City Commission - Regular Meeting

I call this meeting to order on June 23rd, 2026 at 630 p.m. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mayor Sharon McDonald.

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Josh Reardon.

Here.

Commissioner Baxter Petillo.

Here.

Commissioner Stephen Burnett.

Here.

Commissioner Warren Robinson.

Here.

Commissioner Al Hernandez.

Here.

Commissioner Mark Tapley.

Here.

Madam Mayor, we have a quorum.

Okay, tonight, Pastor Don Hoffman of the Gathering Place will do our invocation, and Commissioner Patella will do the pledge.

Dear Heavenly Father, we just come to you today. We ask that you would humbly let us give the wisdom to all of these, the mayor, the councilmen, all the staff, the chief of police, the firemen, everybody here that's involved in this community. Father, give them the wisdom, the strength, and the unity to come together to make quality decisions that would benefit you. And we pray all this in Jesus' holy name. Amen.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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

So moved.

A little second.

Okay, it's been moved by Commissioner Hernandez and second by Commissioner Patello. And we're ready for the vote.

Commissioner Robinson, may we have your vote?

Aye. And it passes 7-0. Next on the agenda is going to be a presentation from Main Street, Nolan Ojeda. He's the executive director, so you're ready. Okay.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor McDonald, Mayor Pro Tem, commissioners, and staff. For those who may not know me, my name is Nolan Ojeda. I'm the executive director for Alamogordo Main Street. Tonight, I'd like to give a brief update on what we've been doing in this last fiscal year, highlight some of the impact we've seen in the district, and share where we're headed this next year. I did speak with Commissioner Burnett, and I did want to get your quick feedback before I start. Would you guys like quarterly updates from us? Yes. Okay. So I will add that to our SOP. Thank you. All right. So we survived construction, and that concludes my entire presentation. I'm just kidding. So seriously, I think everyone in this room, our downtown businesses, our property owners, residents, contractors, city staff, commissioners, and frankly anyone who drove through downtown over the last year deserves some credit for making it through one of our largest economic development projects in our district has ever seen. Construction is never easy. It creates inconvenience, uncertainty, and frustration. But despite all of that, our businesses managed to stay open, our volunteers kept showing up, and our community continued investing in downtown. I think most people would agree with me that that has been our biggest win. Oh, there we go. So before I get into the numbers, I want to recognize our board of directors. We are a very small organization. We have one staff member and a fully volunteer board. The people on this slide donate countless hours to reviewing budgets, helping plan events, fundraising, serving on committees, showing up at volunteer projects, and helping to guide the organization. None of the accomplishments I'm going to talk about tonight will have happened without their leadership support and willingness to answer my phone calls when I inevitably need another emergency meeting. So if you're a board member, could you please stand up for a moment? And commissioners, mayor, mayor pro tem, would you help me in thanking them for their service to our community? All right, so this year was pretty packed. Through our facade squad program, we raised $30,000 and we leveraged another 30,000 in matching funds, creating roughly a little over 60,000 in improvements across 17 downtown buildings in the construction area. Those projects included paint, signage, awnings, and exterior improvements, many completed with solely volunteer support. I have to give a shout out to the 54th OSS who participated in much of the work through the Big Give project. So thank you to them. The Main Street Makeover project continued moving forward at $2.9 million in New Mexico Main Street capital outlay funding, nearly $2 million in city infrastructure investment. While 32 businesses were directly affected during construction, the project is now basically complete and positions downtown for long-term growth. We were honored to host the New Mexico Main Street Conference Learning Lab, bringing over 70 Main Street and economic development professionals from across the state to Alamogordo to learn from us with how well we handled our capital outlay project. Our holiday and community events continue drawing residents to downtown. We got to do the full-fledged Christmas on Main Street, which welcomed roughly over 6,500 attendees. And our grand opening celebration brought about 2,500 folks down to celebrate the completion of the project. I'm incredibly happy to announce that several of our business owners reported to me that it was their highest revenue day during the grand opening. And particularly one business reported it was their highest revenue day in the history of their 40 plus year business downtown. Small Business Saturday, downtown events, and our partnerships with organizations like SBDC, the city, the chamber, continue helping drive traffic and support to local businesses. On the economic development side, we continued assisting projects including Paimo Bistro, which will be opening in the Avis building or the Onion Dome building, if you know it that way. Sands Theater, getting rescued and brought back to its heyday. Rad Retrocade and the Oppenheimer. I'll be adding another three businesses to this list once we have permission to speak publicly about them, but trust me, you're going to be excited together. Those projects represents millions of dollars in private investment that could further transform our downtown district and our historical buildings. All right, some quick number highlights. When we look at the year as a whole, the numbers are pretty remarkable given the size of our organization. So more than 2,000 volunteer hours were invested into downtown projects and programs. And if you take the nationally recognized number for how much a volunteer hour is worth monetarily, that's almost $60,000. Four new businesses opened within the district. Nearly one million in private investment was leveraged. Over $5.5 million in public investment was completed or is currently underway. We secured over $1 million in grant funding that directly benefits Alamogordo, worked alongside more than a dozen community partners, and we utilized approximately $76,000 worth of technical assistance and or consulting services provided through the New Mexico Main Street Network. So for an organization with one employee and a volunteer board, these numbers make me incredibly proud of what our community can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal. So year ahead, I think it's going to be even better. With construction behind us, our focus shifts from rebuilding downtown to activating it. This year we'll be launching Meet Me Downtown, or Que Pasa Downtown, an effort designed to increase awareness of downtown businesses, events, and