City Commission - Regular Meeting

I call this meeting to order on May 26, 2026 at 6.30 PM. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mayor Sharon McDonald. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Josh Rudin.

Here.

Commissioner Baxter-Patillo.

Here.

Commissioner Stephen Burnett.

Here.

Commissioner Warren Robinson.

Here.

Commissioner Al Hernandez.

Here.

Commissioner Mark Tapley.

Here.

Madam Mayor, we have a quorum.

Thank you. The invocation will be done by Pastor Lance Garrison of the Worship Center, and the pledge will be by Commissioner Al Fernandez.

God, we thank you so much, Lord, more than anything for who you are. And Lord, we thank you so much. that we get an opportunity to do things like this. God, we thank you for the blessing of our country, Lord, our city, and the people that you have placed in position of leadership. God, we just thank you so much for each and every one of them. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity we get tonight to speak, to listen. And so, God, I just pray that throughout this night, Lord, would there be clarity, would there be truth, and Lord, would we all just approach everything, God, just surrendering it to you and asking you for direction and wisdom. And Lord, we just choose tonight to say, regardless of everything, we trust you, God. We believe that you're in control. And so, God, thank you so much for the outcomes that you're going to provide. Lord, we thank you so much again, more than anything, for who you are and what you've done for us. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Please join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the

On tonight, we are moving one item, item number 11. to be placed on the agenda after item 15 and that is after the motion to reconvene and to open session so with that said do i have the motion for the approval of the agenda i'll make a motion to approve the agenda with the noted changes Do I have a second?

Second.

Okay. It's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Al Hernandez. We're ready for the vote. And the vote passes 7-0. We're going to move on to the presentation. First is a presentation to review the Mercury leak in Dunn Solar Telescope at Sunspot Solar Observatory and the potential for preserving Sunspot as a historical site. And presenting is going to be Dave Doolin.

Good evening. Madam Mayor, members of the Commission, thank you for your time. Dave Dooling, I was education officer at NSO Sunspot for nine years. With me is Heidi Sanchez, who now runs the Visitor Center, with her team has been doing a lot of outreach. She's also president of the Sunspot Community Center. Sunspot was started in 1947 as one of the world's first space weather observing stations and grew into what you see there. The picture there highlights the main buildings and the observatories, but there's a lot more to it because it includes a village. Okay. There we go. Okay. So the leak was in the Dunn Solar Telescope. Main telescope barrel hangs vertically, rotates on mercury bearings. One of them leaked on January 5, 186 pounds of mercury. That's a little bit more than six quarts out of the 18,000 pounds up above. So this is a serious issue. It's being addressed by the National Science Foundation. and a major risk management and construction contractor international. They will remove the mercury and the NSF, National Science Foundation, has announced its intent to demolish, to raise the place, grate it down four feet below ground level and then backfill, just make everything disappear. This is unnecessary. Once the mercury is gone, the risk is gone and there's no hazard to anybody. The place can be repurposed, and that's what Friends of Sunspot, which includes a number of people besides us, have been working on. The Dunn itself, even if it can't be restored to normal operations, would make a magnificent site for a hands-on solar physics and optics education center. Other TELUS facilities could be put back into operation. The Evans Solar Facility is in good shape. It could be returned to operation in short order. Hilltop Dome and the ISUN building next to it are vacant at the moment, and this will provide the opportunity to repopulate them with new instrumentation. and also to run a solar physics school. Hilltop Dome, which was, excuse me, Grain Bin Dome, which was literally built inside a grain bin. They bought one out of the Sears Roebuck mail order catalog, and machinists from Holloman rebuilt it. It has a 12-inch telescope that can be used for nighttime observing, and this could be part of tourist attractions. Admin building. has a small business-grade kitchen in it and a dining hall, which can also be used for conferences. The visitor center has been there since the late 1990s and is now the center of the Sunspot Solar System model, which is one of the largest in the world, largest, I believe, west of the Mississippi, and in its own right has become a tourist attraction. You can find it on a lot of sites. Housing, visitor officer quarters and dormitory could be used to house students coming up to learn. the arts and science and trade of solar physics, of instrument building and observing the sun. Because the four meter solar telescope on Hawaii that took the business away, and understandably so because NSO needed to focus on that, cannot accommodate students to be in their training right now. They need another place to do it. And even the NSF has stated openly that that would be an ideal mission for this. In addition, there is plenty of housing, family housing, And my personal favorite, where the prefab houses used to be located, the prefabs are gone now. The sites are still there. They have utilities still present. And with a little bit of upgrade, these could become RV spots for the RV astronomy business, which is growing. has a lot of interest. So this will be ready made. It's dark skies. It will be the only RV site in the world located immediately next to a major solar and nighttime astrophysics observatory. Heidi. Thank you.

Thank you for letting me speak before you. My name is Heidi Sanchez, and I just want to express some of the repercussions that would happen if complete demolition of the site would take place. So Sunspot sees an average of 2,500 visitors a year. We get visitors from all over. So the majority of our visitors are adults, and they come with their money, right? That's bringing tourism to the area. So I would say 75% of the visitors we get are adults. The rest are children. We get the majority of our visitors from out of state. So they are coming from, I'm going to look at my notes. So we get visitors from Texas majority, but Colorado, Virginia, Wyoming, all over the world. We get 180 international visitors representing countries from around the world. So in addition to our regular tourism, we provide extensive education and community outreach. We've reached over 60 schools and youth groups. We've hosted major programs, summer science camps and other physics and engineering departments. We've reached, sorry. I'm nervous. We've partnered with White Sands National Park, Columban Air Force Base, senior centers, libraries, veteran groups, and other regional organizations to provide education and outreach in the area. We've hosted major solar eclipse programs, solar science days, and reoccurring stargazing programs. All this would be lost if Sunspot would disappear. So in addition to all that, the visitor center reaches more than 3,400 visitors annually through our structured outreach programs. Lastly, what I want to say. Lastly, what I want to say is Sunspot is more than just a telescope. It's a complete science campus. With National Science Foundation moving out, their goal is not to just demolish the telescope, but the entire site with all its infrastructure. Just because the one telescope doesn't work, doesn't mean that the site isn't still viable and cannot still be used. another agency could come in. With them leaving, I think that presents us with a great opportunity for somebody to come in and make a multi-purpose science complex where you're not only hitting the science and the education and outreach, but you could make recreation and RV camping. And so I hope you will support us in our efforts to save Sunspot. Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you. What's the impetus to tear down Sunspot? Why?

We would like to know also.

So basically, National Science Foundation holds the land use agreement with the Forest Service. And because they are moving out of the facilities, because they don't have an active telescope anymore, their agreement is then to demolish the site because they're vacating the site.

They're going so they just tear it down.

Tear it down. All of it.

We don't want to talk about renegotiating the use of the land or the property.

So according to their ROD, their record of... Record of decision. Thank you. In 2022, they claim that they have reached out to people and nobody has expressed interest in taking over the site. You have? Well, yeah, I'm just me and I don't have a lot of money. So I'm hoping that we can build a community-driven model where we get not only city and county and state monies, but then you can get private donors, you could get foundations, you could get universities, just a whole pool of money to come together to keep Sunspot going.

it would be probably more than $50 million to rehab the facilities, bring things up to date, modern expectations, and then additional annual operating income. So there are donors. who might be willing to support this, but they have to see that the community is involved. So we've talked with high-profit trustees. I'm working to get on the agenda with the Otero County Commission, just trying to generate public support so that people see that this is something valuable, something that Otero County and Alamogordo and other communities want to have happen, and that it would be valuable to the state and to the nation.

Have you talked to the people in Santa Fe? Have you talked to the senators and representatives?

We're getting there. We're getting there. We're just in our beginning stages.

How much time do you have?

So right. So the first step is to remove the mercury and that was supposed to start happening in the fall. But there's several chiefs trying to make decisions and they have to all become in to alignment. And so weekly meetings are held and they still talk about how they're going to remove the mercury. So I mean, once they remove the mercury, again, like Dave said, there is no threat to the environment or to people. So we really want people to push back and just put a stop in motion to the decommissioning, remove the mercury, and then let us have a conversation about how we can build this community-driven model and find some interested parties in taking over the site and making something out of it. I just want to leave this with you. So Sunspot has been a science. It's part of New Mexico's scientific heritage, right? It's a cultural landmark for over 75 years. And how are we going to just let that be destroyed when somebody else can come in and make something out of it?

Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda is Public Works. Presentation and update, Jimmy Vargas, Public Works Director.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Mayor Botemp, and commissioners, members of the commission. Okay, so tonight I'm going to provide an overview and a few updates on Public Works. Public Works consists of facility maintenance, fleet maintenance, street maintenance, and drainage maintenance. First up, we're going to talk about facility maintenance. Just a brief overview. Facility maintenance oversees 31 city buildings, more than 220 city-owned streetlights, over 821 sports, complex lights, 25 traffic signals, 14 school zones, and electrical lighting for the runway and taxiway at the airport. When fully staffed, There are nine employees, including the manager, to cover the city's facility maintenance leads. Additional responsibilities of facility maintenance include preparing and installing Christmas lights and decorations throughout the city during the holiday season, illuminating trees, streets, and street lamps. They also maintenance public pool at the family rec center. Much effort and coordination goes into this Christmas lights and pool, so both are ready and fully operational for the public to enjoy. JUST TO ADD, THIS PAST SEASON, DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON, FACILITY MAINTENANCE REPLACED MUCH OF THE BULBS IN OUR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND A LOT OF THE WIRING SO THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER ILLUMINATION AND MORE RELIABILITY. THE WIRING WAS A LITTLE OLDER, NEEDED REPAIR WORK, AND NOW IT'S MUCH IMPROVED. AND THEN THE ILLUMINATION, THEY CHANGED SOME OF THE COLORS, AND THIS PAST SEASON I THINK EVERYBODY GOT TO ENJOY THAT THROUGHOUT THE CITY. Facility maintenance was instrumental in the completion of the energy saving project phase one. The city began in 2025. Partnering with Energy Savings Group, facility maintenance oversaw the installation of the Pelican thermostat system in many city buildings. enabling remote monitoring during and after business hours. So when it gets hot in here at night during the summer, they have a remote ability to lower the temperature and that kind of thing. So it's a really good tool to have for most of the city facilities. Also inclusive in this project was installation of solar panels at the six city facilities and LED lighting in many of the city buildings. Phase one was completed in February of 2026. One more item I wanted to mention about facility maintenance, actually two. Currently, the facility maintenance is overseeing an antenna upgrade located in the Long Ridge location up in the Cloudcroft Mountains. This is to improve radio communication for city employees and city buildings. The current antenna and associated equipment is over 20 years old and in need for an upgrade. The antenna is located off the Sunspot Highway. and completion we're hoping by the fall for this project and then one more item they are doing preferred preventative maintenance so you may see some of the guys doing preventative maintenance on all of our street lights traffic lights changing bulbs bands checking the alignment and traffic cabinets so they've been doing that I think they've got all of most of 10th Street done from college down to Florida so you may see that also okay next up fleet maintenance fleet maintenance services and maintains over 488 city vehicles and equipment including cars trucks dump trucks roll-off trucks backhoes etc additional services include vehicle warranty coordination diagnostic checks vehicle alignment vehicle alignments and after-hours services when fully staffed there are six employees including the manager to maintain the city's fleet maybe I should skip the slides on guys what do you think okay there's the Christmas lights solar panels I think that's fire station five and Griggs field name of you and now we're at fleet maintenance some of the projects they've worked on they do everything from you know vehicles all the way to first responders vehicles and there's some of the other vehicles they've been working on next page we have the vehicle replacement program that we're really excited about okay so we maintenance manager Robert Williams currently working closely with enterprise fleet management to coordinate and manage the replacement of many vehicles that have met their end of service and to ensure that the new vehicles meet the needs of the departments this initial phase of the program includes 73 replacement vehicles and FOR 25 AND 26. ALL 73 VEHICLES HAVE BEEN ORDERED AND WILL TENTATIVELY BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER OF 26. AGAIN, THAT'S TENTATIVE. HOPEFULLY WE'LL FOLLOW SCHEDULE ON THAT. VEHICLE TYPES RANGE FROM ALL THE WAY FROM SERVICE VEHICLES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO AUTOMOBILES AND ANYWHERE IN BETWEEN. NEXT SLIDE IS SOME OF THE VEHICLES THAT MET THEIR END OF SERVICE MAYBE A WHILE BACK. BUT THEY'RE ALL STILL BEING UTILIZED, SO IT'S A detriment to the staff for taking care of them and taking care of what they use, what they need to do their jobs. Um, next day. Next slide is street maintenance. So street maintenance manages maintains and repairs the city streets and roads, including striping, crosswalk signage, concrete, asphalt work, ADA ramps, alley maintenance and street sweeping. Street maintenance is also responsible for flood cleanup during monsoon. on all city roads, parade and event support, as well as maintaining the city yard for routine cleanup and maintenance. When fully staffed, street maintenance has 13 employees, including the manager. Street maintenance maintains approximately 188 paved miles and 37 unpaved miles of roadway and 330 linear miles of sidewalk. Current projects in progress for street maintenance include grant applications submitted for two locations, South Florida to Panorama from First Street to Panorama and First Street to the Union Pacific Railroad. Now I know the grant request that was put in was for the whole stretch from White Sands to the bypass. For repair purposes, the grant will only, if we got the funds, would only cover, it would only apply to the areas that need repair, which would be mostly UP, from the UP railroad to Whiteshands. And that would include roadway, concrete, curb and gutter, drainage, and a culvert. That's located in that area that would need replacing, and including sidewalks if possible. Pavement preservation and repavement project considerations for various locations. Looking at just some different pavement-only projects, hopefully. But we will talk about that a little bit more in the next slide, as far as what's selected for those types of projects. And one more item. Due to staffing, we're a little bit slow on the crosswalk maintenance, but we're still putting that in progress. We're going to try and get some of those done before the school season begins again. So right now is a prime time for us to get those crosswalks replaced and cleaned up and refreshed some of them need restricting so we'll probably do that also okay so the next slide is a transportation management plan this is a new project that we just started in April of 26 and it designed to compile data that will serve as a planning tool for future road and traffic infrastructure improvements some of the project goals include improving safety asset inventory and asset management for the city's road infrastructure improve traffic conditions utilizing traffic studies and traffic analysis identifying priority projects so goes back to that last bullet point ahead on that last slide they will be with this data it will identify projects priority top priority projects projects that are in dire need of repair estimate planning costs establish implementation strategies payment assessments that will help with planning projects and those assessments will also include sidewalk assessments it will include the concrete sidewalk assessments for in need of repair and prioritize according to the need policy and staffing recommendations also are included in the TMP okay drainage maintenance so we have over 90 ditches and swells swells is very shallow ditch 90 ditches and swells stretching over 37 miles across the community that needs continuous maintenance Public Works has partnered with KENG contracting to begin a maintenance schedule for the city's drainage system planned maintenance includes sediment and vegetation removal erosion control and culvert cleaning and clearing future planning is currently underway For engineering improvements on the city's drainage system, improvements that are needed include resloping, reshaping, erosion improvements, and concrete work. So I think that one up there is Eagle Ditch, before and after. And I believe that is Pecan Ditch, before and after. That one is 16th Street. There was some erosion. They repaired that, did a good job of that. So the truck trucks can go through that alley safely. uh and then the last ones on the bottom our pecan dish again huge improvement we got a good flow going um now and we got a little bit more work to do there but it looks like it's coming along pretty good we're really happy about that okay So far in 2026, 20 locations have been planned, with 10 completed internally, 10 currently in progress. Work on these locations began in January of 2026. Some of the locations completed include most of the dry canyon and its connecting ditches, desert lakes, and pecan ditch. For FY27, 10 are already in the planning stages for maintenance. Some of these locations include the McKinley and South Channel and Railroad Avenue. Questions?

