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all right well good afternoon everyone
welcome to the uh city council meeting
today is November 20th 2023 it's
approximately 1: pm p.m before we have
our Pledge of Allegiance I'm going to
ask if you please rise for a brief
moment of silence as we reflect back on
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
cruus police department and the Los crus
fire department as they keep our city
safe 247 365 and in two more days on
November 22nd we'll mark the 60th uh
anniversary uh the assassination of
President John F
Kennedy
also you join me in the pledge
please United
States thank
you okay as uh we will start off our
meetings with the pets of the week Amy
def Felix
who
yes yes that's right thank you for
reminding me counselor also if I could
please have you rise for a brief moment
of silence on passing of first lady rosn
Carter who passed away yesterday I
believe thank you thank you
councelor okay so as we begin we have
our pets of the week and looks like Amy
def Felix is on Zoom so Amy are you
there yes hello I'm here
okay hello everyone I'm Amy Felix I'm
one of the rescue coordinators for the
Animal Services Center the missia valley
I'm the one that picks Pets the week and
presents them um every week and as
always well let me start by sharing my
screen presentation there we
go all
righty and um let me turn off my video
just so I don't get that cut off just in
case there we go um as always we start
off with our cat of the week um our cat
of the week this week his name is Love
Bug his animal number is
69270 and he says like my name suggests
I really am such a love bug I hardly
know what a stranger is because all the
humans I've met so far have been
immediate
friends come fall in love with me and
take me home I just can't wait to be
spoiled and lived on for the rest of my
days and then we have our dog of the
week her name is Astra um her number is
617 761 for reference if anyone's
interested um and she says I'm up ready
pocket pity at just under 40 lbs I love
playing with toys and I'd love my future
forever home to have a nice year for me
to plan of course I'll also love to go
and walk every to get our steps in as
long as I'm having fun staying active
and spending time with my forever family
I'll be the happiest girl I can
be and as far as events this week um of
course we still have our fall in love
adoption special so the entire month of
November um all of our adoptions are
only $75 um we will have an offside
adoption event this Saturday at the
farmers market of V crisis um I didn't
write the dates down but it is Saturday
November 25th we will be there from
10:00 a.m. to 1: p.m and um of course
located downtown Las cruus our booth is
oh pretty much always situated right by
org Outfitters um I am terrible with
cardinal directions I don't remember
which side that is but off one of the
ends um the one by organ Mountain
Outfitters um you'll find us you'll find
our awesome adoptable dogs um for you
guys to meet and fall in love hopefully
take home and now something that I think
is a little a little appropriate I think
for the Thanksgiving holiday um the
Thanksgiving safety in general um is of
course if you are the host for your
Thanksgiving lunch or dinner and you do
have kind of a socially anxious pet um
just keep in mind they are not obligated
to hang out with your guests if they
don't want to if they might be a little
bit spooked by strangers um we
definitely recommend having them in a in
a crate in a separate room um preferably
someplace that they're already
comfortable with if they already have
like their own room whether it's like a
crate in your bedroom or something nice
and cozy for them to hang out in while
you have guests um to keep them a lot
more comfortable a lot less anxious um
of course providing a longl lasting
enrichment so like a like a long like a
longstanding like chew toy or chew treat
those long um they're supposed to last a
long time like a little treat that'll
give give them a couple hours to work on
or a Kong Frozen with peanut butter
inside it or yogurt or Li fats anything
kind of to keep them busy um while
you're while you're busy entertaining
your guests and having um a good
Thanksgiving meal um but if you do have
pets that are a little bit more outgoing
and especially pets that love to beg for
Thanksgiving dinner there is there's no
harm in giving them a little bit of a
treat especially because it's a holiday
it's a special occasion but definitely
use moderation um I wouldn't suggest
giving them like a fullon Thanksgiving
dinner like entirely but definitely you
can add some like little bits of turkey
or vegetables or just a little bit of
grav into their kibble they all a meal
um something nice uh something small
like um nothing too extra on the
calories I suppose in addition to their
meal just so they can get like a little
a little special treat um definitely no
bums like no
like or anything like that um sugary
Foods especially xylol is a toxic to
dogs so know xylol are artificial
sweeteners if your desserts might have
that um or high sodium foods like ham or
anything else with high sodium um only
just because that can impact their their
gastrointestinal system their stomach's
a little bit more um Spike their blood
sugar if it's extra sugary Foods um
bones like chicken bones turkey bones
are fragile um and if they um like dogs
don't really when they eat like chicken
or turkey they're super excited they're
not they don't they're not necessarily
careful and that could be a choking
hazard or the bones could like a break
apart they're a little bit fragile so
they can snap and it could injure them
so definitely be careful just um defin
well cooked boneless turkey meat some
vegetables like green beans and potatoes
and maybe a little bit of gravy is kind
of the um optimal sort of little creat
for them um a a lot of veterinary
clinics kind of Nationwide really see
this a spike in what's called
pancreatitis after holidays especially
like Thanksgiving and Christmas um and
that's when um the dogs or maybe even
sometimes cats but it's definitely
common in dogs um get a whole bunch of
like they load up on the turkey and
Thanksgiving meal they they end up
eating a lot and a lot of unhealthy
foods for them high and sodium high in
fat especially it can cause something
called pancreatitis which is a
inflammation of the pancreas and if it's
not treated it can be um very dangerous
for their health so here are some signs
of pancreatitis just for you to keep an
eye on it just in case so it's repeated
vomiting so an instance is something you
might be like a little bit wary of but
if it keeps repeating like several times
within the within a few hours like
within the day or night or periodically
over the next several days if you keep
noticing that they keep spitting up keep
vomiting um definitely get them checked
out at the vet clinic um if you see that
their abdomen is a little bit bloated
they look a little little rounder than
normal and it's even a little bit
painful like they might be a little
gassy and it's hurt it hurts for them
for you to touch them and their abdomen
um that's also a sign um if they have
diarrhea of course um a change in diet
for dogs and cats can cause diarrhea um
pretty quickly it does depend on their
stomachs but pets can have like delicate
systems um but diarrhea can be a common
common symptom of pancreatitis same with
lethargy so if they're not as active as
they normally are if they're more like
if um it's uncommon for them to be kind
of being listless laying around kind of
overall being low energy and not not
looking well um that's also a sign that
something's wrong and it could be
pancreatitis if it's in conjunction with
all these symptoms then of course fever
um their body is just kind of um knows
realizes is something wrong and they're
trying to actively fight it basically so
it look like their fever and kind of
that's definitely a s that you know that
they need to be seen by a vet um as
quickly as possible um but of course if
you keep the thanks giv facts within
moderation don't give them anything too
high in fat too high in sodium um you
can still let them celebrate a little
bit but you can prevent pancreatitis and
have them have them have a nice and a
safe and Happy Thanksgiving and rest the
holiday season thank you okay thank you
very much Amy so next we're going to
have Sarah Sarah rainy for the jobs of
the week are you there looks like you're
there yes I am thank you for having me
again let me share my
screen can you all see
that um not yet but looks like you're
getting ready too yeah we're just seeing
the title so far okay perfect
there we go okay for the jobs the week
we have still still not there yet Sarah
oh there you go okay thank you it's
sorry there's a little delay okay we
have for the city of Los cruus we have
the crime victim Advocate it it pays
$20.19 an hour and the position post
closes on
1127 um we also have for the city of Los
crues a police it support technician
that position starts at 2478 an hour and
the posting closes on the 27th as well
um for the White Sands Missile Range we
have a Security Administrative
specialist that pay ranges from $15 an
hour to $40 an hour depending on
experience and the posting closes in
January unless filled before
so um another local one is the msia
Valley Community of Hope they are
looking for a Supportive Housing
Services care manager um um the salary
wasn't posted so it depends on
experience the posting closes in
December Le Clin J Familia is looking
for an administrative assistant that
position pays 15590 an hour and the
posting closes on December 9th and then
lastly we have Frank supply company they
need a shipping and receiving clerk that
position pays between 26 and $36,000 a
year and that posting closes in
February um as always if anyone is
looking for any sort of employment
please come down to our office at 226
South alamaa Boulevard um you can call
us at 524 6250 or log on to employe andm
any one of our social media sites as
well we have Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
YouTube and now Tik Tok if you guys need
any more information feel free to reach
out to me or anyone in the Alama office
we appreciate you having us again thank
you mayor okay thank you very much Sarah
we appreciate it okay so now we're going
to go to some presentations of some
awards and I know you probably think
gosh there sure a lot of awards lately
well that's true because I've got what
two more meetings Christine before I
turn into a pumpkin so I and I wouldn't
say I've been procrastinating but it's
just you know just doing a lot of
catchup catching up so I want to ask if
uh John Moscato Dean rigs and Royal
Jones would
please come
forward to my right
please your
left so many of us know uh John mcaro
he's usually the spokesperson for um s
nor or the Metro um very there a
subdivision but uh these are two of his
um Partners but I just want to say a
couple things one for those of you who
aren't aware of that great subdivision
that one that's
really is just uh making uh so many hous
just it's turning to so many places to
live counselor Kuran that's her District
I believe it's uh probably the fastest
growing part of the city and I remember
when John and had come to council years
ago when what he was proposing I always
joke with him I said you had to have
read every one of the council members
when they're running for office and you
built the subdivision based on that
because it has everything from
connectable streets to walking paths
energy efficient homes uh solar R houses
and the list goes on you know golf
course and I think you have certain
areas for businesses to move in there
and then recently you volun here to come
up with a percent should we get a a
grant to be able to extend Mesa Grande
um South and that's a big that's a big
to-do but recently as the voters passed
a uh resolution to build fire station is
that number eight or eight or number
nine Chief eight nine okay
so John is very humble very quiet and I
don't know how it came came out of the
conversation and it turns out that uh
John and his Partners have donated that
land that 3 acres which is worth about
$1.2 million so that we can build that
fire station on that land
so I just want to thank you all for your
generosity I mean when you get right
down to it you are the really what I
guess the gold standard of what
developers should look like you know
they they do a good product you give
back to the community and you don't give
us a bunch of land that's sitting in the
flood zone you know what I mean and
that's really good and so we wanted to I
wanted to give you all the mayor's
distinguished service award for your
generous contribution to the city of Los
crues for fire station
9 November 2023 so this first one is to
John
Moscato Dean rig SI Norte land Holdings
for your generous contribution City Los
cruus Fire Station Number 9 November
[Applause]
2023 here you guys can have these if you
want and last but not least Royal Jones
s Nory land Holdings for your generous
contribution to the city of Los crues
for fire station number nine November
2023 any of you would like to say
anything thank you guys so much for
recognizing us for this and thank you
Council and mayor for all the things
you've done to help us I know John works
with you mainly and in the end we always
seem to come up with the right thing
that works for the city it works for us
it works for you guys and just thank you
so much for for working with this the
way you do and fire chief we glad we're
able to help and we really want to we're
really a big part of L rusus if you it
seems like every year since we've got
this development going now along with
Sona where half the new homes built in
lusus are built on the property that
we're selling to the 12 different
Builders from from the area that are
building homes so it's it's quite the
good project it's all green development
it's all doing and like he said and what
the council has been wanting so we love
love working with you guys and I know
that recently we had a vote and we're
losing a couple of you and we hate to
see you go but thank you for all you've
done and all the things we've done
together but Tessa
and appreciate that Roy thank you very
much let's take a quick
picture all right that uh concludes our
our awards banquet so we'll go ahead and
awards presentation we'll go ahead and
get back up there
there okay so this is the conflict of
interest statement this is where I'll
ask if any member of the city council
city manager or city manager staff has
any known conflict of interest on any
item on the agenda none Grant
none okay seeing none now we're going to
go to public participation this is where
members of the public can speak to
council for a total of seven minutes
three minutes for um public discussion
and four minutes for anything that's on
the agenda if it is on the agenda we're
going to ask if you could please wait
until that item comes forward so that
you can speak because Council won't be
able to respond to you if otherwise
unless you have to leave just you know
just let us know so so I usually start
and on the uh anything you want to talk
about I'm going to ask that it not be
pertaining to any pending litigation
okay so I usually start on my left and I
start on the first row and nobody's
there so second
row okay
third oh yes
Terry
May mayor protim Ganda and counselors
I'm here today because I watched the
videos of the City Council meetings for
November the 6th excuse me Terry did did
you state your name Terry Miller okay
Sor sorry and October 16th and there
were two things that made such an
impression on me that I decided to make
a public comment the first was the
process of the city council went through
during the November 6th meeting to
address the proposed demolition of the
field or home in the historic mosquit
district once the presentation was by
the staff was over all of of you
immediately began asking thoughtful
important questions and all of you
listen carefully to the citizens who
came to speak then when all was said and
done each of you came to the conclusion
to table the demolition to make certain
this was the right and legal step to
take it was clear from your actions you
are concerned about preserving our local
history as much as possible thank you
the second reason I'm here has to do
with something I noticed during public
comments at the October 16th meeting
there were two issues the majority of
the speakers talked about the first
issue addressed concerns about vandalism
theft public drug use and problems
related to homelessness and and is an
issue that has been front and center at
our City Council meetings for months the
second issue addressed the safety of our
roads for bicyclist in particular both
issues are extremely serious but there
was a difference in the way they were
presented to the city council this time
the first four speakers expressed their
concerns about the crime issue but it
was the fourth speaker a business owner
rightly distressed about vandalism at
her business who near the end of her
time asked the city council what she
could do to help lower crime in the city
then the next three speakers addressed
road safety for bicyclists and talked
about a plan called Vision zero I looked
it up and learned Vision zero is a
strategy that focuses on eliminating all
traffic fa fatalities and severe
injuries while increasing safe healthy
and equ Equitable Mobility for all
during one of the presentations the
speaker said I don't want to complain I
want to offer
ideas plus all three of these speakers
be belong to a group or groups that work
with the city on bicycle safety issues
so what I realized was these four
speakers clearly were more interested in
finding ways to resolve resolve these
problems rather than just complain about
them and that's how we citizens of Los
Cruses get things done and that's how we
keep our city growing and thriving
because when we work together to solve
problems that every Community faces we
absolutely can make all the difference
in the world thank you for all you do
for all of us and Happy
Thanksgiving thank you Terry appreciate
your
comments yes counselor
Miss Miller I just want to thank you for
everything that you contribute to our
community especially uh for being
founder of the readers Alliance a
children's reading Alliance and how it's
helped many of our children throughout
the years to become Book Lovers and
they've learned uh to read and to love
reading so thank you for that and thank
you for all your contributions to our
city thank you Mr
Mayor okay yes sir come forward
please and if you would state your name
I'd appreciate
it my name is Jeffrey Michael field uh
I'm a resident of Las crusis residing at
2500 West Picacho before I begin uh May
these be passed out I made copies of
what I'm going to read so for the mayor
and the counselors give those to the
city clerk that would be
great
as I stated I am Jeffrey field I am a
veteran and before I
begin I'd like to make note that today
November
20th and every November
20th is Universal Children's Day also
known as World Children's Day it was
spearheaded by the United Nations in
1954 and it is considered the most
universally accepted human rights treaty
in
history I'm here today to advocate for a
ceasefire between Israel and
Palestine two Nations that have been in
Conflict for
decades beginning in the mid 20th
century it is one of the world's longest
continuing
conflicts this struggle has caused
immense suffering for both
peoples it is
time past time for us to seek a peaceful
solution one I believe must begin with a
cessation of
hostilities I am here today to request
you to urge you to pass a resolution
advocating for a ceasefire
I am a veteran who lost two friends in
the Vietnam
War I did not see battle there instead I
worked stat side with those soldiers
whose wounds were of the body and of the
mind and many veterans like myself were
reminded of the trauma of War this past
Veterans
Day Dennis Fritz a retired command chief
Master Sergeant in the Air Force said
this in an NPR story published November
