City Commission - Special Meeting

Madam Mayor, did you press your button?

Is it on now?

Yes.

Okay.

Mayor Sharon McDonald? Here. Mayor Potem Josh Reardon?

Here.

Commissioner Baxter Petillo?

Here.

Commissioner Steven Burnett.

Here.

Commissioner Warren Robinson. We haven't been able to get a hold of him yet. Commissioner Al Hernandez.

Here.

Commissioner Mark Tapley.

Here.

Madam Mayor, we have a quorum.

All right. The invocation is going to be by you.

I can give the invocation, Mayor.

Okay. It's going to be done by? um rachel and the pledge is going to be done by commissioner mark tapley

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for today. We thank you for your mercies and your love. Dear Lord, we ask that you will guide the commission that's here in front of us. And we ask, dear Lord, that you will bless their families, bless those that are here, dear God, and that you will help us, dear Lord, to work together, dear God, for your honor and your glory, dear Lord, and for the good of the city. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Do I have a motion for the approval of the agenda?

So moved. Second? Second.

Okay. So it's been moved by commissioner Hernandez and second by commissioner Tapley. It's going to go for the vote.

Commissioner Burnett, how do you vote?

Aye.

And it is still showing me. I had clicked on Commissioner Robinson that he would be present. So you're going to see. There you go.

And the vote passes 6-0. Next on the agenda, did you get the list for public comment?

I didn't realize we had one.

Thank you. First on the list is Tamara Hanson, and she's going to be talking about the priorities and personnel. Let me just read this first before you get started. I want to remind everyone of the rules. Each speaker will have three minutes. The city commission will listen, but we cannot respond or engage in discussion during public comment. All comments must be directed to the commission only, not to individual members of the public, staff, or others in attendance. There should be no shouting from the audience, interruptions, or dialogue back and forth between the audience. the Commission we ask that everyone remain respectful anyone who refuses to follow these rules or disrupt the meeting may be asked to leave or be removed thank you so if you'll state your name

I'm Tamara Hanson. I'm the president of Ask Me Local 3818. Good evening, Madam Mayor, commissioners, city staff, and the public. I'd like to begin this evening by acknowledging Michael Lucas, the only fire inspector in the city. His due diligence helped avert a possible catastrophe at Betty Dare last week when he inspected the facility and identified a potential fire hazard in the laundry. That's admirable and I think we should acknowledge the fact that despite being a shop of one, he is out there doing an excellent job for the city. So thank you, Michael. Unfortunately, at the moment, I'm a little less impressed with the due diligence of the commission, and that hurts me. You received a briefing last week from Public Works, and you didn't ask any questions about the low manning, abysmal manning throughout it. There are only nine people when fully staffed in facility maintenance to maintain 31 buildings, 220 street lights, over 821 sports complex lights, 25 traffic signals, 14 school zones, six solar crosswalks, eight radio communication sites, and lighting for the runway and taxiway at the airport. That's when he's fully staffed. He has nine people. He doesn't have nine people now, but you didn't ask any questions about that or any of the other data he gave you. But when given the opportunity to have you through red faced hissy fits about the golf course, it's not all about the golf course. We aren't against the golf course. It's about prioritization and the infrastructure which affects the entire population of this city, I feel, and apparently a lot of other people, should be the priority, not the golf course. You were elected to serve the entire population of this city, not just the golf course members. You have nine vacancies in the wastewater treatment plant. That's a lot of state and federal. Finds if there are problems, but you don't ask any questions about that. You talk about the golf course and with regard to the golf course, there was a notice posted on the pro shop regarding the watering schedule. Now, unless I'm mistaken, grant does not handle the groundskeeping. We've hired a professional to do that. And yet the weekly scramble was sent out to play through while the watering was still in effect. If you're going to create the problem, don't come in here and complain about it and expect the citizens to pay for it. You're adults. We're all adults. We can work together to make Alamogordo a wonderful place to live, but it's not going to start and end with the golf course. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next on the list is Chris Benitez and Arizona Avenue.

