e
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[Music]
you are on
good afternoon everyone welcome to the
city council meeting today is Monday
December 16th 2024 it's approximately 1
p.m. I'm mayor Enriquez before we start
I want to mention that we have an
ASL uh American sign language are they
here
today
yes um available to interpret and uh
they're here at all our regular city
meetings they're in the front there on
my right
uh we will start with a moment of
silence if you all please stand for the
brave men and women of the United States
armed
forces and also for the courageous men
and women of our Los Cruz's police
department and Los crus fire department
that keep our city
safe now if you join me in the
pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America and to
the Republic for stand
one nation under God indivisible withy
and justice for
all first we'll start out with some
presentations of certification
certificates and uh councelor McClair if
you'll join me
[Music]
the first recognition we have is for
Patrick Riva and Leonardo har if you
guys want to come
up okay there are both students from
Booker T Washington and I'll let
counselor McLure go ahead and read that
what we're recognizing them for today
okay it was brought to my attention the
community-driven values of that two
particular students at Booker T
Washington Community Elementary
displayed recently on Friday September
20th 2024 after our International walk
to school day Patrick Rivera and
Leonardo Yara found a wallet full of
money they immediately knew to bring the
wallet to the front office it turned out
it was the wallet of the lead custodian
who was immensely grateful that it was
returned both Patrick and Leonardo knew
what the right thing was to do was and
they did it they showed Los Cruz's
kinho taking care of others for that we
salute them and award them with the
mayor's certificate of appreciation
thank you
both now again we want to thank them for
for what they did and it exemplifies not
only their school but their community
and their family so we thank them
Patrick leardo you guys want to say
anything so when I returned the
wallet cuz when we went to a restroom
break we came after for recess and we
went to a restroom break and one of the
students said that they found a wall in
the restroom since I was bathroom monor
I just decided to return the and that's
how
[Applause]
sure are there any family members in the
audience want to come and get a photo as
well get in the photo with them
[Applause]
thank you for that guys you make us very
proud we're proud of you the next uh
presentation is to the Los cruus High
Bulldog volleyball team they defeated
Leva Bears on November 16th to win their
second consecutive state championship so
can I have the members of the lusus high
volleyball team come
up and the coach
so this year's team went undefeated
finishing
27-0 they have a they have a two-year
record of 53 and
two never allowed an opposing team to
send the match to the fifth set winning
81 sets and losing only
four won its consecutive Third District
championship made the program's 35th
consecutive trip to the state tournament
won the seventh state tournament in
program history which coach liod uh
coach barreras and Coach Gonzalez
coaching each of the seven so
congratulations to you
all again I just want to add that what
you all done is is a a huge achievement
you've made our community proud your
school your teammates your your uh your
parents your family you you guys have
done something special and we
congratulate you for that and we wanted
to present
you with this
plaque
where want to see if the coach wants to
say a few
words congratul
I'd first make a shout out to Bill
mati I was here in 1980
1995 receiving a uh a plaque such as
this and I was thinking maybe bill was
here at that time Bill's daughter
Michelle played tennis for me back a
long time
ago uh very proud of these girls uh I
have five seniors Mercedes Willis lanaa
Carr uh Haley rstout Lindsay dittle and
she's not here I don't see today Emma
Rose Baretta not only are we excited
about what we do on the court but those
five kids getting ready to graduate all
had Straight A's for the fall semester
[Applause]
so we maintain a great GPA and we want
to represent this city well represent
our school well represent our parents
well and I think we' have done a great
job of that this year so thank you very
much
thank you all
congratulations we're very proud of you
let's give him another hand
you just stay up here if you want for
this
one you were probably for this one
too so the next uh presentation is to
commemorate the 35 years with our sister
city Laro is there anybody from the
sister cities would like to come up
thank
you so this plaque that we have here
today was presented to commemorate the
35 years of the relationship between the
city of lero Durango Mexico and the city
of Los Cruses through our sister Ci's
international
program
sorry the mayor of lero Dr omero
Martinez Cabrera had the plaque sent To
Us by
Isabel masas of the cema municipal
protection civil office in Leo this
token of the long-term commitment
between our two cities symbolizes the
bond between us I would like to thank
the mayor Martinez Cabrera and his city
council for this beautiful plaque we
continue to work through our Los crusa
City sister cities program and maintain
and strengthen our continued
relationship thank you and Dr Tim Chapel
would you like to say a few words on
behalf of the sister
[Applause]
um 35 years is a long time the sister
city started before before I did but
there are some people in the back I'd
like you guys to wave your hands who's
been with sister cities both with the
nberg and Leo committees for for all of
these years and without their hard work
and dedication um we couldn't maintain
this kind of relationship so it's it's
not just me it's it's everybody that's
involved and I'd like to thank you guys
again thank you so much
[Applause]
pH l
okay next on the agenda we have jobs of
the week and we have Sarah Rainey come
up thank
you good afternoon thank you so much
all right my name is Sarah Rainey I am
the onstop coordinator for the southwest
region of the New Mexico workforce for
this week's jobs of the week we have for
the city we have a GIS technician one
that one starts at 2110 an hour and
closes on the 30th we also have an
assistant program supervisor for the
utilities um that one starts at 55,000
and closes on the 30th as well for
doniana County we we have multiple
positions
um including utility worker waste
Wastewater operators assistant director
of facilities and services inventory
Tech Fleet supervisor accounting
specialist and there's actually a number
of others so there's lots of opportunity
with the county as
well we have for Jones Lang Lal a
facilities manager that posting closes
on the 28th we also have a
Communications service Services
controller trainee for paraton starting
at 73,000 and then a resource center
specialist at Pioneer Bank for 15 to 17
an hour and that posting closes January
3rd as always come see us at 226 South
alamino Boulevard I do want to point out
that our hours will be changing at the
end of the month we will no longer
Unfortunately we will no longer have the
5: to 6:00 p.m. time we are open from
12:00 to 1: but the 5: to 6: p.m. will
will be closing at 5: starting at the
end of the month so but come by any
other time thank you
thank you Sarah next is pets of the week
is
Carolyn good afternoon my name is Carol
Nelson I am the digital content
specialist with the Animal Services
Center of the missia valley this week
for our pets of the week we have Levi
who was you'll probably recognize him
from previous week and actually good
news he actually got
adopted uh so our Initiative for pet of