13th if you wish to read the story
you'll find the address in your packet
he said as I reflect on what's going on
today in the Middle East in particular
you know my goal is to be able to
celebrate Veterans Day and not add more
to Memorial
Day a ceasefire would not only bring
immediate relief to those affected by
the
conflict but it would also create an
opportunity for diplomacy and
dialogue a ceasefire could be the first
step towards a more stable and secure
future for both Israel and Palestine
excuse me Mr Fields your your three
minutes are up wow yeah I know go by
fast yes sir and I appreciate you at
least giving the council members uh
copies yes and you have two extras there
okay and um we appreciate your service
to our country as well thank you very
much sir okay so that was a second row
oh
yes good morning mayor M miyashima May
proen Gand and City councilors my name
is Frank Lopez I um I call Las scu's my
home I used to I lived here and then I
moved to Albuquerque for like six years
and then I've moved back and I'm
actually here just to say thank you
actually um I've lived in some tough
cities Oakland there's been some serious
crime in Oakland Albuquerque some
serious crime in Albuquerque and I know
many stories from those cities uh lasus
doesn't compare to any of those but I I
I want to share in this moment right now
of a week of Thanksgiving where so many
folks for giving thanks I we just ended
a campaign and I want to acknowledge uh
the work that you all do the incredible
uh sacrifices that you make and I work
by way of my work I should give just a
tiny little bit of background I work
with I have worked with hundreds of
community leaders in three different
states and many cities and I've got I
have a business background and so when I
think about the work that you all have
done has been so thoughtful and
courageous and on another level and so
I'm very proud to be back in Las Cruses
and I'm proud to have all of you as my
elected officials and I want to thank
especially um those who are moving on
you know Meen Gand and the work you've
done over many many years with children
and and uh counselor I don't know you
very well but the work you do in health
and then so many of you other who who
speak about the issues that are
happening in this community so with that
um I uh thank you and want to just
acknowledge the incredible work that you
do and thank you for the the not only
the the work that goes into a campaign
but the work in in serving as a
counselor I've listened to some of the
sessions and I'm amazed with how brutal
people can be and uh and I just want to
say that I'm with you and lots of people
are with you so a lot of gratitude and
thank you very
much thanks
Frank it's good to see you back in town
so that's good I thought that was you
but I wasn't too sure so okay so that
was uh SEC second row so no one on the
third row how about uh fourth
row fifth row
yes oh representative Luhan good to see
you
I'm Lynn moer a resident of district one
thank you all for your steady thoughtful
and usually effective public service
today I want to recognize and thank
mayor miyagishima for his almost 16
years of exemplary service to Las Cruses
I also want to thank councelor AA for
her Discerning and un stenting service
service to us as well my particular
gratitude today goes to my city
councelor mayor protim Cassandra gandra
who has represented my fellow District 1
residents in me for eight years with
honor integrity intelligence and Grace
mayor protm gandra has served not merely
with diligence and incredible hard work
which has been awe inspiring but she has
been a creative and enlightened advocate
for Las cruus and each one of its
citizens always operating with class she
has been fearless and filled with
genuine empathy when tackling problems
she has also consistently risen far
above the smallness of those who
habitually complain and or verbally
attack when the council makes decisions
with which they
disagree mayor protm gandra has never
just paid lip service to the highest
aspirations and attributes of Public
Service she has gotten into the trenches
to accomplish that with solid persistent
and very compassionate work thank you
Cassandra I look forward to the time
when you will bring your inspired
service to us all
[Applause]
again
thank you Lynn that was very nice okay
so that was fifth row anyone else on the
fifth row sixth
row seventh
row eighth last row anyone else on my
left okay so I'll switch to the right um
second row yes ma'am please come forward
state your name
please yeah if you could give that to
the city clerk I'd appreciate
it
um I want to thank you all for letting
me speak for a few minutes uh my name is
Arlene Martinez and I'm a retired
teacher but most importantly I'm a
grandma of four kids three of which uh
play at the Hatley Sports Complex that's
what I want to talk about uh baseball
softball and soccer provide a lot of fun
for families I mean grandparents go
aunts and uncles the kids you know we
all go to support the kids there and it
is a lot of fun there isn't a lot of
entertainment in my opinion enough
entertainment for kids we don't have a
bowling alley anymore we don't have a
skating rink we don't have water park we
don't have bumper cars but we do have
the ball fields and uh I would like to
see some improvement going on over there
uh the children it helps to keep them
fit it helps to keep them them on track
it uh helps them to uh get good grades
at school and then join the High School
athletics which is great it provides
income for our city because we have
tournaments and you know people come
they spend the weekend here they spend
money at restaurants and so forth so I
think it's a good
allaround uh facility for everybody uh a
sport for everybody I read this from the
newspaper it says the Hatley Sports
Complex is the diamond of Los Cruz's
facility it has eight baseball fields
softball fields all in one spot with
Hardy Paws and mag complexes and it
sounds good on paper and it even looks
good in one of the pictures uh that I
have in my packet shows an aerial view
but when you look close it's really
quite different it it's uh sad in my
opinion um I know that money goes into
the fields I know that the leagues pay
money money to join U and I'm
specifically talking about the baseball
the boys baseball they pay
$475 a season and this year they didn't
get any playoffs they didn't get any
trophies I don't know where the money
went um I broke it all down for you and
I'm not going to read each section but
over
$3,875 is collected from just the boys
uh League I know that since John had Le
took over the girls softball team they
don't even charge a league fee they only
charge enough money to pay the umpires
so it can be beneficial to the kids it's
supposed to be about the kids and so
they pay the umpires $25 a game and I
don't know where all this money is going
to that these uh boys are are the fees
that they're getting but I do have some
pictures in my packet and talking about
the flooding and it looks really bad
over there I mean it's it's embarrassing
when you know people are coming from all
over the state to play at a tournament
and we have these fields not to mention
how poor conditioned that the that the
parking lot is is that my time yes ma'am
um it is but thank you again for sharing
this with us um I I think although I be
corrected that a lot of these monies go
stay with those associations they
collect them um and and also the bond
money sometimes can't be used for the
maintenance part of this but um if you
don't mind later you can leave your
contact information your email
information and we'll try to get you
some answers so that we can kind of move
forward from there
okay
sir good afternoon my name is James uas
and I was here April 7 I April 17th of
this year and I've come back to just
talk
about what I've noticed in society in
all districts and that is a direct
neglect of knowing law and of
law incorrect training by corrupted
parties causing crimes against one
another the supreme law of the land is
God's law and the Constitution not State
policies statutes or mandates ignorant
to law is
why we have been
divided as people and as a country
today I try to end by enforcing
ratification to all laws created after
the Constitution due to the errors in
all government documentation a lowercase
letter cannot be a capital letter and
cannot be replaced the L for the I is a
lie
until these laws are corrected and
ratified the same way the Constitution
was ratified one year after it was
written we should be on constitutional
law and what saddens me is that wrong
has become right and being right has
blinded everyone from seeing what is
wrong
never again I
hope we will use weak individuals and
let them be in control of Our Lives
never again will we vote the lesser of
two evils I was raised that a cheater
never wins and a winner never
cheats my family's motto is veritus vat
and it's Latin for truth
conquers words of advice as written
through
history
salvation comes from those who see the
Damned and when I look around and I see
the attempts and
the efforts that are falling short
because of the confusion of
the incorrect laws that should be voided
due to the errors and contractual
law we are facing a situation of
complete
collapse and we see it with two
presidencies you can tell a lot by an
individual depending on who they think
the president is so I don't ask who the
president is because asking will not fix
anything what fixes things is talking to
one another and knowing of law thank
you thank you James
okay so that was the second row anyone
on the third row like staff fourth
row no okay fifth
row sixth
row seventh row so no one on my
right okay well that concludes public
participation and now I'm going to read
the longest Clos meeting statement I've
ever
read in my 16 years oh and actually my
16 years was yesterday yeah because I
was I was a swor on November 19th
2007 so I would actually have 16 years
and one
month if God's willing okay so Clos
meeting statement lasusa city council
met in Clos session at 11:00 a.m. on
November 13th the following members were
in attendance counselors Karan vomo
Grant
Gand and myself Kim aashima staff pres
EOP city manager Biola perea
auditor Melanie teus Human
Resources JC Bor Borgo HR Human
Resources Patrick peek South Central
Solid Waste Authority Liam Beasley
accounting Linda sample City attorney
Ugo Costa see Valley Regional dispatch
Authority Clint ther Animal Services
Board Barbara bomo chief administrative
officer Sonia Delgado assistant city
manager Adrienne Whitmer utilities
Director Erica hakus Treasurer Ian TPO
assistant city manager Dominique
Rodriguez
utilities Bernice
Navaro Animal
Services Josie trino com troller Josh
saffle accounting Chris Garner auditing
lean Deo
Finance Ros Montoya Animal Services Joe
Richards Director of Human Resources
Jeremy story Chief Los Police
Department
Gabriel an a an anes Fe I sorry I
couldn't pronounce I couldn't write his
last name Metro
narcotics ver mon Yola accounting Randy
Larcher Metro
narcotics meeting adjourned at 11:35
a.m. for the record losr City Council
made in Clos session and only discussed
those limited items as stated in the
Post-it notice which was to conduct an
audit exit conference fiscal year 23 for
the city of Los cruus South Central
Solid Waste Authority Metro narcotics
msia Valley Regional dispatch Authority
and Animal Services Center of the msia
valley which was closed pursuant to nmsa
section 10 excuse me section 12- 6-5 to
section
12-6-4 okay so now we're going to go to
acceptance of the
agenda move to approve Graham seconded
Corin motion made by councelor Graham
second by councelor Corin Christine this
is on motion to accept the agenda as
presented councelor ABA yes councelor
Graham yes councelor bomo yes councelor
cran yes councelor flotes yes councelor
Ganda yes mayor
yes okay so now we're going to go to
item 8.1 resolution
24-54 move to approve second Corin
motion made by councelor Graham second
by counselor Corin and Sarah Gonzalez
will be
presenting
good afternoon Sarah Gonzalez with
Community Development Sarah I'll need to
swear you in for the upo part thank you
do you swear or affirm that the
testimony you are about to give is the
truth of nothing but the truth under
penalty of law I do thank you this is a
Varan appeal for the property located at
4053 Winter
Street currently the property is located
at 200 ft about 200 ft north of its
intersection of Holly Drive and Winter
Street It Is AO approximately .11 acres
in size zoned R1 BC which is our single
family high density conditional with a
single family residence currently on the
property here's a zoning map of the
subject property and the surrounding
area everywhere around this property is
some type of single family multif family
or mobile home park so you're looking at
a residential
district here's an aerial map of the
subject property highlighted in blue
towards the south portion which is close
on winter ERS as you can see the
question in case is basically this
carport that was placed onto the
property and has been heard by the
Planning and Zoning
commission just keep in mind that
Council will be reviewing another case
within this District um in the upcoming
months so for code requirements per
chapter 38 of the 2001 zoning code r1b
zoning designation properties do require
a 25t setback for any garages or
carports placed on the property from
from the front property
line on September 26 the Planning and
Zoning commission denied the proposal
for a 3 to3 vote with one commissioner
absent based on the following findings
or
recommendations the garage or carport
does not meet the minimum code standards
of 25 ft set back from the property line
the request for a 20 foot variance does
not meet the criteria outlined within
38-10 J and it also was not constructed
with a building permit so this was after
the fact in in this case now the
Criterion which Planning and Zoning the
Planning and Zoning commission can
approve a variance is three-fold based
on a
hardship when they look at this a
hardship can be based off of topographic
constraints is there an Ayo are there
hills is there going to be some type of
drainage easement in which you could not
place the structure in the appropriate
place on the property the second item in
which pnz looked at was going to be SP
of economic development that normally
becomes a hardship when we look at
businesses coming into town and they're
looking to deviate from parking stalls
they may need sign variances but it
doesn't necessarily run with a variance
directly for a carport for a
residence lastly could be a monetary
hardship a monetary hardship is defined
as an expense that is so expensive in
order to meet the intent of code or to
meet code regulations that it makes the
project unfeasible it does not mean that
a monetary hardship comes from
structures being placed on properties
unfortunately without those permits
being issued from staff or from the
city so with that the applicant did
provide justification in order to retain
the carport 5T from the front property
line this was an anniversary gift from
her late husband it does protect her and
her vehicles from weather damage there
were no complaints from the public
during the public hearing or prior to
the process taking place and the
structure does not comp on to utilities
I do want to note based on the property
itself as you can see in the site plan
highlighted in red is where the carport
structure currently exists there is a
12T utility easement that runs along the
front of the property there are
processes in which you may encroach into
a utility easement if it's approved
through utilities as well as any utility
provider so that would be Comcast Quest
Lumen any of those who have line
Communications running underneath in
this case there are Comcast and El Paso
Electric lines running through that
utility
easement here's a image of the structure
of the cport that is currently placed
within the front of the property it is a
metal carport with the four posts that
stand alone um a metal structure is
basically on top of the structure
itself with that staff did send out
notices to all the surrounding
properties and with that we've done it
twice now um so with we've only received
one phone call that only had an inquiry
their question was is if this variant
approved and they get to keep the
carport do they get one as well and that
generally becomes a consensus and as
staff had explained a variance is
specific to each property as it runs
with the land so a variance would only
be good for this property if this were
to be approved or denied they would have
to go through the same process in order
to acquire
one during the public hearing for pnz on
September 26 there were five members of
the public that did speak on the
applicants behalf and I do believe they
are here as well
today if Council decid decides to
approve the case and overturn pz's
decision there are conditions in which
staff would like to be placed onto the
property um with that both sides of the
structure to remain open as you pull out
of a driveway or a carport structure if
it is enclosed you lose your visibility
to the vehicles that are coming when you
get onto the street the second would be
is that the structure needs to be
attached to the home the reason we say
that is because accessory structures are
not permitted within the front yard
setbacks and so we'd want that attached
to the home making it primarily in
addition to that home
next would be to reduce the size outside
of the 12T utility easements knowing
that there is utilities ran through
there utility companies have no concerns
or issues whenever they do have to go
under concrete or they remove the
driveway structure but whenever there is
a building structure it makes it very
complicated a lot of times they need to
get in and service their utilities and
that's why they're now being placed
along the front as opposed to the rear
or the sides of the property and lastly
the applicant would need to obtain any
building permits and required
inspections to maintain that carport
structure
with this Council options are to AO and
approve which will overturn the pnz pnz
decision made on September 26 vote to
deny that will uphold a decision by the
pnz commission vote Yes with conditions
or vote to table and ask staff to find
additional information um one stated the
applicant is here as well as the
supporting staff that came with her last
time thanks
Sarah looks like we have question from
Council councelor FLOTUS G
com uh thank you Mr Mayor and thank you
Miss Gonzalez um what was uh is there a
rationale a reason given as to why um
the commission uh did not uh approve the
variance
or yeah because we're here
to listen to a an appeal
so is it just they just went by letter
of the law type of thing or I mean it it
seems that if you're if there's a
variance to be had um there's different
ways that it
um there there it could be remediated in
a sense in terms of following the things
that you
enumerated right so my question is was
all that brought up at the pnz and was
that discussed
and um the possibility of uh it sounds
like it could be feasible given the
everything you listed am I correct in
understanding that mayor counselor
flotes the presentation you hear today
is the same being that we are dealing
with an appeal case um the pnz
commission voted that essentially
because the 20 foot deviation did not
meet that criteria of those three
hardships based on topographic
constraints monetary hardship or spur of
econom ecomic development that is the
criteria in which they have the right to
approve a variance by not seeing any of
those that is where the PNC commission
deemed that it was not approved at that
point in time is it the only property
that has uh that sort of a
structure mayor council flood is there
is an additional one that was heard that
evening that will be coming forward to
um City Council on December 4th so there
were two cases presented that evening
over the past five years we've had seven
different variance cases come forward
for carports two of which have been
approved and five have been denied okay