opportunities. We'll continue expanding our murals and memories program, which has become one of the most visible and successful place banking efforts in the district. So this will include approximately 27 historical placards for our buildings and a self-guided tour platform hosted on our website. Work is in progress to assess the feasibility of including QR codes on the placards that link to audio files recorded by actual local Alamogordians telling some of the more colorful and meaningful stories about our community. We'll continue pursuing the Arts and Cultural District designation through the state, creating additional opportunities for funding tourism and creative industries economic development. We'll be launching the Friends of Main Street program, providing residents and supporters a new way to become involved in downtown revitalization. And the vision remains simple. More people downtown, more businesses downtown, and more reasons for residents and visitors to spend time downtown. Our major events will continue serving as important economic drivers for the district. We'll continue downtown nights. Our next one coming up is July 3, and I highly encourage everyone to attend. We'll be closing the street. We'll have a street dance. and we'll kind of kick off the 250th celebration of our great country, so please come join us for that on July 3rd. Small Business Saturday and Christmas on Main Street, these aren't simply celebrations. We use them as tools that help bring customers into local businesses, introduce new folks or new visitors to downtown, and help them to create positive experiences that encourage them to continue to return throughout the year. The goal is always the same, support the local businesses and create a downtown district that our residents are proud of. Okay, here we go. This is going to be my longest part. So before I close, I'd like to take a moment to share something a little more personal. This will likely be my final presentation to the commission as executive director of Alamogordo Main Street as I plan to transition out of this position in the fall. When I accepted this role four years ago, I had no idea how much it would come to mean to me. At the time, I saw it as a job, and I saw it as an opportunity to serve our community. But it became much more than that. This work gave me and my family the opportunity to build an actual community here. We are not native to Alamogordo. We did not grow up here. But this community has welcomed us, made room for us, trusted us, encouraged us, and allowed us to become part of its story. And that is something we will always be grateful for. I want to take a moment to thank my family, especially my wife, Taylor, with the crying baby back there, and our boys. This job has not always fit neatly, almost never fit neatly into normal business hours. There have been evening meetings, weekend events, last-minute phone calls, construction updates, grant deadlines, and more than a few moments when Main Street came home with me. Taylor and my boys have sacrificed time, patience, and a ton of flexibility so that I could try to serve this community well. They have shown up to events. They have helped where they could. If you see a mural downtown, likelihood is my wife touched it. And they've supported me through stressful seasons and the joyful ones. Married to Main Street is what we lovingly, and sometimes not so lovingly, have called it. So while this has been my role professionally, it has been something my entire family has walked through together. I could not have done this work without their love and support. What I'm going to remember most is not the projects, it's going to be the people. It's the business owners who stayed open through construction. It's the volunteers who gave up evenings and weekends. It's the partners who have answered my phone calls, attended meetings, shared resources, and stepped up whenever help was needed. This is a group I've often heard jokingly referred to as the tired 20. And we all know who they are. They're the same people serving on six boards. They're volunteering at every event, showing up to the meetings, and somehow they still say yes when someone asks them to help with just one more thing. They don't do it for attention. They definitely don't do it because it's easy. They do it because they love this community and they believe Alamogordo is worth the work. I especially want to thank my board of directors, Serving as the executive director of a Main Street organization often feels like you're building the plane while you're trying to fly it. But this board trusted me, challenged me, supported me, and helped me turn some pretty ambitious ideas into actual projects. And I would be remiss if I did not specifically thank our board president, Claudia Loya. Claudia has been more than a board president. She has been a partner, an advocate, a sounding board, but most of all, an amazing friend. Many of the accomplishments we've celebrated over the last several years simply would not have happened without her, without her leadership, her commitment, and belief in what this organization and what Alamogordo can become. I also want to thank the city commission and the city staff. The reality is when I took this job, our relationship was kind of on the rocks. Over the years, we've learned how to trust one another, challenge one another, and work together towards shared goals. We did not always see everything the exact same way, but we kept choosing collaboration. We kept choosing partnership, and we kept choosing to move forward together. Because of that, I truly believe we have been able to accomplish things that neither the city nor Main Street could have done on our own. There's this quote I've always loved that says, society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they shall never sit under. And the work of community development is that. Very few of us get to see the final results of the things we start. We plant seeds. We build relationships. We create opportunities. We lay foundations that someone else can build on years later. When I look at downtown, I see a lot of trees that were planted long before me by people who cared enough to invest in this community before we arrived. I believe we've planted a few of our own. The opportunities of downtown Alamogordo today are greater than they were four years ago. If this community can continue on the collaborative and supportive path it has begun to prioritize, I genuinely believe the next chapter can have an even greater impact than the last. My family and I will miss this work. We will miss this season. Most of all, we will miss the people who have made this much more than just a job. Serving this community has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life. So thank you for welcoming me, trusting me, definitely challenging me, and allowing me to be a small part of Alamogordo's story. And while I might be moving on to a new chapter, I can guarantee you I will always be cheering for this community and for the people who continue to do the work. So thank you again for the opportunity, for your time this evening, and please allow me to stand and answer any questions you may have.