I have a... I was wanting to ask the crosswalks that we use for the schools. I've noticed that they fade pretty regularly. They don't last like a whole year. What is the ingredients in that, or is there something that could be used that's a little bit more powerful that could keep those crosswalks stained a lot longer?

Yes, ma'am. Actually, when we started crosswalk maintenance last year, we started using marking tape. So typically, when you paint striping on the roads or even in crosswalks, it can be done by painting. Painting's going to only last a year or two, possibly, with UV, with driving on them. So the last crosswalks that we started maintaining, we're starting to go with pavement tape. And pavement tape's designed to last a lot longer, a couple of years, without even having to refresh them. It's a little more expensive. It takes a little more time to applicate, but in the long run, it'll secure the striping on the crosswalk. So that's what you probably see in some of the older ones. Sometimes we go out and power wash them, and that refreshes the stripes, but it's not enough to keep them going for an extended period of time. marking tape is the way we're starting to go and again it's a little more expensive and that was some of our budget requests that we put in this year for striping for pavement tape so hopefully once we get back to our staffing we get some staffing back up and going a little bit you know we build our staffing back up that's gonna be the plan to start going back to the crosswalks and applying this pavement tape so that they can last longer and we don't have to make them so much

And my second question would be about the potholes, the filament that goes inside the larger potholes. They seem to either come up when it rains or they flip out when trucks or heavier equipment runs over the road. Is there any way that could be salvaged?

So those types of issues, ma'am, potholes are one thing, but when you start seeing that with rain coming up, that means that the road is pretty close to needed replacement, and the subgrade is starting to get penetrated. There's alligator cracking. So... For street maintenance to repair those things in a semi-permanent basis, it's going to take a lot more asphalt, I mean bigger patches replacement. Really, those are the areas that need replacement, that need rehabilitation, or even at least a mill and ore relay. That's why I chose South Florida for the grant application, because every year and every season, Rains come through, falls apart, and we're out there potholing. I think since I've been in public works for two years, we've potholed South Florida probably at least a half a dozen times. And typically, it's after the rain. So that road is in need of rehabilitation. It needs to be replaced. Subgrade needs to be recompacted and then new asphalt. So potholes are one thing, but when it comes to stuff like that where it's alligatored and it's just separating after a rain, That's more of the need. But that's where this traffic management plan comes in, ma'am. That plan is going to provide all this data. It's going to give us all this pavement condition so we can see what roads are in dire need. With potholing, it's only a temporary fix. That management plan will provide a lot of data so that we can start planning projects for the future, looking for funding, you know, and all that sort of thing.

Okay. Thank you.

You're up. You said when you get fully staffed, how many people are you down? Well, right now we have seven. We have seven street maintenance employees and a manager. We had three retire beginning at the end of the year, which was great last year. Good for them. Not good so much for us because they were our veterans. We had three guys retire and then two transfer to another department. So in a short period of time, we lost five employees. We replaced one or two. They didn't work out. The recruitment's going so-so. I believe we hired two more. So hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we'll bring a couple more hands on. So right now, currently, we're at seven.

How many positions do you have total? I know it was in the deal, but I mean, you're at nine, 15, something like that? Total with the manager, it's 13, fully staffed. 13? OK. Yeah. All right. And you're at seven right now?

Yes, sir. They're spread thin. They're working really hard, though. They do everything you can in their ability to do what they can, you know? Yes, sir.

Mr. Jimmy, when you had control of the maintenance, how many employees did you have for that? When I took control?

When you were fully staffed with it being the city's responsibility.

Well, since I mean, since I've been in public works.

Well, we recently transitioned to two contractors, correct?

I believe he's talking weeds and drainage. So we had six weeks in drainage crew.

We didn't drainage. We had five employees. Yes, they were five. And they assisted street maintenance from time to time when we were short staff. So they did assist for, you know, for a period.

And how has the transition gone?

I will say that the production has doubled I would say that we've got a lot of positive return from the transition and I know that some of the ditches they've needed to prepare maintenance 20 years or more some of those ditches are now ready to for some engineering work because of the maintenance being done on so it's been it's been a very positive return Yes, sir. Thank you.

I have a couple. One of them I was going to bring up in Commissioner comments, but I got an email about the Walker area, the roads. There's a lot of patches out there, a lot of unpatched areas. And, of course, I kind of told them what you've told me. But also, when a contractor does work out there, Do they have to pull a permit to cut the road and do a water tap? Yes, sir.

Same applies for a contractor that it does for the city. Yes, sir.

So was there a time frame to do a patch?

TIMEFRAME. REALISTICALLY, WE LOVE TO DO THEM AS SOON AS THEY'RE CUT. BUT DUE TO STAFFING AND OTHER THINGS, IT'S JUST TOUGH TO DO THAT. BUT REALISTICALLY, 72 HOURS. THAT'S THE GOAL.

DO WE MONITOR THAT? BECAUSE I KNOW THERE WAS ONE THAT WAS ON FACEBOOK FOR LIKE THREE WEEKS, AND IT WAS ACTUALLY OFF OF WALKER. I THINK WE WERE JUST IN WALKER, TOO, MR. NANOS.

I THINK WE WERE OUT THERE.

I UNDERSTAND. BUT THAT'S WHERE THE E-MAIL CAME FROM, SO THAT'S WHY I'M ADDRESSING THAT ONE. Okay.

And then... Well, just real quick, Commissioner, just to kind of elaborate on that a little. Because we're behind, we go patching according to the date. So if it's something that happened a month ago, we're going to be patching patches that were there three months ago. So those are going to be priority. They're going to be first because they've been there longer. So just so you know, that may come up from time to time. And even if we're in a walker area, we may not get to a certain patch. JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE OTHERS IN THE CITY THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT OLDER.

THAT AND ALSO PRIORITIZATION, LIKE 10th STREET VERSUS 6th STREET OR SOMETHING. OF COURSE. FLORIDA. EXACTLY. OKAY. AND THEN ALSO I BROUGHT UP ABOUT THE WEEDS OUT THERE IN WALKROOM. WE WERE TOLD JUNE, JULY TIME FRAME TO GET THOSE OUT THERE. AND IN MY ROUNDS OUT THERE, I ALSO NOTICED THAT Most if not all the culverts at the ends are crushed So yeah, we get that taken care of that's the airport.

They're called the airport drainage blocks. I miss key mescal arrow all those types of roads Yeah, we have actually I believe three task orders set up for the main ones I think mescal arrow and mesquite and some of that some of those task orders will include culverts, you know, we'll be straightening them up It's gonna be tough sir They've been ran over by UPS. I don't know how many times and different stuff So we'll do what we can to straighten them up and try to flush them out because some of them are blocked So that's a part of every every time we go in that area That'll be what we can that's what we will be doing and then on your presentation you touched on railroad the ditch and railroad so I Just got back on the Commission.

It was six years ago that I was on the Commission and six years ago. I was fighting for the owners of One Stop and Rocky Mountain Supply, they've actually had to move their fence in because the ditch has taken over their property. So is that on the horizon to look at that area?

So there's a little bit of, there's something going, I'll give you a little bit of details on that ditch.

I know what it is.

Yeah, and so it's really something that the city's, It's not something that we're going to maintain as of right now because of the railroad and stair property, that sort of thing. So I know that engineering have been working on that project for utilities because they want to there's some utility work they want to do there. I don't have a lot of details on where we're at with that. I did look at that ditch and we were considering that for maintenance. But when I found out it actually is in our right of way, there's other considerations that are being discussed with that.

And I understand that part of it, but I also understand the fact that there's constituents that own that property that are losing their property based on failed maintenance from whoever. And I understand that the railroad owns it. And I understand what the biggest problem is. Somebody dumped a bunch of concrete up above, which is causing a swell. I mean, there's got to be something we can do about that to To alleviate some of that. Because I know and since since I was on last time they've had to move their fence about 10 feet.

talked to the to one of the owners or one of the management team over at Rocky Mountain he was telling me about that and we went out and I looked at it with him and at the time since last year I didn't know that it was not a right away so I told him that we'd look into it but when I found that out it's really tough Mr. Hernandez to for us to go in and do something on someone's right away because especially for Union Pacific they're very particular out their land and it's theirs and if we go in and start doing some maintenance you may have issues they may not want the way we're gonna do it or however whatever so I understand the concern what I can do is follow up with engineering and see exactly what we're doing there and what we're at because that's something that we really have to be cautious to proceed on when it comes to going in that right away that's not ours okay all right

questions anything else one more quick one uh how many patches are we behind right now do you know

Oh, I think the last number I saw was 150.

It's not a great number. Nowhere near what we were before.

I think it was 400. Yeah, last time it was, yeah. It's up there, sir. It's not really something that we're really, that's not our goal. But we're working on it. And the guys are working hard to do it when they can. I think they patch three days a week and they do other maintenance stuff. A couple days a week they're kind of spreading it out.

Are you saying that it came down from 400 to 150?

Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. It might have been 350. But yeah, it was pretty high.

I think we were up around 500.

We brought it down to under 50. So it was down to about 20-ish. And then because we're behind, it came back up.

I think a few years ago you had about 500 of them around town. You guys got them caught up.

When I got here, 24, it was a big challenge. But those guys, we had two crews working, patching constantly. Those guys worked really hard to get caught up and get the streets in okay shape again. So as soon as we can get some more staff, if you know anybody who wants to work for street maintenance, give me a call, okay? I'll recruit up here too.

So it was 350 how long ago?

Oh, we got ahold of it. We got a handle on it. I believe it was fall of last year. I think it was fall, maybe September, maybe.

Yeah, thank you. So you said with the weeds and drainage department when they got dissolved or whatever, were they beneficial to you being able to come and help you?

Wheat and drainage maintenance? Yeah. The employees? Yes. Absolutely. They did everything we needed from them. Unfortunately, when we were doing that patch repair, they were helping us, and they were pulled away from wheat and drainage maintenance too. So it's a give and take thing. But they helped as much as they could for their abilities. Yes, sir.

Are they going to have the goats again this year?

I was waiting for that question. I have the RFP ready, and I'd like to put it out. Goats are a timing thing. We can't put them out. They can't munch in the summer because it's too hot for them. So I'm looking at maybe fall. Maybe we can get an RFP done through the summer, and then we can get some vendors to come out and do some work for us in the fall, hopefully. And they can do that. They can go out in the ditches and work until probably November-ish. Once the weeds dry up, though, ma'am, they tend not to want to eat that. So it slows the progress down. So we're hoping that maybe we can get something. I'm thinking maybe August, get it out, and then we can start having them work in the ditches September-ish when it cools down a little bit. Thank you. You're welcome. Any more questions?

Thank you for the work.

Thank my guys. They're the ones who are out there doing it, all four divisions.

Thank you.

Next on the agenda is a presentation on AFSCME Local 3818 and AFSME Council 18 regarding the proposed outsourcing of Desert Lakes golf course maintenance, including impacts and alternatives to preserve maintenance work in-house. And it's going to be Marcus Bartlett, AFSCME representative. Thank you.

We usually say AFSCME. It's a little easier.

Okay.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioners. Thank you, City Manager. I'm here joined tonight by a lot of our fellow union members and workers here at the city. And I'm here on behalf of Council 18 and Local 3818, which we do represent all the city employees who work here for the city of Alamogordo. And these folks make Alamogordo happen every single day. So today I'm here to speak about the proposed outsourcing of the maintenance work at the Desert Golfs Lakes course. And I want to begin by a point of agreement. The union is, we're not here to deny that the Desert Lakes course has some challenges. That's a fact. And we're not here to deny that golfers have some concerns. And we are not here to deny that the city should look to improve operations. improve the service, to increase revenue. It's a positive thing. To secure better course conditions and to secure better public confidence in this golf course. Those are legitimate goals. But the question before this commission is not whether Desert Lakes should improve. Of course it should. The real question is whether the city should try to improve it by removing the skilled public maintenance workers that are standing behind us, transferring that public work to a private operator, and doing so before the city has completed a true cost comparison. So the union's position is straightforward. Keep the golf course maintenance in-house. If the city wants outside expertise for the pro shop, the restaurant, marketing tournaments, customer facing operations, then evaluate that. But do not outsource the maintenance workforce unless and until the city proves with a complete cost study that doing so is better for taxpayers, that it will be better for the course, prove that it will be better for the public, and prove that it will be better in the long-term interest of Alamogordo. And right now, none of that proof exists. The city's own record shows that the original RFP 26001 was not a maintenance privatization plan. It was for golf course operations and management. Maintenance was excluded. And that matters because it proves that the city already had a workable model that did not require eliminating city maintenance positions. And maintenance was excluded for good reason.

Here.