the week hopefully worked um so he was a
little shy had some difficulty getting
adopted just because it took him a
minute but we finally got a family in
there uh and this week's dog of the week
is Dolly Parton her number is
76636 if you want to look her up on our
website I'm a happy playful and super
friendly pup who loves affection more
than anything be ready for cuddles and
tailwags Galore I'm smart treat
motivated and I'm learning commands like
sit and off I'm also learning crate
training and house training I'm full of
energy love to play with toys and can be
a bit bouncy being when I'm
excited I'll be your perfect walking
buddy with my great leash manners and
quiet temperament I and I promise to
fill your life with love and joy so
she's pretty great so we're kind of
surprised she hasn't been adopted yet um
this week this sorry this month we are
having a home for asmv pets all
adoptions through the month are $50 with
the exception right now we had some
donations come in where 55 adoptions are
going to be free um sponsored by the Don
Ana County Humane Society and Elks Lodge
so for the next little bit they'll be
free and then once those uh free
adoptions are taken uh we'll go back to
$50 for the rest of the
month uh and then coming up this weekend
we are going to be at pet smart from 11
to 2 so come on by those are great
opportunities CU you can buy supplies
along with adopting a pet so and as
always you can visit our website ascmv
dorg for more information and also find
us on social
media thank
you right thank you
Carol next is a conflict of interest
does any member of city council city
manager or any member of the city staff
have any known conflict of interest with
any item on the agenda none by Flores
none none none
none okay seeing none uh next is a Clos
meeting statement that we had earlier
today um we convened in closed session
at 11:05 a.m. present was mayor Enriquez
councelor McClure councelor Graham mayor
protm bomo councelor Karan and councelor
Flores staff present was Sonia Delgado
Barbara Beno JC Borgo Adrien Whitmer
Brad Douglas Ian tamop and Christina
Ribera we had outside Council as well
Alan d the purpose of the closed meeting
was to discuss pending litigation
regarding the cause
number uh which was Gutierrez Ria versus
Del r which is closed presum to New
Mexico State Statute
1978 oh I jumped straight to the close
statement and miss public participation
imagine that
darn sorry my apologies I I
skipped so um that was a closed meeting
statement that we had earlier today so
I'll go back to public participation we
will allow up to 3 minutes no pending
litigation on items on
non-consent so Katrina will assist
anyone on my left side that wants to
come up and speak for three
minutes three minutes I feel like I won
the lottery good afternoon mayor city
council and staff and happy
holidays this I'm Kathy Stark
at the last council meeting two members
of the community objected to your
support of the state legislation re
related to Animal Welfare saying that
you're putting Animal Welfare before the
welfare of the residents of the city and
I felt the response was in order because
of the Nexus between animal welfare and
the welfare of our residents in the
community there's numerous studies
documenting the connection between abuse
abuse cruelty and neglect of companion
animals and the same behavior than
occurring in the family or with spouses
siblings other
relatives Animal Welfare is a public
safety concern which shouldn't ever be
ignored there have been deaths bites a
resident lost most of her arm residents
are frequently posting on social media
how they or their animals have been
attacked by a dog or a packet dogs
afraid to go to the mailbox or for a
walk in the last 10 days I noted five
social media posts relating to dog
attacks and
bites and there was another one this
morning these animals weren't born to be
this aggressive training abuse neglect
and abandonment result in this kind of
dangerous behavior that affects our
residents there are drug dealers in Las
grues who have intentionally acquired
specific breed of dogs training them to
be vicious and people have already been
hurt Studies have shown that spay neuter
that's accessible and completed at the
appropriate age and health of the animal
decreased behavioral problems including
aggression and
roaming the city currently spends over
$3 million a year patrolling picking up
stray sometimes aggressive animals
processing them at the ascmv caring for
them trying to transport them to other
areas of the country that have a need
for companion animals or euthanizing
them of bringing them to the landfill
think of what else the city could use
those funds for if the population of
companion animal was brought under
control and owners Guardians were helped
to be
responsible for all of these reasons I
want to thank the city for including
animal welfare on its list of
legislative priorities if the state can
assist municipalities like ours using
the proposed Animal Welfare trust fund
we should all welcome it and not
criticize it thank you
[Applause]
my name is Jane
Ash honorable mayor and City
councilors I'm here today on behalf of
my good friend Sandra
bacq an 82-year-old woman suffering from
a number of medical and physical dis
disabilities and living on a very low
income the management of the small
apartment she has lived in since
2018 informed her on November 27 that
she must move out by December 31 5 weeks
notice even though she has never made a
late rent payment and taken good care of
her
apartment she is frantically trying to
find affordable housing here in in Los
crues there is no such housing available
without being on a long waiting list of
months to come now I know that the
majority of you up here sitting up here
on the city council have worked very
hard over the past couple years to try
to alleviate this
problem and that there are a number of
projects
underway but not in time to help
Sandy Sandy has no
recourse uh to get help in getting her
lease extended currently in this state
except for the possibility of bringing a
case under the federal fair housing act
for those persons with
disabilities there are state legislators
who are working hard right now on trying
to get legislation passed that would
protect low-income families individual
against these sudden
evictions today I am here to invite you
our mayor and our city
counselors to to a public gathering this
coming Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at
2720 Fairway Drive to hear from some of
our legislators state legislators and
other persons who are deeply concerned
about this issue and so um
I'm going to walk up here and and hand
this invitation to be passed down along
the way thank you for your time today I
know you care about these issues and
especially I want The Honorable um
William Bill Matisse to get one of these
invitations because you are Sand's
representative on the city
council she's in your District
good morning I'm Jim Hurst um want to
give you a quote from Thomas
Payne separate an individual from
society and give him an island or
continent to
possess and he cannot acquire personal
property he cannot be rich all
accumulation therefore of personal
property beyond what a man's own hands
produce is derived to him by living in
society and he owes on every principle
of justice of gratitude and of
civilization a part of that accumulation
back again to society from when the
whole came
end quote according to pain you have an
uh you have an obligation or excuse me
according to pain you have to have
Society to make money to those who make
money so those who make money in society
have an obligation to society to give
part of that accumulation back again to
society from when the whole came in this