but in that neighborhood m in this
neighborhood just the two just the two
so um you're and who appealed it the the
property owners appealed and you're
presenting mayor council fles yes that
is correct the appealant is the
appealing body so the applicant is the
property owner and staff brings it
forward for the appeal process um you
did um list ways that the uh property
owner can overcome that veto or that no
vote
um right I mean do this do that and and
there won't be because it's that
easement issue I think that the city's
concerned about mayor council flotes
that would be correct staff did not
identify any safety health or welfare
issues with the carport structure we
just did notify or notice that the 12
utilities me could become a problem if
there were any services or line services
that needed to be accessed from our
utility companies and they would have
have to remove that structure in order
to obtain access to those so that was
the only concern that staff had when we
take it to pnz we provide the
recommendation knowing that staff's
availability to recommend approval
follows the same three criteria and then
we present that to the Planning and
Zoning commission Planning and Zoning
commission does have the right to say
yes or no at that time during that pnz
hearing though they did vote to say no
based on a 3 to three vote we were
missing one
commissioner but in um in your
professional opinion and your knowledge
um the the uh things that would make it
possible to have that is that
attainable does it
U is the easement requirement um how
should I
say does it eliminate any um difficulty
in accessing uh that easement I mean
because you did say if this this this or
that is done so does that remove the uh
possibility of not being able to access
the
easement mayor council flotes um if the
structure is not to be removed or cut
back then it could make it very hard to
obtain use of that easement if any of
the utility companies need go need to go
in we just provide from staff's point of
view an approval with conditions that if
you do overturn it you do have the right
to place these conditions and these are
the concerns that staff would have if we
move
forward if anyone comes into the
Community Development Department we do
provide the regulations of a 25 foot
setback is required at the time that
they come in so for us to justify
recommending approval on a variance for
a carport when it does not meet the
standard is the unability that we have
that's why it goes through the public
hearing
process but if we were to say we
overturn the decision of the pnz um
would they be
um would they be able to meet those uh
requirements that you have set forward
mayor council flotes I believe the
applicant would address that to say that
if she was willing to at least eliminate
or meet those requirements to move it
outside of that utility easement as she
is here so I would let her have you know
the speak upon if she would want to
remove it as whole or if she could
actually meet that requirement to remove
it out of the utility easement and um at
what
cost would she be able to afford it
because everything is costing an arm and
a leg these
days mayor council flotas that's a great
question as far as the cost because when
it is constructed they do provide you a
cost at when you actually pay for it
there's always the cost of removal we
have seen multiple in town that are
removed after they've paid for them
hence the idea that a monetary hardship
is not the request of asking for you to
keep it or to maintain it it's the
monetary hardship of it wasn't feasible
in the beginning and do you have any
idea how much uh that would cost do just
is there any ballpark
figure mayor council flotes I would
direct maybe Larry Nichols may have a
cost estimate of removing possibly we
need development
director thank you um Larry Nichols
community development
director uh mayor and counselor
Flores uh there's two issues here in
addition to the setback requirement and
being built over the easement uh this U
structure never obtained a building
permit uh to to do the structure a lot
of this could have been avoided had that
permit been acquired we would not have
we would advise them uh not to build in
over the
easement um your your um question
regarding
cost
um I guess it would be somewhat of a
reverse of what it cost a build to begin
with in other words taking it down to
put it back in to
compliance uh it would probably be in a
Range of2 to
$3,000 thank you Mr Nichols um so M
Gonzalez
um so with all these Provisions that
you've provided uh all these
conditions um would it then be safe I
mean would it be safe and would they
would there be access to that line mayor
councelor Flo is yes at that point
because they would require a building
permit and staff can actually do the
proper inspections on the site being
outside of those utility easen staff
would have no concern or any issues as
far as safety okay and a sa for example
they have to save up to pay for the uh
expense somehow I think it's going to be
more than 2 or 3,000 everything just
costs so much these days um is there a
time limit as to when they can um
Implement those changes to comply with
the the requirements here mayor and
councilor Flores a lot of times we do
work with the property owners especially
coming into Code Compliance we work
between three to six months in order to
get compliance achieved great thank you
so much Miss Gonzalez thank you Mr
Nichols thank you Mr chair okay we have
mayor Pro and then councelor Beno thank
you mayor thank you Sarah for your
presentation
um I have similar questions but what
really struck me and gave me pause was
um site line a site people coming in and
out can you talk to me a little bit more
about
that mayor and mayor proem Gonda based
on the property whenever you look at the
side property lines the reason why we
request that these not be enclosed is
because the minute you come to back out
here you may not see that vehicle coming
down the street so by enclosing the
structures that's why we recommend any
carports to remain open as you've
limited your site view whenever you're
reversing out of those
properties so when you talk about
enclosed it the top or you mean the side
or what what are you is is it enclosed I
don't see it enclosed mayor mayor proem
it's essentially once the permit has
been given for the CPO structure to
remain yeah several times we do end up
finding that these become enclosed on
the these
sidewalls and so with that we do not
want this to become a fully enclosed
structure as we are here for a carport
not for a garage got you Sarah got you
so okay all right I appreciate that very
much and then you said there's going to
be a second one that's
coming mayor mayor pretend that is
correct we'll be hearing a second case
on December 4th okay all right thank you
thank you those are all my questions
thank you councel bomo thanks mayor I
have a couple of leg iCal questions my
biggest question is how this got on the
rate of of Community Development and pnz
it's odd to be doing a whole appeal over
a carport to me feels odd mayor
councelor bomo a lot of times what
happens is Community Development finds
out because there are a few options
Neighbors in the neighborhood may have
called because they were maybe told that
they weren't allowed to have one and so
a new one comes up and they were not
given that permission um sometimes it is
codes driving through neighborhoods
notices a new carport comes up within
their district and then so they've
contacted Community Development we
generally see any of a carport variances
coming through I would say 80% of them
are coming through after they've been
constructed and so from there we take
them through the process as if this is
the application these would be your
steps these are your fees and that's
where we make it in today um Planning
and Zoning commission is a final action
body however they do have the right to
appeal to city council city council
decides to deny or return it as well
they do have the next steps to go to
District
Court on the map of the community I sort
of clocked maybe a second one and that
might 4093 I think is that the one
you're talking about mayor council bom
yes that is correct that um really my
question though is on the utility
easements um you said you said El Paso
Electric and com Comcast thank
you is the concrete driveway not a
barrier to those easement mayor
councelor Beno it is a barrier but is
not a structure rure and so it's a lot
easier to either bore underneath
depending on where the actual lines are
so they may be able to Tunnel underneath
a driveway or the removal of the
concrete is easier for Access um a lot
of times the problem is if there's a
full structure above they have to remove
all of that structure in order to get
underneath or remove that concrete as
well and so the cost becomes that price
that's why a lot of the easements now
are located along the front property
boundaries so you're only disturbing a
portion of the driveway in order for
them to access it they may not tear up
the entire driveway but it's just in
case they have an access or need access
to that point at time um when I spoke
with Comcast as to would they recommend
structures being in utility easements or
are these a preferred establishment they
said no because a lot of times El Paso
Electric had one chance where a deck was
built over electrical easement and the
power went out and to service 3,000
people they demolished basically that
deck and did not recover the cost and so
the recommendation is not to place them
in there when you know that they're
actually utility connections sometimes
we have Corner lots that utilities are
run along the front but maybe not along
the side that's where we do the
encroachment agreement so the applicant
can do those knowing that there's no
utilities ran through there but if they
ever need to extend it they
could a porch is different than
a literally this is just one roof it
seems
like um look I oh and then you said the
conditions you said they would have to
reduce it to me that feels like the
reduction would no longer serve a
purpose then the the carport would no
longer serve a purpose of a
carport mayor councelor Beno because the
carport is 20 feet deep and it's only
encroaching seven you still get 13 ft
out of that structure that would be
inside the 25t set back that's already
required because all the garages within
this neighborhood were built to their
setbacks at 25 ft so it still gives that
13t extension to in order to have it and
then meet the utility easement request
okay honestly I'm inclined to
um lean with the resident they and so I
will say this to the resident that I
don't and I don't know where you are I'm
sorry that um oh
hello
um that by doing by leaving it then it
sets a president and then that becomes
harder and harder to um enforce right so
I
you know that's the only hard part about
these appeals is that we could be like
yeah this this looks good to me this is
fine but then then that becomes a new
point and I think that makes it really
difficult for staff to move forward in
the future
um and
so sorry I was distracted um yeah that's
all my question Sarah I think oh no I
had one more question is it not
currently attached a mayor council Moma
no it is not there is separation but in
speaking with the applicant there is a
way that she's already talked to a
contractor in order to make it attached
so it could be feasible oh this is the
other thing I was going to say is there
a way for us to give so it's clear that
there is um a lot of miscommunication
between contractors and residents is
there a way for the city to that we can
send out letters memos reminding people
about um the rules to contact the city
before building structures and things
like that it just feels like you know
such a burden to Residents to then be
have to do all of this mayor and
councelor bomo that we can go ahead and
work with our Pio office to get those
out um another recommendation would be
during district meetings let everybody
know to contact us that's what we're
here for we open you know this is all we
can do is have people come in and ask
the questions that we'd like them to ask
prior to coming to these cases because
they do become unfortunate we're working
with our codes office right now to also
whenever applicants come in with
structures that have been built without
permits we try to find out the contact
information of who's constructing them
Cod is now informing them that they need
permits they are required and what
they're actually putting these
applicants or Property Owners through
okay thank
you thank you do you have a question
counselor and before you get to that
Larry just approximately what would be
the cost of a building permit for this
just
approximately mayor Nicholas for the
record
the uh it's based on valuation I'm
guessing that the carport probably was
in the somewhere in the value of uh
3,000 to to 5,000 uh probably the permit
would be less than
$85 some that nature okay great thank
you councelor
Graham thank you thank you mayor and
thanks for all the information so I want
to lead with a quick story before I ask
my question um just coincidentally I was
looking into getting a carport like two
weeks ago and um luckily the contractor
with whom we were working knew the
process um and actually like too sad but
I I I'm not going to actually get a
carport because we just don't have the
room for it but without a knowledgeable
contractor and I'm just kind of echoing
what you were saying councelor Beno um I
could have seen me like willy-nilly
putting up this car report and not
realizing that I was in violation of
codes also thank you Community
Development you were lovely to work with
I I don't get a carport but I'm not
salty about it it's going to be okay um
but yeah I I just want to Echo the idea
that contractors need to need to be
following in line uh knowing the knowing
the process because I had no idea um my
question uh for the applicant or
appellant I'm never sure what the okay
great um is this are the conditions
something that the appellant is willing
and able to
meet okay be before we have you answer
that ma'am we're going to need to have
you the city clerk's going to have to
swear you in hey my name is Tracy
Stevenson and I'm the resident at 4053
Winter
Street and okay she's going to she's
going to ask you the Tracy do you swear
or affirm that the testimony you're
about to give is the truth and nothing
but the truth under penalty of law I do
thank
you the question
was uh willing and able to meet the
conditions that were laid out in the
presentation yes okay
fantastic um well I just wanted to come
up and say um my husband who who had
this built for me
um the story was like yours we saw these
they're they're going up everywhere and
by the way there is more on our street
there's two more now I don't know if
they're in the easements or not there's
two more on our street and a little
further down um they're behind fences
and they're up front but mine's obvious
it's right in the driveway but my
husband um we Lov carports and we would
go by places I'd be in neighborhoods we
had an automotive shop me and my husband
did here in town and he passed away on
March the 3 and back in January we had a
discussion early in the morning having
coffee and he said come April he said I
really want to do something special this
year and I said you know I plan I plan
them every year I think it'd be nice if
you did something for us this year and
he's and he shook his head didn't know
what he was going to do but he obviously
was thinking about it well um time went
on and then comes February and February
we had a he um a health issue in our
family with our son um a heart issue and
he was taken to Dallas and you know you
get busy with life and you forget about
anniversaries and things like that was
we were very scared my husband um we had
four employees and so he stayed back and
he made sure that every he just kind of
let he took care of things while I was
up there with our son um in Dallas and
um um after that things were looking
pretty good he came through his surgery
very well and we were very blessed
because cardiologist told him he he had
like three months to live and we were at
two months to live because he because he
had something called a unicep unicep uh
what is it a uni hused valve replacement
and that's very rare like 5% of the
population have that have that so I
could see my husband being extremely
stressed and uh you know our son is our
like our right-hand man at our shop he
was my husband used to say I he wish we
had three more of him and uh and anyways
um long story short we we got through
that come March 3rd March 3rd comes
rolling around it's a Friday morning
we're having coffee and we're talking
about the weekend it's a Payday for our
guys and we're we're we're speaking
about um just what we're going to do
this weekend and then
um um he decided to go get ready for
work and he comes back and he says uh I
need to sit down I don't feel very well
and I said Le please sit down what's
wrong and he says I don't know I can't
seem to catch my breath and I said
please sit down I'll get i'll get um
breakfast ready for us so I turned
around and not as soon as I turned
around um I heard him
go and I turned around and I looked and
he was kind of slumped and I I knew I
walked over to him and I said Roger and
and he there's no response and I had
blue in my ear cuz I was speaking to my
sister earlier and I called 911 and and
I knew he was gone I I I don't know what
happened but he they they stated it was
a heart attack so he went quick well we
went through all the
F let's see what oh that day
um all of our employees lost their jobs
because I couldn't run a shop and my son
didn't want it it was it was just too
big for him to handle so they after that
um we went through funeral and
liquidating the shop and my husband was
one of these people who if he was going
to do a job a big job he always took a
deposit and and uh so when we went to
liquidate the shop we had people telling
us well my your husband owes us money
for this and this and this and so I gave
it back I wanted my husband to leave
this world with a good name don't want
them to I don't want to take their money
it's not my money so I gave them all
their money back but in the same time I
was liquidating shop and selling parts
and we had lifts and we had all kinds of
equipment I was able to keep our
employees on um for two more weeks and
they helped me liquidate the shop and
sell them some things and so we can get
paid for a funeral and all the things
you do come April April comes rolling
around and I'm home and you know my my
world is just broken and uh my when
Roger passed away my income was gone
because I used to work at Albertson I
worked there for 30 years and I I was
able to put in my time there and my
husband said that he would like for me
to come and work for him um over there
and I I was gladly it would be something
so different so I I was I went over
there and I ran parts and I picked up
customers but in the meantime while I
was picking up customers while I was
going through neighborhoods I noticed
awnings and I love them and I would and
I would and if my husband was with me
I'd stop and say oh I love this one look
at this one oh I love the way that looks
look how it I don't like that one
because it's sloped too far I don't like
what that one's made of I love this one
and so instead of looking at houses and
Landscape I looked we looked at awnings
and so we were just taken by them and if
I really liked them I'd make a U-turn
and go back and sit and look at it and
see how it was built now the question
came up whether I would put sides on my
awning no I have no desire to ever put
sides on it it's wide open there's no
obstruction with any cards coming out
there two two little po poles right
there I mean it's as open it doesn't
even look like it's even there it's just
the only thing is is Shade that's all it
is and I have no desire to ever add on
to that because that's not something
that I really am interested in but um um
well okay so April comes along I'm home