So before the Commission changed direction, city staff had identified serious operational reasons to keep maintenance under city control. Doctor Hernandez previously explained that the city should retain responsible responsibility for the golf course maintenance because of the city's investment in irrigation. The SCADA systems there's been. staff training that has happened, and ongoing capital and regulatory work. The March 24 meeting minutes also reflect that the city's concern that it had invested millions into an irrigation and workforce development and still had major work ahead. So that's not necessarily a union talking point. This is the city's own record. So the first question before the commission should be simple. What changed? What changed? What changed between the city's own professional judgment that maintenance should stay public and the latter decision to move toward an RFP that could remove these workers from city employment? That answer simply can't just be because the commission gave direction. The commission did give direction, but responsible direction should be based on a complete record. It should be based on the cost, the risk, the service levels, public accountability, infrastructure protection, and the impact on the workforce. And right now, that record remains incomplete. The city has acknowledged that it does not yet have a final contractor cost comparison. The spreadsheet provided to the union was not a completed outsourcing study. It was not a full make or buy analysis. It did not answer the most important question. Will outsourcing maintenance actually save taxpayers money after all of the costs are counted? And that phrase, that matters after all the costs have been counted. The handouts that we provided previously into your packets provide this point clearly. Privatization is often sold on the promise that the private sector can do work cheaper. But experience shows that privatization can increase costs and reduce accountability. The Taxpayers Beware handout we provided warns that governments often fail to include contract monitoring, compliance costs, public equipment, public facilities, and the administrative costs needed to supervise private contracts. It cites an estimate from the Government Finance Officers Association that contract monitoring compliance can add as much up to 25% of the total cost. It also notes that Government Accountability Office found that contract cost estimates can make savings appear greater than what was actually realized. And that matters directly here. A contractor's proposed price is not the final public cost. The full public cost includes contract monitoring, enforcement, retained city obligations, transition expenses, equipment use, facilities, future change orders, service failures, and the cost of bringing the work back in-house if that contract does not perform. The second RFP, RFP 2026002, itself shows why that matters. Even if the contractor takes over maintenance, the city still appears to retain major obligations, including building utility preventance maintenance, structural repair, electrical repair, roofing, HVAC, sewer, water services connection repair, irrigation, and injection pump maintenance. So if a contractor says that we can do it for X dollars, that number does not answer the real question. The real question is, what will the contract charge, plus what will the city still pay, plus what the city's risk is, and what the public can lose. So until an analysis is done, the city cannot honestly claim that outsourcing maintenance saves money. The handout also warns about another danger. Private contracts can often shift risk to taxpayers while preserving profits for the contractors. In the handout, it says private corporations are very good at writing contracts that shift risks to the taxpayers, and they get to keep the rewards in the company. Once a public services outsource, taxpayers can be locked into a bad deal if the contract fails to anticipate all those contingencies. And that is especially important for a golf course. Golf course maintenance is not routine office work. This course has irrigation issues, reclaimed water issues, turf recovery issues, pond water, capital improvements, and long-term infrastructure needs. If the contract is not written perfectly, the city may still be responsible for the expensive parts while the contractor controls the visible operation. And that's not accountability, that's a risk transfer. Infrastructure handouts also makes the same writing in broader terms. It explains that privatization can increase costs for cities and residents, eliminate public accountability, and compromise the service quality. It also warns that private corporations are primarily accountable to stockholders, not to the people they serve, and while the public ownership also resides to speak directly to elected officials and access information through public process. That point is crucial. Desert Lakes is not a private club. It is a municipal golf course. It belongs to the people of Alamogordo. Taxpayers paid for that land. They paid for the infrastructure, the irrigation improvements, the training, the equipment. Taxpayers will still carry the risk, even if a private contractor is brought in to operate. When a public service is performed by any of the city employees, the chain of accountability is clear. City workers answer to city management, city management answers to this commission, and this commission then answers to the voters. When a public service is privatized, that chain changes. The contractors answer to the contract, they answer to the profit model, and its own business interests. That does not make every contractor bad, but it does mean that the public must be careful before surrendering control of a public function. The handouts we've provided give examples from around the country where privatization did not deliver. what was proposed. In Yuma, Arizona, when private companies bid on garbage collection and fleet maintenance, officials found that the estimates and cheapest bids would have required residents to pay twice what they were already paying for the same city services. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, after privatization and maintenance was recommended, city crews responded quickly after a snowstorm, and officials backed away from privatization after recognizing that in-house crews would be affected or could be deployed faster than the contractors. We even see recently with the last few folks that presented up here for the bids, they would institute dynamic pricing. That cuts you all out of the process of determining how much the tee times are going to cost. This dynamic pricing model is not what it's cut out to be. And it's really going to be a major impact on the citizens of this community that benefit and use the golf course. So those examples matter because they show the danger of assuming private always means cheaper or better. The handouts also note that many governments bring back work in-house after privatization fails. One of the studies reports that more than 60% of local governments that brought services back in-house did so because of declining service quality. Another notes that the International City and County Management Association found that 52% of governments that brought back service in-house did so because of insufficient cost savings. So the lesson is simple. Before privatizing, count everything. Measure everything. Protect the public before signing the contract. And that includes protecting the workforce. The affected maintenance employees are not abstract budget lines. They're real people with real families and they are trained city employees. They know this course and they know the irrigation system. They completely understand the soil conditions. They know the daily reality of maintaining a Desert Lakes golf course with reclaimed water, the public expectations that are in place, the limited resources that they have, and the major infrastructure needs at play. These workers are not the obstacle to improvement. They are the foundation of the improvement. The city has already invested in them. The question now is whether the city will protect that investment or throw it away just when it is needed the most. The second RFP suggests that the currently hourly staff may have been given the opportunity for the selected contractor, but let's be clear. That is not a job protection that is not keeping them as city employees. That is not preserving the city's their city seniority, their public employees benefits, their pathway to a retirement, their contractual rights and their relationship with this community as public servants. That is a displacement dressed up as an opportunity. And the handout explains why that matters at the local economy. The infrastructure handout warns that where privatization saves money, it is often because contractors pay lower wages and benefits, they hire fewer workers, they cut corners on service. It states it plainly that low wages hurt the local economy here. And that is exactly the wrong direction for the city of Alamogordo. This city needs stable jobs. not fewer. It needs more career pathways, not fewer. People need more reasons for working families to stay here in Alma Gordo, not fewer reasons. And if these workers are good enough for a contractor to hire, then they are good enough for the city to retain. And so the union is not only here to object, we are here with some alternatives. We put together a four-part alternative pathway that preserves the city maintenance work. So the first alternative is really the cleanest. It's a return to the original operator-only model. If the city believes it needs outside expertise for places like the pro shop and the restaurant, marketing, the customer experience then then pursue that model but keep maintenance in-house that approach is consistent with the city's original rfp and with the city's own prior concerns about infrastructure training and capital work the second alternative that we've proposed is a split split split responsibility model the operator handles the pro shop in the restaurant the golf programming, marketing, and customer service, while the city maintenance employees remain city employees, and the city creates written coordination protocols between the operator and the city maintenance staff, weekly operational meetings, tournaments, preparation procedures, cart restriction rules, know turf recovery plans irrigation response procedures we could go on and on with that list there should also be escalation steps when the operations and maintenance disagree that model is workable if the city makes it workable The third alternative is a labor management maintenance improvement plan. Given the in-house crew's measurable goals, the equipment and the materials they need, and a structured review period, tracking irrigation reliably to track turf recovery, track equipment downtime, and track the response times, customer complaints, track rounds and revenue. Track the improvements transparently. And if there are problems, manage them, but do not assume privatization is the only answer to fixing the golf course. The fourth alternative is a phased pilot plan. Let the city take outside operations without outsourcing maintenance. After a year, compare actual data. which includes revenues, rounds played, customer satisfaction, turf recovery, maintenance costs, complaints, capital progress, and then make a decision based on the evidence, not just speculation. So the union's core recommendation is to keep the maintenance in-house. Do a real cost comparison study. And do not treat contractor hiring as a worker protection. Do not move a public service into private hands without proving it is better for taxpayers, workers, service quality, and public accountability. The city has options. And it can protect the course and protect the workforce. It can modernize operations without eliminating public jobs. It can also respect golfers without sacrificing the workers. um it can use private expertise while appropriate appropriate without surrendering maintenance control the city does not have to choose between improving desert lakes and protecting city work employees it can do both but only if this commission refuses to rush the process and only if it demands a full cost picture and only if it recognizes that public maintenance is not a failure, it is an asset that needs support, planning, accountability, and a chance to succeed. So tonight, on behalf of the union and the affected workers, I am asking this commission to direct staff to keep golf course maintenance in-house and to proceed, if at all, with an operator-only or split responsibility model. I'm asking you to require a true public versus private cost comparison before any maintenance work is outsourced. And I'm asking you to protect city workers who have maintained this course, serve this community, and deserve better than uncertainty after years of public service. Desert Lakes Golf Course belongs to the city of Alamogordo. Its maintenance should remain accountable to those same people. And it's the workers who care, and it should remain city employees. That is the conclusion of my speech.

Thank you.

I just have a couple of questions before you.

Oh, is it good?

Yeah. So when the city decided to get rid of the weeds and drainage departments, was the same process done then as well?

I'm not sure I was. I wasn't here. I wasn't working for Council 18 at the time, so I can't really speak to the process that went on.

Stephanie was that was this the process?

Yes, so we gave more than the time needed, but yes, we decided in February Michelle took, notified the union, gave them the proper notice and then, but yes, it was. What's different about this is that the decision with weeds and drainage was made at the manager level and this was done at the commission level, but more or less the same process was followed, yes.

And how many employees were there at that time?

In weeds and drainage? Actual employees? Jimmy said there was five positions. I'm not quite sure if all five were failed. Four.

Four, okay. And what happened with those employees?

I believe they saw other employment, and I think one went to Parks. It's been a while. I'd have to pull up. I know one was at Parks for sure, but I don't remember what happened with the other three.

And they were all union members? Yes. And how many of the, I think there were seven maintenance workers, correct?

Yeah, I think it's probably.

They're all union members as well. I believe so, yeah.

Every city employee is entitled to the same union.

Right, I mean, I get it. As a former union member myself, I totally understand it. When this original discussion came up about the maintenance aspect, I had conversations with Stephanie prior to this, the RFP, and I was well unaware that this was the process of it. I didn't know that we had to go to you guys. I didn't know that.

Well, it's an agreement between both the city and the union to come to that agreement.

As a commission, we don't have control over the employees or the directors or any, the only person that we can speak to is Stephanie and herself. So I think there was a failure on that end that when the original discussion started, I was not informed or the commission wasn't informed.

Well, I mean, in your original RFP, you know, you didn't exclude maintenance, right? It was until after.

It wasn't that it was necessarily excluded. We were told that under, through her research, that... nobody wanted the maintenance. Then after listening to the three contractors that were here, it come to light that all three of those contractors were actually interested in that.

So to correct it, I had said I spoke to a couple of people and the ones I talked to, including the end of the mountain gods, did not want it.

And you told me in your research, nobody wanted the maintenance.

Yes, but I didn't speak to everybody. I said in the ones that I spoke to.

I didn't say you did. I said in your research. Okay, well, you're not allowed to talk right now.

So just to be clear, we actually asked in November, November the 5th commission meeting, we actually asked if we could actually see both models. You know, and it kind of gives us a comparison. I mean, we're not here trying to remove people, but if you have good data, you can make an informed decision. And what has happened with this ineffective government slow walking, now we're at the end of a contract, and we have to make a split decision. So it's like, what do you do?

Well, I mean, I would think that prudent government would make sure that it has a complete cost comparison, cost analysis before it. I mean, you all can set the timelines, right? You guys shouldn't be on everybody else's timelines. And the government should be making sure that the decisions that it's voting on, the numbers are actually checking out and having a full cost comparison, right? So if those decisions are not made like that, YOU KNOW, THE DECISION COULD BE MADE IN AN ARBITRARY MANNER THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE COULD BE SOME REAL CONSEQUENCES FOR THE CITY, RIGHT? AND THERE'S BEEN NUMEROUS CASE STUDIES OF CITIES ACROSS THIS COUNTRY THAT HAVE HAD TO PULL BACK IN SERVICES THAT THEY'VE PUT OUT AND A LOT OF MONEY GOING OUT THE DOOR. AND SO I THINK IT WOULD ONLY BE PRUDENT THAT YOU GUYS DO A COMPLETE COST COMPARISON BEFORE DECIDING TO

I wish the union would stop saying that we're trying to make the golf course a private golf course because we're not.

Well, but that's what it's doing.

No, it's not.

It's privatization of the work.

It's doing the same thing it's done for the last 30 years. So I have actually played that golf course for 30 years. And I have watched it go from a fight between the maintenance and the staff inside the golf shop. It's been that way for 30 years. And they do not, in your deal where it says they're going to work together, it's not going to happen.

Well, I mean, I think if you're putting those kind of things out there, then we're setting that expectation. But your management team have all the opportunity to bring a cohesive structure to that golf course. Workers are there to follow the direction of management. So if that's not happening, it's not the workers' fault. It's the managerial fault, of which all of you all can do something about. So I don't necessarily think the answer is because it's been like this the last 30 years, is to just throw away the maintenance and to put it into private hands. That takes a lot of power away from you all as well.

So when the manager leaves, when the superintendent leaves, what happens?

You guys should be hiring for folks.

Do you know how long it took to hire the last superintendent?

Well, then put out a competitive wage. You know what I mean? There you go. This is not simple. Cities do this all over the country. We actually have over 10,000 state, county, municipal contracts. And there are a lot of cities out there doing it well. So I don't buy the whole thing that we can't find people to do the job. If you have a competitive wage, people will come.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, thank you all.

I want to also clarify something. Hold on, hold on. I also want to clarify something because what was just said made me a little upset. The original intent of the commission was to go out for the RFP for the golf pro shop and the restaurant. Nowhere in the original motion from the original commission, which included Nick Paul, was it to go out for the restaurant. I mean, I'm sorry for the golf maintenance. Commissioner Burnett and I had had a conversation in January before the, maybe it was December, before the original RFP went out. As one commissioner, he cannot dictate where it went. I did not make my decision to go put the RFP out based solely on the fact that I spoke to In the Mountain Gods and another one that they didn't want it. I made my decision based on other factors including the the stuff we still had to do, including the compliance issues. So I just want to make that clear that it had nothing to do with the fact that nobody wanted maintenance. It had everything to do with the continued maintenance that still needed to happen to include what needed to be done with the lining of the ponds or the relining of the ponds.

