3096, and ordinance
repealing ordinance 2964, closing the
local economic development act Lita
project between the city of Los Cusus
and Saputoo cheese.
Bring it forward.
Next, we'll go to city council member
board reports and comments. Council
mccclure.
Thank you, mayor. Uh, I was just going
to say um that I also too had some uh
concerns about project Jupiter. I know
we heard a lot about that today. Um, I
think we all want dynamic change for our
area, but a lot of times we have to
think of what cost that is. and these
are in the billions. Um
I think a lot of this too is the speed
that we're looking at. The speed is um
light years compared to what I've seen
here at the city level. It takes a long
time for things to get done. So this is
what breeds mistrust. This idea that it
happens so quickly. And I know there's a
lot of outreach. So, I would counsel
some of my county um peers to consider
why this is happening so fast and
consider listening to people slightly
more. Thank you.
Thank you, Councelor Matise.
I I have a just a couple of things to
mention. I I want to say thank you to
LCPD and of course the fire department.
Uh both chiefs have made quite
improvements in the in the public safety
issue in Los Cruus. I I get tremendous
comments from from people going to
different functions. How much better the
city city looks both the cleanup and
taking care of blight. The panhandling
has uh come under control but the light
program. We get a lot of comments,
chief, on the light program and how good
that is in in behavioral management for
people that are uh maybe uh on on
different corners and struggling. And
the Los Cruus Police Department, I I
really appreciate the uh citation, the
traffic citations. Uh I think it's uh
making an improvement. I don't see as
many red light runners and I don't see
as many speeders on the on the different
streets. I think they're getting the
message that we're out there to make
sure you stay in control and and follow
the rules of of driving. So, I
appreciate LCPD and and and the fire
department. Another kudos, I want to
thank Olive Garden. Uh being Italian, uh
it's a frequent place that I visit and I
want to thank them for their donation
and providing meals to the Los Cusus
Police Department and it's nice to see
corporate America be so generous on the
um utilities. Uh, you know, uh, maybe
the public needs to get this fact sheet
that our utilities department has almost
10 years to handle the the lead lead and
copper issue. 10 years. And so this
would be a good fact sheet to share with
the public. And I think our utilities
department is doing an outstanding job.
And I uh I really appreciate all the
awards that uh that our communications
department got and particularly the one
from utilities. Uh I as for the one from
econ uh that that did shock me him being
so serious all the time, but he does
have a great sense of humor and thanks
for doing that video. It's really it's
uh caught his own. Very good. Thank you.
Councelor Grant,
nothing today. Thanks,
Councelor K.
Thank you. Um, I wanted to give uh
I see that you talked about traffic
enforcement when councelor Flores wasn't
here. Councelor Matise was wise.
Um, you know, I've been in this game
quite long.
Wise. Um, I I also wanted to again
elevate the the communications
department because I be zipping every
day. So, even though we didn't see the
zipper um one, I personally watched that
video and
now do best practices and I won't say
that my best practice is speeding, but
I'm just making the uh intersection more
efficient at Spruce and and Telshore. Um
so, I the zipper video was also really
delightful. So, thank you for that. Um,
I also want to appreciate the
firefighters union who were recognized
yesterday as an outstanding labor
organization in our community, literally
saving lives. Um, at the Labor Day
breakfast, they were they were
recognized for all of the things that
they do from rescue to um, fire response
to emergency services overall. And so I
just really want to thank you and
appreciate and elevate them as one of
our our collective folks that deserve
recognition and and so um thank you to
uh Chris Johnson and team for
representing yesterday. Um we're really
proud of of the work that the
firefighters and IFFF do in particular.
