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live good afternoon everyone and Welcome
to our work session today is Monday
February 10th uh 2025 it's approximately
1 p.m. I'm mayor Enriquez and we'll
start if uh you all join me in a moment
of
silence uh couple of things that we want
to remember 35 years ago we had the
tragic incident at our bowling alley
that is one of the Unsolved Mysteries
and uh we still want to keep uh the
victims and their families in our
thoughts and also tomorrow marks one
year since we lost officer Jonah
Hernandez in the line of duty so if you
all join me in a moment of silence for
our police department and Jonah's family
as
well love you join me in the
pledge I pledge allegiance to the fire
the United States of America and to the
rep for one
nation
indivisible
andice we'll get started with our jobs
of the week
we'll give Sarah a
couple seconds to come
up thank you mayor we called you right
as you walked in we right on time today
okay jobs of the week by sarahy thank
you thank you so much I'm Sarah rainy um
oneop coordinator oneop coordinator
sorry for America's job center New
Mexico we finally have our new logos
we're going to be changing out a lot of
things here in our offices across the
region and across New Mexico
but four jobs of the week we have
a excuse me I'm losing my voice
today a real-time crying Center
technician for the city of Los Cruses
that one starts at 2286 and hour and
closes on the
3D excuse me we also have a building
service representative for the city that
one starts at 1740 an hour and the
applications close um June 30th the
initial review of the applications
though was stated in the posting that it
closes 2:24 so other applications will
be taken until June we also have a
residential maintenance technician for
White Sands Missile Range that one
starts at 28,000 and the posting closes
on the 1st of
March there is a Auto autogen service
technician for Pet Boys for $29,000 a
year and that one closes on the 8th of
March for doniana County Animal control
officer that one is $16 to $24 an hour
and the posting closes on the 6th as
well as a branch manager for Lind gas
and Equipment um and that posting closes
on the
7th just a note for our upcoming events
we do have our monthly job Readiness
event at the community of hope so where
meet with the members of that community
and help them with job Readiness from
everything from resumés to interviewing
and some sometimes we do have employers
that come and help um interview on the
spot off our jobs so that's been great
um if there's any employers that are
interested in that please reach out to
me and we can get you in touch with that
with that event we do have those monthly
um for March just a quick note we have
again a community of Hope in mid-march a
veterans event in El Paso mock tell you
rocket which is our Juniors and seniors
from Los crues that come and do
interviewing and practice their skills
we will be looking for volunteers to
come help interview our kiddos so if
anybody's interested please reach out to
me we would love we would love your
assistance and it's a really fun event
to get to get involved with um the next
day after the market we will have our
job our quarterly job fair at the Los
crues convention center and there's more
to come on those as
well and that is all I have thank you so
much thank you sir thank you sir next of
P of the weeks with
Carol good afternoon I'm Carol Nelson
the digital content specialist with the
Animal Services Center of the msia
valley
a couple of reminders our dog and cat of
the week whenever they're promoted are
available at no cost all week that
they're promoted um and be sure to
contact the center to arrange meet and
greets U for animals that are in a
foster home and we have really good news
this week both our cat of the week and
dog of the week were have already been
adopted out so we're super excited about
that especially for Dino our dog of the
week cuz he has been with us since July
so super happy for Dino we did still
want to highlight some long-term
residents that are still available to
adopt uh all long-term residents that
are have been with the center 3 months
and more are available for just
$25 Dora has been at our Center for
unfortunately 397 days Alice 250 days
Mabel 246 days and Luna 241 days so they
continue to be our um longest stay
animals we would love to see them get
into a home um and we're excited that
our big event at the center is going to
be this weekend uh from 12:00 to 2 we're
going to be having the Cupid Shuffle
speed dog dating um and so it's going to
be a really fun time to get experience
with several different animals at one
time and then if you're not sure you're
ready to adopt there's also the O
opportunity to participate in our beine
forever sleepover where you can take the
animal home get a fill for them and see
what you
think uh as always you can reach out to
our website for more information or find
us on social media as well so thank you
for your
time all right thank you
Carol next on the agenda is item 3.1
review El Paso Electric company
franchise agreement
good afternoon Council mayor Adrien
Whitmer utilities director and today
we're going to talk about the El Paso
Electric franchise
agreement just to give you a little bit
of background uh years
ago the city of Los crues had made a
determination to condemn El Paso
Electric and mainly it was up on the
West Mesa and and through that um there
was the the actual condemnation and then
in 2000 uh per court ordered by the uh
by the judge the city in El Paso
Electric had to sit down and have
negotiations of which they did that
settlement agreement was through
resolution 238 approving the settlement
agreement between the city of Las Cruses
