e
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[Music]
you're
on good
afternoon good afternoon and welcome to
city council meeting today is Monday
October 21st 2024 it's approximately 1
p.m. I'm mayor andrias before I start
want to mention that we have an ASL
American Sign Language interpreter
available at every regular council
meeting and she will be in the front for
anyone who requires interpretation
services uh we'll start with a moment of
silence for the brave men and women of
the United States armed forces as they
protect our interests around the globe
as well as the courageous men and women
of the Los Cruses police and Los Cruses
fire department keep our city safe
247 unfortunately also we had a tragic
ending at our air and space Expo this
weekend uh there was an aircraft
accident during Sunday's performance
that resulted in the death of pilot
Charles T Chuck Coleman this accident is
currently being investigated and we
would like to extend our deepest
condolences to the loved ones and fans
of Chuck and invite everyone to join me
in a moment of silence for him as well
thank
you Council MC if you'll lead us in the
pledge Al to the flag of the United
States of America and to the repu for
which it stands one nation under God
indivisible with liy and justice
okay so let's go ahead uh before we
start our presentations and certificates
we want to see if we can
uh uh vote in uh mayor protm bomo to be
uh online for this meeting move to
approve second
coren this is on the motion to allow
councelor Ben kl to attend the meeting
via Zoom councel McClair yes councelor
matis is absent councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes yes councelor fles
yes councelor
bomo yes mayor
yes okay now we'll move to the
presentations and certificates if
councelor McClair wants to join me and
we'll start out with the recognition of
the veterans parade Grand
Marshals e
so the first uh recognition is a
recognition of our grand Marshals um
have with us here uh Bill Hawkins and
members of the veterans parade committee
uh that have joined me up here this
Year's parade theme is honoring our
First Responders as veterans and at this
time we would like to recognize those
who have been selected to serve as the
grand Marshals and and with that I'll
turn it over to bill so he can identify
and recognize those
individuals thank you
mayor I noticed what you did
here mayor Enriquez um mayor protim Ando
members of the city council ladies and
gentlemen good afternoon I'm Bill
Hawkins the committee chair for the Los
cruus veterans parade since its
Inception in 1995 the Los cruus veterans
parade has sought to recognize area
veterans who have been exemplary
citizens and leaders in our community by
appointing them Grand Parade Grand
Marshals the committee considered
various factors including service must
be a veteran who served honorably in any
of the nation's uniformed arm Services
Civic leadership or
participation must have served the Los
crusis Community to include donana
County New Mexico or the country such
that the quality of the contribution is
of a lasting and enduring nature
and character individual must have
consistently demonstrated the highest
quality of character including but not
limited to high degrees of honesty
integrity and
honor we have honored veterans from all
modern eras from the greatest generation
of World War II to the Korean War to
those who served in the Vietnam War and
more recently many veterans of the
various Middle East conflicts after
recognizing Los cruus veterans who
served in Operation Desert Storm last
year year we realize that there exists a
group of veterans who on a daily basis
play a very vital role in the city of
Las cusis First
Responders First Responders members of
law enforcement firefighters and
emergency medical personnel put their
safety and Welfare on the line on a
daily basis and various agencies from
throughout donana County are fortunate
to have many veterans of the Armed
Forces in their respective
departments this year we are honored ing
those who sered their country's armed
forces in their younger years and
continue to serve as valuable members of
law enforcement firefighters and
emergency medical personnel with the
following 2024 veterans parade Grand
Marshals and their supervisors please
come forward Benjamin Bal balderama
danana County Sheriff's Department El
Paso International Airport security a
member of the US
Army the next is Michael Daniels from
the Los Cruses Fire Department US Navy
unfortunately he is unable to
attend next Larry Garcia donana County
Sheriff's Department US Marine
Corps Joshua Herrera Los Cruses Police
Department US Marine
Corps Marvin Kelly Los Cruses Police
Department US
Army summer Stan stanion Los cus fire
department paramedic US Army and LS vaa
Los cruus fire department the USR and US
Air Force if you want to hand those out
they are receiving a copy of the parade
poster for this year signed by mayor
Enrique
Brian there will be a ser
there will be a ceremony immediately
before the parade on November 9th to
present them with Parade Grand Marshall
medallions that ceremony will occur at
approximately 10:00 a.m. near the Wells
Fargo Bank at at the corner of lomman
Avenue and Main
Street one more time let's give him a
round of applause
thank you very much please join us for
the 2024 Las cruus veterans parade
honoring all veterans but especially
those who have chosen to continue to
serve as First Responders in their
Community thank you
[Applause]
good
okay we have can I ask Richard Weaver to
join me up here do we have a Richard
Weaver
next will be a
proclamation for the friends of the
community candy drop day presented to
Richard
Weaver whereas Richard Weaver owner of
Weaver's welding wanted an event to
bring young people and authority figures
together in a friendly non-threatening
atmosphere and whereas he and many
friends of the community sponsored the
first Great Pumpkin candy drop in 2006
and whereas he formed the friends of the
community a 501c3 organization and
whereas he rented mag Park solicited
donations of cash and or candy and
invited kids young and old and whereas
he also invited the Las cruus Police
Department Cruz's fire department da
Anna County Sheriff's posi public
officials everyone who represents
Authority and whereas he has grown the
candy drop to include all four fields at
mag park with music events and booths
his only mandate is that everything is
free now therefore we the mayor and City
Council of Las crusis New Mexico do
hereby Proclaim Saturday October 27th
2024 as the friends of the community
candy drop day and encourage everyone to
support support the friends of the
community and help them provide a safe
fun event for young people signed by
Eric Enriquez mayor and Christina Rivera
Christine Rivera city
[Applause]
clerk I'd like to express my
appreciation to the fire department
police department parks and wrecks uh
all of the business
businesses and some of the nonprofit
organizations around the city and around
the state I even get donations as far
away as Clovis and Roswell to help fund
this event uh I've done it three years
prior to becoming a
501c3 uh but the event is open to
anybody uh I'm inviting all the
councilmen the mayor uh to please come
down if you can't make it send your kids
for your grandkids and they'll have a
blast I appreciate you guys thank you
[Applause]
back to
work next will be an Aaron Butler would
you like to come
up it'll be the proclamation for the
pride of New Mexico day
[Music]
whereas the NMSU pride of New Mexico
marching band has continued to
demonstrate superb musical excellence
and whereas the NMSU pride of New Mexico
marching band has performed tirelessly
at University and Community functions
for more than a century and whereas the
NMSU pride of New Mexico marching band
has shown outstanding loyalty to the
university Las Cruses and the southwest
and whereas the the NMSU pride of New
Mexico marching band has endeared itself
in the hearts of the citizens of Las
cruus and whereas the city now wishes to
recognize your very own pride of New
Mexico marching band now therefore we
the mayor and City Council of Las cruus
New Mexico do hereby Proclaim October
22nd 2024 as pride of New Mexico day in
Los Cruses New Mexico signed by Eric
Enrique's mayor and our city clerk
Christine Rivera
[Applause]
hello thank you for having us uh sorry
that there wasn't much of a much more of
a showing it turns out 1 p.m. on a
Monday isn't a great time for college
students to get out of class so this is
just a handful of our staff from the
marching band um we have Raymond
mccrosky who's a field boss for us um
Aaron Hester who's member of our color
guard and Gavin Gilbertson who's just
like me a member of the media team and
we continue to kind of put things
forward so that people can see us when
we're not performing um thank you for
allowing us this this honor this was
kind of an extension of a 1978
Proclamation doing this doing the same
thing only it kept it down to one day
and this is hopefully making it a an
annual occasion so thank you for having
us and yeah go Aggies
[Applause]
next if we could have Nicole Perez and
Angie
Fus we'll be doing a proclamation for
careers in construction month
whereas careers and construction month
is an annual month designated to
increase public awareness and
appreciation of construction craft
professionals and the entire
construction Workforce and whereas
during this month employers associations
and schools are encouraged to conduct
job fairs panel discussions and local
community events to inform students of
the vast employment opportunities in
construction and whereas the
construction industry is one of our
nation's largest Industries employing
more than 5 million individuals in the
US and whereas the construction industry
needs 1.9 million new craft
professionals by 2025 and whereas we are
pleased to honor the construction craft
profession and the critical role they
play in the development and growth of
our city of Las crusis New Mexico and
whereas nccer was created by the
construction industry stre to
standardize training and enhance the
industry image by promoting the hard
work and dedication of our nation's
craft professionals and whereas the
mission of the nmca build my future
initiative is to narrow the the skills
Gap by guiding America's Youth and
displaced workers into opportunities
that lead to long-term rewarding careers
in construction and whereas the goal of
build of the build my future initiative
is to shift the Public's negative
perception about careers in the
construction industry and provide a path
for individuals to become CR
professionals now therefore we the mayor
and City Council of Las crusis New
Mexico do hereby proclaim the month of
October of 2024 as careers and
construction month in the city of Las
cruus New Mexico and urge all citizens
to join us in the special observance
signed by mayor Eric Enriquez and
attested by Christine Rivera City Clerk
[Applause]
hello good afternoon everybody my name
is Angie FAS I'm the foundation
development director with the nmca um I
just want to thank the city council for
presenting this Proclamation for careers
and construction month um we started
this month off with a successful fifth
annual build my future event um that of
course was made possible by our vendors
and sponsors in the industry um and of
course we always want to encourage youth
to follow different Pathways if they're
not College material or have other plans
so thank you very
[Applause]
[Music]
much got it
yeah next if we can have Enrique
Garcia this will be the proclamation for
lights on after school
day whereas the people of the city of
Las crusis New Mexico stand firmly
committed to the Quality after school
programs and opportunities because they
provide safe challenging and engaging
learning experiences that help children
develop social emotional physical and
academic skills support Working Families
by ensuring Child
Care ensuring children are safe and
productive when they are not in school
build stronger communities and promote
positive Relationships by involving
students parents Business Leaders and
adult Volunteers in the lives of of
young people engage families schools and
Community Partners in advancing youth
welfare and offer young people many
demonstrated positive benefits
particularly in their academic studies
social and emotional health and their
overwhel physical well-being and whereas
Los cr's after school programs continue
to be Innovative with programming that
keeps children engaged supports their OT
social emotional learning and improves
their essential soft skills that are
crucial to their development and whereas
the city of Las Cruses is honored to be
the home of several Community
organizations that provide leadership in
youth health and education and believe
quality after school programs help our
children become suful adults including
the paso del Norte health foundation's
healthy kids initiative the United Way
of Al Paso County and the Boost network
and its members such as the city of Las
cruus Parks and Recreation Department
Boys and Girls Club of Las cruus enrich
the kids crues creatives Community
Action Agency the NMSU stem Outreach
Center and the friends of the Oregon
mountains desert Peaks and whereas
Studies have shown that young people who
participate in after school programs
become better in school develop
leadership skills and are less likely to
engage in Risky behaviors and experience
reduced behavioral problems and whereas
lights on after school the national
celebration of after school programs
will be held this year on October 24th
20124 to promote the importance of
quality after school programs in the
lives of children families and
communities and whereas the city of Los
Cruses is committed to the health and
safety of all young people and to
providing expanded learning
opportunities to help those help close
opportunity gaps and better prepare
young people for future success now
therefore we the mayor and City Council
of Las Cruses New Mexico do hereby
Proclaim Thursday October 24th 2024 as
lights on after school day and
enthusiastically endorse evidence-based
after school programs and activities
that UR sure their lights stay on and
the doors stay open for all children
after school signed by mayor Eric
Enriquez and attested by our city clerk
Christine
[Applause]
Riva good afternoon my name is Sandra
day I'm the program officer in charge of
the healthy kids initiative which brings
um this amazing group of folks who are
in out school time program together um
not just funding them but also building
the capacity um at the B of the nor heal
Foundation we fund the entire region
which includes Luna Otero and donana
counties here in Southern New Mexico as
well as their neighbors across the
border in sades and two counties in
Texas Al Paso and husp it really takes a
village to raise a kid and I am very
grateful to everyone um the council and
everyone L SCU to support lights on
after school efforts we really need to
work hard to continue keeping the lights
on after school for the kids to stay in
a safe environment where they can Thrive
and be healthy thank you
next if we could have Martha
Rodriguez this will be the proclamation
for the 25th anniversary of L
esperas yes
did you
bring you can
bring whereas the mosqu historic
district has one of the largest
concentrations of historical original
adobe houses in the southwest and in
1985 the mosqu street historic district
original Town site of Las Cruses was
listed in the National register of
historic places and whereas in 1999 25
years ago the late consu LMA a retired
widdow and lifelong resident of the
district concerned about the
deteriorating conditions in her
neighborhood and unsuccessful in getting
help from the appropriate officials
formed an alliance with several of her
neighbors and friends and together they
founded lassas paranas a nonprofit
Grassroots
organization and whereas on January 27th
2024 the donana County Historical
Society at their annual Awards program
recognized the lake consuella Lura as
the Catalyst and founder of Las
Esperanza's Inc and whereas now 25 years
later Las Esperanza is proud to announce
that membership is increased that
members share the same vision as the
original Founders supporting the
revitalization and preservation of the
historic neighborhood and the
preservation of its culture and whereas
as a result of its strong membership Lei
was successful in obtaining Capital
outlay funding for numerous changes and
improvements to the neighborhood
including an additional handicap
accessible entrance at Klein Park shade
over the playground equipment repairs to
this park stage and additional lighting
to the neighborhood and whereas Los ESP
ponza sought and received funding for
the collection of oral histories of
residents and others influenced by the
historic Neighborhood Lei created a
partnership with nmsu's library and
special Collections and archives where
oral histories will be stored and
partnered with nmsu's history Department
students who have assisted in the
collection of oral histories and whereas
Las esperansa successfully raised funds
to Mission a mural behind the stage of