Do you have a replacement?

I don't know. I'm out of the process, so they can't blame me if they get the wrong one. There are applicants, and I believe interviews are starting soon.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

Next we have Sacramento Springs, a proposal for MFD project, Hamilton Road at Cary Avenue, EDC Construction, Las Cruces, New Mexico. And Mr. Troy Mitchell, EDC Construction, is going to be speaking.

Good evening. My name is Troy Mitchell with Envision Development and Construction. I am here to present a really cool opportunity for the community, Sacramento Springs apartment complex. Real quick, what I'll discuss is a little bit about us and vision as well as myself. Obviously, I'll introduce the project, kind of distribute our timeline, current and past projects, and project feasibility. So Envision Development and Construction, we're a Las Cruces-based general contractor, licensed in the state of New Mexico. A little bit about my background, I was born and raised in a very small town in New Mexico called Estancia. Went to school at NMSU. After graduating with my engineering degree, I went to work for a larger general contractor. which I decided to change my path and start my own business. So we founded Envision Development Construction to deliver more value to the communities that we serve. We focus on land acquisition entitlements for construction to lease up opportunities, and we strive to provide the best service to our clients, be it the lessees or on the general contracting side to developers or clients. So the project we're looking at is called Sacramento Springs. It's located on a parcel that's behind the Holiday Inn Express. It's off of Hamilton Road. As you come over the overpass, it's on the right. So it's really local to the restaurants in that area. It's easy access to the base down 70. And we think it's a pretty good spot and location for a multifamily development. So the development in total is 252 units. We're focused on attainable rental rates for working class families as well as, of course, military personnel and some outdoor amenities for the days that it's not 107 degrees out. So we're focused on a safe gated community and, of course, like I mentioned, strategically located. Um, here's a, a rendering of our two bed, two bath unit type, um, that we're proposing for phase one, which is going to make up a majority of our phase one. Um, a little specifics on the project. Pardon me on the vagueness on the, on the, uh, presentation. Uh, I met with, uh, um, fortunate enough to meet with Shelly on Thursday at about eight 30, left her office at nine 30. And she said, if you want to get on the agenda, you need to get a presentation to me in a couple hours. So. Um, the, the intention for me kind of presenting this is, uh, to discuss the project as a whole, um, and obviously get feedback from you guys, um, with questions, comments, or concerns, and, um, see if we can get on, uh, the next meetings agenda. And if there's anything I need to include specifically. So, um, two bed, two bath units, we're looking at a 15 to $1,600 a month rent. The one bed units are about $1,200 a month. There's no planned three bed units currently. If the market dictates in phase two, that's where we'll kind of make those changes and arrangements. So phase one, as I mentioned, pool, clubhouse, other outdoor activity spaces, it's going to be about 72 units, mainly focused on two bed, two bath, but we're probably going to have uh, eight one bed, one bath units. Phase two will immediately follow upon 80 to 90% lease up, uh, projecting 90 units for that phase. And then of course, phase three will follow. So our timeline extremely aggressive. Um, we've got. The planning phase is current right now. So as soon as I establish our conceptual site plan and phasing, we'll give that directly to our civil engineer and our architecture firm that we work closely with out of Las Cruces, projecting a 45-day design and hopefully break ground construction September of this year. So with that aggressive schedule, I've got a lot of stuff to do, but we're projecting to turn that over October of 27. So current and past projects. We're the general contractor on the Sendero apartment project, which is going off of Mesa Verde Ranch Road. That's an 88 unit development phase one. His structure is basically for tenants, single airman tenants from the Air Force Base. That's his model. So I don't think we're competing in that aspect. But our other projects that we've done in Las Cruces are our cornerstone office suites, a project we recently finished, as well as the bend at Three Crosses, which is a Las Cruces 96-unit apartment project we just finished. And the bend is what we're trying to model our two-bed, two-bath units off of here. Legacy Points apartment was another project, and then I have Sendero on there twice, which was obviously a mistake. There was two projects prior to that that we completed, a 10 unit and an eight unit. So here's some pictures directly from the bend at Three Crosses. And so as you can see, we like to use stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, fully plywood boxes, nice LVT flooring. Our goal is to really give these tenants a place that they can call home. So here's a picture from the master bath walk-in shower area. Again, you can see the granite countertops. So why am I here? The feasibility. We're requesting that you guys can put this on the next meeting's agenda as an action item, requesting a seven-year property tax incentive. The reason that we're looking for this is the project is in the flood zone, which it turns out a majority of the parcels in Alamogordo are. Um, but that brings, uh, um, cost struggles directly to the cost of construction. So lots of, lots of dirt import, um, and moving of, uh, um, you know, soils and materials, uh, our philosophy, we like higher end finishes. Um, and we like benefit or we like, uh, amenities that benefits the communities that we build. Um, interest rates, interest rates remain higher. It's not preferable for multifamily production. Um, but it's also not preferable for single family purchases. So that's, that's another reason. And we are, uh, we have no state or federal financing. Um, so this is market rate, uh, um, interest rates. So in closing, I know it was short and sweet. I'm hoping to get some feedback, but I appreciate your guys' time to kind of present Sacramento Springs. I think it's something that could align with the current necessity here in Alamogordo, but also help plan for future growth. I also like quotes, and I was recently invited by a friend of mine to tour the BUDS facility at Coronado Beach where the Navy SEALs train. And so when you walk into the grinder, is what they call this courtyard area, you turn to the right and there's a big... quote on the wall and it says, the deed is all not the glory. And I think that aligns directly with how we run our business and how we focus. I don't need our name on a placard. We do this for the benefit of our communities as well as the community that surrounds. With that, I'll stand for any questions if you guys have any.

I was going to ask the square footage of these apartments, the one bedroom and then the two.

The two bedrooms are 1,050, and the one bedrooms that we're projecting are going to be 685.

And, sir, could you clarify the tax incentive that you're asking for?

A seven-year property tax abatement to hold property, freeze property taxes at current rates.

be similar to the ones we did for Patriot Point and Sendero. That process takes a little while to do. Actually, I think that Otero County actually have done the two that we've done. So might have to get with staff and see how long that takes, that process. I think it takes a few months to get it approved and get it, what do they call that? I can't remember. MRA abatement? Yeah, the MRAs, yeah.

So I'm on Otero County's commission meeting as well for July 9th. I met with their attorney this morning about that and kind of started that process, so understood.

The way we've done the other two is they have put forth the request and we have concurrently granted it, so that's how I'd see it for you.

Awesome. Awesome. That's easy. Is there anything else that you guys would prefer to see if we get onto a future meeting as an action item?

I think we would contact Shelly for anything else that we would need, so we would ask her for that list of things, and we can get them directly to you.

Awesome. I appreciate you guys' time. Is there any other questions for me? Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have public comments. And we're going to start with Katie Owens. And it's full Stockwell's contract approval from agenda.

Good evening, Mayor McDonald and commissioners. My name is Katie Owens. I'm your friendly neighborhood protester. I believe that what we allow to happen in our local community, we also allow to happen nationwide. So I've taken matters into my own hands to make noise about what's happening with our city commissioners. Given the secretive nature of handling of Mr. Stockwell's hiring decisions, I'm looking for public answers to the following questions. Why wasn't there an open position posted with the community for the city manager position? Recently, the city posted for the city attorney position, and as of yesterday, for the assistant city attorney position. But this didn't happen with the city manager's position. When was Robert Stockwell's application submitted? When was the resume submitted? I am looking for a specific date. Were there any other applicants for the city manager position? Any other? Was there any time given for anybody to apply? Who approved the salary package of $180,000? Why is it considerably more than the average city of our demographics and our poverty level? Per governmentsalaries.com for Alamogordo, it should be roughly $136,000. Why didn't the commissioners make a positive work environment for Dr. Stephanie Horandes? That should have been my first, but it wasn't. Considering Mr. Stockwell's complicated employment history with Alamogordo and elsewhere, what factors led you, the commissioners, to vote for him, to hire him? There is lack of complete transparency with these decisions. which impacts taxpayers' money. I'm one of them. Currently, there's lawsuits alleging failure of the city commission to comply with State Open Meetings Act. The issues with the city commissioners was well discussed last night on the record at the IPRA task force meeting. I respectfully ask that the employment contract for Robert Stockwell be removed from tonight's consent agenda and he be subject to thorough vetting and consideration through the process used to previously execute searches. Thank you. Thank you.

And I didn't mention that you do have three minutes to state what you're up here for. And, you know, if you go over the three minutes, you have 20 seconds to wrap it up. Okay. Thank you. The next on the agenda is Beth Krapp. And she is going to ask to remove item number seven from consent agenda.

So I can pretty much save you all a bunch of time by reiterating basically all of the questions that were asked. Number one, when was Robert Stockwell's resume first brought forward for this round of recruitment? It would be nice to be able to get an answer, but apparently we're not. I did write you an email requesting some information about that, but you said I didn't ask any questions, and that was pretty much it. And so by whom and when was it first considered to be advanced? Why was there no transparent national search with public vetting of net finalists as previously discussed and promised, and as is the proper protocol, most important? You follow the proper protocol. Why was the approved salary package, again, that's ridiculous when you were going to the package that you offered Stephanie Hernandez was way less. I'm going to digress from this, but I do want that removed from the consent agenda, but I want to point out a couple things. I was in business for over 25 years, and I had a lot of employees. The number one rule when you have employees is you never, Rehire an employee that you have previously dismissed. Not a good plan, because you know what? Then they have an upper hand in their mind. It's a psychological thing. So the other thing is there's not been any consideration, and this is the most important thing, For all of these constituents back here and the ones that haven't come, there's no consideration for what we want. And it's proven, it's been proven in the past with putting Al Hernandez in that seat. Al Hernandez was voted down on two separate occasions. And even so, you dismissed that fact and put him in the seat when we had a much better

Can we, if you'll just address the commission.