there's a lot of things to do and a lot
of things to sort through and I get a
knock at the door and it was a man and
he said uh we're here to put up an
awning and I said uh I I thought he had
the wrong house I said no I don't think
that's from us for me and he said uh no
I believe it is he said your husband
prepaid an awning for you and I
said that at that moment I cried it was
such an an emotional moment I literally
almost fainted and I just like um um how
did this come about and he said your
husband wanted it to be a complete
surprise for you and um he said um so
can we put it up for you and of course
you know I'm not even thinking about
permits or anything I don't even know
who these people were but it was a
grandfather his son and then his son and
I said sure yes this put it up in and he
said tomorrow would be fine so we put it
up and I was out there the whole time
just
watching he started they started at 8:00
in the morning and they stopped at 2:00
in the afternoon and it was just
everything we both ever wanted it's it's
structurally sound it's it's very close
to the house it can absolutely be
attached if I needed to attach it and
that wouldn't be a problem um um I would
be willing to do what it takes to keep
it it's very meaningful for to me it's
very special uh I know the meaning
behind it and I know that he was
supposed he was expected to be here and
enjoy it with me and uh I don't have the
means to I'll be honest when Roger
passed
away my income was gone we had one of
our uh fleets was Sun City uh Plumbing
that day they came they picked up all
their vehicles people were in and out
taking their vehicles and I could just
see money just going out the window I
just like God just we There's jobs we
couldn't finish people I had to give
their money back to because we couldn't
finish them and I had to bring my son
back from his surgery even though he was
supposed to have 13 weeks of taking it
easy I had to bring him back because
he's the only one that knew what was
going on with our business more than I I
my husband he was his right-hand man and
he knew what you know what had to be
done that was really hard to bring him
back but we were really careful with him
but basically I'm just just saying that
I I'm I've sold some things off I was
able to give my husband a very
respectable funeral he was a uh he was a
veteran and I was able to honor that
with and it was just something that that
he would have been proud of if he could
see it and uh had lots of support I have
family and friends just calling me daily
have you heard anything about the awning
have you heard anything they're just I'm
just getting so much support but the
thing is is with the awning I'm not
finished if I'm able to keep keep it I
want to have it painted to match my
house I want it to I'm I'm very I take a
lot of pride in my property I don't let
it ever falter with weeds and and just
junk I love a clean it's if you look at
it there's just no weeds I just I'm
always working on it but I will have it
um attached I will have it painted to um
match my home and so because when you
drive down the street it's it's obvious
it's there but I was looking at it the
other day and I thought if I paint it it
won't be so obvious it would be it would
be Blended in and would be beautiful but
it so I called locates to come out and
Mark my property as far as where's the
utilities because that seemed to be
a a topic last time I was here and they
came out and they marred my property and
basically those utilities run
perpendicular on my property don't know
a lot about easements and things like
that but I did ask them a question and
the question was this if I ever had to
have anything done on this property
would this on be in your way and I asked
them because I waited for them I wanted
to ask because I knew I would be coming
up before you all on an appeal and I
wanted to have my p's and q's in order
and I just want to let you know that
they said absolutely not your awning is
absolutely not in our way like I said if
you look at it there's two two poles and
it's big and open it's almost like it's
not there the shade yes is is nice it's
you know that's what you see but as far
as you standing in front of my house
it's all you can almost Vision it not
being there because all you have is just
those two poles and that's it doesn't
obstruct any kind of uh traffic coming
through it's easy to get in and out of
but like I said I I'm just here to
appeal the decision the lady that
represented my district which was
Cassandra
uh yes she gave me a yes vote last time
and I was just absolutely just ecstatic
about it thank you and I just wanted to
say um uh I hope that you allow me to
keep it um and these are now there's
some not there's two more on our street
now behind my street there's like three
and there and I'm like like a maybe a
mile and a half from the county line so
you know cuz being right there you know
you see them a lot and then in
neighborhoods I see them and like I said
I could put a per I could take anybody
with me right now in my car and I can
take you to every property that I've
seen in this town and I can show you
their awnings and because I've seen them
and I think that's why my husband
thought maybe it would be all right to
have one now I apologize this is
absolutely an oversight on his part uh
and and I honestly didn't even know
myself and I'm sure a lot of people come
up and say that to you but we honestly
did not know we absolutely did not even
realize this and uh so I'm just wanting
to say that you know
that's probably an excuse a lot of
people use but it in our case that was
absolutely the truth and I just hope
that you can um consider that I'm able
to pay for my fees I'm able to keep it
up um now as far as taking it down um I
don't know really where the money would
come from for that I I I really I really
don't um I don't know what my husband
paid for this V excuse me sir um I'm
sorry we don't take any comments from
the from the the public like that this
was actually voted on and I lost by a
vote one deciding vote because I had
another lady um with the same
situation um with with an awning like
mine but honestly I really think my
awning is structurally belt better um
because it's just because I knew what we
wanted and it's just this was voted on
but like I said I lost by a vote a
deciding vote
so thank you so much for the information
and I'm so very sorry for everything
you've been through thank you thank you
mayor okay thank you thank so um just
for clarification oh no oh do I leave
yes ma'am so just for clarification as
Sarah was mentioning it's very possible
a neighbor could have seen it uh someone
from Co was driving by um someone who
didn't who didn't get um a carport
report the city uh then probably codes
went out there and it went up the chain
probably went to Community Development
then Sarah and then they probably
contacted the applicant they said listen
you know you didn't get a permit so
you've got to go to planning zoning
planning zoning says no or you know 3 to
three and then it gets appealed to us
that's how it came up here okay so
um so there's a few other people that
wanted to speak I understand
um raise your hand pleasee who wanted to
speak just one
two three okay I have here Sarah Vol
volco Vicky Morgan Lindsay Ray Jennings
James Allen and or Brent Stevenson are
any of them
here all but two okay well the three
that I called in if you want to come
forward and uh Christine has to give you
the
oath
hi my name is Vicki
Morgan do you swear or affirm that the
testimony you are about to give is the
truth and nothing but the truth under
penalty of law thank
you um I am here on behalf of Tracy my
dear friend since grade school to attest
to her impecc character in The
extraordinary circumstances surrounding
the yawning in question throughout our
years of friendship Tracy has
consistently shown herself to be an
individual of outstanding character she
possesses a rare combination of
qualities that can only be described as
extraordinary she is caring always
placing the needs and concerns of others
above her own she exudes positivity even
when faced with challenges that would
overwhelm many her resilience her
generosity and her kindness our
qualities I have witnessed firsthand for
many years the yawning which stands at
the heart of dispute represents more
than just a mere structure to her it was
one of the last gifts given to her by
her late husband before his untimely
passing every time she looks at it she
is reminded of the love they shared and
the memories they created together
it's a testament to their bond and an
emblem of the life they built while some
may view it as just an awning for Tracy
it holds profound sentimental
value beyond the emotional significance
the financial burden of removing the
awning would be undue and harsh
especially given the heartache she has
already endured I kindly request that
you consider the exceptional
circumstances of this case removing the
awning would not only be financially
expensive for Tracy but would also mean
erasing a Tang tangible reminder of her
husband I sincerely hope that a
compassionate resolution can be reached
in this matter taking into account both
the character of my dear friend and the
significant emotional implications of
removing such a treasured momento thank
you for your time and consideration
thank you Miss Morgan and just one quick
question are you a neighbor do you live
on that street or no no we're uh we've
been friends since grade school okay
thank you and grew up Junior High High
School just good friends okay are you a
bulldog or a Trojan mayil Trojan yeah
mayil
tro okay so
next hello good afternoon
can you state your name yes uh Brent
Stevenson Brent Stevenson do you swear
or affirm that the testimony you were
about to give is the truth and nothing
but the truth under penalty of law yes
thank you um thank you council members
mayor um I won't take too much of your
time um um this this issue was brought
up um well a little less in a year ago
um my mother she uh she went outside to
the car and she uh she slipped and she
fell um afterwards me and my dad we were
we were talking one night and I he was
talking about nning and I I told him I
think it's an amazing idea that's great
I mean um for a guy that always wants to
keep his family safe and um I think
everybody um knows about that um I think
uh you know he was he was he was acting
out of his heart he uh this is all
something I know if he he knew he was
supposed to get a permit he would have
he he followed the rules he was one of
those people um that um if he was here
today he would be up here talking
instead of
me but I I do hope that um you do you
grant my mother um uh the ability to
access a permit or and and keep her
hunting so thank you very
much thank you Brent and again our
condolences on your passing of your dad
I say who who's next yes
are you Lindsay or Sarah okay Christine
will give the
oath hi Sarah hi do you swear affirm
that the testimony you're about to give
is the truth and nothing but the truth
under penalty of law yes ma'am thank
you my name is Sarah vco I am a regional
project manager for the state of New
Mexico I worked for city of Los crues
public works department uh David mestas
David CYO worked for both of those
gentlemen also worked in joint utilities
for Adrien Whitmer for a period of time
so def um a licensed Commercial
contractor uh civil engineering is my
background so construction is not
something I'm uncommon to so Tracy
Stevens called me she's a friend of the
family and she called a few months ago
saying hey I got this thing on my door
can you help sort through this I'm not
understanding what I'm in trouble for I
said oh absolutely I was more than happy
to help this family there's such a
upstanding family in this community and
took a look at it and said okay yeah I
see there's there's some problems here
and for me it's about due diligence it's
about checking facts it's about seeing
where things are Is it feasible is it
not feasible I do million-dollar
feasibility studies my structures are
anywhere from 30 to $50 million per
structure so having said that I you know
this is kind of a smaller thing than
what I'm used to looking at but all the
same you know utility easements setbacks
things like that are still something
that we deal with even on large scale
construction so for me it was about um
it was about kind of reverse engineering
this thing because I knew she'd be
coming and speaking to zoning committee
and finding out and when we came to the
zoning committee I was expectant to see
technical drawings I was expectant to
see utilities things that were
problematic to the city I was expecting
to see that information and that wasn't
presented to us so after the hearing the
big word was the easements the utility
easements and at that hearing I did ask
the question
is if the situation comes up that some
infrastructure is coming in that needs
access to that utility could she sign a
paper with the city saying hey I'll have
this thing removed at that time if it
ever becomes a problem this is something
we do with school campuses we often get
land that's raw land that hasn't been
developed in those areas and there's
easements on these raw pieces of
property and you know we tell these
districts we say yeah we'll we'll build
over that easement but you have to
resume the cost of remove and
replacement of that portion of the
building if this becomes something
because we never know these are
undeveloped Parcels of property in
Casey's or in Tracy situation I went out
there and looked at everything and it's
fully developed neighborhoods in all the
proximity of her area so I don't see any
new infrastructure coming in uh the next
thing that was important to me was to
call out locates to find out exactly
what was in that in that easement and it
is in one of our exhibits in the packet
you will see that everybody that didn't
mark on the on that paperwork it is
they're not there so there was sewage
there was electrical there was water and
you can see the water meter there and
then there was also gas and those
utilities
are on one side of her property and they
are just to tie into her home there is
nothing going this direction that is all
in the street and I have the actual
locates I have confirmation on that it's
not my hearsay telling you that it's
that way I called it out because I
wanted to know because of my background
in the construction industry I want to
advise my friend correctly I don't want
to tell her oh just let's go to the
hearing let's do this let's do that and
we've got her footing sitting on top of
an electrical line that would be unfair
to her because there's and that would be
unfair to the community as a whole and
so I like to look at things fully when
we look at something and so from what I
can see I think it's a case
where it's something that could be
approved and it's something that that um
wouldn't harm anybody and after looking
at her property I she lives very close I
have to drive down elk drive to get to
her property so I took a I took a little
cruise through the neighborhoods in Elks
drive and there for hundreds of awnings
same case scenario Apples to Apples
comparison we're not talking apples to
oranges where there some are apples to
oranges some are terrible and some are
not as close to the property line some
were closer to the pro to the proximity
to City infrastructure than hers what
and they were older structures I stopped
and spoke with one gentleman and you
know his structure was there
and he said yeah he didn't have anything
to take his down and it was staying as
far as he was concerned so
I see that the there's a lot of these in
the neighborhoods already and I think in
this situation where it wasn't
necessarily
Tracy uh setting this up for this to
happen it's somebody who's no longer
here and I feel like she's taking the
frontt for all of it and that's really
hard to watch my friend go through the
things that she's gone through and I
think if there was ever a scenario where
it's
um a situation where we get to actually
bring an ethical view construction I
think this would certainly be the
case and I definitely appreciate your
all's consideration to this
situation and um their family and the
meaning that this carport has to them
but uh that's my background as far as
what I've seen and what I could see and
certainly if I felt like this was a harm
to the community or the public in any
way I would be the first person to voice
that opinion uh friendship or no
friendship and Tracy would be behind me
on the same way as that is that we
wouldn't want to harm anyone or anything
and so thank you for your
consideration no thank you I actually
have a question Sarah Sarah yes sorry
can you come back please can I ask a
question sorry so you're referring to
the locates report in exhibit a correct
yes ma'am um and I have never seen one
of these locates reports before but it
looks like Century Link says cleared so
I don't know if I misunderstand what
cleared means or what this report means
but it also says El Paso Electric say
cleared so yeah so she has she has her
her utilities that are hooked up to that
so you probably have about 20 different
uhuh people and which ones tell you that
they're not cleared well the city of Las
crusis says that it was marked and some
say UFO cleared which I don't know what
UFO cleared means either
I don't
know so I'm curious yeah so anything
that has a utility they will actually
come out and Mark that for us and the
the reason for that is if we're going to
be digging in that area then they will
come in and they will mark it if they
don't come in and Mark it and they mark
it as a cleared that means we're good to
go we're good to dig we can we can dig
at that point Sorry other Sarah sorry
yes did you need me or no I I just
wondered
mayor councelor Karan so I had the same
question when I received the report from
the applicant or the appealant whenever
I received it that is why I reached out
to Jason Zeal with Comcast he actually
did a site check and said that one of
the carport structures that was
constructed is about six inches away
from his line so there is Comcast that
does run through the properties on this
site plan they're essentially running
this direction from north to south and
when um on the private side when I was
doing a subdivision I learned exactly
how they were actually installing these
utilities so a passo electric will go 6
feet down they will put a layer or foot
of dirt and then Comcast will come in on
top they're now putting them to where
they're in the same trenches and so
they're actually utilizing this space in
order to put them in um the applicant in
December did provide the pictures of
where Comcast and El Paso Electric had
been marked on her property and so they
would run parallel through these
properties in that 12ft utility easement
so so the locates is can I just don't
the clearing of the locates just meant
that they actually went out there and
did their process so that is just to
tell 811 that they have completed their
process okay no that's very helpful
thank you so there isn't a report about
the there isn't a report that reflects
that six inch thing they will have they
have to mark their actual where where
those utilities are they have to
actually mark them so that I don't hit
them with a back code that's the whole
idea of my locates so if Al Paso El is
someplace other than what they marked
we're in a lot of trouble but I've never
seen locates lie to me like that locates
has always been truthful because if I
have a back Co out there I don't need to
hit an electrical line with a back Co
that'll kill someone so they're not
going to they're not going to deviate
from that for me so electrical lines
were shown from the
street uh through her property to her
her
house uh Tim pittz I'm deputy director
for uh uh Community Development
uh the Mr Mayor counselor Coran the
Clair means that no there is nothing in
that in that particular e that's that's
them saying that's the the utility
saying to the developer there's nothing
there for you to hit if they don't put