Right, and I get what you're saying, and that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is the conversation that me and you had and the words that you conveyed to me were, in your research, nobody wanted the maintenance. So I didn't push the issue because that's what I was told by you.

And that's what I had learned as well.

Right.

Just so to make sure.

And then when I said, in talking to the three bidders that were here that night, all three of those bidders wanted the maintenance.

Right.

I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't- Then I brought it back up. I never said that you were- That I was misleading the commission.

Trying to mislead me. I said exactly what you told me.

All right. We will continue with item number four. One more quick question on that.

When does the current AFSCME contract expire? You know what I mean? When does it go for negotiations?

It already expired. We have to still open for negotiations. They all expired at the same time, actually, June of last year.

Okay, so what do we do in the event that it's an expired contract? Do we just abide by the existing contract?

It says in there that we abide by the existing contract until a new one is approved.

Until a new negotiation, yes. And that's true. They didn't have a representative inside the city until recently where Tamara Tammy is now the president and they didn't have that representation. And I don't know about the ask me part, but I know that we haven't had an opportunity to open negotiations.

How long does that typical agreement take? The negotiations? It depends. Sorry, the negotiation.

The negotiation depends. Tonight you have that one that took about a year. We're still with the fire. That one had different issues because they split. And so it just kind of depends on what's asked for, what's given, and just typical negotiations.

So do I understand we're not under contract with the union right now?

No, so yeah, when you are under contract, it's just when, specifically when it comes to collective bargaining agreements, a lot of times, including this one with AFSCME, once that ends, there's usually a provision that it will continue on until a new one is entered into. So there's a lot of the provisions in the original that we still are bound to, even though technically the contract expired. It just is a continuing provision.

Thank you for the clarification. And can I ask why the difference on the public works drainage process versus this one?

I guess it's the union representation. We followed the same process and we didn't get any feedback from the union.

Okay, thank you.

All right, next on the agenda is the Community Development Engineering presentation on current projects and updates. Presenting is Justin Boyle, Senior Project Manager, and Joseph Samora, Project Manager.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and Commissioners, City Manager, and the public. We're going to be doing our quarterly update for projects. As you guys know, we did switch over to a new department called Community Development. SO BOTH OF US WILL BE PRESENTING OUR PROJECTS BASED OFF OF THIS UPDATE. IN THE TABLE CONTENTS, WE GOT DEPARTMENT MISSION, PROJECTS IN DESIGN, PROJECTS IN CONSTRUCTION, SHOVEL-READY PROJECTS. IN THE PROJECTS IN DESIGN, WE GOT 30% DESIGN, ALAMOGORDA WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY WATER MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT, TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT PLAN, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT JIMMY DID BRING UP DURING HIS PRESENTATION, 60%. We have the basin sediment removal phase two. That's including a marble basin and Washington basin. 90% design, we have the notatorium and the pivot transmission line. And as you guys know, before every slide goes on to the next one, I'll just ask you if you have any questions per slide, so that way we could just knock them out as we go. Any questions on anything on the designs?

The notatorium? Yes. So we're still at 90% drawings?

It's a little bit more than 90%, but yes, we're at 90%. We're doing the final details. We went through TRC comments, reviewed, just fixing some things, and then we should have 100% here shortly.

What's the expected bid date now?

So if we get the 100% drawings, which should be about two to three weeks, according to my conversations with the architect, After that, it just depends on when the funding's in place and when OpenGov is ready to go for bidding. That's pretty much one of our holdouts right now is we're making sure OpenGov is 100%. because everything's going to be bidded through there. So once that gets going, I'll be able to give a better answer to that. I just can't give you an exact date at the moment, just until we know. August? Our goal was sometime in June for projects to start being put out. But time frame on the auditorium is just based off of when that's going to be completed and when the auditorium is 100%.

And that has nothing to do with the funding?

Well, the funding is what I'm asking is is The design the bid documents all of that part of it has nothing to do with the funding in place So the funding in place has to be in that project to answer your question No, it does not we the documents for the bank have already been signed and we're still waiting for documents But to answer your question, this is independent of the funding.

Okay, that that's my question is because Originally we were told that this was going to be released on a certain date, which we've already passed We're going to pass and that if we held up funding that it was going to put us in

And I apologize for that part. Well, I'm not concerned with the funding.

I understand the funding part of it. I just want to make a clarification.

If the funding is done and OpenGov is ready to go and the drawings are 100% within the next two to three weeks, then it's ready to bid. My goal is to hopefully sometime in June.

Nothing on you guys. I just want to make sure that the media catches this correctly.

Right, no, absolutely, yes.

Of the dates and why we're at this date. It has nothing to do with the funding. It has to do with the drawings and the bid process.

Yeah, no, and me saying the funding is just because that's just my normal process of how I do projects is funding drawings, you know.

Just wanted to clarify that.

Any other questions on this slide? Mr. Justin, would you tell us a little bit about the pivot transmission? Favorite transmission line is a reclaimed water line. It's on the south side of the airport. So it goes from there and it goes through the airport. It's about 2,800 feet, give or take. I think it was 2,800 feet of a well transmission line. So a reclaimed water line.

Thank you.

Any other questions? Nope. All right, projects and construction. So we have fire station two, renovation, library patio, north patio, Lalu South Reservoir, upper and lower heights water line replacement, Callahan tank, which is part of a three tank phase. It's Callahan, Lower Alamo, and Ocotillo. The F4 project phase two, senior center parking lot, zoo duck pond, fairgrounds intersection, cell six at the landfill, coat building, and South White Sands water line replacement. And this part we'll skip because obviously we're going to go through each project. All right. So as you guys know from the last time I came in here, I told you guys the presentation is going to be a little bit different with better information now that we are completely in Procore. There's no other projects except for like the smaller ones that are outside of that. So right now at the moment, project-wise, we are at, because I can't see how far I'm going to go up here. There we go. All right, so fire department, we have 7.69% of all the projects in Procore at the moment. Utilities is at 46.15%. Public works and utilities combined is 7.69%. Public works is at 15.38%. Parks and recreation is at 15.38%. Fire, police, and public works and utilities is at 7.69%. That one, with all those four departments, that one is the TMP project. SO THAT'S WHY THAT ONE CALLS OUT FOR A DIFFERENT AREA. AND THEN I'LL ASK ABOUT QUESTIONS ON THIS ONE ON THE NEXT SLIDE, JUST BECAUSE IT KIND OF GOES HAND IN HAND. SO PROJECTS BY BUDGET. RIGHT NOW IN CONSTRUCTION, NOT INCLUDING THE SMALLER PROJECTS LIKE THE LIBRARY, SENIOR CENTER, COPE BUILDING, Right now our budget that's in construction at this moment is $23,803,674.93. Our estimated cost with all change orders is $24,130,139. As you see in the red right there, that is total cost of change orders on these projects. But I do want to let you guys know that that number is only based off of how my CHANGE ORDER TODAY GOES SO THAT NUMBER CAN CHANGE BASED OFF OF WHAT YOU GUYS APPROVE OR REJECT TODAY IT COULD GO LOWER BUT TOTAL ON THE OVER UNDER PERCENT AS YOU GUYS SEE IN THE NEXT BOX IS A NEGATIVE 1.3 PERCENT SO OUT OF ALL THAT BUDGET COMBINED WE ARE 1.3 PERCENT AND CHANGE ORDERS COMPARED TO THE ENTIRE ALL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ANY QUESTIONS ON THESE NO ALL RIGHT. SO FIRE STATION TWO, I'M GOING TO LET JOE HANDLE THIS, BECAUSE HE'S THE PROJECT MANAGER FOR THIS PROJECT.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, COMMISSIONERS, JOE SIMORA. SO ON FIRE STATION TWO, WE ARE CURRENTLY AT 42.33% COMPLETED, SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETED IN JUNE. THE PROJECT BUDGET WAS $1,229,378. With the change order that I came up here last meeting, our estimated cost of completion is $1,309,514. So our over-under is 6.52%. Any questions? The drone photos are a nice touch. Thank you.

I know it's a little late on it anyway, but why did we decide to add on to that existing building rather than demolish and build a new structure? I just, you know, I'm kind of in the business. For the amount of money we're spending, I think we can... Right, yeah, no.

I was asked the same question before. So when I spoke to the architect and I explained to him options, he said the option... BUDGET-WISE, BECAUSE THIS WAS PART OF A GRANT MONEY THAT WE HAD SITTING FOR QUITE A WHILE, AND THEN WE HAD ASKED FOR AN EXTENSION, WHICH ACTUALLY ENDS IN JUNE OF THIS YEAR. THIS WAS THE BEST SOLUTION TO GO TOWARDS IS JUST EXTENDING INSTEAD OF TEARING IT DOWN AND REBUILDING. BECAUSE THERE WAS A LOT OF UNKNOWNS OF HOW OLD IT WAS. AND THAT'S JUST PRETTY MUCH WHERE THE ARCHITECT AND MYSELF HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT.

SO WE KIND OF RUSHED THROUGH IT BECAUSE THE GRANT WAS GOING TO EXPIRE.

YEAH, SO WHEN I SHOWED UP, IT WAS LIKE, WE GOT TO GET DONE, GET A DESIGN, GET IT OFF TO BED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AND THIS WAS THE BEST OPTION THAT THE ARCHITECT GAVE US FROM HIS PROFESSIONALISM. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

DESTIN, WILL THIS REALLY BE DONE IN JUNE?

They're scheduled to be done in June, yes.

But that is their projection.

So the Library North Patio. Even though, as you see, it says CS contract, we still are going to bring this forward to commission because we want to make sure that we are transparent to all commissioners, city manager, and to the public. It was a CS contract. We had a grant for $125,000 for the north patio for the library. Time constraints. which was another issue on this. This one was a work to Crosstown Construction. As you can see in the pictures, it was landscaping, which was pretty much on the spot design with the librarian and us and the contractor. As you can see in the top right corner, it's a concreted patio with iron fencing. The whole vision of this patio for the librarian was to try to bring in a teenage crowd to kind of like sit outside and enjoy the library. As I mentioned to you guys before, the tree, it was removed. That area is going to be sod. So you'll probably see that either tomorrow or the day after if time goes well. So any questions on the north patio?

What did you have to deal with with the tree?

So the irrigation line. When they were they were digging carefully, I mean they did pull their permits everything like that but the irrigation line was actually grown like the stump room around that pipe. So there's no way around it so they just had to rip it out and replace it pretty much. The biggest problem was the roots. They're going under the building we found roots On the entrance over there on the north patio, we found roots going that far out. And as you can see, there's some roots in the road as you drive by over there. So it sucks that we had to take out a tree, but it was necessary for the infrastructure of the road, but also for the building as well.

Was that included in the cost for tree removal?

It was, yes. It was a change order on that, but it was a small amount. Thank you. Any other questions? La Luz Reservoir. So currently this project is at a 4.98% completed. We are currently waiting for tower design. The project was, the way that the project was set up is the contractors would have to find a structural engineer because, to design the tower, because it would be very difficult for our engineer to figure out exactly what kind of soils under the tower that was existing. So it kind of had to be done in that process of removing the tower, check the soil, which the soil was really bad. We're actually going to have to go five feet of base cores, geogrid, five feet of base cores, geogrid. 18 feet, I do believe, all the way down, yeah. So right now we're just getting the design finalized on the tower. That project's supposed to be completed sometime in October. in hopes that the design was done a little bit faster. Their time frame, they were trying to be done in July. So they are still trying to push to be done prior to October. But at this moment, we're kind of waiting on that design for the tower. As you can see, There at this moment since it's a four point ninety percent completed. There is no change orders at this time We are projected to actually be saving money on this project from some of the allowances on the bid items So that's an unknown number at this moment.

That's why I didn't bring it put it on there But there is some savings in there Any questions I was just looking at the cost and one in the project budget it has

4 million to 8064 so in the next box you round it up is that just so the way that Procore works is when you have an estimated cost it rounds it up for you the project the projected budget itself is the actual cost estimated they just usually round up just to kind of give you an idea of a higher end per dollar so this is running up to the nearest dollar

When do they plan on having this one complete, the Lawless Reservoir?

So originally, hoping that the tower design was completed in the time frame that we were expecting, it wanted to be completed in July. So right now, we are working on that so we could get an updated schedule. They have been working on some things out there that were part of the bid alternates that were approved, which is like the sidewalk in between the North and South Reservoir. That's been poured and been completed. The demo, of course, as you guys see, So I'm pretty sure it's going to be sometime in August or September based off of our conversation. But until we have that design for the tower, it's an unknown at this moment.

How far? And you might have said in a moment, missed it. How far along are we on that design? Do you know?

Right now, the only thing that they're waiting for was a question on the elevations for the tower. And it was through an RFI. Our engineer on our side that we hired answered that question on Friday. Hopefully it should be speeding up pretty quick, hopefully this week or next. But like I said, it's unknown at the moment until we have that conversation again. All right, so the next one is upper and lower heights water line replacement. So currently it says 95.95%, but that's because of the change order that you guys had approved before. If we didn't have a change order, it would be 100%. We are actually doing a walkthrough on the original project on Thursday to go over everything as we're currently waiting for the materials for change order. So right now, the budget was at $1,067,880. With the change order being at $135,790, it brings us to an estimate cost of $1,203,670. And that puts us at a 12.72% overage on that. And as you guys know, based off of Joe's explanation last time he came in to do this change order for me, we've had our heads built on everything. didn't have the right as builds, I guess you could say. So that's why that percentage is a little bit higher than normal. So we try to keep it as low as possible. Any questions on this? No? Oh, that was his other drone video. Not bad. No? And we did a drone video on this right here, so that way we could kind of give a better visual of exactly. Since the water line's underground, you can't see the water line. But at least we could kind of give you a visual exactly how long this project is. So it goes from lower Tang to upper Tang. So that's why we did the little video. All right, so Callahan Tang. Right now, of course, it's at 3% completed. The reason for that is because how we do tanks is based off of bidding, we hire that contractor. They come in, they assess the tank based off of their expertise. They see exactly what's wrong. They have professionals come in, check the paint, seeing exactly how thick the paint is, and making sure it's to coat. They check the floor, the roof. As you can see in the picture, it's green because that's the prime. So they should be coming out within the next month or so to demo the roof and rebuild the roof and the floor. So the sides, thankfully, the walls were good to where it's not the whole entire tank being demo but scheduled for completion they are really fast and they will be most likely done in june maybe july each tank is a six month process and june will be six months um currently in savings at this moment from just callahan alone is 442 800. The reason why it's not showing on there is because at the time I was making this, that has not generated over two Procore yet, so it won't show the over 100% yet. But that will be a positive over 100% instead of a negative.