clim Park to commemorate 25 years of
building Community Lei appointed a
committee to plan for the 25th
anniversary celebration on 26th October
2024 at Klein Park and whereas for 10
years Las esperansa annually sponsors
along with the local restaurant La NOA
Casita and Al Al carvalo Methodist
Church the weed and seed enchilada
fundraiser to purchase winter coats and
shoes for all the children that
participate in the weed and seed program
and whereas Las aspiras has leased plots
for several years to allow children from
the weed and seed program to learn about
gardening and grow their own vegetables
and herbs the Hardin de esparanza
community garden was made possible by
funds secured by Las Esperanza several
years ago and whereas Las esperanzas
will continue to spearhead projects that
support the preservation of the mosquit
street historic districts history
culture quality of life for those who
live work and visit the district with
projects such as the lman Amador
redesign project
now therefore we the mayor and City
Council of Los Cruses New Mexico do
hereby proclaim the month of October
2024 as the 25th 25th anniversary of Las
asperas signed by mayor Eric Enriquez
and attested by city clerk Christine
Rivera
[Applause]
thank you city council mayor for this
recognition we are very grateful to all
of those those all those people that
have supported us throughout the years
um it's really incredible if you think
about it that we have survived for 25
years with an all volunteer board and
all volunteer
members um that really and truly um
shows the support and the love that we
have for the skate historic district
where um I don't know if you know this
but this is the original townsite uh of
Las Cruses where you know Las cruus was
born and so we're very proud of that um
and I think all of us should be proud of
that not just those of us who live or
have property or have connection to the
neighborhood but all the the city as a
whole should be proud that we have um
that area and still have preserved a lot
of the original um home homes um just
recently um actually last week uh during
uh one of our interviews for our oral
history um project I we interviewed a
gentleman whose family has been in the
neighborhood since the
1700s that's really incredible and that
he still lives in the same home where
his family first came here where it
wasn't even the us yet right
um it is just incredible to me and we
really need to work hard on preserving
our history and our culture here in Le
Cruses so I thank you very
[Applause]
much if you're part of L brunes now's
your time to come up here
please e
one of the things that designates the
original Town site and the mosquit
historic District are these medallions
that were put on
117 street signs street lights and what
it is is it's an original home that my
grandfather built and my mother who
founded LESA pansas uh that was her
father and this particular h house is
the model for these signs to designate
the historic
district thank
you sorry
uh I I just want to say I'm sorry uh too
much uh but uh we invite you to come and
and join us on our Fiesta our
celebration on Saturday this coming
Saturday uh between 1 and 5: we're going
to have actually the NMSU folkloric
dancers um mariachi band um and a live
band and uh we have uh free food for all
the children that will attend and also
free palettas for everyone so thank you
[Applause]
you did
that okay next we have on the agenda
jobs of the week Sarah rainy
thank you very much
mayor good afternoon everyone my name is
Sarah rainy I am the One-Stop
coordinator uh coordinator manager for
the southwest region of New Mexico
workforce connections for jobs of the
week we have a budget analyst for the
city that one starts at
53,000 um and it did not have an ending
a closing date on that one just yet we
also have a gas Sleek survey technician
for the city that one starts at 2379 an
hour and the opening the posting closes
on the 28th we have a human resource
clerk for wh Sands Missile Range that
one closes on the 26th of this month as
well we have a sales associate for Petco
animal supply store um that one starts
at $225,000 a year and the posting
closes on the 15th of November we have a
project manager facilities at NMSU for
53 ,000 a year and the posting closes on
the 15th and we have a bilingual
personal banker for First National Bank
Texas here in Los crusis or $35,000 a
year starting and then the posting
closes on the 14th of
November as always we're here at 226
South Alam you can reach us on any of
our social media we um sites for any of
the information on any of our local
events throughout the region as well um
you can log on to employ nm.com to find
out more thank you all
thank you Sarah next is pets of the week
uh
Carol good afternoon my name is Carol
Nelson I'm with Animal Services Center
of the msia valley I am the digital
content
specialist this week for the cat of the
week we have torti number 8 551 if you
want to look her up online she says I'm
a sweet little 2-year-old domestic short
hair life in the shelter can be a little
overwhelming for me and I tend to be a
bit shy at first however once I feel
safe and have the chance to connect with
someone special my affectionate side
shines through I'm looking for a loving
home where I can take my time to adjust
and build trust if you're patient and
willing to give me a chance I promise to
Roar you with purs and
Cuddles for the dog of the week we have
Capri number 7502 zero to look her up
online I'm a joyful and energetic pup
ready to find my forever home I have a
Sweet Disposition and a heartful of love
always eager to please my humans whether
it's a stroll around the neighborhood or
a romp in the park I'm always up for
some fun I would thrive in an active
household where I can join in on fun and
games let's make some beautiful memories
together in this week we are going to
have our adoption event um Saturday
October 26th at Petco uh the address
3050 East lman will be there from
between 11: and 2 so come on out it's
also a great opportunity to get your
supplies as well so definitely come to
our event uh we're also on social media
uh so definitely feel free to follow us
for more information day-to-day and week
to week activities thank
you all right thank you Carol next is a
conflict of interest
good afternoon Mr Mayor uh Natalie Green
for the record uh this is a public
disclosure for potential conflict of
interest regarding uh former mayor proam
Cassandra G gandera and laasa Inc I'm
going to provide a little context for uh
why we do this uh just because we
haven't done one in a couple years uh
the city is a recipient of both
Community Development block grant funds
and home investment Partnerships and the
regulations that apply are
24 CFR 2 uh 570 92 and
200 um in those regulations a covered
person is any person who's an employee
agent consultant officer or elected
official or appointed official of the
recipient in this case it's the city and
any public agency or subrecipient um in
this case it's lacassa who receives cdbg
or home funds and this includes
individuals with decision-making
Authority in the administration of cdbg
or home funds prohibited actions um it's
just a general rule that anyone who who
exercises or has exercised any functions
or responsibilities with respect to cdbg
or home activities um have to disclose
any potential conflict of interest and
that conflict uh extends one year after
the tenure of um in this case uh their
termination of services to the city as
the city
counselor uh the disclosure today is
again lacassa Inc is a recipient of both
cdbg and home funds they are also a
potential recipient of future federal
funds uh former mayor protm Cassandra
gandera served on the city council until
December 31st of 2023 so the one-year
term extends to December 2024 uh she was
recently contracted with lcasa Inc and
again mayor protm has an excellent
record of Social Service and community
outreach and advocacy in our community
um she is not involved in the day-to-day
management of cdbg or home but this does
represent a potential conflict as
described in the regulations HUD will
consider exceptions on a caseby casee
basis in order to request those
exceptions with which the city is
requesting um first we have to be made
aware of the conflict through the
conflict of interest we solicit a legal
opinion from our City attorney and then
we have to do a public disclosure which
is today's action and then we will
submit all of this documentation um
through a written request to the local
HUD field office who will make a
determination and then they'll notify us
of uh their
determination um so that is the public
disclosure for today thank
you okay thank you
Natalie so next is the conflict of
interest of any member of city council
city manager any other staff known
conflict of interest with any other item
on the agenda none by flooded
none none
none okay thank you next is public
participation will allow up to three
minutes uh no pending litigation or
items on the
non-consent uh I'd like to call up first
a nor
gandaria Nora we've
uh communicated properly and give you
about five minutes to go ahead and in
introduce yourself and
organization hello can you
hear hi I am I'm actually Dana de
Herrera Smith so I work with porch light
Health with Nora caladia and Andrew
Thomas um and I'm our director of
community engagement and development and
we provide comprehensive substance use
disorder treatment to folks suffering
with all types of substance use disorder
so alcohol opioid stimulant sedative use
disorder we are a new Clinic here in Las
crusis so we have been providing
substance use disorder treatment in
Colorado for the last decade um and have
over 60 points of care across Colorado
then started our expansion into New
Mexico in 2019 however Co did the co
thing and kind of delayed us a bit and
so we've restarted um expanding into New
Mexico to provide substance use disorder
treatment we use a low barrier High
access model so really we're just trying
to support people with whatever the of
choice is um and whatever their recovery
goal is so we use what we call Patient
defined recovery meaning that we will
support people in whatever they want to
do um if they want to just reduce and
find a more manageable relationship with
their substance of choice we will work
with them on that if they want full
abstinence we will work with them on
that so we provide um medications for
addiction treatment for both opioid and
alcohol use disorder we also have worked
with stimulant and sedative use disorder
in this fashion as well we provide
Behavioral Health Services to folks with
substance use disorder as well as
Psychiatric Services to people um our
psychiatric program is very specific to
those with substance use disorder so it
is a benzo free or a sedative free and I
shouldn't say sedative benzo diazine
specifically free as well as stimulant
free program and really does take the
focus of substance use so this is for
folks who have maybe found recovery but
are wanting to manage their psychiatric
conditions um and being able to do so
through the lens of their recovery
additionally we um provide provide
hepatitis C treatment as well as
prevention for HIV for folks so we're
overall just really trying to take a
harm reduction approach to people's care
and supporting them with Services um we
do accept all types of insurance it's
Medicaid Medicare most commercial
insurance we also have sliding fee scals
available our sliding fee scills do not
require rejection from insurance meaning
that folks who are undocumented or if
they have somebody in their household
who is undocumented they can certainly
access that to support them with their
care generally if finances are the only
barrier to receiving treatment for
substance use and addiction please
please let us try and support them um
that is the least of our concerns we'll
figure it out so um we can see folks
same day next day like I said we're
pretty new here in Las cruus and I'll
let one of these guys give you the
address so I don't mess it up um but we
can see people same day next day so we
know that that window of um Readiness
for folks can sometimes be very very
small and if somebody expresses an
interest in ready to pursue treatment or
just to learn more about what treatment
options are available for them but we
can support them with that same day um
we have one phone number that can
schedule anywhere in the state that's
anywhere in New Mexico and anywhere in
Colorado um it's 866 Matt Stat or mat St
a and that's
866 628
7828 um because we have a large network
of care we can follow people as well so
if there's people who are here in Las
crusis who need care and then they're
relocating to Albuquerque or to
Farmington or somewhere in Colorado we
can continue that care without any
Interruption it's really supporting that
continuity of care pce additionally we
work pretty significantly with um folks
who are Justice involved we work with
individuals all the way up to 38 weeks
of pregnancy we will start them in
treatment we will continue to follow
them through birth as well as um um
after birth as
well I don't think I missed anything um
oh yeah we will also work with
adolescent
um as young as 13 so we're working with
young folks as well currently in New
Mexico we've got locations in Farmington
Alber T Las Cruses and Espanola and
we'll have about three more locations
before the end of the year so um just
really eager to be here and support
people and and help them with their
substance use disorders and provide them
with compassionate and judgment free
care um I'll let nor give us the address
and yeah thank you for your
time yes we are located at 3850 Foot
Hill Suite 1 we're right across kichi up
by Mountain View Hospital um also just
to let you know that on board in the
house we also have a peer support
specialist which is next to us and he uh
assists them with outside resources
while they're in there they're in crisis
so at the same time they get that extra
Service as
well I'll be quick my name is Andrew
Thomas I provide peer support I'm an
Aggie I grew up here my parents are both
professors at Mexico State well my mom
ran it and um and I've seen this
community and what it's become and what
it can be and uh and we are a part we're
happy to be a small part of this growing
recovery part of our town and it's
growing fast and there's a bunch of us
reach out to any of us
please thank you for your time oh thank
you thank you for coming in today
and we have um cards if anybody would
like
any Nora you can leave the cards here
with our city clerk if you want to leave
some as well thank you and now we'll
have uh again we'll continue with our
public participation up to three minutes
uh krina will be uh ushering you to the
podium if you wish this speak thank
you uh I've come here today uh to bring
up issues that I'm facing at home at
1472 North mosqu yes sir could you state
your name for the record Paul H
borunda and what I'm talking about is
that's the address of where I was born
and
raised 80 years ago
and uh I have come here to discuss the
issues that I'm presently facing right
now besides having had a hard operation
no more than 3 months ago I'm under
heavy medication and I have to take
medications to sleep and
whatnot well in the process uh going
back a few years I've been here before
city council many times in the past even
before your tenure as mayor when
miyashima was mayor when someone going
further back that sits on the council
was
mayor and we brought up issues involving
the Los cruus Police Department or lack
of enforcement of the rule of
law and nothing is done I have
reported homes and people from my
neighborhood who are selling
drugs who
are do not get investigated and
continue and are allowed to sell their
drugs to the citizens and the Youth of
this
community
and I have uh have I does and it pains
me to have to come here and say this I
have a son who is a drug
addict and he has been in prison several
times we've done as much as we can as a
family to help him hopefully to recover
from his addiction but it does no
good he has stolen approximately
$40,000 plus from me in money and
property uh over the past 10 15 years
we've been dealing with his addiction
now for almost 25 to 30
years well I've made contact with my
district one representant presently and
informed her of what's happening and
asked for her help which has not
materialized yet in District 1 we in
District 1 face this situation of the
addiction of drugs because of lack of
law
enforcement and investigations
into by name and address of the
locations where these drugs are being
sold uh on the 16th of August I was
attacked at a local grocery store here
in town while doing
shopping and we call I called the police
the police came and did nothing to
arrest the perpetrator even though he
was still on the property when the
police was that uh went there
just Mr bu there your time is up thank
you is that it yeah you get three
minutes everybody else is waiting for
their turn so thank you well anyway I
just wanted to say one last thing please
give me a second I have in the I'm I'm
in the process of filing a federal
lawsuit against the city of Las Cruses