and El Paso Electric Company where El
Paso Electric paid the city of Las crus
21 million to take back over the West
Mesa um electrical systems which
included their their substation and all
other
equipment also um in 200000 the city
adopted ordinance
1790 and what that was is part of the
agement was to have uh this ordinance
and so it was for 7 years with a 2-year
automatic extension and that expired in
2009 so um the city's been going back
and forth with El Paso Electric since
then and recently we've been able to
come together and come to a
solution the participants included
Public Works and David Sido is here for
Public Works Finance utilities which in
included me uh City legal and here today
we've got Henry Becker in case you have
legal questions uh City Administration
and of course El Paso Electric
Representatives specifically Rico
Gonzalez and he's here as well in case
you all have um some
questions so this franchise agreement is
pretty much a typical franchise
agreement that has some specifics in
there and things that would be included
that's kind of a specific would be that
this particular franchise agreement is
for 20 years and it'll be reviewed every
10 years along with that if for some
reason we think it needs to be reviewed
or other issues or if even El Paso
Electric has issues and wants to visit
again we can certainly do that with a
10day notice that's in
writing in addition with that um there
is an increase on this which includes
it's a 1% increase from 2% to 3% and
it's a pass through just so that you
know that's an
increase so for fiscal year
23 El Paso Electric collected and sent
over almost $1.8 million to the city of
Los crises' general fund and the
estimated 1% increase will be an
additional almost 900,000 of course
that's approximate because it depends on
how much electricity uh people and
Commercial actually
uses so the next steps on that
essentially is there will be a first
read at a regular city council
meeting if you all agree to move forward
then there's the second read which is
would be a meeting to adopt through the
second read and do you have any
questions
councelor
Flores thank you mayor and thank you
Adrian
Miss Whitmer um what are the so the
franchise the benefits the city gets is
the money I mean and what are the terms
of the what are the terms of the
franchise um so it's it's pretty much a
typical
franchise um that includes um like the
grant of authority that El Paso Electric
can be here and actually provide
electric service so that they have
overhead underground they've got um the
substations and so forth there um there
are things where uh the city and the
company are going to comply with all
present and future laws there's um a lot
of information in there there's um
requirements of record drawings and to
get those to us in a timely manner and
then that any kind of installation work
is going to be uh done in intelligence
we have indication for each other uh a
Paso Electric is going to furnish
service under rules and
regulations they're going to go out like
they do now if there's trees in the way
of their lines they're going to trim
them and um
just the the
typical franchise agreement so it's
we're here in your city's right of way
and we're providing service and we're
going to give you x amount of money okay
so you said that one of the terms is
indemnification for both
parties
in what the what do that cover is it
specific I mean if there's Mal feance on
any part
so it's subject to applicable laws and
regulations of the state of New Mexico
or the customer rules of service and the
company shall indemnify and hold
harmless the city its governing body
officers agents and employees from and
against any and all claims or obligation
caused by acts of negligence of the
company its officers agents or employees
contractors or subcontractors in
connection with the installation repair
operation or maintenance of any of the
company's facilities or in any work done
done as authorized or required by this
franchise the city shall give prompt
notice to the company of any claim or
suit arising under this franchise and
the company and or its issuer shall have
the option to compromise and defend the
same to the extent of their own interest
nothing in this section shall be
construed to depart from the present or
future law of New Mexico concerning
contribution among or between joint Tor
feesers well joint T feesers in so far
as a a lawsuit coming from a third party
so to be honest with you I have no idea
what Tor feesers means but I'm thinking
that those are wrong do perhaps Henry
does yeah those are wrong
doings Council of Flor is a Tor feaser
is the individual found responsible for
harm against another individual in this
case I believe the indemnification
language refers to multiple people who
are um their actions are jointly
affecting the El Paso line El Paso
Electric line and so I had a I had my
own question about that provision but we
will get back to you about that what the
meaning of that might mean as far as
that identification uh provision is
concerned generally speaking this
indemnification provision is to make
sure that El Paso Electric indemnifies
the city against claims against the city
so El Paso Electric if any claims were
successful would be paying for those but
then that brings El Paso Electric to
defend that correct so then it just
turns into a lot of
litigation I'm sorry it turns into a lot
of
litigation as it commonly does your uh
counselor there will be litigation
sooner or later someone will bring
claims great thank you so much for the
explanation um
so in your reading of this
um does it in any way bind the city
I mean it's what till many years from
now right another 20 years from now I
think 20 years after it is fully