And why so much savings?

So the way that the bidding works on this project was you got two base bids, right? And then everything else after that is alternatives. Because we don't know exactly what's inside the tank that's going to have to be repaired. So we put all these add alternatives in there. So that way we cover everything through the bid process.

But they didn't materialize.

So when we go in there and they check it out and they see what's going on, they were like, okay, you don't need this, you don't need this, you don't need this.

It was in better shape than you expected.

Exactly. And then that's how you save the money from that bidding.

Okay.

So in the bidding, it was a really high number. As you can see, almost $8 million for all three tanks. We're going to be saving money from the other two things. Hopefully can't guarantee that. But this one, at least we know we're saving this amount.

And who's the contractor?

DNR team.

So this this amounts for three things.

So the almost $8 million is for the three tanks. The $442,800, that's only for Callahan tank. So we still have to assess the other two tanks before we can actually see a real number of what we're going to be saving or spending depending on what they find. But it covers everything. So even if we spend that entire amount for each tank, it's not a change order kind of deal. It's more of a... This is the number, because we put every alternative in there that we could think of.

What did it cost us to rehab that tank at the end of First Street, at the top of First Street?

Foothills?

Yeah, the Foothills.

Foothills.

Just ballpark.

Ballpark. I think that one was about three? That's what I was thinking. Not 100% sure, but Lower Heights, I know, was part of that same project. That one's around 2.2. That's the one that you guys went to. Yeah. Any other questions?

No?

Alright, so the F4 project phase two. This one I wanted to be very transparent with everybody because I love this project. But I'm going to click these videos as I talk because I think the drone footage that he did was pretty cool. So on phase two we have quite a few more contractors working with us and it's wonderful. To start off So on phase two, we had rock cannon construction. They came in and did a lot of dirt work. As they were doing dirt work, Dave Nunley from utilities, he actually thought of, hey, let's put a wall in the front because he's seen that in some areas before. So I was like, that's a cool idea. So let's put a wall. So the first thing I did was call Lovers Cart Away. And they were happy to put a wall in the front and the back side to protect the retaining area on the back side and then, of course, make the front pop more. The next thing was when we were talking about the wall, we were like, well, let's talk about a sign. So I ended up seeing that we had a small business that's been around for 20 years called MAS Metalworks that's on Oregon. Had a few conversations with him during the Oregon project. He's actually a sub on one of the projects now. And I spoke to him, and he said that he'll do the sign. So he's actually almost completed with the sign. You guys will probably see that up within the next week or so. He's just finishing up the brackets and painting the letters. The sign is going to say Gateway Freedom Monument. I spoke to Zuni because, as you guys can see, Zuni has been part of this as well with PNM. They actually did a stub out by that wall for me, and when the signs put up, there was discussion that we were going to put lights behind the sign to light up at night. So the next thing is KENJ, K-E-N-G, K-E-N-G, sorry guys. They did the concrete on the first phase, but with the jet coming in, concrete shrugs, cranes, damaged a lot of that sidewalk. So they were actually going to replace the sidewalk around the jet part. And to get the concrete, we were reached out by Susan Rogers from Element Transit. SHE'S GOING TO PROVIDE CONCRETE, HOPEFULLY AROUND THAT WHOLE ENTIRE F4 AREA. THEN WE HAVE LA LUZ DURING PAVING. THEY PUT THE WALL IN PLACE ON THE BACK SIDE, AND THEN THEY ACTUALLY DID A LOT OF THE DOORWORK BACK FILLING ON THE BACK SIDE. THEN WE HAVE GH CONCRETE. THEY'RE DOING AN ADA SIDEWALK GOING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PARKING LOT ALL THE WAY UP. AND THEN THE NEXT PART IS WHAT Mayor Sharon told me from somebody that's from the public saying, you know, we need trash cans and we need benches out there. So I reached out to Main Street and Main Street said I could have some of the benches and trash cans for this project that were originally downtown. So the older benches from downtown are going to be at this project. DNR tank, the ones doing the tank, they're going to sandblast and paint those benches and trash cans to match the jet. So We're going to have those benches around and trash cans. To do the slabs for the benches and trash cans, it's a smaller concrete company that has slowly been trying to build themselves up with the city projects and all that. It's called Distinct Concrete. They're the ones that did the windmills on the golf course. They're going to do all the pads for those. Of course, you've got the landscaping. So this entire dirt area is going to be all rock. So the fabric was donated by a testing company from Arizona that K and G brought forth from us from Arizona. The remaining fabric was actually paid for and well by the money that was donated or I don't know if it has been completed yet but why sends development that would be Sorry. So yeah, it's White Sands Development. Dennis Crimmins? Yeah, so Dennis Crimmins is donating for the fabric on that. And then National Landscaping is donating 50% of their free work to do the rest of the rock and tire area. And MAS is also doing... the wall for the bricks and the plaques. So, I mean, we are expected to be completed by July 2nd. But I think I covered everybody, and there's two more things I wanted to bring up on this. Mesa Verde, they actually did donate in phase one, which I did not know about until recently. They did donate, and they're donating all the majority, about three quarters of the rock, for this entire project, which is a significant amount, cost-wise. And then also General Hydronics Utilities. They have been donating dirt, hauling dirt out there. You know, fuel prices nowadays is a lot. So just for them providing dirt because they are a utility company, I think that's awesome that they're still trying to find a way to help with this project. Any questions on this? I know I talked a lot on this one, but it's awesome. I like this project. No questions? Cool. Senior Center parking lot. Once again, CES project. It's a $150,000 grant. This is to create a parking space for city vehicles and buses at the Senior Center. This is a drone shot to show everybody where the buses will be parked. Right now, we are waiting for the fence to be delivered. So it's going to have a chain link fence, two standards. So it would be a foot tall, bar bar, and a gate to have entrance. And this would only be for the senior center fleet. And then, of course, as you saw the library and what I'm trying to do with the F4, we're trying to landscape or do something to whatever projects we do, even including sidewalks. So around this whole parking lot is going to be all landscaped because we're trying to make every property as nice as possible instead of just looking plain desert. Any questions on this project?

Who did that go up to? Who built the parking lot for us?

This one? Crosstown. Crosstown.

I wanted to know when is that going to be done, the senior center parking lot?

Right now we're just waiting for the chain link to come in because we have paused on the order because we're kind of steering towards a different kind of fencing. But then we went back to chain link and so they finally ordered it last week, I do believe it was, or the week before. So we're just waiting for that to come in. Once the chain link's put up, then landscaping will be done in like a day. Any other questions?

Was there anything else that that grant could have been used for besides this parking lot?

This grant was specifically for this. When this grant was written up, it was like, what were they trying to do parking-wise? And this was exactly what we sat down and discussed, like parking lot fence.

The parking lot there wasn't big enough?

So this is just an extension only for city vehicles because they're trying to get the buses away. from where they're parked at now, and they're just trying to have an enclosed area for city parking for fleet. Another question? All right, Zoo Dug Pond is Joe.

Next, Zoo Dug Pond, currently at 15%. Projected budget, $134,854. Any questions?

Who did this one go to? Who's doing the work on that one?

Oh, Lancon.

Lancon. Yes, sir. That one went out to bid, didn't it? We awarded this one.

OK. No other questions? All right. So Fairgrounds intersection. All right, so Fairgrounds intersection is currently at 42.33% completed. Schedule to be completed in June based off of our original contract. And with the extended time, of course, with rain days and some other issues that we came about, which is replacement of the water line that's existing compared to what the drawings are showing. So there's a couple of days that I added in here and there. but nothing significant. Right now the project's at $2,203,069.62. That change order, Like I said before, this is a changeover that I have on the agenda. So right now, that should technically be at $30,000. But it's showing what I put on today's agenda. And pending approval, pretty much. And then that would, of course, put it at a 5% over or under. Any questions on this project?

Are you guys expecting the lights and everything by June, or what's that date?

No, so what we did was, because of New York and 10th Street, how those armbars took a while, it was about three to four months, I ended up putting a new bid item in the project when I bid it, and it's for temporary traffic lights, because I knew that the traffic lights were going to take a while with the armbars, right? So those are not going to be here until July 7th. That's our expected date. So during that time, once the project's completed, even if it's done with no lights, that bid item that's already in the project, it's for the temporary light structures, DOT. It's something that DOT, of course, has a standard for it. But once those are done, then we'll be completing July.

Just wanted to clarify the dates.

Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, lead time-wise, July 7th, and then, of course.

Installation.

Yeah. And then I was going to get into the dates more if we spoke about that change order. Any other questions? No? Landfill Cell 6, currently 23.24%. At this current moment, there are no change orders. Projected budget is $1,998,402.71. Any questions on this project?

Can you just briefly summarize it?

The project? Yes. So Cell 6 is six out of eight cells that the area would have. Currently, Cell 7 and Cell 8 are not design were constructed yet. This project needs to be completed in a certain time frame. So that way we have room as the landfill is running out of space. That's why we put a rush on getting this through bidding because of everything that's happened in the past year or two from fires and that additional trash that's been coming in. We started running out of space in cell five, right?

What is your expected completion date on this?

So I actually have a meeting tomorrow with the contractor to discuss expected dates. So at the moment, I'm not too sure exactly when that date is going to be. Because there was a little bit more dirt that had to be moved. than what was on there based off of cubic yards. We're about 18,000 cubic yards more.

When you dig all that dirt up, where do you put it?

You move it over to the next cell.

And then to the next cell and to the next cell?

So you move it to that cell, and then the workers over at the landfill, they use that dirt, and that's what they use to fill in their cells as they drop trash in.

You recycle it?

Yes.

Okay.

Any other questions? All right. Coat building.

Coat building is a statewide agreement awarded to Wysense Construction for $400,000. So currently we have the building pad installed, and so far they've tied into our sewer. and then we actually have the building going up. Any questions?

And it's going to be completed in time, in June?

Mid-June, yes.

Any other questions?

This is the area that they wanted to use as a parking lot originally. And now we're constructing a building on it.

Correct.

And now they've got parking and a building. So I guess it's win-win. All right. So the next part is shovel-ready projects. I'm just going to go down the list. and see if you guys have any questions at the end. So WSRP-002, Valley View Drive Rehab, Road Striping Citywide, Balloon Park, Granada Hills Water Line Replacement, Sewer and Storm Drain Replacement, WSRP-001 Phase 2, which is Oregon, WRF Slush Disposal Area Expansion, Landfill Fencing, Convenience Center Rehab, Highway 5470 water line replacement, well transmission line, canal ditch, Hamilton road and ditch, Granada Hills, I don't know why that's twice, my bad, well transmission line phase six. Any questions on those?

Highway 5470 water line replacement, do you know when that's going to start?

So we had a meeting today. We're going to try to see if we could get something going hopefully by October. There's a little setback on that, but we're trying to get that push as quick as possible.

And that sewer and storm drain replacement? Where is that going to be?

That one is actually the... So the sewer line is the manhole that's in the parking lot on the south side of Duck Pond, right there on the zoo parking lot. That one is going south to the... left turning lane going eastbound to White Sands. So if you're crossing the track turning left on White Sands, it would be that turning lane going north to that manhole. So it's going to end up replacing that entire sewer line and that manhole that's in the road. The storm drain is from that same area. It's actually crossing the opposite direction, east to west. So the storm drain that's right next to their Jumbotron board, as you guys see, it's kind of like dipped in on White Sands from there to Union Pacific right away property line. And then from that property line, last time I spoke to Union Pacific, once we get that completed, they'll go in themselves and they'll clean out their ditch area that's under their tracks so they'll handle that part once we get ours completed thank you in that project uh that depression that's in that turn lane where you turn with that manhole where the manhole is that going to address it's going to address that issue there yes okay because it's uh that one's actually a brick manhole so that's actually been been there for a while huh yeah what are we doing at the bloom park that was just a shovel ready project that balloon park is pretty much it's all parking around the entire parking and an additional bathroom a fenced-in area for a stage area on the west side and at the convenience center The convenience center. So right now, you know, it's outdated. That's the entire project of the entire property. So right now, like, you know how you pull in on the way station and then go in reverse. This one's going to actually take you all the way up to the west on top of the hill. You'll have a different loading. dropping dock area, and then that entire place where they have the branches and trees, that'll be a concreted wall for future expansion. Oh, OK. Yeah. It's just the whole property itself.

Yeah, it's a little tight when you're trying to back a tree.

But we're just trying to phase and see what we could come up with for funding and all that stuff.

My final question is the Granada Hills water line replacement is that kind of I know that they're doing that new subdivision of 18th will that run into that or no, so I've actually been working with Pillar engineering and Dennis Krimis.

So Dennis Krimis is the developer on that project and Marty Pillar is the engineer that designed it for him I've been working with them too and with our engineer rusty from Smith engineering and And we made sure that we were working with that project and subdivision, our project and their subdivision, to make sure that it loops all the way around. So they're going to come up to a certain spot. Our engineer designed it to where it connects to that line on the east side and the west side. So everything is going to be connected and looped around.

So when will this start? After that?

The Granada Hills water line? So that one, depending on OpenGov, we're trying to get these projects pushed out June or July if OpenGov is running by then. So that's our big focus is more projects out during the summer.

OK. And the well transmission line, is that snake tank? Is that out?

I think that was one of the three names that it had, yes. The one going by Thule? Yes.

It's OpenGov. You keep mentioning that.

OpenGov is another platform that a lot of municipalities use. Actually, code enforcement uses it right now at this moment. OpenGov helps with the bidding process so we're more transparent and it helps us manage different things in there. So if you want to bid on projects, it's actually a sealed online bidding. So the only people that could see it is whoever was bidding at that time frame. It won't open up until a specific time that the chief procurement officer chooses. And she would be pretty much, that department would be in charge of that area, just to kind of keep it where it needs to be, which is procurement. But it's just an overall platform for just being completely transparent with everybody on there. Any other questions?

We're good. Thank you.

Well done. Thank you both. Thank you.