and the Las Cruses police department and
all involved based on the rules of the
new rules and laws of the state of New
Mexico I can file lawsuit against
individual per besides the city of Las
Cruses in federal court okay because for
the lack of protection of a senior
citizen thank you okay thank you
hello mayor hello counselors my name is
uh Rick Reno and I want to read off a
very interesting email I set off sent to
NMSU fire football coach for 10-year-old
tweets yet Shield NMSU professor's
racial attacks on Los Cruz's
parents good morning Mr kavod Mr Miss
hagard can you please distribute this
email to the NMSU
Regents presidents Dr Torres and Dr FME
and Provost thank you Rick renau PE BS
mechanical engineering December 1982
NMSU dear Regents in all I read with
Earnest the following articles regarding
Tyler Wright and there's two articles
detailing how they found 10-year-old
tweets and they uh fired him the
question for president ferme and
NMSU NMSU fires Mr Wright yet NMSU allow
their own professors to racially attack
Los cr's parents documented by nmsu's
own
emails with no
consequences note that nmsu's internal
emails reveal that at least 15 NMSU
Equity professors participated included
in the shameful
emails as well as a lasusa city
counselor
all apparently agree that Lo's parents
were ignorant racists whites and
Hispanics
included here's a letter obtained by IA
I can read every name off this I could
read every email address because this
was provided by NMSU but I
won't Ola oh re said Anis who are
lenis now we know Pro ethic studies
Community will gather at the lcps
building for the school board meeting at
4 p.m. on Tuesday May 18th if you can
come and share a few words about brown
people oh about all you need education
that reflects our reality says chicanas
chos Latinos brown people I am Hispanic
I hate the term brown people it's
disgusting the angry racist ignorant Los
cruin are organizing we need to arrive
in numbers and show
support the crime of the Los Cruz's
parents in 2021 we
exposed our K12 children's racial abuse
mainly white children and Hispanic
children they were talking white talk in
the classrooms they're allowing teachers
to talk white talk in 2021 it's
Unthinkable in this community in this
assimilated
community so anyway we asserted that you
must judge people by the content of
their character only this is
non-negotiable in our culture thank you
[Applause]
good
afternoon uh I come to you as one of the
nuns that's nuns n o n s not to be
confused with nuns n NS if you can uh
state your name for the record oh sorry
my name's Jim
Hurst and uh good
afternoon again I come to you as one of
the
nuns that's no
NES according to Pew research we are the
second largest and fastest growing
religious category in the United States
of America if Donna Anna county is
similar to the rest of the country we
make up 30% of your
constituents we have no Creed no
organizational structure no officers no
spokesman no public
meetings or anything you might associate
with a religious group I confess that I
am being presumptive by even using the
pronouns we in us and I must acknowledge
that I speak only for myself though I
consider My Views fairly typical of the
group nuns have no religious Al
Allegiance we aren't Christian Jews
Muslims Buddhists Hindus zekes zarrian
or pagans we include atheist agnostics
the deists and most of all and and and
those who accept no
label at all generally we consider
religion to be an unnecessary burden on
ourselves our society and
Humanity while Believers and clergy may
come to make requests based on religious
agendas our agenda is less religion and
less influence from religious groups on
our govern government as our forefathers
and our nation intended we want strict
separation between church and state
please evaluate all traditions of this
city that violate the US Constitution
and the constitution of New Mexico
especially the tradition of the National
Day of Prayer Services held at City Hall
I acknowledge that I acknowledge the
good govern governance may appear to be
a miracle but reason convinces me that
it is an application of Reason
compassion and hope based on the human
potential that produces good government
unity and
progress for that no deity Christian or
otherwise is required and none should be
invoked thank you very
much good afternoon Diane starbu for
Animal Advocates for change I'm checking
in on the status of the new animal
ordinance the City attorney has
graciously been collaborating with us
collaborating with us and has met with
Kathy Stark Jerry Wheelis in Animal
Control however we are now once again
unsure of the ordinance's status it has
been mentioned to us a number of times
by mayor
Enrique that he would like to have a new
ordinance in uh by the end of the year
are you going to set a work session or
just proceed with a first
read it was left with Mr Douglas that he
Animal Control Kathy and Jerry would
have a final meeting but we are still
waiting for the city to contact us
therefore kindly advise us as to the
current status thank you
good afternoon Mr Mayor uh my name is
Steve chav and I first stand here as a
citizen of Las cruus but I want to thank
you for giving me this opportunity first
of all I want to thank you for
recognizing The Pride band of uh New
Mexico today I uh was a member of the
pride band I started there 41 years ago
in
1984 and um I was a um or 1983 excuse me
um but I served in the band I I served
as a drum major president I met my wife
at NMSU um at in the pride band uh after
my my service in the pride band I became
a president of the Alumni Association
over that time and I just want to say
thanks to the my involvement in the
pride band many of the leadership
opportunities that I've been afforded in
my life have become from have come from
the leadership that I learned as a
member of the pride band and other
marching band organizations but I stand
here today to introduce myself to you as
the new executive director at El Calito
soup kitchen and uh I want to thank you
for giving me this opportunity again but
I want to say uh thank many of you who
participated and came out to the empty
bowl celebration on uh Friday we had a
really great turnout it was nice to to
speak to a lot of people and uh to be
reconnected with many of my friends here
in the community uh but I'm here today
to in inform you and invite you um that
uh to an event that we are having um El
Cito soup kitchen is celebrating its
40th anniversary uh in 19 or excuse me
in
2024 um and as you know uh the Sun is
setting on 2024 uh quickly but uh we
will be having a celebration on November
13th and it'll be in your inboxes very
soon um 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the
soup kitchen where we will have a uh one
of our uh executive chefs uh who
prepares a volunteer Chef who prepares
meals for our our uh clients every
single day along with our volunteer
staff um and our volunteers uh who cook
and we will be providing a meal um to
our uh guests who come in we'll have a
ribbon cutting um with all three
chambers involved but uh I want to bring
uh everybody up to speed with all that's
going on at El Calo soup kitchen um
bring you into the great food that we
serve and I know Mr Mayor you spent time
they're volunteering and serving and
helping us and we appreciate that U but
I want to encourage anybody else who
wants to do that to come out but
November 13th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00
p.m. we will be uh celebrating our uh
40th anniversary um more than 3 million
meals have been served in that time
since we began and we uh uh the way I
look at it is this is just the beginning
we look forward to the next 40 years but
um I appreciate you giving me an
opportunity to uh stand here introduce
this to you and I look forward to to
more involvement as we move
forward thank
you thank you
[Applause]
Steve hello city council I'm Susan
Greenwald Cabo executive director of
downtown Las Cruz's partnership I
haven't seen you guys in a while and I
have a lot of news um so I'm going to
try to make it quick uh Zombie Walk is
this Saturday uh October 26th from 5: to
10 p.m. on the Plaza and on Main Street
uh the parade starts at 7 it is free to
the public um anyone can enter it and
participate um the band starts at 8: and
we'll go till 10: it's going to be a
great time um which leads me to my next
point is it's a fantastic time of year
to walk
downtown uh the weather is great um
councelor McClure and I are going to do
a walk through of our businesses I'm
really excited about that coming up um
also what is coming up is small business
Saturday that is November 30th um we are
going to have a welcome station on the
Plaza we're going to do something a
little bit different this year um we are
still workshopping the title so this
might not be the what we land on but
we're going to do a red carpet
Paparazzi excuse me photo shoot for
Shoppers because they're really the
stars of the show so we're going to have
a red carpet we're going to have some
Paparazzi um and anyone who's shopping
downtown that day can have a free photo
shoot with a lot of clamor and attention
which I know is what everybody wants um
guys we are also going to be doing a
Merchants meeting on November the 14th
that's a Thurs day from 5: to 600 with
the library um I want everyone in town
not just downtown to realize how many
free business resources are available in
our library um from one onone help with
Excel which everyone knows I need um
there's a maker space there is a library
of things um that can be used for
business guys it's such a a hidden gym
um and we do not I don't know
communicate the value of it enough I
don't think um so that is going to be I
said from 5: to 6 we're going to meet in
the libr in the lobby of the library um
our Librarians are going to take us on a
tour and there's going to be an
opportunity for anyone who does not have
a library card to get a library card at
that time so guys I'm really looking
forward to that that's something
completely new um that we're doing in
the past our Merchants meetings have
really been focused on kind of just a
meeting um getting attention out I
really want to kind of change that up
and meet people at different levels of
Entrepreneurship right and this might be
the first level of Entrepreneurship or
it may be somebody who just needs a
little bit of help in um some technology
or some kind of access to materials so
if you could help me spread the word
about that I'd really appreciate it
again hope to see you at zombiewalk on
Saturday thank you
[Applause]
uh good afternoon Council and counselors
uh my name for the record is William
Gilman I don't have my daughter with me
here today I also didn't really prepare
so I'm just gonna just going to gab with
you guys what's going on what's
cracking what's what's
new I she okay shout out to the New
Mexico childcare subsidy speaking of
which uh uh she is at daycare today um
and speaking of which excellent thank
you for your question counselor Este
steem counselor uh while driving back
there was some people working on the
roads outside down at the end of Road R
here and there was like a truck and like
four workers and let me tell you that's
not cheap so what I can talk about today
is realize Los cruus right so far in our
nation's history we prioritize car
Centric development which requires
building lots of roads and Roads are
very
expensive um and uh they make our
communities especially communities like
ours that are blessed with an abundance
of sunshine uh a lot hotter and it's
kind of a drag especially when they're
really really big and wide and black
like Road Runner and all of them you
know we we we overbuild our roads so why
should we not do that and what does that
have to do with realiz L cruus well
right now everybody who lives over in
the Park Hill Neighborhood has to get in
their car to go anywhere I talked about
this last week it's a drag
um so if we expand opportunities for
businesses to open up and stuff like
that in that neighborhood elsewhere
right people don't need to drive as much
maybe there's a little grocery store
coffee shop whatever uh that would be
lovely uh people have are justly
concerned about uh issues of
homelessness and stuff and we need more
programming Camp hope is great I would
love to see more data from Camp hope but
I think Camp hope is doing a lot of
really good work uh there's a person who
keeps uh who mentioned a few times a
while ago about uh a program in Boulder
called the work first program and I
think she's got the name wrong it's
actually the work Works program it's
very different from like work first
programs like T I can say more about
that another day maybe uh and we need
something like that I provide subsidized
employment in addition to housing in
addition to Medical Care Behavioral
Health Care psychological care all the
things you need to support recovery all
Under One Roof great program right
where's the money going to come from
that well right now our money is going
to repairing all these roads that we
built and it's very expensive and there
ain't no GRT coming from that
neighborhood let me tell you I mean
there are a few inh home dayc carees I
can vouch for one I think they're full
though so sorry everybody
um yeah so anyway realize Los crues I
think is going to do a lot for us to
open up the the playing field allow a
lot more businesses move away from car
Centric development have more multif
family homes have different approach to
things so that we are not living in a
heat desert right it's like a semi-arid
semi-tropical monsoon somewhat Monsoon
is kind of desert area but it doesn't
have to be so dang hot all the time and
you should be able to walk down the
street that's what I
think good afternoon mayor and City
my name is
jir and I'm just here to request that
you consider climate change when you
make decisions about city codes and
infrastructure and choose sustainable
infrastructure of our car Centric
development I had the chance to be out
and about this weekend and yes it's
pleasant but it's also very very hot
this summer was hot this weekend was
quite hot for October and every summer
is expected to be hotter than the last
one forever in our lives
in cities like Phoenix the ground gets
so hot during a heat wave that people
who fail who fall regularly sent to the
are regularly sent to the hospital with
30° skin burns under that kind of heat
the city becomes unusable and people
exist indoors walking only from air
condition building to air conditioned
car and vice
versa the risk is that Las crues may
eventually reach those conditions and
perhaps we keep getting hotter and
hotter it is clear now that the sprawl
model in desert communities increases
temp temperatures and asphalt
maintenance cost significantly which is
the opposite of what we need communities
that have thrived in the desert have
often aded to their infrastructure to
consider the movement of the sun
conserve water and take advantage of the
wind for ventilation we don't do none of
that currently and we need to allow
changes in the wood city code to allow
for our city to be built differently
higher story buildings with narrow paths
in between them can provide shade and
cooler temperature for ground users
perhaps drivers like me can
extend our commutes a few minutes to
make space for trees on our on our
streets and Greenery on on our spaces
not just for decoration and protection
of pedestrians but also to reduce the
overall temperature of the city and to
act as a buffer to catch water during
flush floods that are expected as part
of climate change in our region adding
shade to our streets would incentivize
more people to walk instead of Drive
which will reduce traffic for the people
who drive reducing driving not only puts
money in the pockets of our citizens
because driving is expensive but it also
has health benefits and increases retail
sales for our business owners while
reducing crime noise traffic and
pollution so please I implore that you
focus on uh car and pedestrian Centric
infrastructure green spaces taller
buildings and that you prioritize the
most vulnerable among us because when
you do that you help all of us thank you
[Applause]
howy my name is Lonnie Montgomery and
I'm I'm a follower of Jesus Christ and
today I'm here to do about two or three
things and the first thing I want to do
I want to pray dear Lord God we thank
you for our Republic and for being able
to choose the people that uh make
decisions for us and with us and Lord
God guide this uh Council our Bay that
they can uh look at each uh thing that
they have with uh a lot of care so that
they make wiser
decisions and also want to tell you how
to how are we going to save this country
doesn't matter to me who gets
in there's one way to save it we got to
get back to God and the judeo Christian
values that are country was founded on
so the way to do it God says in his book
you repent up to heaven and he goes down
and he forgives your sins and
you become his people and you be become
the god and everybody thinks well god is
perfect right
well that he can't do anything but he
can't God doesn't lie what the book is
true and one of the things he writes in
the book is that there when he created