case it's Sandy barue versus Purple
Mountain real estate a AKA Ebenezer
Scrooge and
Company it's human rights versus
property rights I know Sandy she's not a
cow she's not a pig or a horse or a
chicken she's not livestock she's a
human being with human rights tenants
are not just a monthly rent payment
they're friends and family in this
instance a human in a Health crisis
whose life is endangered by being forced
to move
there has to be a solution that respects
both property and human rights and it
falls to this city council to help find
it and I apologize for the ad homonym
attack I don't like to use
them but what kind of a person puts a
woman an 82y old woman out with no place
to
go who has
cancer and what what kind of society
lets that happen
thank you very
much good afternoon mayor and city
council I'm Dena Dargo I've been
attending the meetings at which the
proposed um new ordinances regarding
Animal Control have been discussed and
I've thank you and I've read those
ordinances as well um I believe they can
be extremely beneficial to the community
um not only regarding Public Safety and
Animal Welfare but in especially the
area of spay neuter they have the
opportunity to make a lasting change
that would help our animal services and
Animal Control departments um I just
want to respectfully ask you to please
uh add that to the agenda for a first
first read at an upcoming meeting thank
you
mayor Enriquez councilors I'm Lyn moer I
formerly practiced environmental law in
Nebraska at your December 2nd meeting
several colleagues and I requested a
briefing at a city council meeting on
epa's new le and copper rule with
experts allowing ample opportunity for
questions and comments from the public
since you have not yet scheduled such a
briefing I will alert you to a legal
issue president Trump has been promising
that he will get rid of most all
environmental rules and slash most
agency funding including epas the city
needs to have a plan if the new
Administration withdraws the new rule
will the city just tell folks never not
never mind no need to replace your lead
or galvanized steel pipes this is not a
far-fetched possibility he's putting a
team in place that is quite intent on
implementing his promises I ask you to
consider seriously what your backup plan
is under Federal Environmental law
states and local governmental
subdivisions have authority to enact
requirements that are more stringent
than what the feds require this means
water law is not an area where the
federal government will succeed if they
say step back we preempt you for example
the state of California has enacted its
own rules regarding hexavalent chromium
in water those of you who saw the movie
Aon Brockovich may recall that
hexavalent chromium was the chief
chemical polluting the groundwater of
the California folks in that movie which
is based upon a true story in any event
California has its own strict rules
governing hexavalent chromium that the
federal government doesn't have on its
books and doesn't contest if the new
lead and copper rule is withdrawn or
made more lenient in the new Trump
Administration the state of New Mexico
can enact a law or strengthen an
existing regulation so it's virtually
equivalent to epa's new rule it may be
possible for the city to enact an
ordinance that accomplishes the same
thing your legal advisers will need to
study to determine what is possible what
can be achieved the quickest and what
makes the most sense I urge you all to
get on top of this swiftly it will take
a while to get a new state statute or
New State rules in place it does take
some months for federal rules to be
Unwound but there still won't be much
time to get ready if president elect
Trump carries out his promises to gut
the EPA its rules and its funding think
about it do you really want to tell
folks who have just replaced their lead
or galvanized steel pipes or are working
on replacing them at considerable
expense never mind if you do you will
have a large number of very unhappy
constituents who are vocal about it if
president-elect Trump doesn't carry
through on his campaign promise to gut
EPA and or its rules there is no harm
having this rule on New Mexico's books
or the city's books in fact it would be
a good thing thank
you hello my name is Lisa parrot I'm a
resident of District 6 which I
understand will be on the next ballot I
come once again with our October 30 1997
joint tenants warranty deed in hand
along with our protective covenants for
simron Hill subdivision number five
replat number one dated September 11
1989 which were included by reference
with our deed both legal documents are a
contract between the parties named
therein the parties to the protective
covenants were Paul H Thompson and
Katherine H Thompson the parties to the
Joint tenants warranty de were Robert B
heager and Madonna o heager and Danny K
parrot and Lisa F parrot The Joint
tenants warranty deed was made quote
subject to all reservations contained in
the patent property taxes for the
current year and subsequent years and
all covenants easements and restrictions
of record end quote the city of Los crus
is New Mexico nor the consulting company
is paying with my tax dollars free and
nickels are parties
to nor are parties to either of these
legally binding docum ments my
protective Covenant stayed in part
whereas Paul M Thompson and Katherine M
Thompson have established a general plan
for the Improvement and development of
the property and desire to impose
certain protective covenants and
restrictions on the property in
accordance with that plan now therefore
the property is hereby made subject to
the following protective covenants
conditions reservations and restrictions
which shall run with the land and shall
be binding upon all persons owning Lots
affected by these covenants or claiming
to under them until January 1 20 19
after which such time protective
covenants shall be automatically
extended for successive periods of 10
years unless an instrument signed by
majority of the then owners has been
recorded agreeing to change alter amend
or remove said protective covenants in
whole or in part end quote no such
instrument has been signed by a quote
majority of the then owners of the Lots
end quote therefore the city of Los
cruus and or Freez and Nichols has no
right or authority to user or supersede
any of the protective covenants of our
section of Simon Hill subdivision number
five which is part of the high range
development in the city of Los Cruses if
the city wishes to negotiate with land
owners of new undeveloped property or
newly developing property which has none
of these restrictions established then I
would encourage you to do this those of
us who have selected our homes in
restricted areas have done so to protect
our personal safety and our monetary
investment we have this right the city L
crues was not a part of the joint
tenants warranty deed nor is it or
attached protective covenants and has no
power or authority whatsoever to change
or override any of our protective
covenants which are part of our joint
tenants warranty deed vote Yes only to
realize Los crusis on land which is
currently undeveloped or newly
developing property which does not have
protective covenants properly filed in
donana clerk's office with it thank you
good afternoon mayor city council my
name is j air and I'm here in support of
the changes proposed in realized last
cruises single family neighborhoods were
built for a nuclear family that no
longer exists we shouldn't keep building
that single family neighborhoods are
expensive increasingly unattainable
impractical and difficult to navigate
they require driving for any activity
and thus encourage noise and traffic
they are also land consuming which make