Okay, I apologize. Yes, please. So, you know, so again, you know, we need to be doing what the constituents want. That's what you're there for. Not for what you want, but for what the people want. And you need to start doing that because otherwise there may be other consequences that, you know, like term limits, things that need to be addressed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on the agenda is Jan Brending, and she is going to be talking about item number seven and number nine.

Mayor McDonald, Mayor Pro Tem, commissioners and staff. I'd like to speak to two items tonight. First, while I might not agree with the road some commissioners took in hiring the city manager, we have hired one. And I am actually thankful for that. I asked the city commission to now let that city manager do his job. If commissioners have concerns with how departments are handling things, please take those concerns directly to the city manager, not to directors. department managers, etc. Do not circumvent the chain of command. I hope that everyone, commissioners, staff, and even the citizens of Alamogordo will work with our new city manager so that we can make the city of Alamogordo better each day, month, and year. Second, regarding the infrastructure capital improvement plan, I'd like to request that the Dudley School renovation be moved ahead in priority above the facilities at Balloon Park. I don't know of all the activities that the park is used for, but I'm sure with improvements it could be used for more things. However, the city hasn't had balloon events in a couple of years, and it will be difficult for the city to compete with cities that are hosting larger events at the same time. As a side note, if the city wants to pursue hosting balloon events, I recommend the city try to identify dates where larger events are not already being held. The city has undertaken a lot to complete the Dudley School renovation, and it would be great to see that completed before new renovations are started at the Balloon Park, ideally moving the Dudley School project from 2029 to 2027, or at a minimum, moving it to 2028 and placing it in priority before improvements to Balloon Park. This project, the Dudley School project, is much smaller in cost than the Balloon Park facilities, which includes funding of over $1.8 million budgeted in 2027 and additional $765,000 budgeted in 2029. Dudley School's renovations per the spreadsheet are budgeted at $440,000. A side note, over $2 million for the balloon park could be used to improve some of our roads. Thank you. Thank you.

Excuse me, ma'am. Can you state your name for the record, please?

Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. My name is Jan Brinding, and I live at 3407 Dahlia Street.

Next on the agenda is Kim the Great White Owl Murillo. And do you need extra time? How much? Two minutes?

Thank you, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Kim Great White Owl Murillo. And I am a God-fearing shaman elder and an Alamogordo concerned citizen. I rise tonight to speak about the city manager hiring process and what I believe has been corrupt, opaque process. I will be brief and I will submit my full statement after my comments. On January 28, 2026, I emailed Commissioner Bennett and copied the full commission. to follow up on public comments I made in support of Dr. Hernandez, a person I supported after careful discernment, after reports of media sources, conversations with many community members, and after watching her show consistent leadership and grace on the fire. I remain thankful to have witnessed her service. On February 11th, Commissioner Burnett responded to my email. with a response inviting the whole commission. I responded by February 12th with direct questions that remain unanswered. These questions concern the selection criteria for the next city manager and how Robert Stockwell met those standards, given his past termination and troubling record of his previous tenure. highly reported in the local media. People in this community deserve straightforward answers about specific qualifications and objective criteria that the commission is using to evaluate the city manager commission or candidate. Why Mr. Stockwell is being advocated for by some commissioners despite his past record and recent statements regarding his hiring that was mishandled since at least July 2025. Whether any conflicts of interest or political influence have affected the process and how those are being addressed. Why citizens' concerns, written letters, public comments, media reports, have met largely with silence rather than substantial responses. This is not a personal attack. It is a call for accountability. When a citizen sees commissioners privately championing candidates, when questions go unanswered, and when members of our community fear speaking to the press, trust in our government erodes. It is a dangerous public safety for our democracy. Today, reporting in Second Life Media, the court has kept the open meeting case alive and denied the city's bid to dismiss. Should be served as a wake-up call. The public deserves a hiring process that is legal, transparent, and rooted in clear documentation and standards. My request tonight is publicly publish the city manager candidate criteria and scoring used in the search. Explain on the record why Mr. Stockwell meets those criterias despite documentation concerns. And three, commit to a timely, substantial response to citizens' questions to the full compliancy of the open meeting requirements. I will continue to advocate, pray, and ask others to do the same until transparency and accountability are restored. I thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Next on the public comments is Carrie Taze Wagner, and she's going to be speaking on street, sidewalks, and employees.

Hi.

Hi. I'm Carrie Taze.

Can you speak up so they can hear you?

Okay. Can you hear me better? Yes, yes. My name is Carrie Taze Wagner. I'm a third generation on my father's side and fourth generation on my mother's from this community that we grew to love and very passionate about. I am here today because of two young men that are employed with the city that actually their passion and their honesty, their integrity, and I hope to God you guys can see through this and keep them employed. They're fabulous young men. And they inspired me to come because they reminded me somewhat of my grandfather, Melvin Tays. who loved this community, gave immensely to it. And you wouldn't have the college or the Space Hall and all those things if it wasn't for how much he loved Alamogordo. And he installed that passion upon us. I come back looking, and I see all the negative. And that's not what we were about as a family. And I'm really sad to hear all this is happening. I really hope that God sheds some good light and it becomes a positive thing once again. And it's kind of making me rethink, maybe I do want to actually replant myself here and become involved again. Because Alamogordo is a good place. It has beautiful things to offer. And these two young men from the engineering department, they came to my mother's street and talked to her. And she used to be in the construction field so nicely, with the respect that she deserves. And just it was a blessing. It was a true blessing. I used to work for a municipality. I understand what it's like not to get the kudos. I think they deserve it. And that's why I'm here. And I brought three other people with me to attend this. And I would really like to see more community involvement and more openness and for a commission to go out and say, hey, I'm in the commission. Let me shake your hand. Let me be a part of it. What can I do? What can I do as a member of the community to help more like my grandfather did? like my other great-grandfather in Cloudcroft did. It's a part of who I am, and I just want to say thank you guys, and these two men are here tonight, and they are fabulous young men. They're back there, and they're just great. I appreciate everything, and I just wanted to say good job to them. Thank you, Commissioner, for your time.

Thank you. And last on the public comment list is Sherry Atkinson, and she is going to be talking about the hiring manager open meetings.