man he created people male and female he
didn't do male and female Plus
or minus or whatever and therefore he
thinks and I think there's no
transgenders and there's also a man by
the name of Walt H how who wrote paper
genders and he agrees with my way here
that the way to change things is on
paper and Walter should know he went and
he became a
woman quote and unquote and then he
decided Well I want to be a man so he
came back again and then he wrote about
this what was going on and that uh you
know According to some it's called
gender identity
disorder and that was in one of the
psychological books and
they take and people they sort of rush
through and the people who are making
the money on uh on this thing but the
hormones on and let's go through a quick
uh taking off or putting on of your
genitalia and give me the money and uh
okay my time's about up so we'll we'll
continue and well God bless Los cus God
bless us and uh be sure to practice your
mandrin
thank you Katrina and thank you all for
your public participation next is the
acceptance of
agenda so move by flus seconded Corin
this is on the motion to accept the
agenda as presented councelor McClure
yes councelor matis yes councelor Graham
yes councelor cran yes councelor FLOTUS
yes councelor bomo yes
mayor
yes so now we'll get to the resolutions
and
ordinances um
first one is 6.1 resolution number
25045 resolution authorizing the city of
Los Cruses to accept Grant awards for
various City
departments move to approve Graham
second
Corin good afternoon mayor council and
City staff my name is Vanessa Pettis
budget analyst with the city and I am
bringing forth a resolution today to
accept various grants for the
city the pipeline and hazardous material
safety administration awarded the
utilities department $10 million and
this is to replace critical gas lines um
within the city some of these
improvements include uh improving
monitoring capabilities and
odorization the New Mexico Department of
Tourism has granted
$200,000 to the city manager's office
and this is to fund the Los crues air
show the Department of Tourism has
awarded the assistant City manager's
office about
$16,000 and this is to advertise Los
crues and attract tourism this award
does require a match of about
$53,000 the high-intensity drug traffic
area program is being
um their funding is being reduced by
about
$16,800 and this is due to changes in
their
personnel the New Mexico Department of
Transportation has awarded Public Works
two grants the first is in the amount of
$400,000 with a
$133,000 match and this is to improve
the East lman and South Walnut Street
intersection the second award is for
about
$193,000 with a $64,000 match
and this is to install new pavement Road
striping and adjusting a manhole on West
Amador
Avenue the match for both of these
Awards is already available in our
budget the New Mexico Department of
Finance Administration has awarded two
Appropriations both of these are routed
through our public works department for
implementation as we are working with
nonprofit Partners on these projects the
first award is in the amount of 57400
$200 and this is designated towards
Renovations of a domestic violence
shelter and we are working with laasa
for this the second award totals about
$1.1 million and this is designated to
constructing and equipping a facility
for a soup kitchen on the Community of
Hope
campus uh for the purpose of this
presentation I'm going to shorten the
New Mexico Department of Finance
Administration to nmdfa because it is
mentioned several times throughout the
presentation
uh nmdfa has also awarded two
Appropriations to the fire department
the $2.5 million appropriation is to
plan design construct furnish and equip
a healthcare building including a mobile
crisis and a critical intervention team
the $100,000 appropriation is designated
for fire station
9 nmdfa has awarded parks and wre
$400,000 $300,000 are designated for
Park improvements at the East Mesa
Recreation Complex and $100,000 are
meant for Park Renovations including
trails in Los
cruus nmdfa has awarded the city
manager's office about five five excuse
me $5.9 million and the funds are
designated for the expansion of the
missia valley resource campus and this
is in relation to Amador crossing the
police department was awarded
$650,000 and this is to implement a
surveillance system for the real-time
crime Center
the state of New Mexico environment
department has reauthorized funds to
plan design and construct a septic tank
replacement in donana um you might
notice that there is a negative amount
on your screen and this is because the
utility department uh pre-budget it for
this reauthorization and they over
budgeted so we're bringing down their
budget just to smidge to actually match
the available balance that they have to
carry
forward the next four slides are all
reauthorizations from nmdfa you'll
notice that some of the amounts on this
presentation differ from the amounts in
the signed agreements I've marked these
agreements with an asterisk on the
amount section um and this is because
there is some miscommunication between
the city and uh nmdfa the city continued
to spend funds past the stop date and so
the amount on your screen accurately
reflects the amounts that are available
to carry forward for our
departments
$258,000 was reauthorized for parks and
wreck and and this is for the
installation of a multi-purpose Trail to
connect missia and Los cruus Trail
systems they were also reauthorized
about
$65,000 and this is to plan design
construct furnish and equip a
multi-purpose trail with Tortuga's Trail
development Parks andar was reauthorized
about
$175,000 and this is for improvements at
the Pioneer women's Park uh they were
also reauthorized about $85,000 and this
is to install a new skate
park parks and rec again was
reauthorized about
$353,000 and this is to equip the
existing skate park and quality of life
was reauthorized about
$73,000 and this is designated towards
improvements to the Amador
Hotel lastly the New Mexico Department
of Finance Administration has
reauthorized
$632,000 and this is to install Lighting
systems restore for two parks inall a
shade structure and gateways declin Park
and the Cultural District in Los
Cruses I would like to amend this
resolution to strike exhibit B in its
entirety and before your Council options
and I stand for
questions
does okay questions does the amendment
like you have Amendment it so if if we
vote are we voting yes or no on the
amendment sorry just to be clear it's
very I'm going to defer that to
Christine it's very confusing um mayor
councelor Karan you're going to first
vote to amend the resolution to remove
that exhibit and then you're going to
vote to approve the resolution without
that exhibit in it I vote we amend this
by removing exhibit B please second
Graham this is on the motion to to amend
resolution
25-45 to remove exhibit B in its
entirety Council McClair yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councelor fletes
abstain can't
I then the answer is
no councelor Beno yes and mayor yes
did anyone have any questions on any of
the presentation on the
presentation
go so since this has passed um this
becomes more of a concern for me Council
for it hasn't passed yet the only thing
we approved was to amend the exhibit now
we're going to move with the and then we
ask the questions or you can ask the
questions now on the
presentation on the presentation yeah so
I can ask a question right so it hasn't
passed yet okay so I can I can voice an
opinion oh but that yeah that part um so
um on page six it says Uh there's 10
million for
utilities um for can you go to page six
please on the
screen okay so um these are do oh wait a
minute no
page yeah page six okay I got the wrong
page oh public works so
um all of this uh money is going um
to improve East lman Avenue and South
Walnut Street
intersection um and when this this money
and then the match came
through uh mayor council FL
for these specifically um the match
portions are already available in our
budget so we're not requesting for
additional funding for these two
specific grants um the only thing coming
in from the dot would be the about
$600,000 um of the award okay so um the
the East lman Avenue and South Walnut
Street um I'm trying to Vis oh I see
yeah that's that horrible intersection
where there's a lot of accidents and
people have been hurt killed I think
okay can you go to page
seven so this is
um this is the plan to design for oh so
this money where so the where does the
574200 come
from um mayor councilor Fus um where
does it come from are you asking for the
granter I'm sorry could you clarify yeah
the source from nmdfa the New Mexico
Department of Finance Administration
okay and then the 1 million comes from
also from nmdfa it's all okay so can you
go to page um
11 okay so
um the septic tank
replacement I'm very happy to hear that
this money has come into uh the city
from the Environmental Department
um so to reauthorize an agreement to
plan design construct septic tank
replacement in Dona Ana
County so is it land that that I mean
it's donana County but where it's the
land within the city in donana County uh
mayor councilor fres I'm actually going
to defer this question to utilities they
would have the expertise on exactly
where this is going to happen okay
oh there he
is well mayor councelor Flores this is
Carl Clark assistant utilities director
yeah all of those are within the city
limits okay so um there's also a slide
that uh provides money or uh report uh
you can stay there because I have a
question a followup on that to um
address or
odorization oh and does that come within
the the uh whatever of
uh of its utilities yes so would septic
tanks be somehow address in that regard
I'm look I you know my position yeah
Council Flor no uh this one is actually
for the gas natural gas system so it's
the ordinant that's put into the gas
system so you can smell it if you have a
leak okay and then on the money that's
going for um the P you know the the
money that's coming in
for um more work uh it would it be in
the city um the East Mesa the
um um councelor Flores uh mayor
councilor Flores there's a variety of
projects tied to this these dollars um
there's a lot of uh old gas line
replacement that's going on with it uh
old ABS pipe that is being replaced out
in the field is there any money then for
the septic tank removal and the uh money
to connect from the from the curb to the
house uh cuz that's been an impediment
yeah mayor council of fles no this none
of none of these grants have that money
in it it was all part of the arpa funds
that were from the service line to the
house that's all been expended already
and we don't have any more money coming
in until we go beg the state legislature
or what do we do yeah mayor council
Flores at this time uh we are asking for
it but we haven't heard anything
anything but that's still coming up on
the legislative funding requests uh but
today we haven't seen anything from the
state in regards to that kind of money
okay so utilities is submitting a
request for that money yes mayor council
Forest we will be asking for I guess for
the residents if we're allowed to do
that uh if it's not part of anti-d
donation so we will be asking for that
money as well I think 500,000 or
something like that how could it be an
anti-d donation thing I mean really it's
a health and safety issue but you know
we can argue from here to Kingdom Come
on that it is on private property so
that would be the hill issues they doing
work on private property yeah but it's a
city facility I mean it's a city
function uh so that's what I would argue
yeah mayor uh counselor yes there's
there's a dividing line where we stop
all our utilities and it becomes private
property and so we uh water meters are
stopped at the the property line so is
the service line the only thing that
isn't is gas because it is a safety
issue so we run it all the way to the
meter itself and we maintain that meter
that's next to the house to protect it
in certain instances I guess so Carl
have there ever been any variances on
that any variances variances
yes mayor council Forest to my
recollection no there there hasn't been
any variances to that that I'm aware of
um I know that there's an instances when
we're doing a gas line and we have to do
a pressure shut in test
um the gas utility pays for that and any
repairs that may come about there's
usually some money there to help fix
those gas lines that are leaking it's a
safety issue yeah yeah well to me the
septic tank issue is a safety issue I
mean we've gone back and forth on this
yeah it's an environmental issue it's an
environmental issue and I just don't see
how well anyway we'll talk about it
later and um when we talk to our
legislators thank you Mr
thank
you anyone else with
questions uh mayor
protm men from me thank you mayor all
right
thanks this is on the motion to approve
resolution
25-45 as amended councelor McClair yes
councelor matis
yes councelor Graham yes councelor cran
yes councelor fletes yes councelor
bomo yes and mayor
yes next is excuse me next is resolution
number 25- 046 a resolution authorizing
the city of Los Cruses to accept first
quarter budget adjustment for various
City departments through an amendment to
the city's adopted F schal year move to
approve Graham second
coren good afternoon mayor city council
staff and public my name is Joe Padia
budget analyst for the city of Las
crusis I'm here today to bring forth the
resolution to accept various internal
budget
adjustments before we dive into the
overview of the budget adjustments I'd
like to share a few key reminders the
adjustments presented here today will
primarily focus on updating the
available balances within our existing
budget the following slides will provide
a summary of the request adjustments for
those interested in more detailed
information please refer to your packets
provided the slide outlines the changes
in both revenue and expenditure accounts
within the general fund the general fund
revenues will be increased by $3 million
in the first quarter as the revenues
have exceeded initial projections the
fire department has requested an
additional budget allocation of about
$122,000 to cover the cost associated
with the vehicle purchase the city
manager's office is proposing an
increase of around $100,000 to fund the
implementation of the safe waste
elimination and Environmental Protection
Program additionally there is a request
for an increase of approximately $67,000
for the P purchase of cubicles and
Furniture as part of the Communications
Department office Renovations
considering the adjustments presented on
this Slide the overall impact on the
general fund will be an increase in
expenditures of approximately
$179,000 alongside the previously
mentioned Revenue increase of3 million
the city manager's office is requesting
a budget increase of approximately
$111,000 to support the installation of
Fleet electric vehicle Chargers the
police department has secured a
reimbursable overtime agreement this
adjustment will result in an increase of
$440,000 in both revenue and
expenditures to align within the new
budget the economic development
department is seeing is Seeking a budget
increase of about $1 million this
funding will be allocated as follows
$900,000 for design of the Brandon
Library renovation and Expansion Project
and $125,000 to support lighting and
carpet installation at the Rio Grand
Theater the city manager's office is
requesting an increase of $65,000 for
the purchase of an uninterruptible power
supply battery backup
system the economic development
department is proposing an increase in
expenses totaling about $4.5 five
million this funding will be allocated
as follows $1.8 million for the purchase
and renovation of a building $1 million
for the restoration of the branagan
cultural center $1 million for the
Amador hotel's ongoing project and
$750,000 for the Alam Boulevard
reconstruction project lastly a report
is requesting an increase of
approximately $23,000 for the sign and
markings
project with that I'm going to hand it
over to Mr Luis Villa to review the
vehicle acquisition fund
adjustments mayor City Council City
staff my name is Luis V I'm the city
fleet administrator this slide
represents the adjustments that we made
to the vehicle acquisition
report although we had to adjust some of
the pricings on the uh type 1 ambulance
and the Hun codies we did not change the
bottom line of the original um the
original budget that was
approved and these are the changes here
with that said I will turn it back over
to my esteem colleague
um as you can see from bullet three I'd
like to also amend this packet to strike
exhibit B and its entirety and before
your Council options and I stand for
questions I move to amend by removing
exhibit B from this object this item
second
gramp this is on the motion to amend
resolution 25- 046 to remove exhibit B
in its entirety Council McClair yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
councelor bomo yes mayor
yes are there any questions to
resolution number 25- 046
okay I have a question on page five can
we just uh clarify page