clear Dr Dr pit I'm sorry for
interrupting I need to swear
in do you swear affirm that the
testimony you're about to give is the
truth and nothing but the truth under
penalty of law I do thank you
uh so yes that's that's correct there
are that means that there is not uh in
this one I think Sarah's talking about
the other one that that has the that
that it is and it's
within okay well we know what this
report says and it says clear and if it
says clear it means there's they don't
have any so um but I guess the point I
would make on this is by under city
code you are not allowed to build a
building in a uh in an easement
so what you would be doing is
retroactively allowing to do them to do
something you would never have
allowed prior to if they came in before
yes so that's making sure we I know that
that's our that's our gig here yeah so
okay thank
you okay you have any further questions
no okay I don't believe so okay so is oh
did you have a question for Sarah not
for Sarah neither Sarah but I do have a
comment for Mr Dr pittz and Mr Nicholls
and anybody else in the world who um
should be responsible now uh my question
is this uh if the home buyer isn't given
notice that there's an easement on their
property because that's really an
easement on the property that they paid
for
right how can you hold them accountable
is it the contractor then was it the
gentleman who knocked on her
door does he have to be sworn in again
no no he does can is my question
clear uh Mr Mayor counselor Flores uh uh
anytime you purchase property you you
are are
usually given a at least a plot of
survey is some some sort of document
that shows that to you but it is your
your obligation as a home buyer as a
property owner to know what easements
are on your property um and uh um but
they don't offer that in high school or
college or anywhere I went to I mean you
know I mean how do you understood I've
bought several houses and I've never
understood I mean I've never been given
that information is it something that is
a burden on the home buyer I I'll give
advice to any potential home buyer
please get a survey of your property
even if it's an older one please have it
available to you because you will learn
a lot about that you you're going to
want to know uh when it happen so this
is a good PSA right now yeah so then
this this information I I think it was
one of my colleagues up here who uh
would say said that uh we have to have
more information about this um I don't
know I mean I mean I certainly didn't
know not I'm not looking to put a
cardboard or anything like that but I
just think that so the onus is on the
property
owner and then we have people doing this
business shouldn't there be uh a onus on
the person who or the business that's uh
offering to do that uh to do that work
Mr Mayor councilor Flores and I'll let
Sarah answer just a second I just yes
absolutely contractors have uh are are
contra are certified by the state of New
Mexico to do their work they know
perfect L well when they need a permit
and when they don't the fact that they
say they don't is them lying to you that
is not them not knowing it's them lying
to you okay thank you Dr
pittz mayor cancer flotes I would just
expand on that a lot of times when we do
work with property owners a lot of the
older part of towns they don't have
surveys and so we do we go and request
them to go and get them to understand
what's on their property where their
boundary lines are property pins are not
clearly marked sometimes they are
unaware of it it's the education going
from the time that you purchase your
home working with Realtors working with
Community Development working with
different people to educate our public
and knowing what is on your property
what you can do and what are the
limitations so excuse me did you just
say um that the seller of the home uh
who has to provide that information I
mean at what point does it become uh the
at
for whom who who has that duty to whom
is a duty owed or who is who has the
owness of uh getting that information to
the home buyer I would and then what if
it's a private sale between two owners I
mean
that um Mr Mayor counselor Flores you're
absolutely right if it's a private sale
between two people without professionals
involved it can be very problematic this
way it is the obligation of the seller
to Prov provide title they they are
supposed to provide title to the to the
buyer that means giving to the buyer an
abstract
of the entire title uh with what in in
real estate law is called the bundle of
Rights what what it is you're getting
when you when you get a a a warranty
deed that is the seller warrant
warranting that what they're giving you
is is yours and there's no cloud of
titles it's fee simple I'm sorry it's
called fee simple absolutely in fee
simple Yes um that would be the the the
the if you have the full bundle of
Rights it would be in fee simple um and
and so yeah the the the um who's
obligated to do that generally it's the
seller usually that's done through the
title company and the title company
gives you the you're absolutely right
when we get into contracts in which you
doing this family member to family
member friend to friend it it it gets uh
um gets more complex but again just my
my little uh uh PSA here for for using
professionals uh please please lawyers
uh
Realtors um you know Bankers they they
they serve a very good purpose in our in
our world and please make use of them
thank you Dr pitz and thank you Sarah
that music on
okay so so there's no Lind Z Ray
Jennings that's wishes to speak nor
James
Allen okay is there anyone else that
wanted to
speak okay so um just a couple things
here
so councelor
FLOTUS the the um since you want to do
the PSA so I think it's the ranking of
title goes the best is the warranty deed
and then it drops to a special warranty
deed and then a quick clean deed so but
yeah you buy land especially if it's a
private sale you want to make sure that
there's not the land's not contaminated
because once you buy it then you're
going to be have you're going to be
responsible for cleaning it up with EPA
okay so the reason why I asked
Larry the price of the
permit is um because I think this is
something here that the future city
council needs to do oh before I before I
go
there the the permit
is uh also or the setbacks is also
needed for a couple things one also for
that's why they have a rear setback so
that it's not too far so that if there's
a fire the fire department the firemen
and women can firefighters can go there
and put out the fire so I'm just going
to take it for granted Chief you don't
see any any problem with with this being
how it is right here as far as the
setback not being what it should
be um not going to I won't put you on
notice but I'll just say I don't think
you I think uh I don't think it's a
problem but um and then also the
Aesthetics for the neighborhood you know
that's one thing there that that uh we
have to be cognizant of that neighbors
they're going to think well you know I I
didn't realize you could allow carports
and then you have these um most likely
I'm going to support it being allowed
but there are a couple things that I
think that this Council in the future
needs needs to maybe think about doing
the reason why I asked Larry for the
cost is and you kind of hit on the hit
on this councelor florus
is because if we don't do if the council
doesn't do it people are going to keep
doing this so maybe the council should
consider um for those that haven't
pulled the permit maybe they pay and we
can't do it now that's X poost facto in
the future maybe five or six times what
the cost of the permit would be to the
applicant and and then also to the one
who installed it five or six times as
well whatever Council deems necessary so
that's like 10 times more than $85
that's $850 in a way a penalty for doing
that so that way there um it hopefully
would deter that and also from the
contractor point of you they're going to
say you know what we got to pull the
permit because I don't want to pay five
times more or whatever whatever the
council you know future Council decides
five or whatever more so just something
to think about
um yeah I I would have a hard time
having the applicant tear it down
especially the way and I appreciate the
sto the the story that you presented
Miss Stevens again our our condolences
on your loss um I mean I wondered how it
happened but yeah so but I really think
that this is something our Council
should really consider if that's uh to
move forward in the
future because if not you're just going
to have these proliferate throughout the
neighborhood yeah any neighborhood you
you comment no okay so
um that concludes was there anything
more
sir okay so just to
clarify to to vote Yes would be
to
overturn the uh the decision the vote no
would be to uphold the decision is that
correct okay so to vote Yes to overturn
that means allowing them to keep the
carport okay so if there's a difference
between yes and yes with conditions how
do we what is the
number it's a number thing okay yeah I
guess I that's what I oh with conditions
that would just be an
amendment were the conditions that was
uh presented did you want to review
those again please the conditions mayor
mayor proem counselors the conditions if
it were to be approved and um reverse
the decision made by the Planning and
Zoning commission would be that both
structures both sides of the structure
remain open the structure does need to
be attached to the single family
residence to reduce the side outside of
the 12T utility easement unless you
would like to remove that as an option
or must obtain a building permit and
required
inspections oh sorry I I would like to
if if we could approve the conditions
without the utility easement I would
like to advocate for us to do to do that
if we can given that the it seems like
the utilities aren't actually located
there so I if anyone I would move to
amend it in that way amend the
conditions and the resolution
to include these conditions
um okay so for clarification councelor
you want to just remove the one the
third bullet point the third bullet just
remove it completely mhm okay um mayor
and counselors if I may um if we do
remove to reduce the outside of the
utility easement for the 12 feet staff
would then recommend that the applicant
obtain an encroachment agreement into
those utilities into those utility
easements in case there is every time or
a need that utilities does need to go in
there and actually remove that structure
and put in the utilities for that
neighborhood okay would that include
would I need to amend it to include that
or would that be part of the permitting
that would have to happen anyway it is
actually part of the amendment in the
sense that that way we just have it onto
the record of knowing that that would be
the next steps because that is an
additional cost to the applicant so
instead of getting rid of that condition
we could say um include an encroachment
agreement uh in the permit okay I move
that to amend the thing in that way
sorry what were you GNA second I have a
question so hold hold on just a second
so been moved by councelor Corin second
by councel Graham that on the third
bullet point to add to include an
encroachment agreement okay all right so
moved a second counselor FLOTUS you have
a question yes I do Sarah Miss Gonzalez
what is the encroachment potential uh if
we were to reduce the size to outside
whatever what is
the so her property would be encroaching
the uh easement is that correct mayor
councel floes normally through the
building process if somebody would like
to encroach into a utility easement we
require them to get an encroachment
agreement and what does that consist of
that consists of contacting all the
utility departments getting them to sign
and notorized as well as the applicant
it goes through our department we work
with Land Management to create that
encroachment agreement and have it on
file the applicant applies for that and
then she's able to keep the structure
within that easement with the knowledge
of knowing that if something or
utilities need to go in that the
structure may have to be removed in
order for them to install it depending
on the circumstance so it gives the
option of still being able to maintain
the carpo as it is now with the
understanding that if utility
infrastructure does need to go in within
that 12 utility easement that is
designated for utilities then they would
have to remove that structure in order
for them to put it in doesn't mean it's
the case they may not have to go in and
install at any point in time it just
leaves that as an open option being that
is the only place located in this
subdivision is the front 12T utility
easement on all of these properties and
removing the encroachment uh the burden
of paying for it would be on the
homeowner mayor counc flood is that is
correct it could be a lot of money
potentially a lot of
money it could be either removing the
structure it could be replacing it but
that would be the same condition you
would place on it if it had to be cut
back from the 12T utility ement now
right thank you so much M Gonzalez thank
you Mr s right now this just um did you
say who's in there p Electric and
Comcast or
from based on the pictures that I was
able to see there is Comcast and El Paso
Electric it doesn't necessarily mean
that Lumen won't come in or any other
Telephone Company any future development
however it is possible that they could
just put a conduit underneath the I mean
they don't have to break it up but I
think this would be applicable councilor
FLOTUS if let's say there was a water
line through there or sewer line and
then it broke and the city needs to go
in there and fix it then that's when
they break it up and and that's but
since there's not that there the chances
are slim although there is that very
minute
possibility
yeah okay so there moved in second and
Dr pits yeah I know I like it because he
he doesn't back down from you so Tim
pits Mr Mayor uh 98% chance there will
be no need to do it I think it's I think
it's we're pretty confident they're not
going to come in if they do they bore
under it's not a it's not an issue if
and the agreement is there because there
is property rights by utility companies
in that 12T and they do have the right
to know what we're doing there when it's
against our code absolutely thank you Dr
pits Okay so we've been moved a second
on the amendment so this is on the this
is on the amendment
Christine this is on the motion to amend
resolution
24-54 to add in bullet number three that
they will obtain an encroachment
agreement
councelor AA yes councelor Graham yes
councelor bomo yes councelor cran yes
councelor flotes yes councelor Ganda yes
mayor yes okay now we're on the main
motion is there any questions on
this members of the public seeing
none
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution
24-54 as amended councilor ABA yes
number three with conditions yes
councelor Graham yes councelor Beno yes
councelor cran yes councelor fles yes
councelor Ganda yes mayor
yes okay and um and we may want to get
some Communications out on on this just
to and uh okay uh next item is 8.2
resolution
24-55 move to
approve second
who made the motion to approve councelor
AA second by councelor Pomo okay and
Dominique
Rodriguez good afternoon mayor
counselors my name is Dominique
Rodriguez assistant utilities director
uh before you as a resolution to approve
the updated rate setting
process um just as a background as you
know utilities is an Enterprise fund
meaning that we function uh like a
private company um revenues are received
by the uh rates that our customers
pay uh utilities is treated as it as
similar excuse me utilities is treated
similar to any other utility in the city
pays franchise fees and taxes to the
city in addition transfers uh to shared
services which include Human Resources
purchasing illegal uh city of Las crusis
owns the utility um and adopts our
budget uh the utilities department
reports to the utilities board um and
once the council adopts the budget uh
utilities department um and the lines of
business complete its Mission via the
board utilities board discussed the
setting process over work sessions and
meetings and in September 2020 2023
approved resolution 24- lcu
008 uh recommending to council the
approval of a rate a Revis rate setting
process the rate setting process is
outlined in eight steps we've broken
them out number one establish the
requirement for a rate review rate
reviews are broken out into two groups
and performed in phases number number
two select a consultant through a
request for request for proposal process
through our uh purchasing
program number three perform a rate
review study where the consultant
follows the financial criteria which is
attached uh with the rate setting
process number four results are
presented to the utilities board
normally during a work
session number five the board
facilitates public input through a set
comment period period this was revised
during the the work session um as this
was previously done through the utility
customer Advisory Group otherwise known
as the
ukeg number six the final report um
which is the Consultants report summary
of public Outreach is presented to the
utilities board to make a recommendation
to city
council number seven city council will
receive uh the utilities board
recommendation the Consultants report
summary of public Outreach in order to
make a rate decision Council can change
the time frame of any uh rate adjustment
option uh Council approves a rate
adjustment or remands back to the
utilities board with strategic
guidance number eight tariff approval
once rates are approved by Council uh
the tariffs are revised and presented at
the next available utilities um board
meeting for
approval
if the revised rate setting process um
is approved it includes the utility
board's authorization to approve annual
rate
increases if a rate option is approved
in a phased in adjustment it is approved
for a set period of time um our last
rate adjustments were approved over 3
years uh once this threeyear period or
whatever the phased in adjustment period
is is done staff will review the revenue
requirement and make a uh recommendation
to the utilities board not to AED exceed
5% um this will be done until the next
full rate review is
completed if a full
implementation adjustment is approved
which means that the full rate
adjustment will occur that uh right away
or that next month or when the tariffs
are approved staff review the revenue
requirement and recommend an adjustment
based on the Consumer Price Index to the
utilities
board this would be done during the
budgeting process so if uh an adjustment
is approved those rates would take
effect um in the new fiscal year this is
important because during the rate review
we use a test year that includes the
most recent audited data and any known
and measurable changes for a year so if
a rate of adjustment is phased in we
then are behind by those years that it
is phased
in small adjustments made throughout the
years are better than large adjustment
recommendations during a full rate
review staff has researched other
utilities and found variations of this
are
common and with that I will stand for
any questions okay before I give this to
my colleagues let me just give you a
little bit of background because I'm
probably the only one here when this was
put in place by Dr Jor
Garcia so Dr Garcia came to us years ago
and he says you know what I want to do
this utilities Advisory Group made up of
of citizens by doing so he felt
that you know we're all elected by the
public of course and we're we
accountable to the public but he felt
that by having the citizens out there
that we could could choose from from
different areas Not Elected it's like
government of them you know I mean it
came from the from the neighborhoods
from the different parts of the city and
also because it's pretty Technical and
wanted to have some consistency on there
and so um this this this uh group was
really relatively new at that time this
concept and so this this utility group