Next on the agenda is public comments. And first on the comment is the list is Tamara Hanson. And she's going to be talking about the golf course.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, commissioners, city staff, and officials, public and press. I'm Tamara Hanson. I'm president of local 3818, the city workers union. And I'd like to address a question you had a moment ago regarding union leadership. We had an unscheduled vacancy occur. which left us with a bit of a vacuum for a time. So I stepped in to assume that position and help get the union back on track and organized. to benefit not just the employees, but city management and the commission. That's why we're a little ignorant of some of what went on prior to our assumption of command. I just want to thank Marcus Bartlett for being here this evening, for all of his research and his fine presentation on the union's position regarding the outsourcing of the golf course. I hope that you all review it again with an open mind. But I will admit, perhaps with a little more consideration given to the taxpayers already sizable investment in the infrastructure and the training to specialize the workers to handle that new equipment and the infrastructure. I'd also like to acknowledge and thank the many members of the workforce and public who have been here the past few weeks in support of the golf course maintenance crew.

If you want to stand up, that would be wonderful.

I'd like to remind you that the greatest asset the city has is its workforce. whether we work in the fire department or police department, utilities, streets, facility maintenance, we are one team committed to serving this community. And so I hope we can continue that relationship for many years, provide good service to you and our families. And I hope you understand that We don't necessarily disagree with outsourcing operations, but we do understand the importance of what we do for our community, just as what you do for our community. Our jobs matter. They matter to our families. They matter to our community. They matter to the economic stability of this community. So when you think about outsourcing, just as Mr. Marcus reminded us tonight, we need to think about what's best for the taxpayer. That may not be the best view you get from the fairway, but we want a sustainable community that continues to draw and grow. for the future and we won't get that if we keep closing off career paths to younger people who might return to one day replace us in service of our community thank you

Next on the list for public comment is Ryan Sawyers, and he's talking about the trees. And I just wanted to remind everyone that is speaking, you have a three-minute limitation.

Hi, my name is Ryan Sawyers, and I'm a resident. and I'm here tonight to advocate for a pragmatic approach to our local environment and a thoughtful climate approach to urban canopy planning. Hopefully I get this done in two and a half minutes. I want to be clear, I'm not suggesting that we turn into a McGrath-Ontsua forest. I fully recognize our high desert realities here. Water scarcity, maintenance costs, and staffing constraints, however, I believe there is a middle path that we can treat shade as a form of essential public infrastructure. Organizations like Tree New Mexico are already partnering with desert communities, including Las Cruces, Truth and Consequences, and Silver City to implement Right Tree, Right Place initiatives. These programs aren't about aesthetics, they're about long-term resilience. Strategic shade does more than lower surface temperatures. It reduces cooling energy loads in buildings and actually extends the life of asphalt and public pavement by mitigating extreme heat stress and UV degradation. I encourage the Commission to consider exploring low-cost, high-impact pilot programs down the road that can focus on priority public spaces, identifying specific areas where shade can directly improve pedestrian safety, utility, and comfort, species resilience, utilizing low-water, climate-ready canopy species, specifically suited to the realities of the Chilirosa Basin, more specifically, this city. We can go talk about the foothills, we can talk about the forests up in the mountains, different scenarios, different species, different situation. But we're gonna focus on El Magordo because this is where I live, this is where we all live. Community partnerships, leveraging outside initiatives, state resources, and voluntary residential planting to minimize administrative and fiscal burdens on city staff. Tree survival matters far more than planting numbers if we focus on long-term care And water efficiency we can improve the livability of Elmer grow for the general for the next generation without compromising our current municipal resources I'm not asking for voter mandate Or any action tonight and simply want To put this on your radar as a visible path for collaboration with local partners schools and state initiatives Thank you for your time in your continued service Appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you Next is on the list of public comments is Alicia and I, is this last name? I don't know how to pronounce it. Okay. What's your name?

Alicia company.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. And you're going to be talking about animal control ordinances.

Sorry. I wanted to come last meeting, but my mom had recently died and I just couldn't do it.

So so you have 3 minutes.

Okay. I recently came across a mission in the community where a house was. Such a shape that I was absolutely appalled. I sent you guys all photos of it And when I spoke with animal control about it, I spoke with the police department. I spoke with the city attorney I Was informed that we have no ordinances in the city that prevent You from keeping animals in this condition. You can have feces covering every single surface in the home and And there is nothing that the city, that the animal control can do about it to remove those animals. Your house can be considered condemnable by code enforcement, and animal control cannot and will not remove those animals from that environment. What I'm here to ask you is that you consider adding ordinances to our city ordinances that give animal control the basic ability to remove animals from conditions from which I showed you. And when I spoke to animal control, they said, if you thought that was bad, you should have seen it four to six weeks ago when we first came in and saw it. It was 10 times worse. The only thing that they could have ticketed her for in this instance was that food is required to be easily accessible and is provided in a clean and sanitary manner. And considering there was not a surface in that home that was not covered in feces, that's not possible. Beyond that, Animal Patrol would not ticket her for that. And the impression I got was that the effort that it would have taken Animal Patrol to give that ticket to the member of the public was not worth it because Judge Overstreet would not provide any sort of, I don't know if you'd call it punishment or anything, that would have been worth their time and effort of putting into that because the animals wouldn't have been removed from that situation in the first place. And the only way I knew to address all of you at one time was to come in here and talk to you. So I'm hoping that you would consider adding an ordinance or something that would at least address this so that they have the authority to remove the animals in this situation. I did provide you with a copy of a basic ordinance from Dona Ana County so you have something to compare it to. Because this shouldn't be happening in our community. It's the worst that I've ever seen, and I've been doing animal rescue for 10 years. I could not even stand in that house for two minutes with a mask on. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Next on the list for public comment is Stephen Bunt, and he's talking about the golf course. You have three minutes, sir.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Members of the Commission, I stand here before you just as a concerned and frustrated citizen of Alamogordo. I know you guys are tired of hearing about the golf course. We're tired of talking about the golf course. That seems to be all that's getting done. There's a lot of talk. I'm a financial advisor by trade. I've been at it for 16 years. My job all day is to talk to people about retirement, how they're going to retire, where they're going to retire, So far, I've had two separate households, clients of mine, leave Alamogordo, specifically siting the golf course. They wanted to retire in Alamogordo for a golf course. They've now moved to Redoso. Packed up shop, moved to Redoso. Another client lives on hole number 10. They currently have their house for sale because they're tired of looking at the dirt. Prior to being a financial advisor, I worked in golf course maintenance. I was a golf course maintenance man for over two years, and there seems to be an awful lot of misdirection going on. As far as the notion of this becoming a private course, it's insulting. As a public course, because it's ran privately does not make it, that just goes to show how little they know about the golf course industry. A private course means you have to be a member of the course to play there. No one has brought that up. This will continue to be a public course, not a private course. I've seen flyers up about keeping this a public course and don't privatize it. That's ridiculous, completely misleading. So the gentleman working maintenance, I feel there might be some misdirection headed your way as far as if it turns private, you're out of a job, guaranteed. Common practice is to move over the current crew. It's common, but it may not happen. Who knows? They may put it out for open bid for people to apply. Well, if you have on your resume the most recent job was working golf course maintenance, chances are there's a good chance you're going to get picked back up as opposed to someone off the street. So as far as a private company taking over means you're out of a job, I think it's asinine. Cost study, as mentioned. We won't be able to know anything unless we do a cost study. Again, part of my job all day every day is to look at financial reports of companies. There's no such thing to do it. There's no way to do a cost study of what could happen if a company comes in. All there is is proposals. We propose we'll do it this way. That's it. There's no way to prove that one way would be that a company would be better. So to say that that's required seems a bit much. Currently, I will say that under the current plan, there's no incentive and there's no accountability to keep the golf course with any grass on it. And that's what hurts me, is we've talked about it, we've complained about it. The can has been kicked down the road a long ways, and so far nothing's been done about it. We have 100 acres of dirt out there, and nothing's getting done about it. I hope you'll consider the facts of the matter that the course is in poor condition right now. If a bad company comes in, it's hard to do much worse than what it's at now. Thank you for time.

Thank you. Next on the agenda for public comment is Kim Great White Owl Murillo, and she's going to talk about the golf course and how much time do you need.

I'll just take three minutes.

Okay, thank you.

Whoa. I've heard a vision for Alamogordo that that's the Alamogordo I want to live in. The one that supports our citizens, is responsible with our money. But I've seen failure in front of me by commissioners asking silly, silly questions. And when they're arguing, when they're asking for an answer, and they're arguing and talking over people, I'm told, I don't have a right to say anything yet. That's wrong, sir. I have free speech anytime, anywhere. You may not like what I have to say, but I can say it. I've also invited you to come look at my street Come look at the potholes. Come look at the 30 miles an hour speed limit down a one-way road that we have children that play. We have UPS coming down our street, garbage trucks. It's a thruway. It's a small street, Lover's Lane. I've asked you answer questions about hiring a new manager. I understand that you all have had private conversations with the next person you want to bring in. When I see a person disrespected I'm going to stand up. you have disrespected our citizens our voters our workers who have put and I don't care what that gentleman says I was here for the presentation I know what they've done to the golf course I've seen it with my own eyes when you have water destroying your trees destroying the pipes which that's our water our citizens and district two our pipes are breaking and when we fix them the city comes in and does a poor poor job but you won't come and look you won't come and stand up for us so what's a person to do I'm asking every single person in every single district to look at their commissioners. Have they been forefronted? Have they been accountable to you? No. In the little diagram, the workers are responsible to the city managers, the city managers responsible to the commission, and you are responsible to us. And you're failing us. You're failing us. I thank those folks that are not failing us.

You're welcome. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on the agenda for public comment is Scott Frederick and he's going to be speaking on the golf course.

Hello again, I'm Scott Frederick, president of the Men's Golf Association. Taxpayer, father of an Alamogorda golfer, I own property on the golf course, a voter, a veteran, and I chose to retire here. Not because of our employees, because of our people. The people in this town are why I stayed here. And seeing this is ridiculous. You guys own some of that. The history of this golf course debacle, 12 May last year we had the first meeting. A week before that, because I was going to my daughter's graduation, I was presented the city's recommendation to you to vote, because you're the leadership. The city's recommendation was completely one-sided. There were three options, two of them which in the military we call throwaway COAs. We get rid of those because they don't make any sense. The other was the city's going to run the golf course. And for six months since then, or after that, we discussed, what is the city going to do? And then we finally brought her to a vote. And you guys listened to reason when everyone said, everyone who's there, the 200 people that I represent, there's not a single person at that golf course that says they want the city to run the maintenance. Not one. And trust me, I get an earful from a lot of them. Hey, Scott, can you bring this up? Can you talk about that? You bet I will. The common denominator is let a professional organization run both the kitchen and the restaurant. Let them run the pro shop and the golf course. Don't piecemeal it. We don't do it at the bowling alley. We don't do it anywhere else. Let them run it. One organization that's responsible to the city manager and to you, hopefully, and keep her attention. This started again with a request for proposal that was misguided. Where did that come from? City staff. The city staff said, this is our idea. And it was pushed. The city should run maintenance. There was very little discussion put into anything else. Some of you have come back that weren't here for that. And then we voted on it. And then we kicked it back. And the next time it came out, it was a mistake that was a draft form. But there was a position put in there that you didn't vote on. to specifically retain one person as an operations manager for a contractor who's gonna own the entire organization. That is ridiculous. There is something going on in the background and people are pushing and pulling levers and you are not getting the whole picture. You voted 6-0, I believe one of you was gone. Please continue your conviction to let the RFP process work with maintenance as part of the contract and let someone run this wholesale. And then judge them. And if they're horrible at it, fire them and hold them to account. Just like everyone threatens you guys with when the voter box is done. We're going to fire you if we don't like what you do. Will you guys volunteer to do this? And I thank you for that and listening to all of this.

Thank you. We have a final person on the public comment list, and it's Mark Gray, and he's talking on the golf course. Sorry, you have three minutes.

I can talk fast. Okay. So one thing I'd like to talk about is- Can you state your name, please? Mark Gray. I play golf not every Wednesday morning, but I play with a bunch of older guys. We get wet every morning with the fluid water. Have you ever had any fluid water sprayed on you? Most golf courses water at night. We get wet. And you never know which one's coming on. And then you go down and there's one that's going out into the desert and ain't even watering the golf course. So the company that put them in, they're not even aligned right. I don't think it's the worker's fault. It's somebody's fault. I don't know who. You know, if you'd like, I'll come next week and I'll bring a cup of fluent water and we'll pour it on your head or just sling it on you and see if you like it. Because a lot of those old men don't like it on them. You know, it's something that come out of all of us. And the union workers, I had a union job. And they got a new contract. We didn't, new people came in, they didn't change us to union. We made more money. We didn't have to pay a union due. They gave us better insurance. So just because they're union, if they're good workers, the new place may hire them and give them more money. Union don't mean they're going to make more money or not. And like I heard somebody say earlier, Grant Daups, I know him pretty well. I helped him get some things organized, and he has fought. If he said, hey, can you put new flags from way back, He had no control, zero, none. And I think he still don't have any control. It's kind of hard for the golf pro to put on tournaments, and nobody cares. I don't need my other minute. They talked to some of the things I had to say. But if I was union people, I wouldn't worry about the job if you're a good worker.

Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda, we have the city manager's report.

Yes, ma'am. Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem Commission. Most of my items were discussed already in Justin's or Jimmy's presentations on projects, so I'm going to go ahead and pass this back to the commission.

Next on the agenda is remarks and inquiries by the city commission. Are there any?

Stephanie, do we know where we're at on the covers for the playgrounds?

I know that we received some back, and they're doing some, and they have plans on putting them. I don't know exactly which ones have come back or which ones, what the timeframe is, but I just saw the email this morning, so I can give you an update tomorrow morning when I speak with Belinda.

Okay. And also I know we had a discussion about the, was it the pump correct that we were ordered the pump for the golf course?

Yes.

So where are we at on that?

So it's going to go, um, we now have purchasing going out and getting quotes. Um, and we believe, I'm not sure the timeframe of that, but I know it's kind of starting the whole requisition process by getting the three quotes again.

And what issues are we having out there as far as right now with the watering issue and what's preventing us from watering more, I guess I would say?

I could probably pass that to Michael better or Belinda.

I just want to give everybody an understanding of what's really going on.

Michael would probably be the best person to answer that.

It's hard when we don't get a lot of updates.