five uh on item one can you give us a
hint of of a building is it a specific
building or just any building uh
councelor matis I defer that to our
Chris faor our Economic
Development I I think he just want to
see if we're
awake good afternoon councelor Chris
favor uh Community Development we don't
have a specific building in mind
councelor matis right now uh there was
money put there in case the city is
looking for additional space
downtown for staff okay uh and that's
1.8 million
correct and then when do you project
this money to be spent or you you you
have no idea of the building or mayor
council plan so when we were preparing
for this fiscal Year's budget we were
looking at options to purchase some
buildings downtown if we needed
additional office space there was a few
things that we were exploring in the
springtime some of those buildings are
no longer available but this money is
still in the budget in case something
does come up that the city is interested
in looking as sort of a satellite site
for additional City
staff okay
um when you say downtown is that's L be
area specific it will be a downtown
building yeah mayor council matis yes
because those are tids funds so they
have to be specific to located within
the tid let me ask you something is any
of the tid funds expand or will you be
expanding those tid funds to the elao
area mayor councelor matis no because
the tid boundary does not extend to the
elao area there's a very specific
Geographic boundary and it doesn't
extend that far now I will say that Alam
would which obviously you know you got
El One Direction Alam the other way that
portion is within the tid and that's
what the funds on here specific for Alam
Renovations are but not as it goes into
elao heading south okay Chris do you
have any plans on when we do the Mr will
there be a a tid suggested for that ala
area so that we can continue developing
Mr Mayor councelor mati so with some of
the changes that the state made to the
MRA legislation
you are you don't have to put in a tid
to get the tax increment that ability
will now be part of setting up an MR so
you have the same ability to set up a
tax increment without having to set up
an actual tid that tax increment will be
part of the Metropolitan Redevelopment
designation okay thank you thanks for
your answer sure thank you mayor thank
you Council M mayor protm you have a
question I don't thank you okay
thanks
interesting this is on the motion to
approve resolution 25- 046 as amended
councelor McClair yes councelor matis
yes councelor Graham yes councelor cran
yes councelor flutes yes councelor Beno
yes and mayor
yes next is item 6.3 resolution number
25-47 resolution author authorizing the
city of Los Cruses to accept a grant
awards from the south central Council of
governments move to approve second
gram good afternoon mayor counselors
City staff I'm gab La pretz the city's
Grant
manager so to prese uh to to Prov
provide you some background on this
particular program uh the government
results in Opportunity program or as
it's called grow is a new funding
program through the new metical
legislature it replaces the junior Bill
program that no longer
exists grow funds can are different from
Junior Bill funds because they can be
used for Capital expenses as well as
instead of having one year to complete
projects now organization s will have
two years to complete
projects the grant that is being uh
awarded by South Central Council of
governments which the Council of
governments were tasked by the
legislature to uh run uh the the grants
locally so this is our Council of
government uh is awarding
$800,000 to the housing and Neighborhood
Services Program in the city man man's
office to
subgrant four separate agreements of
$400,000 each to four nonprofit
organizations the services that this
particular program or subgrant funds are
as follows permanent Supportive Housing
in L crues and Dona an County support
and training for young
entrepreneurs domestic violence Victim
Assistance and sexual assault Support
Services here are your options on this
item and I stand for
questions councilor
Maes uh yes you bring that back a page I
believe domestic violence VI Victim
Assistance I yes um do do you get any
type of um input from the council to
where this money could be spent um mayor
councelor Maz actually the legislators
that provided the funds for each one of
these have already identified
organizations that will be funded to
provide these do you have a list of
those organizations I do it would be
mess Valley Community of Hope who would
be doing the permanent support of
housing lacasa Inc doing the domestic uh
violence Victim Assistance Community
Action Agency is doing the work with
young entrepreneurs and laon sexual
assault and Recovery Services of
southern New Mexico will be doing the
sexual assault Support Services thank
you I'm I'm really happy I know Cassie
attended that Casa meeting we found out
from the CEO that
um many of the women it could be men
also but that suffer from domestic
violence actually uh is one of the big
causes for homelessness and I didn't
realize that so um I'm I'm very happy to
see that and I would like to see the
council in the future actually support
lacassa as as much as they can I I
didn't realize that was a a big cause
appreciate your work thank you thank
you councelor fles yeah I just want to
make make sure that there's a
distinction between laasa and gasa no
laasa right Inc Inc to be exact yes
thank you thank
you mayor
protm thank you mayor I have no
questions okay thanks
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution 25- 0 47 councelor
McClair yes councelor matis yes
councelor Graham yes councelor cran yes
councelor fles yes councelor benell yes
and
mayor
yes next is item 6.4 resolution number
2548 a resolution amending the FY 2025
through 2030 Capital Improvement
programs improvements program
move to approve Graham second
Corin good afternoon Mr Mayor city
council uh my name is Shan bunet I am
the city Innovation strategy
manager so today before you we have a
set of amendments and we will split the
presentation um into two
halves uh our CIP analyst Cynthia Campo
will run you through some of our regular
um amendments to the CIP and then I will
come back to run through the design
approved
projects good afternoon mayor and
counselors Cynthia Campo CIP analyst um
and I am bringing the quarterly uh CIP
Amendment
uh before you and those include Grant
acceptance budget to actuals project
adjustments and design approved
projects um so we have several pages of
CIP amendments the first uh few pages
are all of the grant acceptance uh CIP
amendments and then um we have several
pages of budget to actuals
amendments let me know if you have any
questions on any of
these we have um four project
adjustments that are um do not have any
uh budget uh adjustments that go with it
they are just um CIP
amendments and then we have three um
projects that are under the design
approved project category which Shana
will we'll discuss
further Shan Bas again for the record
so um mayor city council as you all know
uh we do have um a a mandate if you will
through the city Charter to match up our
capital projects um to actually
demonstrate a relationship to our
comprehensive plan which the city
council adopts um and it is the official
policy for growth Management in our
community uh we also have several other
Council adopted plans uh such as the uh
active Transportation plan
uh that provides us with certain um
guidance as to what kind of um goals and
priorities uh and outcomes that the city
should be working towards um the CIP
being one of the major implementation
tools to actually um make that Vision a
reality so as we transition from policy
to action one of the processes that
become very important to us in the
Capital uh Improvement program is the
design process uh this there have been
uh a few changes to this process as you
know the entire CP process is going
through quite a few changes uh in the
last couple years uh this being one of
the more recent ones and so the goal
here is to really start designing um or
enhance um our current projects uh to to
level up for our vulnerable
Road users to actually uh match up these
projects and increase coordination
amongst the different disciplines uh
within the organization as well as to um
daylight um sort of the CIP process with
the community um and to you all as city
council so we do have certain guidance
already adopted by city council um some
others are adopted through reference in
other policies um as well well as our
complete streets ordinance uh so we're
looking to these guides to give us a
little bit more um perspective and uh
Elevate the design
process so this is what our typical uh
process would look like uh the user
department whether it's um public works
or parks and wreck uh will propose a
project uh which then undergoes uh
design uh there will be
interdepartmental uh
coordination uh typically these are
departments that are affected um and are
part of the capital process such as um
utilities uh Public Works um and then
any other uh departments that have uh
subject matter expertise it then goes on
to bid construct
um the major change here is that we're
introducing this piece um to bring in uh
the planning and implementation line of
business as a reviewing party uh and
really to start aligning and matching up
the Project funding for three specific
buckets that the city council uh created
last year um in the
CIP and so uh this enhanced design
process is really meant
to uh Focus funding on these
prioritized uh project
areas so there's review uh again uh pun
intended we Elevate the design uh
collaborate we build consensus so
there's a lot of debate this is a a
mutually um uh beneficial learning
process as we cultivate uh capacity
within the organization uh we do a lot
of research we ask a lot of questions um
and then eventually the the plans and
the designs that are really um trying to
achieve the vision is what gets matched
up to the
funding so just as a reminder these were
the three funding buckets that were
created uh the programs are active
Transportation complete streets and
resiliency the focus here was to really
prioritize safer streets more
comfortable streets for um for
pedestrians for cyclists um and also
safer for the road user uh on all
accounts uh we also had a prioritization
um in terms of sustainability to create
a more resilient Community uh that is
more responsive
uh to uh environmental changes um and
there is a focus on green
infrastructure uh where we can uh
incorporate those design uh elements
into the
project so I'm going to run through
quickly uh three three projects that um
have been approved for those funding
types uh here is uh Cortez Drive uh
again these um
well actually I've said this so many
times I just said
again but uh we have a before and after
for these projects uh they are
illustrative uh so none of these are
meant to be taken uh completely
accurately uh but they are at 90% design
completion so this does give you a good
General indication of where we're going
with these projects uh for example
Cortez received funding uh in a prior uh
CIP amendment that came before you for
resiliency funding today we're here to
uh award some complete streets funding
for this project uh so as you can see
some of the elements here are a buffered
bike lane um there is going to be a
trail on one side uh and a and a pretty
wide sidewalk on the other uh and the
main feature here are these bioses that
were created to really um be responsive
to this area uh to reduce
some storm water concerns some flooding
concerns uh so it's it's
uh it's just a better
project and here are some just research
and facts uh for for everyone's um
perusal uh research has shown that uh a
basil can decrease rainfall runoff uh
substantially um another element uh is
of course the street trees which um it
seems like we can't have enough of
because trees are so valuable to not
just pedestrian Comfort um but also uh
safety and preservation or extension of
the the pavement uh life cycle uh
there's just so many benefits to
investing in
trees moving on to the next project this
is going to be our active Transportation
project so Madrid Avenue um I'm G to
point uh so if you can see s uh the
Eastern Edge uh of this um picture here
uh you're going to see the extension
that uh leads Madrid to connect two Tres
that is the portion currently being
reviewed and being approved for funding
uh one uh contextual point to make here
is that when we view corridors and we
design them uh we should really be
looking at uh these corridors as more
than just getting from point A to point
B uh they create an environment uh but
they themselves can be
destinations um as
well so this is Madrid Avenue today uh
and then some elements that are being
introduced such as a buffered bike lane
um a reduction of the travel Lane uh
there is parking that is still
maintained on this corridor
and then if you um zoom in on this
particular slide you're going to see
that quite a few elements were
introduced such as The Pedestrian Refuge
um and also a beacon crosswalk uh to
provide for more pedestrian
safety uh there's also quite a bit of
Street trees being added to this section
um and the buffered bike lane uh which
uh may not seem so significant uh as
long as you have a certain distance from
the main travel Lanes uh but even that
perceived um sense of safety is very
important when we're trying to actually
encourage more active Transportation uh
modes uh this is uh just a example of a
pedestrian Refuge which um has been uh
recorded to reduce uh
pedestrian uh
crashes another element here are the
green intersection markings uh so these
uh green piano bars are meant to really
uh bring the attention of all of the
roadway users uh so that the the cyclist
does um have a more safe uh way to cross
these um potentially dangerous
intersections uh that is going to uh
that is going to be I I believe the
first time that we are actually
introducing these elements uh on a city
street uh at a intersection in
particular third project is a South Main
Street uh this is uh showing you the
intersection of bouts uh with South Main
uh and an element here um to point out
is really The Pedestrian crossings that
are being proposed at the railroad uh so
this is some think that our public works
department has worked with uh BNSF to um
to create these safer Crossings at these
railroad connections and so they will be
receiving complete streets funding uh
because we do want to encourage uh a
more um safe space for
pedestrians uh as you can see there's
also a buffer bike lane on South Main
itself uh and that actually runs through
the intersection um and Carries On to
the other
side so with that um I'm going to
introduce uh mayor and city council to
our new CIP manager uh Cynthia Alo uh
will now take
over hello good afternoon city council
my name is Cynthia Lao as Sha mentioned
I'm uh the CIP manager and I'm very
happy and thankful for this opportunity
so San highlighted the three projects
that we have for you and in this screen
shows the funding that will be coming
from each of the projects to each of the
uh programs for the cores Drive project
it's going to be getting
599,000
6 the Madrid project will be getting 1,7
Point
700 6 763,000
two and South Main project will be
getting $2.1 million so this is again to
elevate all of those safety elements
that were
identified uh I want to point out that
in your original packet there was a
fourth project that was going to receive
additional funding that project is the
last crues lateral Trail and the reason
why we're requesting for a temporary
removal of that project is that we
learned that uh the project has to go
out to bid again so Parks and Rec noted
that uh the re beating of the project
will be time consuming and that will
create some uncertainty on the total
funding needed from the project and the
actual time needed for complete the
project so we're requesting to remove
that funding for now until we reassess
the situation and then we'll come
back uh so with that add here are your
Council options as you will note option
three includes the removal of the last
crues lateral Trail program funding and
it also has inclusion of the amended
exhibit 8 which is the revised CIP
document that includes all of the uh CIP
amendments for this first quarter of the
fiscal year so we have representatives
from uh different departments to answer
any questions uh but we we stand for
questions
thank you s i this going to do the
amendment yes uh move to amend the
resolution to remove funding for the Los
cruus lateral Trail and approve amended
exhibit a Graham second
Corin this is on the motion to approve
resolution
25-48 to remove the funding for the Las
cusis lateral Trail and approve the
amended exhibit councelor McClair yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
councelor
bomo yes and mayor
yes next is
item oh I'm sorry any questions on this
I'm ready to go up put check marks
[Laughter]
down councelor Flores go ahead uh thank
you mayor uh I have a question for Miss
basnik
yeah thank you Cynthia thank
you so thank you so much for the
presentation um and um I what I'd like