My name is Sherry Atkinson, and I live over on First Street. And Madam Mayor and Councilman, I was here for the Monday meeting. And I was shocked at how it was handled. And after all the other questions that have already been asked, I'm going to only say what I said Tuesday afternoon. Shame on you. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, do we have a city manager's report? at all? If not, no.

I am not the city manager. I'm David Cunier. I'm the chief of police. I'm currently, I guess I'm the assist, the acting assistant city manager. There's not really a report. I have something I guess selfishly I can offer is tomorrow our dispatch We'll go live with taking 911s, both emergent and non-emergent calls. So that will affect, you know, it's going to be a growing process. I'm sure not everything's going to work perfectly, but I just wanted you guys to know and the community to know that we will go live tomorrow. That doesn't mean we will take 24-7 dispatching yet for police, but we will start taking 911 calls and administrative calls.

All right. Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda is remarks and inquiries by the City Commission. Do we have any? Commissioner Hernandez?

Yeah, so just wanted to... On the 4th, I attended the Airport Advisory Board meeting, which is really interesting, you know, the things they have going on out there and what they're looking forward to in the future. I also attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Terrell County Courthouse last Saturday. That's going to be a great project. I think we need to kind of get in front of this with the existing courthouse with the county and find out what's going to happen there. And then I also attended the grand opening of the drink well at the inkwell on downtown on the 18th of last week.

Anybody else? I do have a couple of things that have happened in the community. I will be reading it off my phone because I didn't print it out. But we had two deaths this month, and they were people in our community for a while, Dr. Alan Hale of Alamogordo in the vast skies above Tularosa Basin, astronomer Dr. Alan Hale, stood as a beacon of discovery and inspiration for Alamogordo and the world. Raised in Alamogordo after his family moved to Holloman Air Force Base, he graduated from Alamogordo High School in 1976, served in the U.S. Navy, earned advanced degrees, and returned to serve all staff, astronomer, and outreach coordinator at the New Mexico Museum of History. space history. His independent co-discovery of the comet Hale-Bopp in 1995 captivated millions and reignited public wonder in astronomy, while his funding... I am so sorry. Every time I start talking, my voice goes... ignited public wonder in astronomy while his founding of the Earthrise Institute advanced education and the search for cosmic understanding. Until his passing on June 6, 2026, Hale embodied the spirit of Alamogordo's deep ties to space exploration, leaving a legacy of curiosity and community outreach that continues to illuminate the stars over his beloved hometown. Next is the musician Freddie Durand, and he was known as the mayor of Alamogordo. Freddy Duran, Alma Gordo's beloved hometown troubadour, brought the soul of community to life and every strum of his guitar and every heartfelt note, making him a natural choice as the city's musical mayor of the heart. Born and raised in the area, graduating from Alamogordo High School in 1975, Duran's voice blending influence of the Pedro Infante and Led Zeppelin echoed through decades of local performances, summer returns from Arizona, and events like community celebrations. And so he passed away earlier in the month of June, and he is known for his adobe rock sound, which is a combination of taking the original songs and translating them not only in English but in Spanish. Two men that will be missed by the City of Alamogordo. I have a couple of other things that's on the list. I was at the ribbon cutting for the Inkwell. Michelle and Jarrett Perry were there. Jarrett Perry is also retiring from the Chamber of Commerce as the Executive Director. Adam Hopps will take over. on the 4th and right now the Chamber of Commerce serves as a physical agent for our District 5 Citywide Cleanup. District 5 Citywide Cleanup, it will be Saturday, July 18, 2026 from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. We have been fortunate enough to have the backing of the Sacramento Mountain Foundation. They help us with t-shirts this year. They are like a a yellow, a bright yellow, so people will recognize who we are and what we're doing at the houses and also at the locations. We have actually seven. We have six dumpsters in each district. It will be one on Indian Wells and Scenic, another one at 2201 Puerto Rico Avenue, another one at 817 North Scenic, another one at Panorama Boulevard, Walker Road, the baseball park, Oregon School, 1500 Oregon Avenue. And at 523 Maryland Avenue, which is the Dudley Community Center and Park, there will be a truck there from 10 o'clock to 12 that will be handling all confidential paperwork. So if you want to have that shredded, all these services are free. And the headquarters will also serve as a location where you can dump your junk if you'd like, And we will be handing out the, I guess, the jobs for different people. We are also soliciting volunteers to go along with the people who are signing up. So we will be handing out your assignments at Dudley School. So if you're working for or if you're volunteering that day, you will just come to Dudley School and get your assignment and then go out. We have a couple of people that will be helping that day, so we're hoping that people will come out and enjoy it. I'm in competition with all the districts, so I want to win, and so I'm inviting you to come to Dudley. And we are also asking for the volunteers for that Saturday to be at the dumpsters at those locations. If you'll give me the names of the people who will be there, I would appreciate that too. So we're looking forward to the District 5 citywide cleanup, and I'm just happy that all of the commissioners are participating in it this year. So that concludes my comments. Is there anything else? No. Okay. All right. We're going on to the consent agenda. And I have been told that we are going to remove items number five, six, and seven from the agenda. And so each of those items will be talked on. So we are looking for the approval of three, four, and eight. So moved. OK. And do I have a second?

Second.

Okay, so I have a motion by Commissioner Hernandez, and it's been second by Commissioner Burnett. We'll just go for the vote.

Commissioner Robinson, what is your vote?

Aye.

And it passes 7-0. So we will have item number five. Consider and act upon approval of change order two in the amount of $83,068.08, excluding NGMGRT to the National Construction for Installation for New Apparatus Bay Doors. And Joseph Samora, the project manager, will be speaking on it.

Good evening, Mayor McDonald, Mayor Pro Temp, and commissioners. The city currently has an RFP with Custom Overhead Doors Company, which services all city fire stations. Prior to and throughout the design, bidding, and construction phases of this project, the intent was to utilize the existing RFP for the overhead door replacement. Accordingly, the project was designed to accommodate the installation requirements for the doors. However, the purchase order under the existing RFP was denied by finance. as it was determined that the work should remain within the scope of the construction project. As a result, this change order will require the contractor to remove the existing doors and utilize its subcontractor, Custom Overhead Door Company, to furnish and install the new doors. This approach provides the benefit of placing the full one-year warranty responsibility with the prime contractor, national, for the entire project rather than having two separate one-year warranties administered by different parties.

So when was it identified that the doors needed to be replaced? I'm sure during design. During what time? During the design of the project. So why wouldn't they put in in the design of the project? I mean, I understand you were trying to use the RFP, but why were they not included in the design of the project? $83,000 is a lot to hide.

Right.

Justin's going to help me out.

Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioners, Justin Will, can you repeat the question real quick?