I'm Tamara Hanson. I'm sure a lot of you noticed I did a lot of posting over the past week or so on Facebook regarding the golf course. Chris Benitez left a note and asked if someone could read it to you tonight. So here it is. I won't make it in time for the meeting. Can someone tell them Arizona Avenue is like an off-road racetrack? I know our district just got a new commissioner. I think it's time they stepped up. Thank you.

Thank you. Next on the list for a couple public comments is Katie Owens, and he's going to be talking about the golf course. Or she.

Hello. Hello. My name is Katie Owens. I've been before you a few times. Okay. What you're planning on doing by just railroading the contract for the golf course through is despicable. And I mean despicable. I know this microphone's on. I can hear the rustling behind me being echoed. you complained during one of the the meetings that 10th streets over the railroad track was so bad you almost got hit well tell you what go do it with the semis trying to do that same little jiggy-jag over on first Street that road is going to kill somebody that road is going to kill somebody not just get hit it's going to kill somebody that's a priority I can name a couple of other priority streets too off the top of my head. I was born and raised here. I graduated here. I raised my kids here. Do a better job or you don't need to sit there again. Have a good day.

Thank you. Next on the public forum is Sherry Atkinson, and she's going to be talking about the city manager.

Right. I missed the last meeting that you guys had. Oh, this is Sherry Atkinson. I live over on First Street. And I missed the last meeting. I hate that I did miss that. But I think this thing, the city manager thing is a boondoggle, has been going on for so long. And I'd like to ask, that you do not hire anyone for the city manager position until a complete public process is held transparent so we know what's going on and mandatory public disclosure of the full settlement agreement needs to be made too require a transparent public process before any future appointments of any kind of major kind. And why would we hire a three time loser instead of keeping our current acting city manager? The third time is not a charm. And thank Chris Edwards for keeping up and us informed and aware of the shenanigans of the four old boy network commissioners. Shame on you.

Thank you. And last on the the list of public comments is Michael Bradley and he's going to be speaking on the golf course.

I'm Michael Bradley, your golf course Superintendent, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, commissioners, city manager, city staff and everyone watching or attending. I want to say that since I've been here, nearly every weekly report, I have asked for staff. I have asked that equipment be addressed, concerns and needs. Every time there's a budget, I ask for staff and the same equipment needs. It's going to take roughly two years for our soil, under the current treatment, which is rock solid, to start functioning like soil should function. I've had two commissioners stop and ask me anything about the golf course. I've had a handful of golfers. Pardon me. I wonder where all the information they gather or believe they have comes from if it's not from your soil scientist, your plant scientist, your golf course superintendent. I will say that the ability to swing a golf club and mow a yard does not qualify someone to speak of all the intricacies involved in that golf course. I'm passionate about golf courses, period. But I came here to see this one thrive. And I attended to see it done. I know in talks with the mayor, I mentioned a plan. And Commissioner Patio had asked a few times what the difference between the weeds program and the golf course program would be. And I believe the biggest issue was, besides it being manager decided, was they were given a time period to straighten things up. We have not had any time period. where we're getting the tools in place to strengthen it, to repair it. If you put us on an RFP with the management company, half that time they're going to be fighting the exact same battle, and you're paying them to get results. You're paying us for the same results. And I have all the cards stacked in our favor. I can't control what a group separate would do. But I know that my science is rock solid. I would like for you to consider taking, if you want to go out with RFP for the management of the golf course and the restaurant, do it. Four years. Give the staff and the golf course the soil, the time it needs to actually thrive. If it's not done then, look at putting it to RFP, the management included. But don't just end an entire division.

Madam Mayor, are we going to abide by the rules?

Yes, you have 20 seconds to conclude.