to know is uh whether these we have the
money we have the concepts and then you
weaved everything all the requirements
uh with realiz and complete streets and
everything like that um do you see when
we'll see the fruits of your
labor mayor uh City councelor uh I will
leave the project timeline question to
the the department who will execute the
project so I I would defer that question
to Public Works
um I think they went home oh no
good afternoon mayor councilor FLOTUS
Tony thino assistant director of Public
Works for record um as you can see based
on the presentation that Miss basat just
gave um Cortez is already out to uh it's
already been bit out and construction
will start here in the next couple
months wow so we'll actually start
seeing some on the ground um
improvements here by
the winter of this year oh really yes
ma'am wow and then the other two are
to uh leest Madrid will'll be out to bid
in January uh
2025 and the other one is South Main
which we're hoping to get out to viid by
March of
2025 as long as BNSF gives us all our
permits that we've been applying for and
moving forward great and then Cortez it
be the entire street from what is it
from dun to or how does that from dun to
Porter I believe yeah yes ma' from down
to Porter great well that makes me very
happy something see that's being done in
my district I appreciate that very much
Tony yes thank
you any other
questions mayor
protm none thank you go
ahead this is on the motion to approve
resolution
25-48 as amended councelor McClure yes
councelor Ma yes councelor Graham yes
councelor Karan is absent councelor
FLOTUS yes councelor
Beno yes and mayor
yes so next is resolution number 25- 049
a resolution adopting the Los cruus
public libraryies master
plan move to approve
Graham second mlar
good afternoon mayor and Council and
City leadership City staff my name is
Carol Bray director of the quality of
life department and we are very pleased
to bring to you our libraryies master
plan for your approval this has been a
long road for me especially having been
in Las cruus in the year 2000 when we
presented our first plan 20 almost 25
years ago now uh but we are very excited
to present this plan to you you may
recall that we did uh bring a draft of
this plan to you for the work session on
June 10th uh we have been working with
godfre and Associates our consultant
since uh May of
2022 and uh we have with us today Brad
Waters who will be speaking to you a
little bit about the plan I do want to
also remember his father Richard Waters
my friend and colleague who uh passed
away uh about um earlier this year and
uh I knew I knew Richard uh as a
colleague as someone who I worked with
very closely as a librarian in the state
of Texas and uh I know he would be very
proud to see the work that we are
bringing before you today uh I do also
want to note that we have uh with us a
number of Friends of the library in
purple and we appreciate their being
with us today so we are pleased to
present this plan to you which we uh
believe will meet our community's needs
for Library service well into the future
and now I'd like to turn things over to
Sarah Booth our deputy director for
Library
Services thank you good afternoon mayor
mayor protim and counselors I am Sarah
Booth Library deputy director it is my
pleasure today to introduce you to our
library consultant Brad Waters Brad is
the owner of godfree's Associates a very
respected Library consulting firm
located in Dallas Brad has years of
experience not only Consulting two
libraries but also as an architect
building libraries around the world
Brad's presentation today is culmination
of over two years of research interviews
Community discussions about where the
library currently is and how best to
serve the Library community I would now
like to turn this over to Brad who will
present the findings of his
research thank you Sarah um I was wasn't
aware that we were going to honor my
father today but I'll tell you uh just
for the record again I am indeed Brad
Waters and I am the owner of God free my
father used to own the company but just
understand he died of natural
causes um so so um want to thank you for
uh the opportunity to present the master
plan to you today um as you will recall
last time we spoke uh my firm performed
a full assessment of all Library
operations uh our findings revealed that
uh the livable Community goals of
elevate Los Cruses including uh quality
of life access to careers cultural
amenities and even diverse housing types
are all aspirations that your libraries
can reinforce we phased our recommended
Improvement over three planning Horizons
of 5 10 and 20 years we continue to
preach that every step in the planning
and implementation process is a public
relations
opportunity um let me see here how can I
here we go um we mounted an online
survey on the city's website which
attracted 725 total respondents uh with
93% responding that your library was
very important to the community Los
cruus customers exhibited their
overwhelming love for their libraries
and at the highest percentage we've seen
over the last 20 years um similarly we
the survey respondents are in favor of
supporting their Public Library with
their taxes so here uh we also see the
lowest we've ever seen at only 7.1% no
votes in this case um the depends
response typically translates into
what's in it for me uh so a good public
education campaign for any bond
initiative typically carries the day
nationally 7 out of 10 Library
referendums pass and coincidentally 70%
of the votes are in the
affirmative um um we compared Los crusis
with 15 Regional peer libraries of
similar characteristics in New Mexico
Colorado Texas and Oklahoma we analyzed
performance across 100 metrics
particularly per capita measures where
Los crusis was 5% above the total median
and right at the median for the best
practice levels of service uh in
response to these metrics we recommend
uh uh reinforcing what the library is
doing well while rectifying most of the
shortfalls um this uh Matrix oh I'm
sorry I'm going the wrong direction here
our recommended level of service
improvements focused on on this Matrix
of 14 uh Public Library best practices
as highlighted in our final report in
some detail uh in terms of priorities we
recommended to addressing the Staffing
in the near term followed by your
library square footage shortfall in the
midterm due to the time it takes to
develop those Capital Improvements and
then continuing with adding more
convenient access to full service
libraries for all neighborhoods in the
city over the 20-year long term Los
cruus has the has the various very
lowest of the 15 peers in both staff
expenditures and percentage of local
fiscal support uh where your local
provision of 85% compares to the peers
at
95% uh but clearly 5% of Library funding
should always come from non-local
sources which is where a library
Foundation comes in so we recognize that
you you've done some work on staff
compensation that's been addressed
recently but there's still more work to
do along those lines uh ultimately
prioritizing those fiscal improvements
along with adding Library space will
help take care of most of the rest of
the service service shortfalls that
we've highlighted
um working uh in conjunction with public
works it was determined that the best
first step in the library system
improvements is to renovate and expand
the branagan library uh adding a new
library I'm sorry adding a new Lo Lobby
oriented towards Main Street will help
improve access to the library from
parking U upon entering that new Atrium
Library the public will be able to see
that there are two floors of Library
space in the building to explore and
then renovation of the Branigan ground
floor will eliminate all of the current
split level floor layout making the
space easier to supervise and more
flexible to adapt to Future change so
extending the life of the 45y old
library for several more decades uh the
$15 million estimate is a total turn key
project cost stated in
2024 so the sooner the project can be uh
underway the more the city saves uh in
inflation
um in terms of a second phase addition
we will add space to uh on the ground
floor with a new subdividable meeting
room as well as a ground level uh for
additional public space currently slated
for a larger children's area uh this
additional space will dramatically
improve the the library Street presence
and will include renovating the second
floor as well again the turn key project
cost estimate here of $16 million is in
current 2024
uh and we are uh safe to say that any
Branigan library in expansion is an
opportunity to meet and exceed City uh
sustainability goals um planning for the
long-term future despite adding the
20,000 square feet to branagan uh your
network will still need an additional
three full service outlet locations by
202 I'm 20145 Excuse me in order to meet
those 20year level of service space
standards and meet or exceed Elevate
reloc cruus goals and the city
population projections of over
141,000 so in the map you see Branigan
and blue the existing Sage Library
location and that the proposed new East
Mesa location in green then the two
infield branches in yellow and purple uh
we think it's important to note that the
cost of land typically only equates to
about 4 to 8% of toal total Library
project cost so selecting locations that
are most conven venient to the greatest
number of residents is much more
important than using city-owned
properties however the city owned partel
set aside for the East Mesa Library
which is adjacent to the sage Cafe now
is a good location it just can only
support about 26,000 square fet of a
footprint with adequate parking um so
it's also critical to note that properly
designed 35,000 ft Branch can be staffed
for the same cost as a 26,000 ft Library
the 21 million TurnKey Capital cost
cited here is for the 35,000 ft
prototype you know finally coverage
dictated by on the map or depicted on
the map uh shows maximum coverage of a
drive time for each location of five
minutes by car which equates to a
10-minute uh bike ride or a 4minute walk
so you can see that uh with that kind of
bikeability and walkability there's
still not a total coverage of the city
limits um let me see here uh finally in
terms of uh funding options um uh your
budget currently equates the library's
budget I should say currently equates to
just over 410 of 1% of the entire city
budget uh we recommend that adding
another 4/10 of 1% over the next uh 5 to
10 years to almost double the current
budget by
2035 so um again I'm not bragging when I
say say that even in Texas our lower
funded public libraries receive about 1%
of Municipal Revenue um nationally uh
better libraries range from two to 5% in
Ohio which is kind of off the charts um
we recommend forming a library
Foundation to protect and grow your
current requests the capital needs for
branagan uh improvements can provide an
excellent rallying point to build a
foundation around uh so we suggest that
each council member help identify and
recruit potential Foundation board
members MERS uh lastly to help defay the
capital cost for new Branch construction
we uh recommend you consider joint use
projects that include mixed a mixture of
developer-driven affordable Workforce
and market rate housing the picture here
is one of of three such branches in
Chicago um and just last month the
Costco announced a building of a new
store in conjunction with with a branch
library in Los
Angeles um so to summarize the most
expedi means to improve lasusa public
libraries is to renovate and expand the
Branan as the headquarters of an
expanded Branch Network that eventual uh
expanded network will require a larger
staff FTE numbers and uh the additional
facilities and staff will likely push
the library budget over the 1% of total
City budget but with a likely return of
investment of over $4 for every dollar
spent on the library as your Municipal
limits expand GIS planning can help
locate the best sites for future future
libraries and ideally a strong Library
Foundation can help defay the capital
costs for Library Network expansion the
end result of the master plan will be uh
better educated Los clu's population
with higher earning potential living an
Ever improving quality of life um I one
last thing I'll tell you I see you've
got your your library badge I uh I find
this I call this my uh my shield against
ignorance um as it comes in handy for me
as I uh head home uh on Tuesday back to
Texas so um want to thank you for your
undivided attention now and I will turn
the presentation back over to
Carol thank you Brad and again we have
so enjoyed working with Brad as the
owner I should have made that clear of
God Reon Associates and uh now councel
uh here are your options and uh again
Carol Bray for the record uh here are
your Council options and we stand for
any questions that you might
have okay Carol thank you uh councelor
FLOTUS uh thank you Miss Baron thank you
uh very much uh I um I thought we had a
foundation the friends is not a
foundation uh that is correct we do not
have a library Foundation at this time
councelor Flores we have the friends of
the library are a 501c3 organization and
they are uh an enormous support for us
um just so grateful for their presence
always in the work that they do U they
are dedicated more to fundraising for I
would call it the day-to-day operation
of the library the needs that come up
from time to time for programs or a
piece of equipment or other kinds of
support um a library Foundation
typically uh has a different kind of
role a library Foundation typically will
be funding perhaps large projects for
the future of the library system so you
know potentially helping to fund the
Branigan renovation or a branch a
capital campaign for a branch and that
kind of thing so that's typically more
of the role of Library foundations
around the country and that's been my
experience with them so it's
um it it really focuses on the
um the physical part of the library not
always
but typically to fund either a capital
Improvement project or a major project a
major service or program that the
library might want to offer uh whereas
the friends while they have been very
generous in their support um do not see
their role as being um that overarching
I would say so um typically a library
system that is moving forward we'll have
both a friends of the library
organization and a library Foundation
which is also a 501c3 organization
typically right so is there any movement
in that regard in terms of establishing
a 501c3 besides bringing it up today uh
we are working with the friends that are
helping us to identify people in the
community who might be interested in
serving on a library foundation and
helping us get that formed so yes we are
moving ahead with that idea great thank
you Miss Bri add one sure one comment to
that um a lot of
organizations philanthropic
organizations in the country were more
likely to give money to a found Library
Foundation than they are to a municipal
government so that's another reason why
foundations are able to raise more money
uh at you know in terms of larger
amounts than the friends or the
municipality yeah I think it'd be a good
idea to um really uh focus on how
important it is to have children um
exposed to all books I don't believe in
having anything banned or taken off
shelves um and I think it'd be great to
have uh the children who started going
there maybe for because I think there's
reading circles for prek or the younger
children and then um and then track not
track them you know like uh but follow
them and see uh how their lives um you
know just just kind of Follow that
because I I think that libraries I know
that libraries impact people's lives I
think they make a big difference in the
quality of your life it expands your
world you can read about different
places and dream that one day you'll do
that or go there and um so so thank you
Miss Brer and thank you friends for your
work okay mayor councelor Flores thank
you for your comment appreciate
it you're welcome
anyone else Council cor thank you thank
you I just wanted to thank you all for
the presentation and you presented last
year at our our TSI committee I think or
quality of life committee and so I I
remember and thank you for for fleshing
a lot of these ideas out
um I I just first wanted to thank you
and also sort of want to speak to I feel
like um we are in a moment where we
really the library I know serves people
in exploring who they are and exploring
the world around them and also brings
people together who normally would never
perhaps encounter one another from you
know Dungeons and Dragons to
uh like people who love plants I know
that there are like really a lot of
constituencies that are served by the
library in in Las crusis and I think we
I would just like to speak to sort of
the future plans we I know approving
this is one step on that in that
direction but I do hope that when we
when we are talk I've said this before
but I'll say this again when we talk
about our next Geo bonding cycle I I I'm
going to be advocating for the library
to be among the priorities among other