So when was it identified that these doors needed to be replaced?

Before the design started, we were trying to use the RFP because we wanted to keep it where it's the same contractor, which would be the customer overhead doors, to do the installation of the doors. So when we were trying to get in the RFP, and get the contractors to come in to do the doors during the design. Because the way that we did the design was it was built and designed to those doors. Then the contractor, custom overhead doors would come in, put them in using the RFP. Well, when FIRE tried putting the RFP in, it was denied by finance. So then that's why we had to go this route to put it into a change order.

OK. So my concern is that The commissioner approved a dollar amount for this project that didn't include this $83,000.

Yeah, so this would be at $83,000. So if we went to RFP, so $71,517.93, that's from the custom overhead doors itself. The rest of it would just be an installation and a demo of the doors that are existing and then installation of the doors and plus the overhead. So even if they went through RFP, we'll still be spending $70,000 on the door itself.

Okay. So basically, I guess I'll explain it in layman's terms. You go to Walmart and get your oil changed. They quote you $60. You go to pay, and they say, well, it's going to be $100 because we didn't quote you the oil.

I get it, but, I mean, if we're getting denied, this is all we can do at this point is take it up to you guys as a change order.

Were the doors in the original design? The doors... When we approved it.

When you approved it, the structure for the doors was designed. So they're building the fire station 100% for the doors to fit. The only thing that are missing is the doors itself.

But the doors were in...

what we approved not the doors no because we were going to use the rfp and it was told that the rp was going to handle the doors because we used them for not just for fire stations but for all facilities like even on the public works yard this company does all the overhead doors for the city so we were going to use the rp for them to install the doors because we have them on rp already But when we tried doing that, the purchase order got denied. So that pushed us to where we would have to get it as a change order. They're still using that contractor. We just can't use RFP. Why did finance deny the purchase order? They want to keep everything under one construction contract.

What's the total dollar amount of this project going to run? Wasn't it originally like $1.3, and then we already have a $207,000 change order, and this will be another $83,000?

It's approximately $160,000 for the change orders now.

The sidewalk, the drive aprons out there was $160,000? No, no, no, total with this one and... The new sidewalk. It'll be 160 with the sidewalks in?

Approximately, yes, sir. Okay.

I do have a little bit of concern. I don't understand why we didn't bid this in the original project. It should have been in the scope. It's kind of one of those, now our hands are tied, we have to do it. I can't have a fire station without doors. But I'm in this business. This price seems a little high to me. But I don't know how everybody else feels on that.

Understood.

Can I get a motion?

The reason I have an issue with this is for the simple fact that when they bid this, their original bid came in about $120,000 less than the original bid that they put out the first time. And this almost makes up that plus sum in what they originally bid on this contract before we approved the contract that we have now at $112,000, $115,000 less.

What's our other option if we don't approve this tonight? Do we have any other options? It sounds like this isn't really the general contractor's fault. This sounds like it's more on the staff's. This is an internal. This is on the staff's side.

Yes, absolutely. This is not anything to do with the contractor. It's not their fault. When it was bidded, it was bidded this certain way to use RFP for the doors. And then, of course, when the fire went to go put the RFP contract in for the doors, it was denied. We did try to push this forward as much as we could through the RFP, but our hands are tied on our side.

I just don't understand why we wouldn't just bid it as a package instead of piecing it out.

Yeah, and that part I'm not too sure, but I do know that... During our projects we do have after action meetings and this is going to be one of the things that we do right on there to ensure that this does not happen again because even if we do have an RFP for another project, we're just going to push that away and just make sure that it's all included in the project moving forward.

I'm just looking at the original contract amount was $1,229,378, and with the $8,368.08, it's going to be $1,312,446.08. Yes, that is correct. And that's including the other change order? Yes. Okay. And this is going to push out the end date too for the project, 70 days?

Yes. So when the contractor custom overhead doors, when we got the quote from them, they said that it's a 10-week period of lead time.

What kind of doors are these? I mean, I know they're all up doors, but...

I'm going to let Chief speak on that one.

Like I say, I'm in this business, and that's a lot of door right there.

good evening mayor mayor pro tem commissioners these doors are the identical doors of the existing fire stations that we have now fire station one fire station five and six they're the exact same type of model of door the only difference on these doors for the new station two are the color they're not going to be white in color they will actually be red to match the facade of the color of the building because the building is no longer going to be that sandstone it'll be almost like a gunmetal gray

So when were we made aware that we're going to have to change direction on purchasing?

Whenever the RFP, whenever FIRE decided to try to use the RFP.

So that's been within the last two weeks?

It's been probably, Commissioner, within probably the last month on this.

I'm just concerned also with the 10-week lead time. I mean, if we're at the point where we're going to need the doors and we're four weeks, but now we're ten weeks, that's still six weeks difference that we're going to be behind.

The contractor is planning on being done in October? No, in July. But original, I think the contract is in over until October. So we're still within their time frame. Of course, we don't want to be close to that, but...

Doesn't seem like we really have much choice on this one, guys. I'll just make a motion we approve. Do I have a second? Change order number two for the fire station.

I'll second.

Okay, it's been motioned by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and seconded by Commissioner Burnett. I'm going to go for the vote.

Commissioner Robinson, how do you vote?

Aye.

And the vote passes 6-1. Thank you. Thank you. Next on the consent agenda is consider an act upon entering into a city manager agreement with Robert Stockwell.

And we have- Item six got pulled to the- I thought we did.

Seven. Oh, okay. Sorry.

Item six.

Sorry, I'm ahead. Item number six, consider an act upon resolution number 2026-20, removing uncollectible and unsecured utility, library, and other miscellaneous accounts from the city's accounts receivable. Evelyn Huff is going to be speaking on this.

I might be able to help you. I'm not sure, but I could try.

Okay.

Does someone have a question?

Can you state your name?

Debbie Osborne.

I just want to table it until Evelyn's here.

Yes, we can table it.

Some of the concerns I had on this is there's three of the abatement demolitions on here that total almost $250,000. And why didn't we file liens? Why didn't we get that taken care of? So I think staff needs to explain that. There's three of them on there.

Do you want me to see if I can get a hold of her right now?

No, we'll just table it. I just...

I'm just not sure if this is something that needed approved before the end of the fiscal year, if that was required. That's what I'm not sure about.

We won't have another meeting before the end of the fiscal year. Right.

We won't have another one before the end of the fiscal year. Can we just move this item to the end and then have her contact us and then see if she needs to... I can try to call her. Okay. Do you want me to do that? If we need to have this done today? Yeah.

Let me try to get her. Okay. Okay.

We'll just move item number six to... after item number seven, I'm sorry, item number nine. Okay, so next on the agenda is going to be consider and act upon entering into a city manager agreement with Robert Stockwell and Baxter Patello, our commissioner, will be speaking on this.