Um
the the second part that I really wanted
to talk about specifically the someone
mentioned the housing um thing that's
happening tomorrow that is there is
going to be a press conference uh
related to housing generally but also um
I think this is these are a number of
housing related initiatives in
particular this is at one that we
approved about a month ago a month and a
half ago uh as as this body uh single
family homes for folks who have are at
120% of area median income. Um and so
just alluding to that that is something
that is happening tomorrow. But I want
to sort of give a shout out to our
housing staff generally and um the
uh community organizations including
community of hope who really lead on a
number of housing related things. This
week, uh, the city of Los Cru the city
of Tucson identified Los Cusus as the
leader in in housing in the region. And
so, uh, folks from the city of Tucson
will be visiting and and visiting with
folks from our housing staff and from
community of hope um to find out what
we're doing here and and implement it in
Tucson because they've they visited all
uh a bunch of places all over the
Southwest and they found Los Cusus to be
the one that they want to emulate. So,
thank you to the folks who work really
hard to be leaders in housing. That's
also why we're we're getting millions of
dollars from from the state. Um, and I
just want to appreciate my the community
of folks including uh Camp Hope and
Natalie and the housing team who have
been working really hard to address
housing at all levels. So, um, thank
you. That's it.
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim.
Thanks, Mayor. Um, just two quick
things. I I'm honestly so excited about
tomorrow's groundbreaking and that the
news about the 11 million dollars that
the state is investing in Los Cruus is
because of our dedication to addressing
our housing crisis. Um that that news is
finally out. I think we've um maybe all
known for a little while longer and so
that's I'm just so deeply grateful that
that's happening and that we get to
really celebrate that tomorrow at
Arcadia. Uh, one of the projects that as
councelor Corin spoke to is about um is
single family housing. Like that's
incredible, right? That we are really
targeting this wide range of housing
options for so many of our neighbors um
and so many of families and people in
Los Cusus. And that's just incredibly
exciting. And we are going to spend the
heck out of that $11 million, aren't we?
So, I'm very excited to show the state
what we can do so that they can keep
investing in uh what we're doing. And
then lastly, I on Friday evening, Friday
afternoon, I went on a ride along with
Officer Udo and I just wanted to give
him a shout out, tell him thank you for
um letting me ride along with him and we
had a really great conversation. Um
couple of things that stood out to me.
uh you know we while I was with him he
responded to
variety of calls but some of them were
related to our unhoused neighbors. There
was uh one related to an overdose and
then another related to an abandoned
property and I just made me really
really affirm the fact that we just have
to invest in a bunch of other things
that can also be interventions. so that
our police officers aren't having to be
the first line of intervention at so
many of these things. And so, um, I I I
think that's just really critical for us
to continue considering and continue
committing to. Um, but again, really
grateful for that opportunity, which can
be really intimidating. So, um, I just
really wanted to publicly thank him for
inviting me. Thanks, mayor.
All right. Thank you again. And I just
want to echo the same congratulations
for our communications depart department
Mandy and staff for for their
awardwinning videos and also to Natalie
and her housing department. This 11
million is an investment in our
community and it's the hard work that
they put in. Nobody invests in in
someone that hasn't done before and has
those that are in progress and then have
the vision and and have shovel ready uh
projects. So, the team has done that.
And again, I know um he did a great job
acting and tries to fix everything in
this city, but a large part of all the
things that we're doing goes to our city
manager and kudos to his leadership. And
with that, thank you, Econ, and I'll
turn it over to you.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez, Mayor Prom
City Council, Econo. Just a few
announcements. Um I would like to touch
touch base. There was a public comment
earlier um for the for the rack and the
um the senior poll to come back online.
Uh I appreciate David sharing some
updates as uh his team and and parks and
wreck and facilities
staff and um our aquatics team have all
been trying to figure this out. I just
want to share a few things um that could
hopefully
uh share why we're here in this um in
this place. But I just want to make I'm
sharing this so everyone knows that's
not for a lack of trying. So uh earlier
in August we found out that the activity
pool um needed repair. There was a
electrical
uh there was a electrical panel panel
failure. So we reached out like we
always do to uh to repair vendor uh who
came um shortly after and we assumed
everything was going to be okay a few
weeks later but they weren't able to
repair it. So, at the end of August, um
they found out that there was a coil
that um that couldn't just be repaired.