The delivery was made today for intake screens. The order was wrong. We almost did not accept the product, but since we need to water and seed so bad, I accepted it. After quite a lengthy conversation with the manufacturer, they are shipping parts to make it correct. As soon as that happens, we've been watering as much as we can without using influent to refill the ponds. We'll pump out from one pond into the storage pond next to it, assemble, get it going. Same thing with the other side of the golf course as well. I'm still waiting on a couple of SSAs that will allow that to happen for the electricity to feed the intake screen. And two other components from purchasing. As soon as that's in, we're watering. We will be able to have lots of water. That's why the golfers that read the notices on the pro shop doors know that we're watering during the day on the back nine three days a week because the pump isn't reliably fed through the night to stay up and we can burn something up.

When do we plan on start seating?

If I get my water and quickly we'll be seating june nine

And how are we going to see? Are we going to just rope areas off?

Yes, sir. We had a lengthy meeting with Grant Dowse, and we'll be closing with rope both sides of each cart path, three holes per nine. When it's established, we'll move to the next three holes per nine.

So it'll be just cart path only for those three holes.

Six holes on the course at one time. Also, with that, on the first seating on the front nine, the driving range will be included with it where we're going to put a temporary net in front of the tee box so that clients can still hit but it'll keep them from actually going out and getting stuck or destroying anything that we've done to seed. The reason why sprinklers are watering apparently nothing in the desert is because when I do water, I'm putting out HCT products, just a name. It's a series of chemicals that will actually free up elements in the soil, flush out salts, and treat the water that's going there. Those areas in the deserts are going to be seeded as well when we get to them to seed.

And, Mike, I believe all the updates that you're doing are going to grant and being posted on the TV in the lobby, correct?

Yes. So, Michael, you're going to seed the turn right there by the maintenance area? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. I just had one question. The valve box on 18? Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. How long has that been leaking?

It's new. I saw it two weeks ago, and I believe it's actually a salt function. I'm going to get into it. But I have had limited staff since the commission decided to go with the direction we've gone. My irrigation tech was gone for three weeks straight because they didn't want to take a chance on losing time. I've got three people ready to leave right now. One actually was gone today. It was his first day not with the staff. We're plugging forward, keeping going as everything we can. I do have other bids out. There's a leaning tree on number nine that's actually got a limb broken down in the water at the pond. I don't have the staff or the equipment to try to pull it out while letting something else go on the course. The tree itself will be removed by a company and the limb, all cleaned up. Because when it does fall, it will take a significant amount of the bank with it. I mean, there's countless projects in the work for the golf course right now. Most of it's delivery.

There's a tree down on the 17th. Yes, sir. Fairway. Yes, sir. In the rough? Yeah. Yes, sir.

Do we have a time when we... As soon as I can get people to put it in, I'll do it.

To remove it? The one that's laid over?

Yeah, just to load it up.

I mean, it's a time issue. And I'm just asking. We couldn't take one of our excavators from one of the other departments and go pick it up? and how I can I can call and ask I'm just asking I mean I I understand we have to go out for bid for some things but some things we have departments on departments and equipment and that we can't utilize our own equipment within a facility of the city that's owned by the city to help clean up some of this stuff and I'll check and see if when the next time they're

backhoe is available, he will bring it to me with an operator, and I'm sure he'll be happy to do it. Anything else?

Thank you. Thank you.

Could I please get an update on the extension and the RFP process for the remaining things to be done for the golf course?

So I was actually asking Darryl exactly where we stood on that as well. The current direction is to go out with the RFP as is. That was, well, including the maintenance, that was the current direction. And I was asking Darryl, I'm not sure what the next process is, if I have to put an item back on the agenda, if that's still the current direction or if I need to put out the RFP as is. So I'll let you answer that one.

Yeah, so currently where we stand, at least the last direction that was voted on by the commission and given was to go out for the RFP to include maintenance with the management company. Now that the union has gotten a chance to give some of its opinions and give some alternates, if that direction needs to change or if the commission would like to make that an item to discuss, um then that is something that can happen or you know a special meeting or the next upcoming commission meeting then that way you know staff will kind of have a better idea how to proceed but at least at the moment the current direction is to continue to go on unless we're told otherwise could i understand what is left before we go to rfp for that what is left as far as time time frame

Pass to complete time extensions for the current contract.

Okay, I see what you're saying. So we met with Grant already. We discussed the extension time frame. He had said, kind of laid out what he needed and we're still working through that. One of the big issues on his list is the golf carts. So we're looking at different quotes to see if that's something that the city is going to lease or not. So as far as an extension, we can go Now that we have, well, we will have it clearly defined as when we can put it out for RFP, how long we take to get it back in, to open it, to bid, to go out to bid, I mean to bring to commission. We can lay that out. I believe it would not be extended past December. Grant was okay with going through through September and possibly December, considering where we were at. But we need to get some of those items in place now that we're meeting with him and I have those quotes. The biggest one, like I said, is we need to figure out what we're going to do with the golf carts.

And so I guess I'd like to understand, what is it that needs to happen to go out for RFP?

So like Darrell said, unless the direction is otherwise, it was a 30-day extension. I think the 30 days ends June. I'll have to give you the exact date. I think it's June 2nd, if I remember correctly. And unless the commission brings an item forward or asks us to bring an item forward, the RFP goes out that

following Saturday or unless the Commission has other items or changes so so if we don't change our mind then we're still going out for RFP to include the maintenance yes and that is subject to be published when

So I believe if I could get it in, if everything stays as is without any further input from the commission, I believe the soonest I could probably get it out would be the 6th of June, possibly. Well, maybe not because of the deadline for the newspaper, so probably the 13th. So it would be advertised the 13th and the 27th. And then probably a 30 to 45 day process would get us into August.

With an anticipated transition period of?

um the earliest would be September like the earliest but once that award is given to the contractor it would be up to the city the contractor and the current contractor to determine the transition phase for that as I said Grant is willing to go up through December if needed so negotiations are still ongoing with the current contractor Yes. I mean, we've come to at least a September. And then he's also giving us some items that he needs from us. And I think we're actually going to bring some costs, not costs, some fee increases in June or July that he's requesting. So there are some things that are happening. We just need to write the contract extension.

Do you need any further direction from the commission in order to publish the RFP?

As far as like Darryl said, unless we hear something different, it'll go out on June 13th.

And then I think after that we will have our cost comparison.

Once the bids come back in, you'll be able to determine what each one says.

Thank you. And I want to clarify. So with the RFP that we send out with maintenance, it's up to us to decide if we want to include the maintenance at that time or just award the contract for the pro shop and the restaurant, correct?

The way it's written right now is that it's all inclusive, all three.

OK. So maybe we should put verbiage in there maybe to clarify.

We could put verbiage in there to either have a bid alternate or their preference. their preference as far as the company's preference to have maintenance or not to have maintenance.

So if I understand everything correctly, the current workers total how many?

The current golf course workers, there's, I believe, eight positions, but seven, well, six now.

All right. And they have right of first refusal with the new company?

I can't guarantee that.

Okay. That would all depend on the management company. Okay. But I just, I'm asking to clarify everything.

So, um, I believe it's written into the contract that they would, um, interview with them.

And do they have any other options within the city?

Yes. We can offer them positions of which we have opened in which they qualify for.

Okay. Did the drainage maintenance folks that were replaced by the contractors get those same considerations?

Yes. Anybody in the union gets those considerations.

And they got the same process?

So yes, the process doesn't change. What changed in this situation compared to weeds and drainage situation is the decision was made at the management level, me, and we reached out to the union and didn't get the feedback from the union. The difference here is it was made by the commission and we notified the union and they did reach out to us. So that's the difference. The process still stays the same.

Thank you.

I do want to clarify that we did mess up a little bit on our end because when the commission made that decision to go out, we put the RFP out right away. And nobody on staff really thought because it was a commission decision, which is kind of the higher of the hierarchies, that that process still needed to be followed the exact same. So we put out the RFP and then we canceled it almost, I think, immediately, like the next couple of days when we realized we still had to do that process regardless if it was a commission decision or management decision.

I asked earlier about the natatorium, the bid process. Now I'm going to ask about the financial process. Where are we at with that?

I believe Evelyn is here and I will let her know. I signed what we needed to sign. Do you want to know exactly where we're at?

So we have signed the management representation letter that we needed to sign to begin the closing process. So the closing process has started. The lawyers are preparing the documents. We expect we should see those within the next two weeks. Once we get those documents signed and everything like that, we'll close. I expect we'll close by June 30th. Okay.

And that's with Albuquerque or?

That is actually not. It is with Flagstar Bank. We ended up receiving different terms from them when we went back for the finals.

Okay. I believe I emailed it to you, but if I didn't, I'll redo it tomorrow.

Okay. I want to understand that. We're going with a different lender than previously agreed upon?

We're going because when we brought it forward, we brought several different lenders forward, and yet we were not able to come to terms with the Bank of Albuquerque, so we went with one of the Flagstar lender. That was one of the ones that was brought before as well.

Were any of you notified of that? Can I ask why we weren't notified of that?

So part of what was agreed upon when Chris was here was that the mayor, myself, and the city manager had proxy to complete the process, and so we did complete the process.

Okay. Thank you. I actually do have another question. Could you clarify the term difference between those?

So the Bank of Albuquerque came back and wanted additional financial statements and we provided some additional financial statements and then they came back and asked for some additional additional and so in that process their creditors were not particularly happy with the fact that our audit was late even though we had disclosed that three times before and so We were not able to reach an agreement, so that's why we started moving on to Flagstar Bank. We felt like we might have reached an agreement, but Mark Valenzuela, our financial analyst, felt that time-wise it was better for us to move to Flagstar. Same, relatively same interest rate. I think Flagstar's was actually a little bit lower.

So on 5-8, I did send an email to the Commission stating that DFA will not weigh the reserve requirements and Flagstar appears to be the best option. And I went through kind of the terms and gave you the Flagstar proposal. So that was sent to you on May 8th.

So are terms agreed upon then?

So we have not closed on it yet. It will not close until we receive the closing documents. And I think we have one more ordinance review as well. So we have one more ordinance review, and the closing documents would then need to be signed by the mayor.

And I'll ask as well, the status of the audits that you mentioned?

So we are, I would say, 95% through with the FY24 audit. We are working on it every day. and then we'll move directly into the FY25 audit.

Is there a status of completion anticipated for that?

For the FY25? Either. So what is today? I would hope that we would have the, I think that we will have the FY 24 one done by June 15th and based on the preliminary work we've already done the FY 25 I'm thinking by the end of September.

Thank you. Okay. Um, also on, uh, two Saturdays ago, five 1626 I was able to attend the downtown presentation for Sheriff Bill Rutherford and the Sheffield family, the donation of the clock. I read the proclamation for the mayor. Pretty exciting times. Something that brought a laugh to the crowd that was there when I was there presenting is growing up as a kid just a couple blocks away, we were hired by one of the owners of the property there that he would pay us 25 cents a pigeon. He'd put us up on the roof, buy us BB guns, and he'd pay us 25 cents for each pigeon that we bought him. So that was pretty cool. There was an email that went out to Stephanie and I, the property owner at 510 24th Street, complaining about the property between 504 and 510 24th Street. Just wanted to see if we've addressed that at all.

I can't remember that one specifically. I remember forwarding it, but I will have to follow up on that one.

Okay. It's the one next to TDS. It's between TDS and where the betas used to have their property.

I remember the email, but I can't remember the status.

There's a motor home up front. There's growth all the way to the curb, so there's no walkway in that area. So if we could look at that. 1500 Ohio. The city demolished a house there on the corner that was partially burnt. When they did that, they left a lot of, well, they left all the trees there. One of the trees actually fell on the property at 1502 Ohio and damaged their carport. They're not the people that call me. Somebody else called me, but that property is completely overgrown. The tree's down. There's other trees that are dying. I don't know if we took over that property or if the property owners still own it.

I will verify if it's one that we actually have ownership of now, and if so, we'll have code enforcement abate it.

Okay. It was a corner lot.

And the owner where the tree fell on to their thing can submit a tort claim.

Okay. Yeah, the garage in the back had burnt, and then the house in front was pretty bad shape, but they tore down the whole thing but left a lot of rubbish there. And then Dudley School. So is Dudley School available for use to the public?

It is not. We use it for specific functions. It really isn't for use of the public. We still need to do some ADA stuff, and I don't have a complete list. They're meeting on it weekly to try and get it done by June 30th.

Okay, because I've had probably four or five constituents call me over the last week that they have called and asked to use it, And they were told that it was not for public use, that it was only for city use. But yet they brought me information that they showed where there was a retirement party there, birthday parties, graduation parties, and all sorts of other items related to city staff. Which brings me to the gentleman here when he talked about the golf course maintenance. Taxpayers' money. That facility was built with taxpayers' money. It wasn't built with city employees' money. I believe it's very unethical that city employees are using that basically as a private clubhouse. If it's not available for the citizens of Alamogordo to use it, I don't think that only city employees should be able to use it. Just a comment that was brought to me, just passing it on. A FEW MEETINGS BACK, I BROUGHT UP 508 5th STREET. THE GENTLEMAN THERE HAD AN APPROACH WHEN THEY DID THE SIDEWALKS. THE APPROACH WAS REMOVED. I CAN BRING PHOTOS THAT SHOW IT IF WE NEED TO, BUT WE NEED TO EITHER ADDRESS THAT WITH HIM ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. HE KEEPS ASKING ME ABOUT IT.

Yeah, and I'm working with the project managers kind of from that area just to make sure that we're covering all our legal backgrounds and dotting our I's and crossing our T's for that specific property. So that one is being discussed and actively worked on.

Okay, because he actually he built a carport or a garage right there and he was red tagged by the city, which I didn't know they had the authority to red tag buildings like that. But anyways, The approach was there and went after they did the sidewalks that was removed. So as you guys know, those are pretty expensive. I think that's all I have.

I do need to make a note that, Dr. Hernandez, I did receive that email on the 8th. Thank you.