the u u gag KAG um it was something
there that was I thought working well
but from what I understand is he want to
do away with that and allow the
utilities board to make that call now I
can tell you and I'm just looking to the
future if if there's a time where the
utilities goes up 4% four and a half
percent because it says anything over
five and and and they pass it they're
going to they're going to have people
coming to this to this uh council
chambers wanting to know why you all
allowed that and then you're going to
have to respond saying well we gave the
authority to them and they're going to
say Well they're not accountable to to
the public you guys are so I just want
to give you both sides um I I don't
think I would be supporting I know I'm
not going to be voting for this because
I don't think that I mean that's why we
have the the the citizens board so that
so that we can tell the residents when
they come forward say you know what we
put people in the in from your
neighborhoods on this board for that
reason they're not they're not
politician they're not elected officials
they're they're people who want to serve
their community and have went great
Lanes to learn about this and they're
listening to the presentation you know
uh Dr Garcia and his team wasn't they
weren't putting them in a headlock
saying you got to vote for this you know
it was if they thought this was good
then bring It Forward if not well then
don't that's why I think that um I won't
be supporting this and um
I just feel that unless I'm wrong that I
think that's what they're wanting to do
is take that that opportunity away and
let them be able to do that and take
away the the the responsibility from
city council councelor Boma thank you
mayor um as you all know I I and as well
as councila sit on the utilities board
um and I think mayor I I agree with you
isn't that crazy um can you repeat that
no no no
um the only thing I don't agree with you
on is that that I think we can make an
amendment today and I say that
because ultimately we have to remember
that our utilities is an Enterprise our
utility literally only makes money to be
self- sustaining as our city grows so
are our utility needs so we um ensuring
the safety of not only our workers but
our community members that will grow and
we have to make sure that they have the
funds now unless we're willing to give
them money from the general fund that's
a different question right but I think
it's to me it's just been very obvious
that we don't like it but rates have to
increase because our city is growing and
it just depends on how we do that right
um so when we discussed this at utility
at the board unfortunately there was an
Abrupt end to the conversation and so we
couldn't make some of these suggestions
before they came to you all um but I I
guess that's to me I the long so if it
we vote no today if this dies today
would go back to the board right which
could happen um or we could amend it
today correct and I think for me that
feels more important to do because the
longer we wait on making it this kind of
decision the more impact it will have on
our utility and I and the more impact
that will have on our customer base and
so to me that's really important now
Dominique can you go back to Page
Six
so this because what I see here if
phased in adjustment is approved lcu
board can approve an annual increase not
to exceed 5% what it says on the packet
is different it says uh under tariff
approval under C annual rate increase if
phased an adjustment is approved a lcu
board has the authority to approve an
annual increase not to exceed 5% and I
think to me that's where I agree with
the mayor in that um the responsibility
lies within this body right I think we
take the recommendations of the board
and ultimately those rate increases if
especially if significant ultimately are
the responsibility of this governing
body and so to me I would at least like
to make a Amendment here that says LC
the lcu board can with approval from the
council can approve an annual increase
not to exceed
5% okay so that was would be one of my
amendments and my other
Amendment uh would be around and you
said you actually said it to Dominique
but it's not in here around the
threeyear phase in can you repeat that
again um mayor counselor B so if the
rates are phased in um and I think
you're referring to uh a phased in um
adjustment is approved for a period of
three years which was done with our
water and uh Wastewater and gas rates um
because we review the revenue
requirement and do a test year which is
a year out of known and measurable
changes once that third year is complete
things have happened in those years that
were not brought up in the rate review
which means we are essentially three
years behind in the collection of rates
uh that was very apparent during covid
uh inflation rose up um every year
annual salaries and benefits are
increased and so when the rates are
phased in over 3 years we may have
captured the next year after the test
year but then year two and three after
that are no longer included because we
don't know what those are going to be if
Council will approve them and we for
sure didn't know what that inflation was
going to be when Co hit is that what you
are referring to no actually it's not
but that no but I'm actually glad you
explain that again no no no I actually
think honestly the other thing for me
that I remember thinking about during
our meeting and I I I don't know if you
remember this for me was the trans
parency issue of it all right and
ensuring that when we are making these
decisions like in the two bullet point
in here in full implementation if full
implementation adjustment is approved
lcu board can approve an annual increase
based on consu consumer price index for
me my Amendment would be with adequate
and thorough public input added to that
right and I and we can be like yeah well
of course we will do that but I guess
for me it's critical that we are
explicit about that mhm so that's my
second amendment did you write it
down um and I did I did but I'm still
going to need you to stay it okay I can
do that but honestly for me if those
changes happen I I will be supporting
this again
because the fact that we are as a self
sustaining utility and we have to ensure
that they're they're able to do their
jobs well if you when you said you're
supporting you supporting it that means
that you're going to with the
amendments okay I I see what you're
saying
um okay I
think
so yeah so basically you're
just um do we need to even do that then
I
mean I I would think that you would
just have us do a I don't know I'll
leave it to the City attorney here I
don't know if we need to have the the
because right now they need city council
approval to raise the rates
so yeah this is this is taking it away
right is what it's doing the current
language you feel like is taking that
away oh it is correct I'm trying to add
that back in with an amendment it's
still it hasn't been removed yet so we
just vote this down and then we're we're
there nothing's changed no because they
still need a ratee process they still
this process still needs to be
implemented is that Adrian is that the
cas
please hi Mr Mayor Adrien woodmer
utilities director uh maybe there's a
little bit of confusion here there will
be the whole normal rate process with
the input where the Utility Board is the
one that's actually going out Gathering
that information coming back getting the
information putting it together then
there's going to be a recommended rate
increase that will be brought to council
Council has the opport opportunity as
they have in the past of saying either
we'll go ahead and implement the rates
all at once or previously you all have
approved rates based on uh percentages
over the next like three or so years
which is what Dominique was referring
to that all stays the same the only
thing that would be slightly different
is is that on a yearly basis utility
staff will go ahead and take a look at
that and see what where we are at much
like um councelor Bena was talking about
is that when that one year comes up
afterwards because we're already now
behind a little bit that
5% we were saying can it be something
that the board can approve automatically
and that's where if I'm not
understanding correctly please uh
correct me and that's where councelor
Bena was like I would rather utility
staff come up and say okay if it is
phased in the 5% we make that
recommendation then we bring it to the
board after the board says yes we are
recommending that and you all still have
to make the decision on that I believe
that's what councelor benom was saying
okay so are you saying that if we do
this these amendments that the ukeg will
still stay in existence or it will go
away uh Mr Mayor that is the one thing
is that um in this particular one the
ones that are acting as the UK from then
out is actually going to be the Utility
Board this last goore around when we did
all of the rates by the time we got to
the very end of the rates because the UK
you bring them on and you go through all
four utilities well by the time we got
to the very last
utility the ukab that already understood
everything they all left and we were
left with a bunch of brand new people on
the very last stuff and it was very
difficult to get them trained up get
them figured out what's going on and
that's where it made more sense for
perhaps the utility board that is always
consistent to do that to do that
Outreach so the Outreach will stay the
same it'll just be completed by the
utility board and staff as opposed to
the UK so I liked how you put it so
basically the the UK kind of morphs into
the utilities board so basically it does
go away I mean yes that is correct it
does go away so um so then the utilities
board becomes the UAG
correct well um the reason why I can
support that is because in its own
little mini way having those five
members of the public is like taking
five people from public participation
and saying hey come here and look at
this stuff what do you think you're the
one you're a great payer are you going
to support the you know is this
something here that makes sense or is it
what what I'm what I think the future
Council needs to look at is just to make
sure it doesn't look like wow this was
this was already a done deal you know
that's by having just you know we're
we're pulling people from the public
here they're not you know they give us
their their an application and and the
mayor with advice of council approves
those members but but I think it's
important that that people from the
public be allowed to serve on this UK
maybe down the road pay them pay them a
little bit money 100 bucks a meeting I
have no idea we do that with the
utilities board is majority members of
the
public yeah but still there's still coun
there's only two people who are aren't
actually yeah but they get intimidated
by you and councelor Rea yes we're super
intimidating yeah it's like what you say
goes you know so you know but but really
I mean that's just my it
just uh I just think that it's it's it's
good that that we still have that ukeg
that's my thinking but I mean I
appreciate your your compromise on there
um you I guess I can think about it I
think my colleague on the utilities
board also wants to okay councelor AA
thank you mayor um I'm also in support
of the Amendments brought forward I
think we've when we've had these
discussions um at the utilities board
there has been a bit of a concern um
that you know council is ultimately
responsible for any sort of fiscal uh
items and I I do hesitate to turn that
over to a different entity especially as
we've seen um you know this year a
little bit of issues um with different
types of boards now I will say the
utilities board is well-versed and
trained and so I think it has a really
great high quality standard as it needs
to be um but uh in the future you know
that could be an issue so I do think it
is up to the council itself to really
make sure that it is um the ultimate
decision maker within that so I am in
support of uh both of the Amendments and
I think adding the language with um the
public uh comment you know that full and
thorough it would be able to grasp what
we need from the public in those ways
thanks okay no I appreciate it and I
appreciate the the Amendments I just
thought of something how many people are
on the UK five
five and how many people are on the Los
Utilities Board in addition to the two
council members uh mayor there's seven
seven seven coun
Commissioners how about in the future
considering if you know I like I said I
won't be here next year so maybe at just
you know right now the other five
members they all have to have certain
backgrounds if I remember correctly they
have to have certain you know or you
can't serve on there how about if we
just have How about if the council in
the future expands that to nine two more
people just they don't have to have that
back so that you have that those people
from the public who may not be an
engineer who may not be you know an
attorney who may not have those certain
qualifications uh then that way there I
would feel better and you have members
of the public at least being able to
just you know serve their Community they
don't have to have that technical
expertise that a lot of them that're
required on the current utilities board
and I think it would be a way to you
know let let the public share in some of
their concerns sure the conference table
is not big enough for sure that'll be a
problem um or yes and or we also expand
the requirements to be on that board I
mean like I'm not an engineer I have
zero experience and background in
anything utilities related but guess
what I do have I'm a social worker I'm
an organizer I understand public input
and I think that's why I've been able to
number one fall in love with the
utilities board but also be a good
Advocate on there because I have that
additional expertise and so or we can
also we could also expand those
expertise to be able to include a
variety of a larger diverse group of
people if you if you think about it the
larger the more stable it is that's what
yeah and and so if you get the majority
of that wanting to move forward with an
increase I mean that's that's pretty
good that means you're going to need um
five people to vote in the affirmative
so tell you what may or next year here I
will bring a resolution forth to include
two more members to the utilities sure
you will I'll be in there now I'm just
kidding councelor be thank you I was
gonna say as long I think the really the
only requirement I would think of is
just making sure that they were a right
payer and then you know from there
because I think we all bring different
backgrounds and even you know somebody
that doesn't have any sort of technical
experience uh they are still having to
use the services and so they're an
expert because because of that so that
would be the only
requirement sounds like councelor FLOTUS
could serve on there just
kidding no I'm just joking no I'm not
was there a question okay oh councelor
no I just wanted to thank you for the
presentation and thank you for the
Amendments which I think are there I
just wanted to sort of speak to the idea
that that we make the decision um I
think that there's also something to
that to speak to the idea that I sat
through the gas ratemaking process it
was painful we were making up for years
of kind of not having kept up with the
cost of things and then we were hitting
folks with a very large increase in a
very short amount of time and I feel
like we all felt that was problematic
right I think that that to me I would
like us to never be in that position
again and so this process seems like
it's a step to remediate that that
particular dilemma that we face as
policy makers and I don't want to
experience that kind of ratemaking
bigger ratemaking process again where
we're having to catch up um on on safety
issues right and so I think for me this
provides a little bit of an outlet to
allow us to have less fraught decisions
at those times when we make those
decisions because we're keeping up a
little bit I think it was 11 years or
something that it had taken us to update
the the gas rates and so thinking about
how much of a difference this would have
made in that conversation I think for me
that the the Amendments that include
still we have to be accountable to to
these rate increases I think um given
those amendments I would feel more
comfortable doing so because I do think
we need to be held accountable to that
but I think it's a lot easier to be held
accountable in small doses over a long
period of time than in one large dose
over in one in one year so for me that
that that part of it is very persuasive
to me um so I just wanted to speak to
appreciating that you brought a way to
include the council's input still in
that so thank
you before you councelor P let me just
see if there's any members of the public
here who wish to speak on this issue and
kind of get a feel for what they have to
what they have to say is there anyone
here who wishes to speak on this
issue no okay councelor momo thank you I
would like to make a motion to amend the
resolution under 8 I to read if a phase
in adjustment is
approved with city council approval lcu
board can approve an annual increase not
to exceed
5% do we have to vote on them
separately
oh I second the amendment motion made by
Council Pomo second by Council Karan and
and so I would think that legal would
change the verbiage a little bit because
you know because it just probably going
to say you know they have to have C City
Council approval so they can push it
through and then it comes still be voted
on by the council making amendments so
much pressure yeah I know okay so that's
on that clarification really quick it
would be 8 c i
okay come on Christine pay attention I'm
just kidding I'm just joking I'm just
messing with you okay if there's no
further questions on the
amendment this is on the motion to amend
resolution 24- 055
in Section 8 CI if a phased in
adjustment is approved with city council
approval lcu board has the authority to
approve so councelor AA yes councelor
Graham yes councelor bomo yes councelor
Karan yes councelor flotes yes councelor
Ganda yes mayor
yes okay now you have another amendment
yes I would like to amend the resolution
under 8 C i i two to read if full
implementation adjustment is approved
lcu board can approve an annual increase
based on consumer price index with
thorough public with a thorough public
input
process and and if I may just comment on
that just public input I think is more
clear I I don't I'd recommend against
getting into what thorough public input
might be I'm okay with that with with
public input
process so lcu board can approve an
annual increase with public
input is that correct you're talking the
CPI only I mean you're you is that
correct yes to add include that to that
number two
bullet okay and did do you let me just
ask uh Linda do you think it's necessary
to repeat about the city of council um
approval or is that
given because I I'd hate to have that
I'd hate to have that on the second
thinking well it just says you just have
to have public input oh I see what you
mean yes okay I can say on consumer
price index with public input and city
council approval
perfect is there a second
second motion made by councelor bomo
second by councelor
Beta to include on 8C I
it has to be approved by city council
and include Public public input public
comment okay okay so this is on the
motion to amend um resolution
24-55 to amend Section 8 C II input that
lcu board can approve and then at the
end add with public input and city
council approval okay counselor Aba yes
councelor Graham yes councelor bomo yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
councelor Ganda yes mayor
yes okay now we're on the main
motion there's any
comments see none
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution
24-55 as amended councelor AA yes
councelor Graham yes councelor bomo yes
councelor cran yes Council flutes