We actually needed a new pump for the
special material that was needed. Um so,
we have a spare pump u as we appreciate
staff ordering spare pumps. Um, but we
have various pool pumps that are needed
and the size that was needed was not the
size of the pump that we had, which
means we had to have to break additional
concrete and base to put this down,
which leads to additional challenges and
delays. So, right now there's two
options that we have and staff is is
working with it. And um, one of one of
the options was to just buy the same
size pump uh, which they don't make
anymore. So, that's causing the a huge
challenge. Um, and so the other two
options is, uh, having two local vendors
evaluate the old pump, get it rebuilt
with new coils and internal components,
and then option two is working to get a
cost estimate to make the necessary
modifications to use the supplemental
pump. Staff are currently working with
these two options. Um, the estimate is
about two to three weeks, but please
don't don't hold our staff to it. That
is our goal to get it done by. But we
just wanted to share with the public
that uh there's there's so much
information and we're not making any
excuses. We staff is definitely doing
their best. So I just wanted to share
that information. So thank you uh to
those departments and David, please pass
along our appreciation uh to the staff
pertaining to parks and wreck. Uh we
want to give kudos. I'd like to take a
moment to acknowledge Santino Kario, a
valued member of our community and an
exceptional example of dedication.
Satino began his journey with our city's
youth diversion and development program
as a participant. His commitment led him
later to become a volunteer, then an
intern, and eventually an employee in
this program. His hard work and
leadership have been recognized by the
state as he was recently appointed by
Governor Michelle Luhan Gisham to the
New Mexico Juvenile Adjusted Advisory
Board. We are incredibly proud to see
his journey come full circle and we are
grateful for his continued service to
our community. Can we get a round of
applause to our employee? Thank you,
Santino. We appreciate your hard work.
We're excited to announce that the
playground um in addition to this,
there's a playground at Valley View Park
has been replaced. Uh please join us for
a ribbon cutting
um at Valley View Park at 7:10 South
Espina on September 9th at 9:30 a.m. to
celebrate this new facility.
Housing press conference will be held
tomorrow um as as um I'm echoing what
counselors have shared, but again at 1
pm off Red Hawk Golf Club Road near
Portrait Street to announce the six
affordable housing projects funded
through through an 11 million special
appropriation by the state of New Mexico
internal audit. The OIR
group will be presenting their eighth
semianual police auditor report on
September 8th and will hold their third
community outreach meeting later that
evening in council chambers here from 6
to 8:00 p.m.
for visit Las Cruus. Get your dance
shoes ready. Bila Las Cusus is back.
Council, I don't think I've seen any of
you there.
Better. I invite you to go. Mayor, have
you been?
Yeah. You don't want Okay. Yeah. They're
uh dance moves are proprietary, so got
to watch those. Um but we invite you all
to check it out. Visit Las Cruus
sponsors uh with some groups in town.
Bila and NMSU to teach salsa dancing,
merge, kumbia, bachata, and all of the
above at Plaza de lases. fun starts at
700 p.m. Thursday, September 4th with
free Latin inspired dances. So, hope to
see you there. And last but not least,
um just wanted to give time to um to
Adrien if Adrien wants to come up. She's
uh just has some some updates to the
public and to council uh regarding
leading copper. Thank you, Adrien, who
is our public works director.
Oh, I I I apologize. Our utilities
director.
Thank you, city manager. Adrien Woodmer,
utilities director. Just kind of want to
give you a little bit of an update. uh a
real- time map is not required for the
lead copper only update it annually of
which we are going to be doing annually
instead of doing a real time update as
we move forward.
In regards to the request, it w it
actually requested a list which means we
would have to create a record which is
not what you do when you answer.
Now if they would like a list they can
provide us a list of names and or
accounts and we can pull those and
provide that documentation.
ENM has approved our customer notice
process. So there's no worries there.
Customer requests for water testings
those do not become a regulatory
requirement until November of 2027.
and mobile home parks. Most of those are
actually
served by master meters, in which case
those will be looked at as we go through
if they're deemed appropriate depending
on the year that it was installed based
on regulatory requirements of when lead
copper was no longer being used. Lead is
no longer being used. And if you all
have any additional questions, please
let me know.
Thank you. Um, Adrien, you don't need
any more departments under you, right?
Utilities is fine. I was trying to give
you public works.
No, I I I totally appreciate that. And I
was kind of like, oh, good. You know,
pass it on to somebody else, but
Okay. All right. Geez.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much for that information,
Mayor Mayor Council. That is all. Thank
you.
All right. Thank you, Connie. Thank you,
Adrian. Uh, looking for a motion to
adjurnn.
So moved.
Second.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting. Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Fletus is absent. Councelor
Beno,
yes.
And Mayor,
yes.