Please don't take an entire division that's not responsible for the soil conditions. and wipe them out because they're trying to fix the soil conditions. Rome wasn't built in a day and I can't wave a magic wand and fix 20 some odd years of poisoning of the soil.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next on the agenda is new business. And it's consider and act upon the golf course RFP and Stephanie Hernandez, who is the acting city manager, will speak on that.

Yes, ma'am. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Commission. The reason I'm putting this on, I found out there was a special meeting and I asked if I could put this on there just because of the timelines of G&L Golf. I also kind of felt like there was conflicting direction last time as to putting the RFP out as is or if there was going to be a bid alternate. or if maintenance was optional, so I just really were coming up on some timelines and I really just want clear direction on what the Commission as a whole wants in the RFP. The staff put the RFP together, but rather than spinning our wheels and trying to determine, I just, we need clear direction so that we can put it out as the Commission wishes.

a quick question on this can you uh just sort of the public's knowledge can you disclose why we are where we're at with the rfp on the golf course and the timelines and the extensions of the existing contracts can you explain all that to the public force yes okay so back and why we're having to rush

So back in exact dates, I don't know, but Grant had said that he was going to retire. The actual original RFP was good for four years plus four years. That's procurement. During COVID, Brian Caesar, the city manager, extended it out for a little bit of time because of that. and so we were gonna have to go out for RFP regardless. Grant said he was going to retire. We were kind of working with him. We were getting the RFP together. back in i believe november it was ready-ish and then we put it we did an extension for grants through june because it was already expired october of 2025 so we did it through june of 26 and so we put out the rfp we did the normal process it came back as we're all aware i can't remember the exact dates and so um maintenance was going to be per the commission maintenance was going to be included in that. I have to extend Grant's contract. He has agreed to go up through December and so we're kind of here in a rush that I want to get this out so that we can guarantee because we're kind of out of extensions. We've extended this as much as we possibly could and the reason we were able to do it this time is because of the union and because it was a commission decision. So now we're at the point where Grant's kind of anxious. Everybody's a little anxious because we're hitting that June 30th. I need to extend his current contract through December. Daryl Morey is actually looking at that today and tomorrow and will get it back to me over the weekend. So we're at the point where the RFP is ready to go out time-wise. And I just want to make sure it is exactly what the commission wants.

And in the event that we don't get his contract extended and he goes along with the liquidation of his assets out there, what happens to the golf course?

It will get extended.

Well, if it doesn't, like in the event we don't do this or something doesn't happen, what happens?

Then there's nobody there to run the golf pro shop or the restaurant.

Okay, which in turn would mean that the golf course would close down. Yes. Thank you.

In this year's budget, was there any allocations for staffing or equipment for the golf course?

Yes.

What was that?

So in 2026 or 2027?

The budget we just approved.

So there was, so we've been putting more, I gave them 150 in 2026.

So the budget that came to us, the budget that we approved, was there any staffing or equipment?

Additional staffing additional staffing or now we didn't we didn't touch the golf course budget because we were in this process Okay, and any other city departments were there any staffing?

Allocations that came to us.

No, we only gave Well, I'm not in the new budget. No, there's we didn't approve any staffing other than dispatch who didn't approve it City management

The city manager, not the city commission.

No.

So the city commission has nothing to do with staffing or pay or any of that.

So no, we go through the city manager meetings in February. They make their request to the city manager. We look at the entire budget as a whole, and then we bring recommendations. As always, we make the recommendation. Commission can always make any changes to the budget. It's your budget.

Okay.

But no, nothing came other than dispatch, and I think, IPRA, nothing came to you for staffing.

Can city staff please... inform the ASHME president of this, how this works, so that she can quit spreading misinformation, please?

Yes.

Thank you.

Mark, did you have anything to say on this? As far as the RFP goes... Can we have Mark make a comment first?

No, I'm good. I thought he said no. You're done? Okay. Okay. Yeah, I thought he said he had no comments. I'm good. Okay. As far as this RFP goes, can you structure it as the maintenance side and then have an ad alternate as the... Or not the maintenance side, I'm sorry, the... the pro shop and the restaurant, you know, the management side of it, and then have an ad alternate for the maintenance side.