councel Ganda yes mayor yes okay okay so
now we're thank you thank
you okay now we're going to go to 8.3
Council bill number
24- 00009 ordinance number 3051 move to
approve second Graham motion made by
councelor baa second by councelor Graham
dror Tim pitz will be
presenting that's hard to
see okay Mr Mayor counselors um uh my
name is Tim pittz I'm a deputy director
for the uh Community Development
Department uh I have with me today
Angela
armo um currently I am our um
uh uh named uh flood plane administrator
until Angela gets her um certification
through in which case that then she will
become but all of this work is actually
hers I'm just uh I'm just the the guy
that signs the thing when when it needs
to sign because I actually have the
credential and when she has it we will
be happy to have her up here presenting
this to you uh what we have today is uh
an ordinance to alter our flood plane
um
um uh ordinance I guess that's the thing
an ordinance to to repeal and replace um
and it's under the national flood
insurance program is what this uh
project is and um I know I heard
councilor voma bragging about not being
an engineer um I'm going to brag about
being a former professor and and I can't
help myself but but to do a little
education here um so uh what we're
talking about is the uh National flood
insurance program uh and this is this is
a federal program from the uh the the
Federal Emergency Management agency that
allows property owners in Los crues to
purchase affordable flood insurance if
we do not participate in this program
our residents do not get to buy flood
insurance and as the mayor will could
attest uh flood insurance covers when
water comes up in your
house homeowners insurance will cover
when water comes down but homeowners
insurance will not cover when water
comes up so if you have an issue of
flood of waters coming up from whatever
Source they come if they flow in from
the outside uh this you will you will
need flood insurance flood insurance on
the uh on the uh private Market is is
very expensive uh especially if you're
in a risk a high-risk environment the
national flood insurance program allows
you a much cheaper policy and by the
city um uh by do by by the city uh
participating the city commits to
enforce flood proof construction uh
techniques and to responsibly manage our
our storm water so there's a lot of what
we do in especially here in chapter 34
uh Public Works is uh big in in helping
us uh do this um uh and then our
building program our um the building
permits and so on uh are big in um uh
reaching the standards we need you have
already earlier today adopted the new
building codes so the international
residential code which gets adopted by
us as the New Mexico residential Cod
code um already introduced some of these
changes that I'm going to be talking
about here
today um and um I have here at the last
change these changes are required in
order to get full credit let me talk
about full credit for what um in the
flood insurance program there is a
rating
system um and every Community is rated
around the around the country and it's a
1 to 10 rating system 10 is the worst
one is the the best if you don't
participate everybody's a
10 um if you participate you get
reductions based on how well you do at
what your your actions are um so um uh
each number you go down you get a 5%
increase in your uh or 5% decrease in
your federal insurance premiums so it it
can be quite a bit uh with the changes
we're proposing here we expect to get a
seven um which would be a 15% reduction
we're going to introduce new changes
next year to get us at least to a
six um we are even at a seven we're the
best in New Mexico uh but we would like
to do better we're we're very envious of
the fire department and their uh uh and
their and their High uh rating and we
want to we want to do the same thing for
our residents uh so um if we don't adopt
these things we go to a 10 immediately
uh the to get from a 10 you must have
modern building codes adopted what you
adopted earlier meets that
standard uh so what are our changes
we're we're recommending here today that
we proposing uh a requirement for one
foot of
freeboard so if you'll see the picture
on the right uh the red line uh there is
a a line and oh it does work okay um
you'll see this this is the base flood
elevation or What's called the BFE in uh
in FEMA talk um what freeboard is is
we're going to say that you have to
elevate your house one foot
above base flood elevation for those of
you that may own homes and again Public
Service Announcement here uh if you own
a home and you are on
grade and you say I am not in a special
flood Hazard area therefore I I'm not
risk at risk of flooding you could in a
nonsp special flood Hazard area get up
to 11 in of flooding and it does not
count as an inch as a as a a flood it
doesn't count towards the modeling as a
flood but you're going to have a foot of
water in your house so that's what this
foot does for us is it gives us that
little leeway to allow you to um uh not
have
a even if you're uh even if you're
even if your floodwaters you do
something weird you you'll have some
safety before it's going to get in your
house um uh so that was actually adopted
already so all we're asking you is
change the numbers in our ordinance to
match what's in the building code the
second thing we are uh recommending here
is uh um to require substantial damage
and substantial Improvement measurement
to be cumulative over 5 years we've
actually been doing that for many years
it just is unclear in our ordinance that
we do it and so we haven't gotten credit
for it but the people of Los Cruses have
been doing that and we're not getting
credit towards our our CRS so we're
going to just put it into code it's it's
not a change to anybody anybody that's
done anything in the past uh what
substantial damage substantial
Improvement is if you modify a house
that's in the flood plane by 50% either
because it was damaged from a flood by
50% or you improve it by
50% then you must bring it into
compliance that is typically you must
raise it you'll have to get out there
Jack the house up Put It Up 3 feet so
that it's no longer under flood uh
conditions um and that can be very
expensive uh the idea is that uh uh we
want to diminish the number of buildings
in flood planes uh in order to uh uh to
do that so um we'd make that so if
you come in one year and do a a remodel
in your uh in your uh kitchen and then
the next year you come back and put a
new HVAC system in and the next year you
that's cumulative we're going to add all
those up over a fiveyear period And if
you get to 50% we're going to be no you
need to get into
compliance uh and then we just made some
administrative changes we've moved this
program from from the public works
department into the Community
Development Department and so we just
change who's who's uh reporting on it
and that's it that's all we got so uh
your your standard choices Dr pit can
you go back to the previous screen
please and and I just want to mention I
don't sell flood insurance anymore used
to 10 years back but but so on on this
Subdivision plat are are
you where it says that one
yeah are you suggesting that when a
developer does the entire subdivision
that they raise it or or when you know
they sell lots and then when the um when
they sell a lot and then the contractor
is going to build the house that's when
they have to lift it make sure it's
compacted by a foot or So currently when
a when a developer comes in to develop a
subdivision if they're greater than 5
Acres we are not going to let them
develop with flight flood flood plane in
lot so what we do is we have them raise
raise the lot at that time if they're
going to if they're going to raise them
or do whatever they need to do to to
modify the storm the the the storm water
um build ponds that that moove the water
around whatever it is they're going to
do but typically in in Los cuses is
typically with fail we we we fail and we
we raise the lot so what we'll do is
we'll have the subdivision Builder that
developer put the Lots at above the base
flood elevation and so when you come to
build a house on your own anybody
building in a subdivision that's been
subdivided in the past 20 years there
are
no um there are virtually no uh homes in
flood plane in those in those cases uh
there were a couple of older ones that
we still were building on but
uh okay so just to clarify then it's so
when a homeowner purchases the land the
lot it's already been most likely would
have been lifted if it was in case was
in fact put in the Flint okay that's all
I needed clarification councelor
Corin thank you I just wanted to
say um maybe if angel I just wanted to
say first of all the TSI committee did
recommend and support these amendments I
really want to thank Angela for coming
and presenting and and you all for
thinking about this and and allowing us
to have that conversation there so um I
just wanted to thank you Angela I don't
know if you have other things you wanted
to say and also I love a good
competition so please uh like the county
is a 10 so if we're moving out if we're
moving on up I'm here for it like come
come at it I want to see the six I want
to see the five I want to see us crush
the rest of New Mexico so please keep it
up thank you again Angela um I don't
know if you have anything to
add counselor uh FLOTUS oh your mic's
not
working
maybe that's a sign that
no mayor proam do you want to lend her
your mic can you hear no we I don't
think we can pick you up on but the
speaker
can is
it thank you Becky so um Dr pits I have
a question you were very clear about
flooding if it comes from the sky
and it floods your house insurance uh
coverage home insurance doesn't cover it
right if it comes up from the ground if
it rains down on you yeah and you have a
hole in your
roof that'll be covered on your
homeowner's insurance or or or some
other insurance correct if it comes
let's say the water comes down the the
road and washes into your house or the
rain comes down and it rises up around
your house and comes in that's flood
insurance okay so
um this is something that I encountered
when I was um when I was uh actually so
this I counted this about seven years
ago six and a half years ago when I was
campaigning and Los abelos area you know
that uh gated
community uh is right next to the Ayo
the Ayo that the Custer brothers can't
sell to anybody for even a dollar that's
the rumor out there that's the
legend that a Royo did overflow at one
point I don't know if you were in the
city working for the city at that time
or living in the city but the house um
there was a house that was affected it
Rose and uh those people had no recourse
whatsoever do you remember that and it
came up and when David dollahan was here
it came up at times I don't know if it
ever
came to your department um Mr Mayor
counil Flores I I I don't remember the
instance that that aoo does uh does run
pretty heavy in in heavy rains and it is
uh uh it has some it has some issues um
uh I would not be I wouldn't be
surprised to see that happen and and I
guess in the in the circuit what I would
say is if if you're not in a designated
SP special flood Hazard area you still
can purchase flood insurance and you can
purchase it through the federal program
if you want uh and you get a pretty good
rate on it uh so if if you are in a
situation it's worthwhile you know
there's so much information that the
public doesn't know and Mr and Mrs White
were the uh occupants of that house and
they were told and I don't know if it
was a city who told them but um it was
some author someone that they thought
knew what he she was doing that if they
um added to the wall it wouldn't flood
well duh it flooded anyway and uh they
had no recourse it was so it was so
difficult for them that Mr White ended
up uh having a heart he had a you they
were elderly they were probably really
old like in their 70s or 80s just I'm
just kidding about that they were
probably they both had really really
white hair me you know might have been
genetic but but at any rate Mr White
ended up dying from a heart attack
because it was so difficult now my
question is this why would the city
allow any housing to be built so close
to an Ayo and don't tell me it never
Reigns in in uh New Mexico or in Las
Cruses because that was what did it for
them so do we have an ordinance appropo
of all of this do we have an ordinance
that addresses how close a structure a
home whatever could be built next to an
Ayo I heard that there is but it looks
like it has to be modified it has to be
changed do you know Mr pits Mr Mayor
counselor Flores yeah I I I think I I
have a pretty good idea of what you're
you're you're talking about and I agree
with you um what I would say is that
that this a this ordinance is the one
that keeps keep people from building
homes in flood plane or if they do they
are are elevated or they're they're
somehow modified to to to modify the
flood plane to to minimize the damage
that's the potential damage but keep in
mind that that one um these floods we're
talking about here are what are called
uh is it called they called the base
flood and what that means is it's the
flood that has a 1% chance of happening
based on the rainfall uh that that falls
well it doesn't just have to be rainfall
but generally speaking rainfall um but
it's it's it has a what 1% chance of
happening uh but the
the
the you can get very localized
conditions that are much above the 1%
level and you know again based on what
people are doing so we we we need to be
this is one of the reasons why in
Elevate we have um we are putting we we
propose standards for uh ayos for um uh
flood water for keeping the the flood
planes clean for and you'll recall years
ago and it's been gosh about six or
eight years now uh we did an Ayo
management plan um and the idea was to
to put buffers around these a royos so
that they don't get developed so these
these ideas are still here and we are
still working on them obviously from a a
development perspective you want to use
all the land you can but when it comes
to risk we we have you know the city has
to be aware of the risks that we are
taking on when we do those things and
sometimes we build too close to an Ayo
and and yeah it's it doesn't give much
room for for error um so Dr Pitts um app
of the uh realize uh uh
lasus um you say that this this that you
know this this and that is in there but
I'm talking about an ordinance that
would
prohibit um and I wish that Royal Jones
was still here so he could hear this and
and John
Moscato um that would prohibit any any
structure any home any business uh and
whatever it is because I remember
talking to Sharon Thomas about about it
Sher mayor proa Meritus and she said oh
we do have uh we do have legislation or
ordinances or something but it obviously
didn't work for Mr and Mrs White so do
um well I guess our City attorney is a
person but um do you know whether we
have a very specific ordinance someone
said it was like 50 ft or something
that's not a
lot anyway no that that would I know
it's off topic but it's coun FL it's
it's not off to topic because this is
actually the issues that that Angela is
is working on and we've are also working
with uh Shan and her group on open space
and open space preservation to exactly
handle these issues um and I I think we
have some we've we've got we've got some
things we'll be bringing forward it just
it it takes time because there are
different differences of opinions
amongst different people and what we're
trying to do is bring forward an
ordinance that is is
enforcable and and will will will last
it's not something we that will get
gutted by somebody saying ah we're not
going to do that and then we want
something that that we can enforce going
forward uh so I I
just the the the issue in the in the
Alam Royo is a a well-known one we know
very well what's what's going on there
and
we I there's a lot of discussion of what
to do with it uh so in in that case we
we know and and we've dealt with um at
least several of those subdivisions have
had to raise their Lots in order to get
them out of the flood
plane uh so it's it's we are enforcing
what we have and then we will as we move
forward we will be enforcing uh uh other
things and as I said we have we have
goals and you
just well I definitely hope that it's
done soon because you just cop to the
fact that uh the city's
aware so anyway I I I'd like to see it
before I leave Council in a couple of
years if I don't die before then but
thank you Dr Pitts thank you yeah coun
just out of curiosity where is this
house located um
it's uh on the
microphone it's I think it's called um
Los abos or Los it's near
kitas it's a gated community is it off
of road runner huh off of no no it's off
of Sonoma Ranch Boulevard North and how
old is the house that house at the time
was probably I don't know 10 years old
now it's older than do that because um
the the gentleman you're talking about
only acquired that that wasn't the
original developer they they bought that
that was annexed by a different
developer and um I think you might be
yeah because they acquired that I think
about 10 years ago 12 years ago oh I
think it was old it's older than that
yeah I think it was so just you know I
just wanted to point that out thank you
thank thank
you any other
questions
members of the
public okay seeing none
Christine this is on the motion to
approve ordinance
3051 councelor beta yes councelor Graham
yes councelor Beno yes councelor cran
yes councelor flutes yes counc K yes
mayor
yes okay next is board appointments
which there are none next is um notice
of proposed ordinances Council bill
number
24-10 ordinance number
3052 Bring It Forward bring it forward
next is a council member board reports
and comment I just have a couple
things so
um this Saturday normally we get a
proclamation to support small
business and uh
they got this to me I got this a little
bit late and I said it's too late for us
to do Proclamation so I just wanted to
remind people this Saturday is small
business Saturday and if you could shop
local and I told her that I would point
that out because uh the majority of
obviously those that shop local those
local businesses that money stays here
in the community instead of being
shipped off to Big Corp um corporate
places uh no I don't think so well there
is but I think it's around school time
and there was one
more that I
had okay well I'm going to just do this
off memory recall
so excuse me so a while back we
had in fact Antonio represented Luhan
was here and there was I think supposed
to be someone else and if you recall
they were wanting to see about getting
money from the legislature to do a study
to turn uh lman from four lanes into
three and so I think there are a couple
of sponsors were willing to do this but
um what they were wanting to know is if
the city
could you know either front the cost and
then get reimbursed by the legislature
and in order to do that you would' have
to have some type of agreement now I
don't know if that's going to be done
between now and the end of the year but
just wanted to put you all put that on
your radar
okay do
it so where does it go from here I mean
they they want to do that but you know
as U Mr sadil said it' be difficult to
do that because there's so many
businesses that have access direct
access I mean I don't know if that could
be done well this is just about to do
the study the study may just the study
May point that out it may very well
point that out but I mean I don't think
I can get this done before the end of
December so or I think our last meeting
is probably December 18th or something
like that so but just loading up for
next year for you all stay busy that's
all I've got May pretend thank you mayor
um I wanted to um speak to um I think it
was Miss Martinez that came and spoke in
regards to the parks and the conditions
of the park um you know the
pictures um speak volumes
and I think people misund understand
um who runs sort of the tournaments and
the different leagues and such and I
would advocate for you know parks and
wreck to um be more clear somewhere I