it expensive to bring serious services
to them and to maintain existing
amenities single family neighborhoods
are often used as vehicles to park money
rather than housing and allow outside
investors to keep houses vacant in our
community rather than renting or selling
them for somebody to live in them the
vacon house is encouraged squatting in
crime that lowers the quality of life of
our citizens and in this way single
family neighborhoods promote car traffic
poverty and crime yet more important
than all of this to me single family
zoning destroys friendships Las cruin
are amongst the most friendly people
I've ever met but very few have close
friends very few people know or trust
their neighbors because they don't get
to see them New Mexican in single family
homes don't have reasons to step outside
and are missing out on casual low stakes
conversations with people that they have
things in common with and the loneliness
and depression epidemic continues to
rise among citizens young and old and in
this way single family neighborhood
promotes loneliness depression and
addiction there is demand for better
housing but unfortunately our Builders
and developers and creatives are forced
to build the same boring overpriced
cookie cutter homes over and over again
the market is able to supply the housing
demanded by our citizens but our
existing zoning laws have made it
illegal for our entrepreneurs to do just
that so I encourage you to approve the
upcoming zoning low changes in realiz
Las Cruses to free our investors and
developers to supply the housing that
are growing city demands to unleash the
creativity of our artists and Builders
allow them to reimagine what is possible
possible to provide higher quality of
life for more of our citizens using
fewer resources and create new companies
and new jobs in the process when more of
our people do well all of us benefit our
neighborhoods don't have to be boring
and ugly and unwalkable they can have
character and local flavor and be
desirable places to live let's put an
end to the laws that Force the same
boarding single family neighborhoods to
be built and let's build for the people
thank you
uh good afternoon mayor counsel uh my
name is William Gilman Las cruus
resident small business owner recent
father I guess not recent it's been a
year man
um I just
came well I don't know came to gossip
it's been a while guys guys what's new
uh no but let me comment on the the
realized last crues I really support
this I hope that you will all reflect on
it very sincerely and come to the
obvious conclusion that this is what's
best for the city and all of our
residents young and old uh whether
they're homeowners renters or whatever
uh and let me tell you why I think that
is I don't have a good bullet point on
that one uh but
basically I have to get into hard to go
anywhere and I hate it but also cars are
isolating you get in your car you don't
have a chance to wave to your neighbor
you don't have your chance to do that
stuff um so we need more walkability
which means we need more like necessary
Business Services in our community I
can't just walk to a grocery store from
the Copperstone Apartments I can't just
walk to a pharmacy I can't just walk to
anywhere I have to get in a car and
drive you know a while uh several
minutes it's a drag especially when you
got that baby with
[Music]
um that's kind of the gist of it when
you have walkability you have your
opportunity to connect with your
neighbors you have your opportunity to
socialize a little more uh studies show
that you don't need super super deep
friendships or super super deep
conversations what actually mitigates
loneliness and depression is just
smaller interactions on a more regular
basis which you don't have when you have
to drive everywhere um as far as safety
Etc you know like Copperstone apartment
is a massive multif Family Home
Development uh it doesn't feel very
unsafe over there like I think people
always imagine derel uh apartment
complexes filled with low quality people
that are dangerous um but that's not the
case and everybody benefits from
walkability and
Etc I'm going to pause collect my
thoughts I don't know what else I got
safety it's good for property values uh
you know Zillow has that walkability
score and lo and behold that the better
your walkability score the more your
property value goes up it's a good thing
um I've lived in neighborhoods that are
very walkable and there is such a strong
sense of community there um because
people are out walking around they get
to know each other they get to talk to
each other their kids get to play
together man kids used to play in the
street that happen in
here I don't think so streets are not
safe because everybody's got to drive
somewhere everybody's in a hurry because
they got to drive somewhere and it takes
10 minutes to get your kids ready and
load them in the car and blah blah blah
and so now you're behind and so now you
got to drive fast um so realiz L Cruis
good for homeowners good for renters
good for families good for everybody
I'm so glad to have a prepared statement
for you today I clocked it and it comes
in at under three minutes it matters to
me and that's part of why I prepared it
instead of speaking
extemporaneously good afternoon mayor
city manager counselors for the record
my name is Joe
rpr I'm not at the podium today to talk
about historic preservation or about the
virtues of duck geese or even rescue
dogs I am here to clarify something I
said at last Monday's work
session during public uh participation I
spoke after a couple of current NMSU
faculty members and I introduced myself
as quote another
PhD on reflection this might have been
taken in ways I certainly didn't mean a
personal note it wasn't until my junior
year in college
that I learned about graduate school I
came from a business family that prized
education but I was about to be the
first person in my immediate family to
complete a bachelor's degree I was
overwhelmed that there were
more Heights to scale to meet any of
several career paths that beckoned me so
when I committed to a
direction I was drift in an unfamiliar
sea of academic EXP
experiences a good friend saw this and
took me aside to share an Insider's view
of academic
circles and he
said look it's not all that hard to
understand everyone knows what BS
means
right well then there's graduate school
and Ms is just more of the same and PhD
just means piled higher and deeper got
it
I took that to heart and it provided me
with needed Comfort while I was
navigating Egos and agendas during my
years as a graduate student and it
carried me through my time on nmsu's
graduate
faculty so please understand by
referencing myself as quote another PhD
I didn't mean to belittle anyone's
degree much less my own somehow I meant
to celebrate the process of attaining a
PhD of my own
one other
note I owe all of you an apology if I
haven't seemed collaborative about
historic preservation in Los cursus
recently I might have even seemed
combative at times many apologies on
that to each of you there are quite a
few residents of Los Cruses we have a
mailing list of over 200 currently who
hold preservation dear I hope I haven't
hurt that larger cause by missteps on my
part councelor
bomo I live in your District you might
remember knocking at my door during your
reelection
campaign after today's meeting I'd like
to set a meeting with you to discuss
broad issues in preserving the rich
cultural history of Las cruus and the
complimentarity of an issue close to
your heart affordable
housing I promise to approach that
discussion with no open mind and with
the intent that we can hear each other
with Open
Hearts thank you for your kind attention
today hello mayor city council my name