executed between the mayor and El Paso
Electric yeah
so um so that agreement that
indemnification agreement um
can be relied upon if there's a lawsuit
against uh against a city against El
Paso
Electric and uh that party suing would
be whoever or I'm just trying to
understand exactly uh what the benefits
are of uh being
indemnified I
mean you know it seems like if someone
is a wrongdoer but they're
indemnified how do you get any relief I
will pass that question on to on to
Henry please Council Flores the
indentification provision is a standard
one for cities municipalities so what it
does is if there is a claim against the
city um uh say uh I'm just making it up
someone hits a power line or something
like that loses power and there are
damages Associated an individual can sue
the city I don't mean they might have a
good reason to but they may for some
reason and that this indemnification
provision allows the city to rely on El
Paso Electric to pay any damages that
are actually established in a judgment
it's entirely hypothetical but yes we
can rely on this indemnification
provision for that reason okay and then
what is the benefit uh to El Paso
Electric I mean that's our benefit the
city's benefit to be indemnified what's
what's there uh maybe Rico can so I will
pass it on to Rico Gonzales thank
you mayor councel Gonzalez with El Paso
Electric uh mayor and Council Florida
your question is specific to the
indemnification what's the benefit for
us to have that in there or the benefit
overall for having a franchise agreement
with the
city well I guess it encompasses both uh
Mr Gonzalez but um the indentification
part um is it automatic is it just as
our counil
um noted our legal counselor noted um if
there's if there's an accident and you
know electrical line goes down or
something then um the city is
indemnified from being sued by the tort
Visa or whatever um and then El Paso
Electric would be totally responsible
for defending against it or uh or or
what
um mayor Enriquez Council um mayor enriz
and and Council Flores um I don't know
if I'll go into like specifics of
whether someone is sued if they if they
have the right to sue the city or or Al
Paso Electric what I will say is that in
in looking at other franchises
indemnification for the municipality who
is sign signing on to the franchise has
always been part of franchises that that
that I have seen um I think from a more
specific perspective of
indemnification and the value of that to
El Paso Electric um if if it pleases the
council I'm happy to to bring in um our
Council to talk about that a little bit
more from a historical P perspective and
maybe a legal perspective but there's
always been in any franchise and I've
now worked on Mia's Anthony's Sunland
Parks a few of the counties that we
serve uh this indemnification language
is is part of of of having the franchise
agreement okay and um are there any
terms in that agreement that would um in
uh would
allow well there'd have to be litigation
if there were any questions as to
whether there should be or not be any
identification right or is it does it
just go to a an
arbitrator uh mayor and
councel I don't know the answer to that
question okay so I'll have to get that
I'll have to get that to you but I'll
get I'll get it to you as as as soon as
this
afternoon thank you mrz thank you Mr
Mayor thank you uh and then uh mayor and
and councelor flotes to the to the
benefit of the franchise for for um Al
Paso Electric so we serve uh this this
territory it's a territory that that
that the state has provided to us and
the franchise provides for our trucks to
be able to be in in the roadways of the
city um to to be able to provide service
to your constituents and our
customers uh for for the extended period
of time and it also gives our uh um
Crews and Leadership the ability to have
something written down that says this is
the way that we're going to be doing our
work so we're not necessarily needing to
go through um permitting for every
single piece of of of work that we do it
also allows us to be in emergencies in
roadways in case in case something you
know happens with the line or the like
um so so from our perspective it's a
very valuable tool to getting the work
done that we need to do in the long-term
piece and to that to that end that's
where we agree to to collect the
franchise agreement uh funds and get
them over to the city and and as as a as
a piece of of of of um ensuring that
that that it's compensated from one way
or another being in the roadways and
Alleyways and and the like of the
city so it sounds like it's a oneway
benefit for the
city or is there a benefit to epe yeah
no that all of that is is the benefit
that we see as as um uh to avoid
litigation not not necessarily avoid
litigation but to be able to to to be
able to use your roadways and your
alleyways to to um repair and and and
improve the lines that we have for for
our customers so so we get that
opportunity to be there with with with
the agreements that are inside these
pages and and um okay so that's pretty
much the benefit you get out of this
agreement yeah I I see thank you so much
Mr Gonzalez thank you mayor good
enough mayor bro thanks mayor thanks so
much Adrian um and um both of youo um
just quick question on the Adrian the
agreement is for 20 years and that's
normal that's a standard uh franchise
agreement
that's
timeline mayor and councelor Ben
Como different franchises can have
different years and so um previously
we've even seen them where they're a 10
15 years and so on this one uh we
negotiated back and forth and we said
okay so if we do it for 20 then we'll
review it in 10 years if something else
comes up then uh we will circle around
and get back together and have a