things that we always um among other
places that we always advocate for
things but I I hope that we can consider
this as kind of a road map for us and I
I do hope that we follow it um rapidly
and robustly so I really appreciate this
this really clear path where we can we
can build our library system and
infrastructure and and connect to more
people people um in a moment where I
think literacy is perhaps threatened in
in a lot of ways and so libraries are
fundamental to to addressing that threat
so um thank you again for the
presentation and and I just want to
speak to my uh constant support and
standing of you so thanks thank you we
appreciate your comment thank you
councel uh councilor matis no I'm I'm
very happy to hear what councelor Karan
brought up and I I think maybe Brad
someone that's bold enough to give us an
idea time frame when we should bring the
bonding proposals forward I mean is
there a time frame or a year uh or do we
just leave it in
limbo uh mayor councelor matis um I am
not sure of the exact time frame for um
a bond issue but I believe we will be uh
formulating and maybe city manager
assistant city managers can respond to
this but uh we are in the process I
think of formulating uh the next bond
issue um we are currently I can tell you
that uh you may have noticed there is
tid funding for the design of the
branagan library renovation and
Expansion Project already was something
you approved today so we're very happy
to see that uh we are already that
design is actually in the works already
and I'm happy to say that uh Brad Waters
will be working with the architect that
the on call architect it's desert Peaks
Architects uh who will be working on
that design um so you know we feel good
about the direction that branagan
library is taking and then the branch
library question and even the expansion
of branagan will be something that will
be you know will have to be determined
by City leadership in terms of where
that funding comes
from but we you know we are also doing
our part in terms of getting this plan
before you uh helping you to have a road
map as as you've mentioned uh for where
the library system can go in the future
and I think that is our job you know is
to make sure that you have that road map
in place so you know where we think the
community should go the library
Foundation can certainly help with that
and uh you know we'll see where it goes
with tid funding and a and a bond issue
down the road and Brad did you want to
speak to that thank you Carol just a
little more concrete schedule um we
would anticipate design on the BR and
improvements of start in J January of
next year so
2025 probably a one-year design phase
you'd be ready to U potentially go to
bid at that point uh we're meeting
tomorrow with Public Works to talk about
some of these details because it's a
two-phase process we really want to
design the second phase first and work
backwards into the first phase so we
don't paint ourselves in any Corners
that we move forward so um that'll make
it a little more intricate but I think
uh tomorrow after we meet with public
work will have a much better
idea councel gr thank you so much well
and Brad I'm happy you said that because
if we are looking to our next Geo Bond
cycle I believe that would be 2026
calendar year 2026 so if we have 2025 to
kind of really get the ball rolling and
have something concrete to bring to the
voters I would also be in support of
that and my only other comment I just
want to shout out friends give yourself
a round of
applause it was so lovely to see you
packed the work session in June and
you're here again and it was it's cool
to see you willing to come and sit
through the bureaucracy for something
that means so much to you and as the
crowd dwindled it just got more and more
purple in here and I I love it so thank
you and I think it speaks to the
importance of the library and to the
work that our that our group is doing so
thank you so much thank
you Council ml I'm just going to Echo um
the sentiments up here but um I was you
know what caught my eye during the
presentation is your recommendation to
fund 90% more I think we can definitely
look at what funding we might have
available next year especially since we
work with so many different populations
and have so many needs for the community
and before we can race off to building
you guys are doing so I appreciate that
I told somebody earlier today that uh I
trust Librarians more than most people
so I'm definitely happy to help fund
that as well so thank you thank
you thank you all uh mayor protm did you
have anything to add thank you mayor I
don't have any questions I just uh
wanted to say that um I specifically
wanted to be on today to vote for this
even if it was through Zoom no offense
to the other items those were important
as well of course but I really was um
just really excited to to be supporting
this and um honestly just feel deeply
grateful for all of you who put so much
work into this and um the advisory
committee and everybody who put their
hands on this and bringing this this
forward um very very grateful for you
thank
you thank you mayor Pro uh I did have a
question for Brad um working with other
cities
municipalities whether it's a um when we
look at at at other
branches um thinking like partnering
with the county because we'd be like on
a city county line for maybe one of
those uh branches uh you ever work any
Partnerships like in Metro or or city
county what what are some of the the
things you've experienced with that uh
guess even even Library foundations that
partner with cities uh so but you know
clearly there has to be a a memorandum
of understanding and very clear UH
responsibilities worked out on paper
before you you Endeavor
you sign in that in that endeavor um it
would probably it best falls on the the
difference between who who who pays for
the staff to operate the building and
who handles the capital expenditures and
the maintenance and and upkeep of the
building those are typically where it
breaks if you have two different
entities um in a County City uh
partnership it could just be okay you're
serving all uh residents in donana
county and then the county will will
will subsidize the funding for
percentage of people outside the city
limits that that use the library that's
another option that we usually see so
there is there is definitely a
possibility we did a master plan in
Santa Fe in 2019
and the county there was eager to come
to the table uh so it was you know they
have they have more money they a lot of
money in Santa Fe county but um you know
that was a kind of a unique situation
but that does happen do that answer your
question yes sir thank you Carol did you
want to add uh yes Carol Bray for the
record just to add um here in New Mexico
there is a district law uh that allows
for just that kind of model it's really
the only kind of Library District that
can be formed under law in New Mexico
and it follows a model um set some Years
Ago by Albuquerque and beralo County
which has had a city county library for
many years and uh based on that model
this District law was put in place so um
that's something we haven't looked at
very much but a little bit and I think
you know it's certainly something worth
exploring thank
you okay thank you that was it but uh
thank you all for being here again uh
kudos to you all thank you for the
shirts we appreciate it and uh Christine
I think we're
ready this is on the motion to approve
resolution
25-49 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councelor flutes yes councelor
Beno yes mayor
yes you can wait
it's close enough
right next is item 6.6 Council bill
number
25-14 ordinance number
3085 and ordinance repealing and
replacing chapter 38 Article 5 Section
38-46 uh Los crus Innovation and
Industrial Park overlay Zone District
move to approve second
Graham Sarah good afternoon Sarah
Gonzalez with economic development
before you is the proposed amendments
for the Los crues Innovation and
Industrial
Park here is the park boundary from the
north side you can see it leads up to
our airport on the south side it's going
to be off of Crawford Boulevard where
you have loves and new ALS Subs going in
and sauto cheese they're both also
accessed through the frontage roads that
are along I 10 which is the interstate
and owned by
nmdot the proposed amendments are to the
design standards um staff did come to
you with a work session showing you know
some of the needs that were taking place
after you adopt a plan you generally
want to come back and say what's working
what's not working how do we modify and
then bring in these businesses so the
amendments are going to be to your land
uses the parking requirements sidewalks
landscaping and
signage the first one is going to be for
the land uses um we evaluated on the
North side which is basically Aerospace
research technology um there is going to
be a need for indoor Recreation or
entertainment um that's going to provide
for any of the walkable space or those
buildings that are interconnected to
have some type of gym or recreation
facility to step away from your work or
your space and to relieve some of that
stress it's very difficult for someone
to travel back into town which granted
it's only 9 miles away but once you deal
with traffic you get to do you know your
general workout you get back onto the
road and you're back into the same
situation and this will provide an
opportunity if someone does want to
build some type of facility out there
for someone to provide
Recreation the second would be to remove
wholesaling and outside storage from
commercial based on the map above you
can see that the red area is our
commercial zones we have over 900 Acres
within the industrial park and right now
we're limited to maybe 70 Acres that is
actually commercial we want to utilize
that not as wholesale or outside storage
we want that to be maybe the hotel that
that's going to support the airport uses
some of those retail some of those
Services maybe eating venues for the
surrounding neighborhood and so we want
to remove that opportunity because you
can get that throughout the rest of the
park lastly would be to include RV
parking and hookups um what we've seen
in Santa Teresa for the loves is they
have added that as one of the accessory
components to their gas stations so you
figure when you're coming through um you
stop at a Love's gas station you may
need to actually use your hookup so you
want to use sewer water gas get
electricity if you can recharge and then
be on your way so it just provides an
add of benefit for anybody who's
traveling through L
crues next we would go into the vehicle
and bicycle parking um currently our
code does say that there are no minimum
supplies so basically a developer can
come in and say I don't need any parking
for my facility and staff can say okay
you've met the requirement um with that
staff was looking at essentially
following the adopted land use and then
giving a provision to where if you don't
need that number of parking then we go
ahead and do either a flexible
development standard or reduce it based
on the actual land use being proposed
not every development will require the
maximum number of parkings at least for
their facilities but it does give us an
opportunity to say that there is at
least 88 parking on site as well as
general
parking next we'd move into sidewalk
installation um as previously discussed
in our work session we had went through
a study that was done in 2019 by
Michigan as well as the United Nations
and shown how a park should be developed
based on its end user and that's how
it's designed we are still looking to
install sidewalks on the north side of
the park because that is going to be
where you have Aerospace defense
research technology your science and
then the airport so you're going to
expect people to build more of a
campus-like community and so you'd want
that to be a walkable space whereas
currently on our South Side we're
recommending not to install sidewalks
only because we are looking at the
actual traffic that is using it
warehousing distribution agricultural
farming all of those land uses require
large vehicles and so this just
increases essentially non-pedestrian
safety um you're looking at larger
Vehicles not able to see that person
walking by and then they're also
creating damage to those curbs in those
areas that are being
installed we move on to Landscaping um
currently right now we have a blanket of
just 10% throughout the industrial park
but doesn't necessarily make sense um we
are proposing a ratio because as you
increase the large areas we are not
looking at Town town has one Acres or
less usually when you're looking at a
property and you're developing it with
Landscaping out there we're looking at
1920 acres and so one we're still
encouraging developers to leave the
natural topography as to where it is we
don't want you to just go out there
ingrade all the property and then not
have to rehab it with some type of
vegetation um so we use the actual
percentage to show that we're still
getting the number we need whenever they
do go out there in grade a lot of our
larger Parcels the reason why it's only
at 6% for 12 acres or more they become
fenced in storage or they become
warehousing you're not Landscaping that
area but we'd still want the area around
you to be landscaped we use this as a
whole so they actually have to use their
entire property not just the fenced and
storage is what we currently use now so
we're getting actually additional
Landscaping even though it seems like a
lower percentage when you actually do
the calculation right now if you were to
look at our calculations we subtract the
buildings and we say okay whatever's
left over that's what we want you to
landscape based on percentage now now
we're moving towards just the entire
property so now we're going to see a lot
more of that vegetation being in areas
that are not fenced
in lastly is the signage requirements um
currently we have um modifications to
both the actual signage size and the
heights what we noticed is a lot of
developers come in with a certain model
especially when they're along the
frontage roadways and they're trying to
get visibility from the interstate nmdot
has limited space on their signs and so
the only way they are able to get that
is if they have a higher race sign um
you can also see that with their maximum
square footage the sign has to be a lot
larger to be visible um a lot of models
that were presented to us and where
staff has taken in these variances is
where we see you want to be a mile away
where you can actually get off on the
exit so you have to be that far away to
be visible and so they've created
different thresholds or models to say
this is how high we need to be based on
this height in this jurisdiction what
we've noticed is we have that
comparability of 80 ft next to just the
frontage roads and so so we're only
requesting to modify the frontage roads
to a higher height but internally leave
it at more of an 18 ft requirement 18 ft
is currently what we allow in any of our
industrial zones in town right now that
actually provides enough visibility so
that way if you do have overgrown
natural vegetation you are still visible
from someone who is trying to get
through and see you on those streets um
we are not increasing the square footage
though for our internal ones um 50 ft is
still large enough when you see our
yellow signs out there for postings of
public hearing Rings those are 4x4 so
that's 16 sare ft and so you would get
that basically three times as to what is
still permitted this is still going to
be a monument area as opposed to pole
signs we're looking for Monument signs
to come into our park and still have
kind of the decor of being inviting
knowing that it's still
industrial the last one is going to be
um your directional signage Federal
standards have changed over the of the
course of years knowing that 18 wheelers
have a very hard time seeing when they
are at 4 feet are lower and so
directional signs for our industrial
traffic and the main users using our
park should be increased to 6 feet
that's become the norm in any of the
plans that we received whether it be in
town off of you know Aven the msio
whenever we see any of our vehicle
stations it's mainly for visibility of
our larger
Vehicles because this is a code
Amendment it is required to go to the
Planning and Zoning commission with that
it was recommended of approval with one
condition um by all of the members that
were present they are requesting to
leave the no parking minimums as they
are and let the actual developer dictate
what is required if that were to remain
staff will continue to work with
developers on what their needs are and
what's the possibilities if they don't
have those in
place and with that here are your
Council options and I stand for any
questions so I just have a clarifying
question so the am the recommended
Amendment from the pnz
is we would have to also amend to
reflect that just for clar CL s or it's
already in the proposal if we vote Yes
mayor councelor Karan um we do not write
them in because you do not have to
actually use um pz's recommendation so