is Fred Miller and I would just like to
add in addition to all the reasons for
supporting Elevate Los Cruses let's
bring bicycle racks to the grocery
stores and malls and stuff like that too
that helps with walkability as well
thank you
good afternoon my name is steuart David
I live in Las
crus here's my story and how I W up here
today when my wife and I moved from
Chicago to Western North Carolina we
adopted a dog at the County shelter
after seeing the poor conditions we
started volunteering cleaning cages
walking dogs whatever on my second day a
family of uh came in with two young
children and they adopted a dog I spent
almost an hour with them and it was
really a joyous moment watching them out
walk out all smiles all Wags it was just
special in the meantime three litters
had been dropped off 20 puppies in total
now I'm a retired CPA but you really
don't need much in the way of math
skills to know that something didn't add
up there at all I was shocked and I was
later horrified to learn that this one
small county in North Carolina was
sending over 10,000 animals to the
landfill every year it really made me
sick to my stomach and I vowed that I
was going to try and make a difference
within a year I was an officer on the
Asheville Humane Society they contracted
with the county to run the shelter
community members and groups worked
together and made lowcost spaying and
neutering available and the county and
city in both the county and city of
Asheville passed ordinances similar to
the ones you're considering the euth
Ania rate has slashed and similar
approaches have been very successful
around the country we just can't adopt
our way out of the overpopulation crisis
if your bathtub is leaking you can bail
water and you can bail water and you can
keep bailing water but you really need
to fix the leak that makes a lot more
sense spaying and neutering is fixing
the leak now your attorney wisely
suggested that you if you pass the
ordinance you delay enforcement for a
year to allow the community time for
education and lowcost SP spay neuter
options to become available for those
need them why not do that you can always
resend the ordinance a year if you don't
feel the community has come together to
meet the challenge I don't think that'll
happen that's not my experience there's
a lot of people here that I've met in my
time here that really care there's
nothing to lose and there's so much to
gain by going forward as I said at the
work session if Las cruus does anything
less than prioritizing spaying and
neutering all we're doing is chasing our
taals Let's Stop The Killing thank you
very much for your time I appreciate it
thank you City councilors and mayor I'm
Sarah Smith I know that a lot of work
has gone into realiz Las Cruis and the
new proposed zoning code over the last
few years I want to say thanks to Sarah
Gonzalez Chris favor Tim pit David Weir
councelor McClure and others who have
been helpful in answering my many
questions over the last few months I
continue to be concerned about the fact
that you will be eliminating single
family zoning by allowing apartments and
businesses in all neighborhoods for
instance under the new code
neighborhoods in Soma Ranch and high
range would generally allow apartment
complexes with 16 to 30 dwellings per
acre neighborhoods closer to downtown
Los cruus would allow apartment
complexes with 50 to 60 dwellings per
acre besides Apartments realiz L crues
would also allow local grocery stores
cafes mobile homes libraries and museums
in in all neighborhoods local retail
stores and gas stations would be allowed
in any neighborhood with a special use
permit people will no longer have any
guarantee that they can live in a quiet
neighborhood away from the traffic and
noise of apartments and businesses The
increased traffic may be especially
problematic for the safety of families
with young children and the elderly
people in neighborhoods where all the
land is already being used may not
notice much change at all but if people
live near empty lots or undeveloped land
they could soon see that turn into a
little restaurant grocery store gas
station or apartment complex where they
thought there could only be more
houses for instance in my neighborhood
the several Acres of empty land across
the street could turn into an apartment
complex with up to 24 units per acre
that could increase the traffic such
that it's no longer safe for my kids to
ride the roller blades or bikes down the
street especially because we have no
sidewalks we moved to our little house
on this street 10 years ago because it
was a relatively quiet street we wanted
to raise our kids away from the hustle
and bustle where they would be be able
to enjoy playing outside more but that
doesn't seem to matter because you have
decided we need higher density housing
across the city given how much wide open
space we have all around Los crusis I
fail to understand the urgency of making
our existing neighborhoods more crowded
and busy city council and staff are also
focused on making Los cruus more
walkable but given our hot climate I
can't imagine people are going to be
walking to businesses much from April
through September year after year some
neighborhoods are already zoned for a
mix of commercial and residential uses
that's great for the people who chose to
live there I don't understand why there
can't be a compromise to allow both
mixed areas as well as areas where
homeowners will be able to get away from
it all as a community why can't we
support both those who want to live near
businesses as well as those who want to
live in quiet neighborhoods it feels
like the city council is trying to force
lost crues to adhere to what is needed
in big cities where there isn't enough
land to go around even though we don't
have that problem here the changes to
the zoning code will impact many aspects
of our daily lives but most people in
this city still have no idea that this
is happening how can you make sure they
have the chance to know about this and
express their concerns before you vote
in
2025 please consider that the voices of
homeowners matter as well thank
you thank you mayor Council my name is
Joe blust and I am here to speak also
about realiz Los cruus this zoning
proposal is deeply troubling for our
city I am receiving information from
people who have boots on the ground not
Facebook not social media my neighbors
and I are worried about our safety and
home values I am not a classist I live
in an area that has no sidewalks no
street lights and I have had to had
security doors and bars on my windows
installed security
cameras and a locking mailbox I have to
lock my gas tank I have to lock my
steering
wheel I'm just saying the representative
of my district does not represent me or
my
neighbors residentials should stay
residential and businesses should stay
businesses
I have po spoken to so many people and
none of them have a clue what you are
proposing before you vote the people
should vote you should ask your constit
constituents what they want so you can
represent them
accordingly furthermore concerning
low-income housing people that I have
spoken to in various cities and other
states do not support the data that
these neighborhoods are more vibrant I
request the data that supports your
findings thank you and God bless L
cruus good afternoon um I'm Rose Garcia
and Mr Mayor and
counselors thank you very much for the
few minutes um I'm representing TI Del
Sol housing Corporation that's a
nonprofit housing producer that's been
in business for 50 years and most of it
in Los crusis and um and we're also
partnering with crestle uh company out
of Dallas and uh as you hear here and on
and on about the need for housing
uh as well as the other amenities and