don't know where maybe on the computer
on on our on our website our website um
because I think people think well you
know you charge all
these for the for the season and and
when tournaments come this is what
you're charging and people are left with
the impression that this money is you
know um in some fund that the city has
and you're not using it directly
particularly you know specifically Parks
um like m park and and the rest p park
and the rest of them so I think we
should it' be nice um to have it
somewhere that says who the league is
and responsible and those things but we
are ultimately responsible for the over
right for the the maintenance of the
parks so even I had been talking about
um updating our parks and what could we
do more
specifically and I had recommended um
you know pulling money from different
places maybe specifically tell sh fund
to update like what what is it going to
cost to update the parks and keep them
maintained um and so I I know we spoke
more specifically to pulling from the
telshire fund and you know I I've I've
received in the last few months several
complaints about the parks and sort of
the maintenance and um people getting
there um that need to open up the parks
at different times the restroom
the Gated areas and more specifically
for Ada um
accessibility and and so for some reason
maybe staff feels like only one set of
gates should be opened which makes it
really difficult for our elderly um
community members and people who have
issues um you know just getting into the
getting right out of their vehicle into
the stands or you know seated to watch
their grandkids um plays so I'm hoping
that we can be a little more mindful of
that and I know um Eon you've been great
and I appreciate when I've sent um
complaints over you've addressed them
and addressed them very timely I think
this is sort of a piece of of that um
and then I want to say special thanks to
um um the neighborwoods program Tree New
Mexico we planted our first set of trees
across Ross the neighborhood in the
liftup area it was a really great
Saturday morning to do that they had a
number of
volunteers um they had been working in
the neighborhood in the liftup area
reaching to out to neighbors um asking
if they wanted to have trees planted so
we planted a number of trees and then
they gave 50 plus trees away to um a
number of of the neighbors um and it was
a it was just a great program and they
are going to be doing that every I think
three times a year they have a um a
certain amount of money to do that and I
thought that was a very nice way to
beautify continue to beautify our
neighborhood in the lift up um area in I
just a PSA um the surveys are out um
I've received two um in that lift up
area addressing you know kind of that
same survey eony that was sent initially
about what are you seeing what are the
priorities those kinds of things um I'm
not sure if there's a deadline on that
um and and it'd be nice to know that so
we could get that information out um
let's
see I think that's all I have to say
thank you thank you councelor Flores you
want to pass you
want okay Council Corin thank you um I
just have a couple quick things one is a
really quick followup to a meeting I had
last week I'm hoping and I sent a
followup email to EO but I'm hoping that
we can um consider the Peach Tree Hills
apartment's Phase 2 affordable housing
complex before the end of the year um
that plan has been developed they're
going to be breaking ground on phase one
but it is currently eligible for the uh
low-income housing tax credit but that
will end at the end of the year so I'm
asking if we can somehow move that in
the queue so that it can be considered
by Council I think it's it's already in
the consideration ceue but I'm hoping we
can make sure that that is uh considered
by Council before the end of the year so
that that funding opportunity and
frankly then that development don't
disappear
um I also want to thank officer Tristan
Smith who went out and met with
representatives from the French Brothers
to talk to them about opportunities to
reduce theft of building and
construction materials and also even
clarifying some things that
um we're really just confusion about
what part of town this was in and if it
was the county or the city and so I
think I really appreciate offer s Smith
for meeting with them and and connecting
and and following up so thank you for
that um I also want to give a quick
shout of gratitude to representative
Rubio who came and talked about mo
mobility Justice at the last TSI
PRC um and what that looks like in terms
of our own planning and thinking about
uh Mobility in our city next month there
will be um a conversation about bus stop
shelters so that will be something uh
thanks to councelor Ben coml for for
providing the lead on that I had a
community meeting on Saturday at the
ascmv which was also kind of a soft
opening for the ascmv it was great there
were a lot of puppies there's a shocking
number of puppies um at the ascmv which
is now beautiful and it's a lot less
depressing to go there I have to
acknowledge that that it's a lot happier
to walk around and look at the animals
so I encourage anyone who might be
considering it to go and and do so the
the official grand opening will be I
think on December 7th at 2 p.m. so
you'll be hearing more about that soon
um but the animals are there and the
staff are working from there and
adoptions are happening uh but I do want
to thank for my community meeting in
particular Katrina and Grace who really
made it happen it was a weekend thing
it's sort of a different model than
maybe Community meetings normally grow
um there were folks from Economic
Development codes including uh Libby the
dog who was of course a big hit as was
McGruff the crime dog slightly different
and a little little more scary than
Libby um but but present and and uh
there were kids getting pictures taken
with McGruff the crime dog so in their
future lives we can definitely email
those to them um just as a friendly
reminder uh Public Works was there
quality of life including the library
and Senior programs Animal Control um
and the asmv folks who hosted us and uh
put up with our going around and giving
tours so I really appreciate everyone
that made that happen thank you thank
you very much um it was very cool and I
recommend it as a model I did talk to
every constituent that came so it wasn't
like um I I just think it's a different
kind of model for a community meeting
and and I really enjoyed it um the last
of my items is a shout out to staff but
also just a shout out to our city um
thank you to um eepo HR R and in
particular um Gail Estell and HR um we
the city of Las crusis in the past has
was ranked s 73 out of 100 in the
municipal equality index which is um the
Human Rights Campaign measure of a
city's support of lgbtq plus people who
live and work there uh last year we were
73 and we were number three in the state
this year our score was 89 and we were
second in the state and so that's a
really dramatic increase um from barely
passing to please give me a little extra
credit so I can get an A so I think next
year we'll be in the a range and so I
just want to give a shout out to Gail
from from HR working on that to increase
our score and really just say um how
proud I am to work here and and know
that we're committed to making Las crues
great for lgbtq folks and that it's
recognized by a National Organization so
that's the last of my comments thank you
thank you thank you councelor before we
get to counselor Momo I just can't
believe I forgot this so the egies had
this great win over the weekend against
uh Auburn which was uh pretty amazing
the first time in over 60 years to win a
u against the SEC team Southeast
Conference and they came out ranked uh
34th in the in the nation today so
that's pretty cool that's a football
team okay Council bomo thank you mayor
and thank you for those comments
councelor Corin thank you for your work
on that that's really
incredible I wish I know I wish the
constituent would have stayed too she
stayed through most of it and I was
hoping she would stay to hear my
comments on this as well
because um much to like what one of our
public comments said today about you
know bringing forth certainly complaints
and concerns and
also um in good faith in a way that says
I really want to work on these issues
and these honestly these pictures are
really
concerning um this is not a bathroom
facility I would I would feel
comfortable using
and um I think we absolutely need to
figure out how to address some of these
issues I wondered Eon remind me have we
allocated the $2 million go bond that
was for Parks infrastructure or
improvements have we allocated that to
any projects I I cannot remember I am so
sorry um councelor Ben Tom
um at at this moment uh we I am under
the belief that we we are still planning
um planning and assessing uh those so
we're still talking with the team we're
meeting with the go Bond internal team
on that but we haven't spent that from
my understanding okay yet I mean I know
I know that there's a lot of priorities
and not enough money right I for Parks
especially I know that and perhaps that
will require a work session soon about
how we address these things because
we should all you know want a higher
standard and and I think that's an
important conversation for us to have to
figure out what the gaps are what parks
and rec you know if they're saying we
need XYZ I want to be able to you know
hear that um so I just wanted to say
that a couple of weeks ago I spoke about
Casa Perros requesting for an additional
Grant given the food cost and Neo said
well you know get us a number and
Lorenzo did get something to me in
writing and I will share that with
Christine so that she can share that
with everybody but they are requesting
for a $100,000 Grant to increase its
availability to provide healthy
nutritious food to low-income residents
um one of the biggest reasons is
inflation the increase in food prices o
of over 12% caused by the covid pandemic
has not gone away um food prices have
continued to be on the rise the second
is issue is an increased client demand
and lastly a decrease in available
funding so it's really sort of this
perfect storm um and I would like to
honor the work that they do for our
community and um I I happy to ask if
they've gone to the county as well as
perhaps this could be half and half I
don't know um but you know I did want to
bring that back and and put it on
staff's um radar again because I think
this is a really critical moment
especially as we go into winter months
um and I don't know I feel like I have
I'm forgetting something but I'll stop
there thank you thank you counselor so I
got to share something with you it's
kind of funny my first job 1978 worked
at Taco Bell right loved it it was a I
had a blast I remember one time it was
in the evening I heard this funny noise
coming from out outside and U because
the bathrooms are outside I walk out
here's this guy beating up the bathroom
I go what are you doing you know he's
just destroying it it's
1978 and uh of course he was in fact I
kind of I think I knew the guy you know
someone that went to school together but
what I'm trying to get at is and then
when later on when they got with the
county experienced the same thing I mean
it is so difficult I don't know what it
is with bathrooms people just like to
destroy them you know they just do and
that's why you see now you're seeing
these these All Steel commodes all
everything all steel because you can't
have it looking kind of nice without it
being destroyed graffiti I I don't know
what the poor bathroom did to them but
they just do it and just it's been that
way since since the beginning of time so
so at least for me and then the second
thing I'm I'm supportive of that 100,000
so I'd like if that's a consensus to at
least have uh Connie have a s heal
workup something and maybe put up to
100,000 that way there if we get some
commitment from from the county then we
can go up to 100 minimum 50 say up to
100,000 something like
that in fact I'm the one who did who um
made the chimy chunga I discovered it I
did it in Taco Bell yeah yeah because I
did it because I I was bored and I
thought this is how I'm going to meat my
burrito and deep fry it so not Alps I
did
it okay counselor Graham uh also in
support of the additional funding that
we're talking about um and I had a
really dumb question that I wanted to
ask and then I felt bad and then the
mayor told his Taco Bell story so I'm
just gonna go for it um Chief story is
is McGruff the crime dog is that is that
somebody internal to us who has to wear
that costume or did we contract out for
McGruff for that event I also want to
know about fire in the oh yeah who was
Stay Puff the Marshmallow
Man councilor Graham Jeremy story Chief
please that is internal and I don't want
to reveal who it is but there's usually
one person who wears it more often than
not interesting they do a great job and
chief Smith do you want to comment on
stay puffed um mayor councelor Graham
fire chief Jason Smith for the record I
believe Personnel items are handled by
the city manager and shouldn't be shared
I'll look for Miss samples to weigh in
on that okay fantastic um no I just I
always have a I'm always so interested
in costumed characters at events um even
though I am not the Becky who was a
costumed character my colleague
counselor Karan you're kangaroo a pig
two different times and three rabbits
that's wow amazing thank you
mayor I think my Taco Bell story was a
little bit better by that councelor beta
thank you mayor just uh a couple uh
brief announcements one just to reminder
that there is not a quality of life
meeting this month we'll have an early
one next month and then the second um I
do want to say thank you to everyone I
was gone last week I had two conferences
that I was attending one was with public
health um but the other one was National
League of cities and so um from that uh
acting as a state affiliate rep but um
looking at other states uh we're put in
with a Western Group um which is
actually quite expanded but uh honestly
New Mexico is doing pretty well in
comparison to a lot of different states
just as far as um what types of funding
is coming back into cities and the type
of support that we've had especially as
we look at what types of capital outlay
um that has gone back across the state
over the last year or so so that was
fairly positive to um look at and View
and then of course I attended a a few
different um uh workshops some on you
know uh
expanding uh your Municipal policy
through after school programs to looking
at different types of Housing and um you
know uh the governmental agencies so it
was very informative and that's that's
all very quick thank you councelor thank
you for your work on that I did mention
that you were out of town on some
meetings so thank you uh also if you
just reminded me there will be no work
session next Monday so um everyone have
a happy and safe Thanksgiving and so
agenda sitting right I'll take care of
that uh so with that we'll give it to
the uh city manager EOP is on on leave
and so of course filling in is his
trusty Lieutenant Ian TPO who uh
assistant city manager so you have the
city manager's report yes thank you
mayor city
council uh just a few
announcements I have been told by Pio
office if you get a chance remind people
to vote for the chili drought link is on
the city website lis.gov go to chili
drop in hot top top in Hot Topic section
you can vote daily you get two two votes
a day a day for the next for the next
two weeks we'll see you'll you'll get us
caught up me a pro 10 so add another
vote per day we are currently in second
place right now and second place and so
if if all of us in this room we may be
able to get us to the top it is a USA
Today Readers Choice travel Awards
contest for the best drop on New Year's
so two
weeks next during public comments we
heard about the residents experience um
at the baseball fields at P um I
there's there's there's a few things
happening I just wanted to um let
Council know that um I I hear you our
team is working on on uh bringing to you
during budget season uh Parkson Rec team
they're currently assessing right now
projects to uh to elevate or enhance
certain uh facilities that
overtime uh have perhaps worn uh worn
down but do need a bit more funding so
our our team is working on that and
during budget session you should see uh
some of those projects and uh go from
there in add addition to that I
appreciate D shooting me an update the
pause parking lot currently as a as a
project they've Pro proposed to uh add
some millings and upgrade the parking
lot uh that is something that we have
tentatively tentatively proposed between
December and February right now but due
to um cost uh and and timing that's
something uh our Public Works team is
going to do in house it may be more in
in the spring but that is just an update
I wanted to share with Council happening
at that baseball field at P Park parking
lot
uh
additionally uh there was mention about
uh Peach Tree Hill development and and
hopefully getting that before in front
of council before uh New Year's I
appreciate our city clerk reminding me
that that is something that's coming in
front of you on December
4th uh for a pre-commitment for for tax
credit additionally uh and uh the second
to the last announcement I wanted to
make kudos to our LC team they have
worked uh very hard uh this past year
and all years but this past year they've
committed themselves to uh really go all
in on the best of State U events there
is something called the the New Mexico
hospital Hospitality Association Top Hat
awards which is the best of the state in
and we were uh we had nine nominations
and were finalist on nine of those we
were awarded uh four
Awards the first being best broadcast
campaign for the real New Mexico online
broadcast streaming campaign judges
mentioned that the messaging was
captivating and visuals as a factor in
their
decision the second award was best
outstanding event for Spaceport America
cup the event brings thousands of
students from around the world to Las
cruus to participate in the event the
third award went to hospital
professional of the year for Russell
Hernandez who is on the VC board uh
experienc messia and incoming mayor uh
for messia judges mentioned his work in
the community and education promotion of
Las crus and messia and the last award
was best new experience for maida Las
Cruses this was a tie uh but judges
mentioned that the turnout for a
firsttime event highlight of the culture
and Community was a huge factor in their
decision
uh visit Las cruus notes that it's
dedicated to Talent talented staff and
the importance of Partnerships with
local state agencies like an MCO simply
social sinuate Sunny 505 and other
supporting Community Partners assisted
in
this last but not least um tree lighting
holiday ceremony will be on Saturday
December 2nd mayor are you going to be
there okay perfect
so stage again do we have yep so mayor
mayor is inviting do you want councelor
Flores to say the the speech no well
he'll think about
that mayor will'll get back to you
councilor Flores uh tree lighting this
is my time here thank you tree
lighting not conceeding the floor here
tree lighting the holiday tree lighting
ceremony is from 6:00 to 8 this is
Saturday December
2nd and the celebration features live
music exciting activities ities photo
opportunities food trucks uh everything
and more the tree is scheduled to be lit
at 700 p.m. again Saturday December 2nd
thank you
mayor all right thank you now you all
are
welcome yeah yeah okay okay so if
there's nothing further entertain a
motion to adjourn so move Graham seconda
motion made by councelor Graham second
by councelor Beta that we adjourn
Christine
this on the motion to adjourn the
regular meeting councelor ABA yes
councelor Graham yes councelor bomo yes
councelor cran yes councelor flotes yes
councelor Ganda yes mayor yes okay it's
4:12 p.m. we're Jour thank you have a
Happy Thanksgiving
everyone