All right, I'm just going to go briefly through the list. On 5-13, I attended the 75th anniversary of the sled test on Holloman, the 846 test squadron. A lot of good information, and if you are interested the next time they have it, then of course I invite you to go out. One of the things that I observed was the cooperation throughout the command. They had people there from out of state who were there to see the test run. It was fast, and there's a lot of things going on out there. To piggyback with that, the Altus Award was on 5-20. We did get the Altus Award presented, and I think it's going to go first to the Chamber of Commerce, and then it will be rotated to the City of Alamogordo. This is going to be our last time to be eligible for that. It is under the ETC, which is the Air Education and Training Command. So this is the last time we would receive the award because we are moving to the ACC command on next week. And that is the air combat command. So we'll have to look for the other, I guess, another award for the city of Alamogordo. But it was a beautiful night. They used the Civic Center. And it was decorated beautifully. The keynote speaker there was Lieutenant General Clark Quinn, and he did an excellent job. Also attending was Colonel Ettridge and his staff, and they will be actually leaving us on June 4th. So the change of command is taking place then. I wanted to take a little time to brag about my granddaughter because on May 16th, I was in San Rafael, California, where she received her degree in chemistry and a minor in biology. And we were just happy to be out there to see her graduate. And she was an athlete she also was on the project team and she still did an excellent job she made the dean's list so as a proud nana i'm going to mention that today on 520 also kathy denton of kitty city who actually gives us data for kittens that are taken off the street and then, of course, neutered so they don't have additional babies. She was presented by Pay It Forward by KOB TV on, it was last Wednesday. She was given an award. plus a monetary award for her and her husband for her work in the community. If you'd like to look at the news on Monday night, if you can go back on YouTube, you can see that whole award session with two of the men from KOB giving her the award. Also, there was a reading at the library on Thursday, 100% Otero. We've been talking about getting the Holloman Air Force Base to come out and participate with some of the programs here. We did have a guest. Him and his family came out to be with Johnny Wilson. Also, Commissioner Warren was there. He's part of the 100% Otero Board. But when we see the cooperation between Holloman and Alamogordo, it makes you feel really good about our commitment to each other. So I just wanted to highlight that, that we are getting people from Holloman to participate in some of the events that we have going on. And it was a circle of reading with our fathers. And so fathers were featured and that was a father who was reading. And the guest there that day was Johnny Wilson. Finally, well not finally, I did visit the golf course on last Friday. I was out there with Mike Bradley and I can truly say that I haven't been out there since probably 2008 with an event that I was attending. Of course, I was teed off there, and it looked green back in 2008. But I can express that it is a disappointment to see the state of the greens. But I'm hoping that we can come to some type of agreement on what we're going to do out there to make it better. Because not only is the grass dying, the trees are dying too. So I did go out there to look at that. And whatever help that I can give, I did get a report that stated why they were watering and the times. So hopefully we can share that with some of the people who were speaking tonight. Finally, we have the District 5 citywide cleanup, which is going on. Our headquarters are going to be at Dudley School, and it has been there for the last three years. We will give updates for all six locations, all of the Districts are participating this year. We are going to have something for volunteers. If you volunteer, you will have an opportunity to enter into a raffle and win one of the tickets for that concert on July 18th. It starts at, I think, about 6 o'clock in the afternoon. So you can work in the morning and then party at night. So we're hoping that we get a lot of people volunteering. So far, we have three people who have signed up for the cleanup. And I have put the forms or the flyers in each of your mailbox. So if you wanted to distribute it to some of the people in the area to let them know about the cleanup on July 18 from seven to 12, we have shredding from 10 to 12 and hopefully we'll get a nice group to come out. We have the same sponsors, which is Sacramento Mountain Foundation, Amy Tilson from State Farm Insurance. We have the Chamber of Commerce. We have the City of Alamogordo, the maintenance, and also we have our maintenance department. So I want to thank everybody for helping out, and that will conclude my report for tonight.

I just have one more thing. I just want to say congratulations to the seven ladies from Extreme Amplitude for Each one of them qualified for regionals. Each one of them placed. Amalia Hobson is the floor champion, and Kaylin Rhodes is the all-around regional champion. So congratulations to them.

All right.

Thank you. Next. Do you have a sign-up for the people that are going to request work? We've talked about signing up to do work, but do you have a sign-up for people requesting work to be done?

Yes.

Where is that accessible just for the public?

If you go to the city of Alamogordo, you can pull that up the District 5 cleanup. The forms are on line and you can actually if you want to have work done, you can call. There's two numbers on the flyer. So the flyers online, the forms for signing up as a volunteer, and forms to get your property cleaned up is also online. So you can just go to the city of Alamogordo and just go for search, and that information will come up with both of the forms there and the flyer. Thank you. OK. Next on the agenda, we are going to the consent agenda. And we have a number of items that will be pulled, number five, six, seven, and nine. So for the approval of the consent agenda, it's going to be only eight and 10. So can I get a motion for Approval of 8 and 10 on the consent agenda so moved Second second. Okay. It has been moved by Commissioner Hernandez and second by Commissioner Burnett And we're gonna go for the vote

Commissioner Petillo, I haven't got your vote yet.

Thank you.

And the vote passes 7-0. Item number five, Rachel Hughes, City Clerk.

yes madam mayor thank you for pulling uh item five off this is only to um correct or to amend the the regular commission meetings of may 12th uh under the remarks and inquiries by the city commission to correct where it says mayor pro tem mcdonald to obviously mayor mcdonald

Make a motion to approve item five with the changes that the clerk has stated. Second.

It has been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Burnett. We're up for the vote. And the vote passes 7-0. Next on the agenda is consider and act upon Resolution 2615, authorizing a government-to-government transfer of assets from the Alamogordo White Sands Regional Airport, ALM, to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport, SRR. Troy Orr, Airport Manager.

Madam Mayor and commissioners, city manager, do you have specific questions?

So I just have a couple of questions. One, we received this in 2018, right? So this is – it's a CPU. It's a computerized system, right?

Yes. So we didn't receive it in 2018. It had been previously installed sometime before we gained ownership of it in 2018. The state previously owned it. They maintained it and in 2018 they granted it to us at the airport and then we took responsibility of maintaining it as well.

So we did receive it in 2018. Yes sir. Okay. And then is there a value on this?

I don't know. But I could ask Phil York. He's our technician who handles all of these. OK.

So we never use it at all?

No, we used it up until about 2021. That was when we upgraded to a newer AWOS system. And then once we upgraded, we just kept the parts on hand. We don't need them. We're not using them. We have, about a year ago, we had a similar situation where an AWOS component at Spaceport America failed and we did a similar government to government transfer then to send the component that we have on hand. These components are old. They're very hard to find replacements for. And it can be expensive to send them to technicians for repair when we can just take a component, we're not using it, and give it to a seroblocker.

Okay. That's all I had. I move to approve item number six.

Second? I'll second.

So it's been moved by Commissioner Hernandez and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon. And we're going for the vote. And the vote passes 7-0. Item number 7, consider and act upon approval of Change Order 1 in the amount of $79,666.06 excluding NMGRT to Rock Canyon Construction for relocating an 8-inch main water line. And Justin Boyle, Senior Project Manager, will speak on this.

Yes. Right now, at the current moment, on the west side of Fairgrounds and White Sands, pretty much right in front of where the new Domino's is going, the water line on the drawings was showing that it was in the right of way. It is not. It's actually in the property of Domino's. And it's actually in the property of the bank next to it. So I felt like it was necessary to bring this up as a change order to try to relocate this water line moving north a little bit further, right in front of that water station, which I provided you guys a drawing of. This would get the water line out of the properties, the two properties, and also out of the trees that are in front of that bank, because currently that water line is right underneath every single tree that's in front of the bank next to Hobby Lobby. I went over some subdivision plots. There's no easements that were provided to the city in the past for any water lines. So that's why I created this change in order to try to push this forward so that way we can get out of those two properties and then eventually down the line create a different project for what's in front of the White Sands Mall as a whole separate project, but at least get it out of these two properties because with dominoes going in, I felt like it was best to not try to tie into a line that's not in our right of way.

How far out of the easement is it?

It's about two to three feet inside of the property.

So the checkered line is where the new water line is going to be? Correct. And this work hasn't been done? Yeah, orange and white. Orange, yes.

That would be where the new one. And a lot of this asphalt and everything on here, like the concrete, that's literally just for the entrance that you go into to the mall for where Hobby Lobby is. That's where the asphalt and concrete come into place.

And this work has not been done yet?

No. Okay. Right now we just have the water line. STOPPED RIGHT IN FRONT OF DOMINO'S UNTIL WE FIGURE OUT IF THIS GETS APPROVED OR NOT. AND IF NOT, THEN OF COURSE I'M GOING TO HAVE TO TIE INTO SOMEBODY'S PROPERTY.

I REMEMBER THEY HAD A BREAK THIRD ENTRANCE A FEW YEARS BACK. IN THE MALL? YEAH, IN THE MALL. SO THAT'S PROBABLY THE SAME. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THAT'S ALL I HAD. I MOVED TO APPROVE. Item number seven. Quick question on this.

Is it actually in the Domino's parking lot?

It is. It's in the property, yes. So you know where the power pole is over there right next to the stucco wall? Yes. So that property corner is on the north side of that power pole. And then the water line, as you saw the marker over there, it's about two, three feet west. So I looked into the plats and everything. Okay.

I just want a full disclosure. I actually have a project going for the dominoes. I don't think it's going to be. Just disclosure, it's not. Yeah, it's not. Just so there's no appearance of impropriety. Yeah, there's no. If anybody has a problem with me voting on it, I'll abstain, so.

All right. So did you move? Did you get a second?

Yes, ma'am. I'll second. Okay.

So it's been moved by Commissioner Hernandez and second by Commissioner Burnett. And we're going to put it up for the vote. And the vote passes seven zero next on the consent agenda is considered an act upon resolution 2026 dash 18 approving the city of Alamogordo participation in a capital outlay program administered by New Mexico Department of Transportation and entering into a cooperative agreement for 108 Is that $1,900? And I guess you're not Debbie, but you're Evelyn. So we'll let you do that.

Mayor, Mayor, Pro Tem, Commissioners, so you guys have actually already approved this agreement. When we sent it back to DOT, they said, where is the resolution? And we said we didn't do one. And they asked us to come back and do a resolution. So that is why you have a signed agreement already in your agenda packet for this. You've already voted on it once. The agreement's been signed. They just requested a resolution.

Is there a match on this?

There is not a match on this one. This is a straight capital alley.

Okay.

It's actually for the airports. Now they're having DOT administer those instead of DFA.

Okay. Anybody got any questions? All right. I move to approve item number nine.

Do I have a second? Okay. Okay. All right. It's been moved by Commissioner Hernandez and second by Commissioner Tagli. We're going to put it up for vote.

Did we pull item eight or did we not?

No.

No?

Okay.

Because I thought in the thing we were only approved nine and ten beforehand. Am I wrong?

I think I said eight and ten. You approved eight and ten.

Okay. Sorry. I misheard.

And it passes 7-0. Next on the agenda, we're in new business. It's considered an act upon approval. I'm sorry, that's for later. Number 12, consider an act upon resolution number 2026-17, requesting interim approval for the local government division of Department of Finance and Administration, State of New Mexico to adopt preliminary 2026-27 budget as of May 26, 26. And that is for Evelyn, finance manager.

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioners, so this is the official resolution to approve the preliminary budget as it was discussed to you during the budget hearings at the beginning of the month. Did make some corrections in salaries and benefits, but I was able to move money around in those funds, so it actually did not affect the ending fund balance. The only funds that you will see a different ending fund balance from the one that we discussed was the Green Tree Landfill, Otero Green Tree Landfill. I did have to make a pretty significant adjustment in their salaries and benefits because the system didn't calculate the ones, it calculated zeros. So I corrected that, so that changed a little bit to the end of that. But other than that, this is the budget that was presented to you at the beginning of the month. And it does need to be submitted to the DFA by the end of the day on June 1st.

Are there any questions? Or do I have a motion? Move to approve. Do I have a second?

I'll second.

The motion has been given by Commissioner Robinson. It's been second by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon. And next on, I'm sorry. And the vote passes 7-0. So next on the agenda is appointment to boards and committees by Sharon McDonald mayor. Um, and, uh, we have the Alma water public library board, uh, one upcoming vacancy for an applicant who lives in the city due to the expiring term of Cynthia Stevenson on July 23rd, 2026, a new application by Cynthia Stevenson has been received. If reappointed, this would be her third term on the board. Are there any objections to her being appointed? Okay. So, um, the other, um, appointments, uh, well, the other, um, boards, airport advisory board, there's no current vacancies, airport zoning board, one current vacancy for an air applicant who lives within the city limits. Uh, one current vacancy for a county appointed a representative for the Alma Gorda Public Library Board Parks and Recreation Board. one upcoming vacancy for an applicant who lives in the city due to an expiring term of Linda Gilliam on July 23rd, 2026. And finally, the Senior Volunteer Program Advisory Council, five current vacancies for applicants who live within the city limits. So we have one appointment tonight, and that's Cynthia Stevenson to the Alamogordo Public Library. Next on the agenda is item number 14, recess into executive closed session pursuant to NMSA 1978, 10-15-1H5 for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining and 10-15-1H2, limited personnel matters, city manager recruitment. And we will need to vote on that. So do I have a motion? So move. Second? Second. Okay, so it has been motioned by Commissioner Burnett and second by Commissioner Robinson. We're up for the vote. It is currently 933.

We're going back there or over in finance?

For she tells me when she's ready.

Are we ready?

We're ready.

I don't have to hit this. I need a motion to reconvene into open session and read the statement related to the executive closed session. So moved.

Second.

It's been moved by Commissioner Robinson and second by Commissioner Burnett. We're going to go for the vote. I'm not getting anything. Yeah, here it is.

Madam Mayor, we do have a vote of seven to zero. For some reason it's not letting me click that button.

Okay, and the vote passes seven zero. So we met in an executive session tonight pursuant to NMSA 1978-1015-1H5 for the purpose of discussing selective bargaining agreement between the city of Alamogordo. and the Police Department AP SOA. Do we have a motion to accept?

It'll be item 11. Item 11 is the is to approve their their their contract.

Okay, so item 11, consider and act upon the collective bargaining agreement between the City of Alamogordo and the Alamogordo Public Safety Officers Association. Do I have a motion? So moved.

Second? I'll second.

So it's been motioned by Commissioner Tapley and second by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon. And now we go for the vote. And it passes 7-0. And now do we have a motion to adjourn? Second. Commissioner Burnett has made the motion and Commissioner Hernandez has seconded. And the vote passes 7-0. We are adjourned.