considerations of development the has
take that consideration in all the
developments that we've done through
years in Las Cruses uh we've been
developing at least half a dozen
apartment complexes just in Las cruus as
well as uh 22 other developments in
other counties and even El Paso and most
most current we're building with your
Community Development Department uh
building several subdivisions in the
city but I think that what I'm making
the pitch today is we're proposing a
very large development and that would be
located next to the three crosses
hospital and there's a 75 acre master
plan that we have um committed some of
the
land and uh and and that developments
would be mixed market it would have some
of the housing units would be for
various incomes some lower some that are
one bedroom or up to three bedroom as
well as market rate so I think that is
the market that is needed in the the
city uh we have professional Market
analysts and so we put a lot of time in
the predevelopment uh We've
collaborating with your Community
Development Department and uh we're open
to any consideration that you may have
uh some of the discussions with
counselor uh in the dist it would be in
uh counselor ml's District you know some
of the suggestions were very good and
the consideration of high
density uh We've U we'd like to take
advantage right now of some of the finan
with the state with the tax credit
programs so we're trying to to access a
higher density that what certain kind of
financing that's typically acquired um
so we we're willing to
consider um other at at the stage that
this development is uh we're open to to
your inputs but I just wanted to thank
you there there is a great
crisis of housing in the city as you
know from the numbers that you get from
the
demographers and um so we're willing to
to consider any of the markets that uh
that are needed uh besides not only just
lwi income but that is a wonderful
location It's a Wonderful opportunity
for the worker housing as well as those
that are retired or the elderly that you
were heard about today but uh thank you
very much for the few minutes and I'd
like to talk to you more about
it if you have any questions I'm open to
any discussion okay thank you Rose not
at this time but we definitely will
reach out and hear some more about these
opportunities for housing thank you
thank you
[Applause]
all thank you Katrina thank you uh next
we'll move to the acceptance of
agenda so move by FL
second this is on the motion to accept
the agenda as presented councelor
McClure yes councelor matis yes
councelor Graham is absent councelor
cran yes councelor flus yes councelor
bomo yes and mayor
yes so that moves us to resol
resolutions Andor ordinances for
discussion first item is 8.1 resolution
number 25- 071
[Music]
move to approve
second and we have Natalie
Green good afternoon Mr Mayor members of
council Natalie Green for the record uh
the resolution before you is a
pre-commitment of city funding for a
low-income housing tax credit project um
called
PES uh this project is intended to be a
three page three-phase project located
at 905 South compo um it will Encompass
an entire city block it is both within
the ELO M and the liftup lost crues for
uh neighborhood 2 uh the first phase
would include 80 units 20 that are set
aside for veterans and 60 that are set
aside for Workforce
Development the resolution if approved
today uh would would make a $1.35
million commitment um including impact
fee waivers contingent upon uh the
public housing authority maintaining
their qualifying grantee status and
being awarded a 9% low-income housing
tax credit application um they will be
competing um over the the first quarter
of the year um if they were awarded then
we would come back with the future
resolution at which time we would
identify the funding source and any uh
final loan
terms uh this is a site plan of all of
the phases again your first phase is the
most vacant uh is the currently vacant
parcel at 905 sou compo um once this was
constructed then we would uh plan to do
some relocation in place and then build
out the future phases allog together it
will include 218 units um including some
senior affordable housing closest the
mson center and um this uh concept plan
was developed through a a shet um with
both both uh City staff and some other
uh technical experts this is a uh sort
of mockup of what the two buildings
would look like on that first uh vacant
parcel again the smaller one is for uh
veterans and then uh the other one would
be uh Workforce
housing the impact fee waivers uh they
are allowed under the affordable housing
General oversight ordinance this uh
development is next to Valley View Park
as part of our commitments to Parks uh
housing staff was able to assist in
facilitating the award of $1.5 million
in federal uh grants um and one of the
sort of selling points of the grant was
that it was adjacent to
pasos um we do budget annually for
impact fees so from our budgeted funds
we'll uh do our best to make the
impacted departments um whole on the
impact fees
um and then as part of the resolution
we're also asking to wave permit fees
because it's in the infill um typically
they can request reimbursement of those
impact fees at the completion of the
project in this case we're asking for
the waiver at the front end the
estimated impact um is 200,000 or just
over 200,000 in park fees uh the public
safety we haven't calculated but we
think the total um fee for both uh Parks
Public Safety and permits will be about
250,000 and then the overall impact that
we anticipate collecting in park fees
would be the
468 um they'll get credit for the 38
existing units um so they would have to
pay the fee for the 180 new units coming
in and with that uh you have your
standard Council options and we'll stand
for
questions all right thank you Natalie
any questions uh Council fls I thank
thank you um thank you so much Natalie
on the impact fee uh waiver um the city
puts that up initially up front excuse
me the yeah the impact fee and then
um upon completion there's a
reimbursement um Mr Mayor councelor
Flores typically the way it works is the
housing and Neighborhood Services uh
does a payment in L so we pay for the
impact fee out of our budget
um Peach Tree Canyon was the first time
that we did a true waiver in which those
fees were not ass assessed at all um so
typically we've done different things
the developers just have to apply with
her our office and then we uh either
work through resolution or the
application process to determine what
the best course of action is based on
our budgeted funds but there's no
reimbursement at the end no the fee
would just not be assessed at all
assessed I see thank you very much thank
you
mayor mayor Pro thanks mayor thanks
Natalie to you and your team for
bringing this um to us so quickly and I
appreciate it I'm very excited about the
impact that this will have I also want
to say that this is right smack in the
middle of the MRA which is very exciting
I am wondering how you're planning on
utilizing the Mia designation to help
with this project and then the second
question on that if you know this could
be for Chris actually if in the future
once the MRA starts collecting funds if
we could if those could be used for this
kind of like the fee waivers and those
kinds of things I'm wondering how we
could really you know leverage the
designated MRA for these kinds of
projects uh Mr Mayor mayor
proo um so because it's in the MRA we
get extra bonus points at the
competitive round so we think this will
score really well um Council has adopted
this as a legislative priority so our
hope is to get the funding from the
legislature but should we not receive
all the funding or were unsuccessful