discussion again there's nothing that
stops us from having additional
discussions but I I think um it it gives
a longer
term um comfort level to both the city
and to El Paso Electric that we we know
what each of us is supposed to be doing
for um T um 20 years with a 10year
review to find out is that working or is
there something that we need to make
changes to thanks for clarifying that
Adrian you're welcome just thank you to
the parties that uh came together to uh
you know make these negotiations I will
not pretend to know more than any of you
so I appreciate that work and then just
lastly I think um this isn't for today's
meeting but in the future I would love
to discuss uh you know how to best
invest the
this um the fees coming in rather than
just going into the general fund or or
or how again how we can best invest
these back into our community and I know
that that can happen at a future time
but that was really the only clarifying
question I had thank
you thank
you councilor m I promise I have a minor
question I on street lights uh maybe
someone can answer this either David or
or Rico or Adrian sometimes I get that
the lights are
City and sometimes I get the lights are
they could be El Paso the street lights
and I have some lights out on meser and
hagy and since I have all three of you
here maybe we can get those uh repaired
and turned on so there's my request
and then on the investment idea that
mayor proem had it it would be nice to
have some type of dedicated fund so that
when people feel that there's not enough
Lighting in their street we could
actually tap a fund that we could get
those street lights up and and installed
you know quicker than going through the
through a lengthy process so thank you
thank you mayor
thank
you anyone
else um Adrian uh quick question is
there a deadline uh when this is to be
uh signed off or issued Mr Mayor no not
necessarily but um like anything else
the sooner the better so I know that El
Paso Electric has been asking when are
we taking it when are we taking it and
so we got the okay to bring It Forward
and so it's completely up to you
all so we we can schedule the the first
read whenever you'd like okay and then
um I do believe that the city manager
was hoping that we would have further
discussions when it comes to what we're
what you all want to invest that money
into okay then I'd like to ask Mr Rico
Gonzalez
Rico Gonzalez with El Paso Electric just
for the record thank you just for um El
Paso electrics time frame what what kind
of date are you looking
at I I think as as as soon as we could
do it it's it would be it would be
fantastic we've been going on a implied
franchise and so it takes I believe it's
30 days in this franchise that we would
need to once it's passed to be able to
implement the 3% and it and that mostly
takes into our Billing System and
getting that into the billing and get
get that cycled in um and so yeah it
would
be we would be um willing to see rules
amended and you guys go into full
Council and do it right now no I'm
[Laughter]
kidding yeah we'd all like to see that
but just an idea the the other thing is
um looking at a 20-year term uh I think
longterm would be good uh would El Paso
Electric or anyone be opposed if we
reviewed every seven years as opposed to
10 years um I think a lot of impact fees
are are viewed that way as well so it
would be an opportunity to maybe review
it every every seven years uh mayor and
Council I um won't sit here and
negotiate right now but I don't think
that would be you know a big issue but
I'll I'll take that back to our general
counsel and and and ask them and if
that's a change I think that's a easy
change for to make in the document per
se okay sounds good thanks mayor proen
yes thanks mayor I just have one more
quick question so just clarifying
question since 2009 we've been operating
under 2% franchise fee then that's the
it uh uh mayor and Council under an
implied franchise so it ended in 2009
but the statute allows us to continue
with that as long as everyone's okay
with what it is so yes we've been at 2%
okay on on the bill so you can see it on
your bills it says city of Los Cruses
franchise fee and and it sits right
there okay interesting and then um
that's actually going to be my next
question the path through really is
ultimately the this 1% increase the
customer
will um end up seeing the impact of that
that's right that's right it's a it's a
pass through um I think we pay it
quarterly okay um we pay it quarterly so
it comes in we put it into an account we
send it over it's never part of any of
our rate making it's never part of a
rate case it's just a straight okay yeah
thank you um and then
is there any particular reason why we
hadn't brought this up before since
we've been operating under this
implied uh franchise agreement
for this long I I I think um mayor and
Council Ben comoo um I think we've we've
just been having negotiations going
going back and forth and um a little bit
of change in in city manager and and
change at Al Paso Electric and you know
things things happen and so it comes on
it falls off but I think we've got the
the the efforts of all align to to be
here today so thank you thank
you okay seeing no other questions I
think that's that's good thank you for
the presentation and the information
that's the only item we had on the
agenda for today so thank you
looking for a motion to adjourn move to
adjourn second
Graham this is on the motion to adjourn
the work session councelor McClure yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran is absent counc flutes
yes councelor bomo yes and mayor
yes and we'll have the agenda setting um
meeting for February 18th in a couple of
minutes
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