if it were to be amended then yes you
would amend the ordinance and then we
would vote afterwards as well okay thank
you it's a lot of amending
today any other questions mayor
protm yes mayor thank you I think thank
you so much Sarah
I Just one thought on this really um and
it's not necessarily question but I just
I I am I'm still somewhat hesitant
to uh move forward with a recommendation
to not build out some sidewalk
infrastructure on the South Side however
I will vote for this as is today because
I do trust that staff has done the due
diligence to come up with this
recommendation um that best fits the
future and vision of the park I
obviously you know in the future if
those are needed that will come back to
a future Council where maybe some of us
will be part of and um maybe some of us
won't and so um that that's obviously
that can still happen I just did want to
note that today for the record that um I
do I I'm somewhat hesitant but I do you
know trust that staff has that done that
due diligence so I just wanted to note
that thanks
Sarah thank you mayor Pro
Christine this is on the motion to
approve ordinance
3085 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis yes yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
councelor
bomo yes mayor
yes board appointments none notice of
proposed
ordinances none so city council member
board reports and comments I'll start
with uh Council
McLure thank you
I just wanted to there's a lot of things
I went to last week um laasa was very
interesting like councelor matis was
saying um Hardin de los Ninos had a
mentorship program that they explained
how they funneled people through their
giving guidance to those who needed it
and it was just really fascinating and I
support their efforts heavily um we had
a um historic preservation commission
meeting cancelled last week which I
attended as as well and many from the
community as well and um the
cancellation kind of stood in contrast
to the pretty good meeting we had with
city manager and the chair the day
before and talking about how the HPC
would exist going forward um there's
been some hurdles in the past uh they're
currently down a historic preservation
specialist and I I understand from the
time
that that's been sort of a an issue that
a lot of people have great feelings
about but I do think that historic
preservation for our city is is key I
reached out to some of the past
counselors when this was enacted in 2019
and kind of got a sense of where we're
going and and I think that there are
deep scars in the city from some of the
history that we've lost um and the time
that I spent working at NMSU library and
archives has given me kind of an
appreciation even though that you know
my generation
a family has not lived here um I am
raising a family here and it is
important to know what our history is
how we've failed and how we've
succeeded um I've been learning a lot
too about the the how we
have we butt up against private property
issues I think a lot of recognition
isn't given to yes we do have they do
have the freedom to do things to their
property that we have a consideration of
can we save
that um but I do believe staff is making
due diligence on that and we'll move
forward with with some determination of
where does preservation and Public
Safety come together and that is an
issue um particularly the Fielder
building is interesting to me because
I I think that if we have a prominent
black family and we can you make use of
it as something that somebody remembers
from their childhood and we have the
need a chief story spoke to about you
know we have issues with our juveniles
that we could address if we had a teen
center like that again but if the cost
is prohibitive what can we do and maybe
the HPC can have a hand in that and I
think that's a discussion we should have
going forward so um I'm just wanting to
let people know that I'm aware of it and
I am concerned about it um I think
losing our heritage is a problem that we
have in many places and to our detriment
for generations to come so that's all I
have thank
you thank you councelor councelor Maes
yes I I would just like to see before
the year end from the legal department
city manager uh so we can vote on that
animal ordinance if we could get that
done in 2024 appreciate
it thank you coun councelor
grant thank you uh just to
Co tail on that I was hoping that as
mentioned during public comment thank
you that we could also have a work
session in advance of that I believe our
last work session on the animal
ordinance was over a year ago maybe
longer um just I know a lot has changed
so I think it would be great to be able
to have that conversation before it's in
front of us for a vote um so yeah if we
can I know the year is dwindling but if
we can get that fit in um and then the
other thing I just wanted to express
some appreciation for our ASL
interpreters um you are absolutely
amazing I watch you during these
meetings um and the work you do is
incredible I I can't imagine the both
intellectual and
physical you just it's amazing to watch
um but I did wonder since the of the
week are voiced from the perspective of
the cat and the dog did you ever imagine
that you would be
interpreting sign language interpreting
for a cat who was looking for a family I
I can't imagine that that was part of
your schooling but I just want to say I
really appreciate you the city's move
toward greater
accessibility and that I'm watching you
up here and it's really cool thank you
thank you councilor councelor
k i I second that appreciation and also
the desire for a work session so on on
both counts thank you that would I think
that would be um great I uh don't have a
ton of things I do want to I think I
imagine City management might talk about
this but there will be a mobile food
pantry that I think is part of is in
connection from the city lift up program
uh Cad perigos and Roadrunner Food Bank
which I serve on the board of so um this
Friday at ATA Park in the morning so I I
I think that's an exciting um thing
coming up and I'm looking looking
forward to participating with that I
also just wanted to give everyone a
brief update on the Mo's progress and
they they are actually moved into
another or moving into another building
it's almost done and so I want to again
thank all of the city staff who have
helped in that transition including
getting a lot of Technology um troubles
sorted so thank you to the to the folks
and then in finance and and
um Miss beno's on ongoing support and
navigation of of this process the city
council I believe will see um our joint
new documents uh mid November related to
the mo and their new sort of status as
an organization somewhat separated from
the city
um and I think that that's all I'll talk
about today thank you
councelor flus yeah I just uh want to uh
uh councelor Graham and I have serve on
the Las Cruses Community Schools board
and um it it's really I just want to
report that it's it's um very successful
we entered into the um mou with or the J
jpa um yeah joint Powers agreement with
the school district in was finally
signed off in uh I think January or
February of
2019 and the schools are blossoming um I
mean literally they're just popping up
uh
throughout uh Las Cruses and um in some
cases outside for example uh donana
Elementary School is not within the city
of Las Cruses it's in the county but um
but the agreement is of course with the
public schools and um and they're doing
a a wonderful job uh the uh well the
board is the schools are doing a
fantastic job and uh and it keeps
growing um the other thing I want to
bring up is that um Katrina ginz I just
want to give a shout out to her uh she's
uh really a planner and um we have been
hosting a um know your government
um uh
what is it it's no your government and
we work with Las Gus's uh high schools
um
what what city what city no is it no
your city no no no it's not look I was
one of the founders I know the name no
no no it's I'm just kidding um that is
the correct name isn't it yeah it's no
your government and it's it's uh the
League of Women Voters uh approached the
city several years ago and then we've
been doing that every year but my my uh
hat really goes off to uh Katrina
because she's already organizing it um
and I think it's wonderful because I
think in Prior years we wait until
December when everybody's gone and then
we're you know chasing around but I yeah
so that's you know there's a lot of
things that we do with the community
that uh doesn't really get
um praised or with our staff and it's
just amazing the work everybody does so
there's a lot of other stuff but not for
today thank you thank you Council bres U
mayor protemp thanks mayor thanks
everyone I apologize I couldn't be there
today but thank you so much to Christine
and Adrien for getting me all set up to
join you virtually I just have a couple
of things um I attended a lot of the
ccj um legislative committee that was
held at NMSU a couple of weeks ago and I
just want to give thanks to everyone who
participated uh especially Chief story
for the presentation he gave that was
just really alarming regarding youth um
and uh crime relating to juveniles I um
you know I always there's always
something about a task force or another
committee that feels some somewhat
daunting at times but I do feel like it
would be important for us to um bring in
some thought Partners you know F folks
like FYI the schools you know folks who
work with you specifically to begin
talking about how we could best address
some of these issues because it it was
deeply deeply concerning
and um I think if we have uh we have
great minds in the city and I think uh
we just need to come together to to
think about some Pathways forward
and then the other thing I wanted to
speak about was the uh bench warrant
issue that I've been raising for several
months now at Municipal courp the $100
bench warrant issue that creates a
debtor's core essentially poor folks who
are going through the criminal justice
system are just given more money on top
of uh a sentence and it just creates
this debtor's court situation and I
would really love to address that um
since we're putting in requests before
the end of the year uh before the end of
the year would be great I've just you
know been talking about this for a while
and one of the biggest reasons one of
the biggest reasons I want to just to
for us to talk about this is because I
know that enforcement on shopping carts
and well the panhandling ordinances has
has begun and um after some
conversations with some attorney friends
I I realized that silly me should have
really Iz this before but um if someone
is giving if someone is given a citation
for example having a shopping cart and
they do not they do not follow through
that citation and they do not go to
court on to follow through on that
citation there will then be a warrant
for their arrest and so there is a very
high possibility for that person to then
be detained go to jail perhaps have to
pay $500 fee and then on top of that uh
a00 $ bench warrant fee so I think the
more we can minimize that kind of impact
on poor people would be wonderful and
would really love to see something like
this come forward soon thank you
mayor okay thank you and yeah we'll
definitely get with Brad and judge fosa
on those
uh on those fees for the uh court fees
that they have we can look at that CU
usually at the end it turns out to be uh
written off as uncollectibles anyway so
that's something we can definitely
address um on Friday I did attend the
veterans uh standown on Valley Drive uh
it was uh it was a very nice
organization to see a lot of veterans in
our community come out and assemble uh a
standown to help veterans that are
homeless and others needing clothing and
other other care kits supplies haircuts
things so kudos to all the veterans in
in our community uh for helping other
veterans and all the other uh vendors
that came out to help out with the
supplies and with that I just again want
to send a reminder out uh veterans
parade is going to be November 9th so
please come out and support our our
local veterans uh with that I'll turn it
over to our city manager
he thank you mayor Enrique May prend
City Council
uh econic T city manager and I I do have
a few announcements I appreciate
councelor cran uh mentioning the the uh
mobile food pantry happening October
25th uh at apaka Park from 7:00 to 10:
a.m. so I don't have to share too much
because you did already so thank you for
that the animal ordinance just an update
uh for everyone uh just wanted to uh let
you know that this is on our radar uh we
do have it set as as a work session
there's uh two work sessions left left
um du due to the holiday schedule so we
have November December but um we have it
scheduled for November the 12th uh right
now for for a work session so um city
council I if if it's an easy work
session we definitely come before the
end of the year but if there's things
that we need to work on and need to be
workshopped um we may need another work
session but if all goes to plan and it's
always tough for on on something this
sensitive uh and very important uh but
depending how that meeting
goes we do understand that it's critical
to bring it by the end of the year but
we may need to uh bring it in year 2025
but you tell us how you would like to
proceed after work session okay thank
you on that and then parks and wreck we
have an update on a shout out to our
residents this uh uh on Saturday October
12th keep L cr's beautiful
hosted TOS Nas Community wide cleanup
event where over 600 volunteers
collected over 13,000 lb of trash
throughout our city uh shout out to
volunteers they'll continue to remove
litter in our city until October 31st if
you would like to volunteer uh feel free
to reach out to kcb uh at 575 52845 06
or just talk to our parks and W uh
department and
um city
managers office Great American ShakeOut
we have an emergency prep preparedness
drill that occurs uh once a year we've
been doing this for the past few years
this happens about 35 million uh people
around the world uh participate in
What's called the Great American
ShakeOut where they prepare drill uh
emergency preparation and many of you
may have been in our our city building
when fire alarms are going off that's
that's part of getting our our uh our
drills and our our security system and
fire alarms ready we had this that
occurred last Thursday October 17th that
approximately 10: a.m. this event took
place here at City Hall and in the
future we look to expand to other
facilities um this exercise included a
fire drill at an active shooter exercise
this is what uh we added to this year
typically was a fire alarm and we are uh
working with the staff to build each
year to do something more and this year
uh that's where expanded to an active
shooter drill so we give kudos to
Vanessa King facility administrator
Anthony Garcia building up Ops
supervisor our IG uh Charles Tucker uh
who has uh emergency background Chief
story uh Chief Smith and then all our
city hall floor coordinators and City
Hall security team kudos to you all um
and then our assistant city manager
Sonia uh assisting with this we
appreciate U all their help the active
shooter exercise had three departments
programs participating one on each floor
we had Economic Development payroll and
legal that were selected and it was a
surprise no one knew which division or
Department was going to get selected uh
so because they were training uh they
were uh prepared and all went well
everyone did an outstanding job exiting
the building we were able to complete
that exercise within 17 minutes uh we
continued offer training during October
this includes hands only CPR stop the
bleed and AED
training and an update from Public Works
um there are a total of 45 streets as
part of this project uh the project is
is a $1.2 million project uh contracted
by American pavement and this is uh a
completed project uh
in as part of the 45 streets that were
completed uh some of it includes Spruce
belts Nevada Le and Osa sections of
these streets were completed in this
project um and this is estimated to be
done at the end of this month just want
to give everyone a heads up on that
again Public Works kudos to public works
this is a micr surfacing project um that
touches about 45 streets so I just named
uh the biggest streets if you have any
questions on that David has the full
list or myself and we can scan it over
to you on that and then Community
Development just two more announcements
City Las crusis is the highest rated
city in New Mexico for our flood plane
management again for 2024
thanks to our public works for the help
in putting us over the top and to our
community development department and
city clerk our uh one and only city
clerk Christine
Riva uh she miss ARA will be sitting on
a panel on Friday October 25th at the Ia
connect conference in Albuquerque New
Mexico so just wanted to give her shout
outs on
that mayor that's it for me thank
you okay uh motion to adjourn so moved
second
gram this is on the motion to adjourn
the meeting councelor McClure yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor fles yes
councelor bomo yes and mayor
yes e