then it would or could be eligible for
MRA funds um which was uh again staff
would come back and we would identify
that potential funding source so our
hope is capital outlay but MRA funds are
definitely the backup plan
anyone
else any members of the public wishing
to speak on this
item see none
Christine this on the motion to approve
resolution 25- 071 councelor McClure yes
councelor matis yeah councelor Graham is
absent councelor cran yes councelor
flotes yes councelor bomo yes and mayor
yes
next is resolution number 25
072 move to
approve
second go ahead thank
you good afternoon mayor counselors City
staff I am Gabriela pratz the city's
Grant manager before you this afternoon
is the resolution to approve two Grant
Awards and the related budget
adjustments the first grant is to the
police department these are federal
funds awarded through the New Mexico
Department of Public Safety in the
amount of $192,100 to purchase and
install six Dual Purpose modular
surveillance systems as well as to train
officers on how to use this
system the selected locations for these
cameras are focused focused on areas
where there is currently No
cameras the second Grant was awarded to
the msia valley Metropolitan planning
organization by the New Mexico
Department of
Transportation the grant is for about
$14,000 with a match of about
$26,000 These funds are used to support
the operations of the Metropolitan
planning organization to include
salaries and Fringe for staff supplies
travel and minor equipment as an
example here are your Council options
and I stand for
questions right thank you Gabby anyone
questions see none any members of the
public
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution 25- 072 councelor
McClair yes councelor mati yes councelor
Graham is absent councelor cran yes
councelor fles yes councelor Beno yes
and mayor
yes next is board appointments and there
are none next is a notice of proposed
ordinance the first read there will be
no public
discussion uh Council bill number 25
018 an ordinance number 389 an ordinance
authorizing the issuance and sale of the
city of Los Cruses New Mexico taxable
Municipal gross receipt tax 1 12%
Revenue bond series 2025 and an
aggregate principal amount not to exceed
million Bring It
Forward
good okay next is the city council
member board reports and comments
councelor MCL thank you mayor uh I just
wanted to give a quick shout out to Rose
and it was really great to talk to you
and to kind of get a sense of that we're
moving forward with density and I feel
very lucky that we I have a couple of
projects that are happening in district
one I'm not sure where we are in terms
of being able to support this one right
now but if there is anything we can do
in terms of getting that one kind of
going as well I would really appreciate
that I'm not sure what that creativity
might look like on our end understanding
that we are bureaucracy that it Lumbers
around very slowly but I understand too
that striking while the iron is hot
might be something we can help
facilitate as well so and I just as a
side note appreciate that developers are
interested in density and when asked to
step up so I'm I'm ha happy to see that
and look forward to that especially with
realiz coming into fruition thank
you thank you councelor matis thank you
I I would like to Kudos on what Cassie
said and also support her statement I've
worked at many projects both as
counselor and mayor with rose
Garcia and
uh her projects her units uh the safety
in them uh have always been
exceptionally great so Rose if there's
anything I can do to help support you
please let me
know thank you councelor Council
Kent thank you um I'm also really happy
to see Rose here and glad to hear um
of your expanded and support your
expanded projects um I just wanted to
give a quick update in terms of the
ascmv if you didn't see the ascmv um
board met in a closed and then Open
Session um to appoint an interim
director Liz cely uh who's been working
at the ascmv for about 10 years and she
was willing to step into this role on an
interim basis um she has a lot of strong
Community connections and really cares
deeply about rescue Partnerships and and
addressing our Animal Welfare um through
collaboration so I'm really great I just
want to give a shout out to Liz for
being up to stepping into that position
I also want to um express my gratitude
for um outgoing director headed on to
new bigger and better things in
California Clint ther um he started here
at in about 2017 when we when he came on
board the ascmv was putting to sleep
about 8,000 animals per per year um and
now thankfully that number has decreased
um down to about 3,000 and hopefully we
can continue to to keep bringing that
lower and lower but I do believe that
his intense commitment to saving lives
giving animals the best care and helping
us you know build a new center make an
established community connections has
been really powerful in our community so
I do want to give my appreciation to
Clint in that in that capacity and in
this space where he
um as he moves on to a new position and
I also just want to say um that as we
move forward to look for a new director
there will I'm committed to making sure
that in that process there will be
substantial Community input and feedback
for shaping the the new um sort of
position for for the ascmv director so
um we haven't had a full discussion that
will happen at our January meeting about
what that process will look like but I'm
I'm committed to making sure that uh
Community Voices are and voices of the
staff of the ascmv are represented in
those
conversations
um and the I think I
have well I'll just give up end end
there and wish everyone if I don't see
you happy holidays thanks to all who
showed up for the various um
exciting things that have been happening
tree lighting Etc and Friday I do want
to give one quick shout out um there
will be bugs at the Las crusis Museum
bugs and booze I think not that that's
what their poster says but that's what
I'll be there Friday night for I think
it's more something more like arthropods
and and fun um but I hope to see you all
at the Museum on Friday night for the
first evening um
event I think the first evening event of
this sort that they're having so I'm
really excited to go there um and I hope
someone else knows what the official
title is or should read me in so that I
stop saying booze and bugs so thank you
and I'll see you
there I too would like to thank Rose for
her Endeavor and you know we have Serio
re working with us and I think his
training with you made makes him an
excellent uh assistant to the the uh
city councilors um and it just makes me
so happy to know that there's going to
be affordable housing I truly hope that
it is Affordable and I hope that
people um qualify but thank you Rose for
all your work over the decades thank you
um I would just like to report a little
bit um on the uh Community Schools as
many of you know we have a joint Powers
agreement um with the school board and
um it was um it was I believe it was
approved in7 yes it was approved in
2017 and um I was there when uh I was
with the League of Women Voters at the
time and that was when uh the uh first
school Lynn Middle School became the
first uh community school now we have
several um I I haven't kept count but I
think we have nine or 10 uh councelor
Graham also serves on that on on that
board
um and I just want to report again as I
said um several schools have gone up uh
children are thriving and all the
principles at those schools uh show up
uh to our monthly meetings and um and
and every time u a report is made
there's just more success more children
and actually uh uh Dona Anna elementary
for
example the uh principal there