Yes, so that's the direction I want. Do you want it all? No option? Do you want the maintenance as a bid alternate as an option?

I'm not real up to speed what's actually really going on out the golf course. So I don't know. I do know the condition of the course is horrible. Every now and then I drive by there going to different job sites. The driving range is mostly dirt. There's a very, very minimal amount of grass. I don't know what that hole is on the other side over there, but it looks horrible. So, I mean... You know, in conversations in the past, not recently, but in the past with Jason, who's in the pro shop and with Grant, They said it would help tremendously if they had a little more say in the maintenance side of it. Because the condition of the golf course directly affects their revenue stream and the city's revenue stream as well. But I don't know. Mark, you probably know a little more about that.

Yeah, so kind of what I got out of the people that were presenting earlier this year, A lot of them did not want to take the contract if they didn't have some say so on the maintenance side. So I think that's the direction. And there may be some that want to work with city staff. We don't know. And everybody wants things that we have this crystal ball that we know what they want. and all we can do is what they ask. So if we can do, you know, you might have just a company that wants just the 19th hole.

So if we do it that way where you have the base bid of the management side of it and then an add alternate for the maintenance side of it, then we can accept partial pieces of it or reject it as a whole, right?

I'll let Evelyn. She's over procurement.

Okay. I mean, that's how it works, kind of construction type stuff.

So Mayor, Mayor, Pro Tem, Commissioners, so in that case, we would not be able to accept a proposal that just had the operations contract. If we did put it out and we said we want a proposal for operations, we want a proposal for maintenance, knowing that you as the governing body on that could choose to either award, actually at that point you could choose to award just operations, operations and maintenance, or actually could choose to just do maintenance if you wanted. That wouldn't work because we wouldn't have any operations, but it is possible. We would just have to be very sure, like I said, we could not take a proposal that was just operations because then that's not considered bidding apples to apples. So when we would put it out, we would put it out with that, hey, you do have to respond to both parts of the RFP in that case.

Could I please ask what was unclear about the direction that was given last time regarding the RFP?

Because the current RFP specifically includes maintenance as a whole. And after the discussion, I wasn't sure if they wanted to have really what was the direction. Because there was some other conversation, and I can't remember exactly, Commissioner Burnett, if it was an option, if it was a bid alternate, et cetera. So I just really want to know what are we doing. Because I don't want to be accused of not listening to one of y'all.

Steve, Mark, do you recall what the direction was given? Or Rachel, do you have that in the minutes?

There wasn't actually direction given because there was no action item for the direction. It was just a conversation. And so rather than just put out the RFP as is, I wanted to see what was, like I said, because staff wrote this. So what did the commission want in here? Additional, changed, or as is?

And we also had to hear from the union, correct?

That is correct.

Yes, sir. Okay. And so tonight would be the first meeting that we could provide direction with the way things have gone. Is that correct?

Yes. If you want to leave as is, if you want any part of this RFP changed, yes. Yes.

Do we have, I haven't seen it, but do we have a reference to the maintenance manual within the RFP like we were talking about last time?

I did not post it on here. We do have it, but I did not actually put it in the agenda.

And so is that going to be included?

Yes, you had mentioned that, and yes, we would put that in there.

And I'm not in favor or against it necessarily. I'm just making sure I understand what we're making this subject to.

And to be clear on that, that could only at this point be seen as reference for the people bidding unless you wanted to tie them to very specific guidelines. That comes more into the contract negotiation part of it, including an SOP or a manual in the bidding process. Again, we just would be for reference.

Okay, for all the recent improvements, how to make use of those, okay.

Correct, and knowledge so that the person knows what they're bidding on.

Okay, very good.

I wasn't at the meeting when we had the presentations. I was on a family vacation. How many bidders did we have at that time? How many responsive?