uh because it's in Dona Ana County and
not within the city it's it's kind of
out well it's outside the city limits
and it's kind of isolated so and they
have children from all corners of the
county going there and she actually Sher
uh appropriately uh her last name is
Love L she actually goes and picks up
children and if uh if if they're not
going to school or she goes to talk to
the parents and that is a commitment um
all of the principles have so it it
makes me really happy that um our
children are being uh taken care of so
well and
uh and in fact uh our director of
quality of life was at the meeting
before last maybe you were at the last
meeting but um so quality of life
department is definitely uh pitching in
and uh and in making sure that all
programs are available to all the
children and so I just want to report on
that because I'm not sure that the
public knows how
successful um that
uh Community Schools program is and it's
actually uh you it's throughout the
country different schools but the one
here in lasas is thriving thank you
mayor thanks mayor um thanks everyone I
will
also pile on to the love for Rose
because I'm very deeply appreciative to
you and the work that you all do at I am
also very impressed by this um proposal
right here and I also think we can and
should move forward with whatever kind
of support you might need I think it's
very important it's also right up the
street for my house and would love to
see something like this um I also want
to thank you and Natalie for quickly um
I noticed Jane is here still and uh for
quickly reaching out to her about the
um but about s's eviction um and so I
appreciated both of you uh giving her an
additional resource I hope that New
Mexico legal aid who is here locally as
well as involved uh Jane I think they
would be tremendously helpful and happy
to give you contact info after this um
so thank you all for that I slightly
shift of tone I wanted to note that we
it was very exciting all of us going to
the agis women basketball game a couple
of weeks ago um I just love supporting
women in sports and was so happy to see
some other Champions and winners here uh
this afternoon so that was very fun and
I continue I will continue to support um
these women because they're just
tremendously fun to watch and so I'm
excited to go back um and yes it was a
sweep both men and women's basketball
teams uh beat the UNM Lobos which is
always a good day around here in these
parts um I wanted to note that I we I
attended the first oversight committee a
couple of weeks ago so that is up and
running and taken off and we have three
great appointees and um we'll be happy
to continue reporting back however you
all would like me to and then um lastly
I also wanted to give a shout out and a
final goodbye to Patrick peek who will
be um this I think will be his last
couple of weeks at the South Central
Solid Waste Authority and just wanted to
you know uh express my gratitude towards
him his tenure and what he has done for
this industry and certainly we will miss
him the board will meet this week to um
appoint an interim while we um decide
who will take over that seat permanently
so thank
you thank you mayor protm uh just couple
of things that um the tree lighting
event took place on December 7th and it
was a great event I just want to give a
shout out to to all the Departments that
were there that were present and also to
Ed who's the voice of the Aggies but was
also the MC there did a great job a
special shout out to our special guest
General uh George Turner from Whit Sand
Missile Range was there to assist in the
countdown so it was a it was a great
event um I know somebody came up earlier
and talked to public housing or public
comments about housing and knowing your
neighbor this event was a good was a
good participation by the community and
they were able to get out there and have
a good time and get to know each other
and create friendships so thank you all
for for being there and being a part of
that tree lighting I also want to give a
congratulations to the Los Cruses Police
Department later this week they'll be
graduating their 54th Academy so
congratulations
PD and with that I'll turn it over to
our city
manager thank you mayor Enriquez mayor
patan city council K tamop city manager
just uh a few updates tomorrow as a
friendly reminder is our budget Retreat
this is where uh city council uh will
will'll share their goals uh for staff
our staff department heads and deputies
and various staff will will be there uh
to listen in we'll have some ice
breakers to break the ice and help
Envision what we want to see uh for our
our community moving forward especially
where we put our budget dollars and I
just wanted to give thanks again this is
uh huge help to Barbara and the budget
team to jacn and and all of the budget
analysts working so delig diligently to
have this prepared so you'll come you'll
arrive there won't be much for you to do
besides your 15 minutes of razzled
Dazzle um and then we'll budget team
will handle the the rest from there but
appreciate that looking forward uh
that'll be from 9:00 a.m. to about 3:30
p.m. in the afternoon that will be at
NMSU fton Center third floor uh 1815
Wall Street Los cruus uh just FYI all
right just uh another quick announcement
Parks and Recreation registration for
the 20125 winter youth indoor soccer
league for ages 4 through- 10 begins
December 19th with online registration
opening at 9:00 a.m. inperson
registration will be held Saturday
December 21st from 9: to noon at the
Mite Recreation ation Center the fee is
$50 per individual includes Jersey or
$40 for returning players does not
include Jersey the season begins on
February 8th 2025 games will be played
at the rec
center also the department out of school
time programs will be hosting winter
camps for youth kindergarten through
fifth grade and for teens sixth grade
through 12th uh for more information on
how to register dates locations on s
please call 575 541
2550 and I appreciate um recognizing our
our partners Community Partners with uh
jpa with uh Clint and Patrick's uh
transition to the next phase uh I would
like to uh announce the retirement of
our community development director at
the end of the month Larry Nichols um
he's been here for about seven years
don't quote me on that seven Larry I got
that right nine I'm sorry seven okay
seven all right 100 um he's he's been
here for um for for seven years uh and
and has done some great things with with
his team so I just want to recognize him
in that transition uh so thank you Larry
for that coming with your expertise um
from various cities and we appreciate so
big shoes to fill there uh but that
transition position uh will will happen
at the end of the month and um JC and
and team is is working on a interim as
we uh transition into that and then also
our Fleet administrator Luis f is
transitioning at the end of the month as
well uh up North so we're working on
interim for that position as well so
just a a few executive positions that I
wanted to put in front of you but we
appreciate uh the city and and our
executive team for working so hard uh
and the team working through transition
period as we move through January of
next year and that is all the
announcements I have thank you very much
art and arthropods thanks to ACM Del
Delgado correcting what the title of it
is at the Museum art art and arthropods
my bad sorry for my
creative all right thank you thank you
city manager uh with that look for a
motion to adj need to
adjourn second by
Flores this is on the motion to adjourn
the meeting councelor McClure yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham is
absent councelor cran yes councelor
flutes yes councelor bomo yes and mayor
yes
for e