We had three. We had three. Total, we had four. We had three that actually met the criteria that presented.

I think you had mentioned that they all wanted to be able to have at least say in the maintenance? Yes.

There was two that were very specific that they wanted the maintenance and one that said, and I believe that was Maxim, that said they wanted a seat at the table, and the other two were pretty adamant that they wanted the maintenance.

At this time, does anybody on the Commission have any notes or changes for the RFP at this time as presented?

The way it's presented, is it base bid and a bid alternate? No.

No, it's all.

It's all one piece?

OK. Did we want to make a motion on what is on the agenda tonight?

Let me ask another clarifying question, Madam Mayor. As far as the golf course RFP, does the contract for GNL golf for extension, could that be discussed and acted upon this evening? Or does that need to be a separate agenda item in the future?

No, it doesn't have to be acted upon by commission. We're going to extend it based on commission direction.

So there's no...

I can bring it back. I mean, if you want to see it and you want to... It's under $60,000.

Okay. Has everybody seen that and reviewed it? And I guess I'm asking, is it okay if we authorize direction or make a proposal for that?

I was going to sign it. It is in the scope of my authority to sign it. Okay. I don't need to bring it back, but if you want me to, I can.

That sounds great. Does anybody on the commission have any notes about the G&L extension?

I don't have those before me. But the contract is pretty much the same as it was before.

Yeah, that's just pretty much an extension with some other little things in there that aren't any to me. I'm still waiting for the legal review on it that weren't unreasonable.

So does anyone else on the commission have any questions or notes regarding the RFP presented as is in the agenda packet?

Are you saying, because I'm looking at the agenda item, and so are you saying you want something different, or are you wanting to move forward with this?

I'm asking if there are any questions or notes from the Commission on the RFP as presented.

So the RFP, just to clarify, includes everything with no alternate, no anything. So if you accept it as is without any changes, then we'll put it out as is. That includes the maintenance, unless you want something different.

And I think that with the review, I think that it is ready to be put out.

I would make a motion that we present the RFP as is.

Do I have a second?

I'll second.

Okay, it's been moved by Commissioner Patello, and it's been seconded by Commissioner Tapley, and we're going to move for the vote.

I'm an aye, Rachel.

And then can I just clarify, did you want to see GNO or you did not want to see GNO? I'm sorry.

If you feel good about it, and if there are no notes or questions from the commission, then I'm fine. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

And the motion passes 6-0. Next on the agenda is motion to recess into executive closed session pursuant to NMSA 1978 10-15-1H2 for the purpose of discussing limited personnel matters, city manager recruitment, and NMSA 1978 10-15-1H7 for discussion subject to the attorney-client privilege pertaining to the threatened or pending litigation in which the city

is or may become a participant.

Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Second. Second. OK. So it's been moved by Commissioner Tapley and second by Commissioner Hernandez. And we're going for the vote.

Aye for me, Rachel.

And the vote passes 6-0. And we are adjourned at recess at 6.04. and read the statement related to the executive closed session.

So moved. Second.

It's been moved. Oh, I'm sorry. At 7.09 p.m.

Okay, we're good.

Do I need to restate it, or do we need to move to vote?

Yes, ma'am, if you can. Which one? If you could restate it.

Okay, all right. Do I have a motion to reconvene into open session and read the statement related to the executive closed session?

So moved. Second.

Okay, so it's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Hernandez.

Which vote Steve?

I.

And the vote passes 60. And the statement from. The executive closed session. Is that we were updated by our on the limited personnel matters. I'm sorry, for the attorney-client privilege pertaining to threatened or pending litigation in which the city is or may become a participant. And second was there was no decision made on the hiring or the purpose of discussing limited personnel matters for the city manager recruitment.

So no action.

No action. So do we have a motion to adjourn? So moved.

Second.

So it's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Hernandez. And we're going to put it up for the vote.

Stephen, would you vote?

Aye. And it passes 6-0.

Meeting adjourned.