Thank you all. I appreciate the public's comment on this, and I am doing what I think is best for the city of Alamogordo. I'm grateful that Mr. Stockwell has agreed to come work with us, and I would ask for any input as you guys have had this agreement since the 12th.

Are you going to give any information at all on this? Because there were some questions that came up. Can we just talk about some of those issues that came up when the public addressed those? So just some of the issues when we got the applications and how things proceeded.

Sure. So I believe Bob Stockwell has been in a conversation about being the city manager since July of 2025. That conversation was revisited in January of 2026. We did not have things work out with Dr Hernandez and he agreed to, uh, interview with us. We had an interview pursuant to an exemption from the open meetings act. We came out and voted in public and we now have an agreement based on updates from the last agreement with Dr. Hernandez and all that has been my solo legwork. We've had 10 executive closed sessions related to the hiring of the city manager. I think we have had ample time to discuss all of these matters and I think we have abided by everything that we are supposed to as a commission. And so I would ask that any feedback or input on what has been presented to be heard. OK.

So the questions that are here, and this would be something that I would be asking, Can we just tell them how this actually came about as far as the application? When was it presented?

He didn't submit an application.

And I'd like to remind the public and the commission that there is no handbook on hiring of the city manager. There is a short provision in the city charter regarding the appointment of the manager. Mr. Stockwell meets all those qualifications in my eyes and There is no mandated hiring process or application or anything but the vote of four members of the commission.

And this is a very, very similar situation to, I don't remember the year, I think it was 2012, 2013-ish. We appointed an interim manager at that time by the name of Bob Carter. And it's a very, very similar situation. The city needed a manager. We were in a pinch. And so we, as a commission... Discussed it behind closed doors, came back out and named Bob Carter as the acting manager at that time under a contract. Very similar situation what we're doing with Mr. Stockwell. It's perfectly legal.

And I think what I have been hearing. We just wanted the transparency of the hiring. This is not an open debate against who we have in the position. It's just making it public so that people will know exactly how we came about. And we are here to vote for the position tonight. Is there any other comments at this time?

What was the other question that was asked?

When was the application submitted? Because we did have one submitted. And then the other one was, was there any other application submitted? And also the salary. And why didn't the city make, well, we won't go about that because it's a done deal on that one.

The salary range was based off of what we presented when we had our discussions back here prior to putting it back out last August, September-ish, sometime around that. And if you'll remember, we discussed setting it, you know, currently the previous city manager was between 120 and 135-ish, I think is where we're at. in our discussions, we all felt that we needed to bump that salary up to increase the pool of candidates. So us as a governing body decided to publish it at 150 to 185, if I'm not mistaken. I think that was the numbers that we put out there. And that was done by the commission late last year or early part of this year. And that's when we set those numbers.

I think there was some confusion when we actually talked to the recruitment agency about the pay at the time. I don't think they published it correctly, but then after we revisited that particular subject, we gave them the correct amount of what salary was supposed to be, and that was between $150 and $185.

And then as far as the contract goes, this contract that we have before us tonight is the exact same contract that's been used for the last six city managers. Same severance, same PTO, same thing with the, I can't remember what they call it, the deferred comp. It's the exact same thing that the last six city managers have received.

I'd like to address an issue that came up with the deferred comp. The city commission did not put that in place. That was done through city management. So all directors are able to get the deferred comp. So if they have, they pick up insurance for themselves, the family portion of it goes to their deferred comp. And I guarantee you every single one of them collect that. The city commission did not put that in place. That was done by city management. There's some other things that we've found out, if you want to go into detail with this stuff, that we found out that's happening. Like the 80-20 split with the insurance, with all the employees, we did not put that in place. That's a lot of money. I don't disagree with it, but it's a lot of money. But all of this contract was based on the existing contracts that we've had. It hasn't changed other than dates and times. And whatever we offer the city employees, we have to offer the city manager. That's how it was built.

Are there any other questions? I'll just make a motion. I can speak to that. There were many candidates since the 20-plus brought to us over the course of the hiring procedure. Since Dr. Hernandez, we have had one, and that is Mr. Stockwell.

I'm sorry? If you could come to the mic. Just come up to the mic and state your name. We're not going to have a back and forth. Well, I mean, it's just real quick.

I want to make sure they're all addressed.

Right. So when did you advertise for this position? When did that come out in any of the...

We advertise with a recruiting firm in July of 25 and again in January of 26 and there is no stipulation or requirement that necessitates applications or a hiring process or applicants.

So no applicant is there, no application, is there a resume or what is the documentation you use to judge their skills against the requirements of the position?

There is no requirement except the vote of four commissioners.

So there's no requirements and there's no qualifications then? What are you going off of? Is there not, I mean it seems like good business practice would be that you have parameters for what you're expecting of a city manager. And those should be pretty well detailed and set out. And then you would compare the applicants, uh, the skills, the abilities, the background of the applicants you have against those parameters, but that's not done here.

Yes, there are requirements and there are qualifications. And according to the application of Mr. Stockwell, he does meet the qualifications. He has been a city manager for a number of years. He has also been in other aspects of working with municipalities. So I actually saw the application. And I do think that it's not that he's not qualified. I think we're looking at the process, and that's the reason why the questions for tonight.

Yeah, and I think that probably most of the people here are not actually as concerned about Mr. Stockwell as they are about the behavior of- The process, yes. A group of commissioners here who, you just go, yeah, we're picking him. Yeah, that's not the way a good business is run. You guys need, I know you think we're the commission and we don't have any rules we have to go by, but you guys have really screwed this up for him. You have set this up so you have a room full of people who have absolutely no faith in your process and that stains his candidacy.

I will say this, that during the executive session, that all seven of us agreed came to hire Stephanie Hernandez, didn't you?

All seven agree to that? Let him finish.

The situation with Stephanie is over and done with. There's no reason to revisit. It is.

To you it is.

Well, yeah, exactly. We voted on it, and it's done, and it's over with.

You voted unanimously. Right, we did. We voted 7-0 to hire her.

We voted 4-3 to settle with her. That's it. Plain and simple. Those are the facts. But for the last executive session, we all came to a consensus that we would talk to Bob Stockwell. There wasn't not one of us commissioners that said we will not speak to him. And that's exactly what we did. So it's not that we went against anything. We all sat and had a discussion. And it's exactly what we agreed on.

And it's exactly what we did. All of you agreed, but...

The process was the disagreement. I said we have nothing against the candidate.

I agree with you on that. I certainly don't have the skills or the knowledge of Mr. Stockwell to know if he's capable of doing this job. Again, the concern is the manner in which it's been handled.

Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry. Well, I think for this particular situation, because we are trying to get through the transparency of the commission, that there was no ulterior motive, but certainly you can speak.

Okay. Okay. Good. I have a question. Can you state your name? Susan Payne, former mayor of Alamogordo. I'm sorry. I was here last July, and I don't recall having a discussion or looking at a resume for Bob Stockwell. So can you tell me which one of you approached him?

I did.

Uh-huh.

And how many others of you? Did we have an active recruitment going on in July of last year? Did you discuss it with the rest of the commission? No. OK.

So this has been going on since last July. You didn't discuss it, which, by the way, does not surprise me. I'm not surprised.

Is it illegal to sit down and have a conversation with a constituent?

It is unethical to not tell the rest of the commission what you're doing. And you and I both know. It's not unethical. Listen, there's a difference between illegal and unethical.

You should know.

Is there a difference? There's a difference.

Okay.

There's a difference between illegal and unethical.

To sit down and have a conversation with a member of the public.

It is unethical not to shift... It's not. Listen, you of all people, Commissioner Reardon, you of all people that walks around paranoid that the rest of the commission is doing something that you don't know about, and you're telling me that you had a... Okay, you can shake your head. It's okay. I've served with you for 10 years. I think I know. And you're telling me that you had a conversation... With an applicant and never bothered to mention it.

He was not an applicant at the time. The man has 50 years of experience as a city manager. That's what I want to know. What was he then? Let me finish my thought. The man has 50 years of experience as a city manager. He's a lifelong member of the ICMA out of Arizona over there. He's highly qualified for the job.

That's not the point.

I sat down and talked to him after you all screwed up the recruitment last year.

No, no, no, no, no.

In April 24th of last year. With all due respect. Let me finish my thought. I'm going to have the chief remove you if you do not let me finish my statement.

Let's not go down that road.

Okay, so I had a conversation with Bob and asked him, how do we fix this? So that's where we're at right now.

No, what screwed it up is Commissioner Reardon going around telling community members that as long as he is the city commissioner, Stephanie Hernandez will never be city manager. Do not blame this on anybody else. Take responsibility. What screwed it up is that we had to engage two active investigations because Commissioner Reardon said, Where are the outcomes? Chose to get our employees involved. Do not say you all screwed it up. You screwed it up. You screwed it up. I didn't. All right. Those investigations are available, and you screwed up. I just want to know who approached him last July. That's all I ask.

Actually, they are not. They will not be released. All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'll just call the question on this item. I'm going to call the question, and I'm going to make a motion that we approve item 7 in Mr. Stockwell's contract. You guys haven't been here. You don't know what this lady did last year.

We're going to stop the comments right now.

I've already called the question. There's a motion on the table.

You've already called the question, and now we're going to vote. Do I have a motion?

I need a second. You need a second.

Is there a second? A second. Okay. Mayor Pro Tem Reardon has motion that we approve the city manager agreement with Robert Stockwell. And we have a second from Commissioner Tapley.

Tapley.

Tapley. Okay. All right. And we're ready for the vote.

Commissioner Robinson, how do you vote?

May, because of procedure.

This place is a joke.

And the vote passes 5-2. And the reason for my vote, I said earlier that I did not have any problems with the candidate. I did have a problem with the process. So that was my statement.

Madam Mayor, I would ask the public to use their ability to pull IPA reports. There's been a lot of misinformation about payouts and all this other stuff. If you need some help, contact me, and I'll help you get that information, the correct information.

That is usually done by Rachel Hughes.

But I'm asking the public to do it, not to go off of what's been published, because most of it is false. And so that is my comment. Get an IPA report. Get the correct information.

Okay. All right. And so we're going on to item number nine. Consider and act upon resolution 2026-22. Mayor. I'm sorry?

Number seven. This is her item, too. Oh, is it? I'm sorry. Oh, yeah. You're right. You're right.

I actually talked with Evelyn also.

Okay. Consider an act upon resolution number 2026-22, adopting an infrastructure capital improvement plan, ICIP, and identifying the top five recommended capital outlay projects for physical years 2028 to 2032. And Debbie Osborne is the grant coordinator, and we'll let her speak on that.

Okay. Hi, Mayor McDonnell, Dan, Commissioners. I don't know. You want me to talk about ICIP first, or do you want me to tell you what Evelyn said?

The ICIP, because I said we would do that one afterwards.

Okay. This is the ICIP list. I'm sure you're all familiar with the process through the years. We need to do this annually. It's submitted to DFA. This year the deadline is July 1st. It's a list of infrastructure capital improvement projects for the next five years that have been presented by the department directors. And then they're prioritized, and the top five are the ones that the directors and management felt were the most significant improvements that we would request capital outlay requests for. If you would like to replace one of the top five, welcome to do that. We do need to submit them, though, by July 1st.

Debbie, on that real quick, item number three, we have the Alamo World Police Department vehicles. Yes. Weren't they part of that vehicle replacement, or was it not the cop cars?

It is part of it, but they haven't finalized things yet with that.

Okay, so we still need another year or whatever on that?

Possibly, yeah.

Right, Chief? Yeah, we're not part of phase one.

I can come to the mic and speak. Okay. That answers it.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So any other questions about them? Any other suggestions? I know someone from the audience suggested replacing the balloon park with Dudley. I don't know how you feel about that.

Well, I think you gave me an answer today. So if you can repeat that item, that would help clarify that.

You want me to explain about the balloon park, why we want that? About Dudley. Dudley's pretty much almost finished. It's still on the ICIP list while it's waiting for finalization, but they're working on the playground now, and I think probably the parking lot is the only thing left, basically, on that. It does have to remain on the list and we will continue to pursue things. I actually just talked with Joe recently about possibly looking for another grant on something like that from the National Historic Society. That's who gave us our first one.

Okay.

So there's other sources for Dudley.

But we're still not needing $400,000. We're not really. No, we don't even need that much.

No, no.

How much do we need for Dudley?

I think it's about $100,000-something right now. I think around $160,000 or so. I'm pretty sure. The $400,000 was the total.

I have no problem with moving Dudley School up. If anybody else doesn't.

Just to get it finished and be done with it. What's the reason for the balloon park?

It needs done. It's desperately needs.

I think there's additional restrooms out there at the building.

Yeah. The planning, I do have actually a quote. It needs several things done. It needs a lot of earthwork, traffic control. It needs restroom buildings, a stage. They want to install a stage so that they can have more events there, hoping it would bring more tourism into the city. And I know there's also talk about bringing the Balloon Festival back here. But it does need a lot of work.

As far as the Dudley School, if you say we only need like 150, 160.

We don't need a whole lot.

Is that something that we may be able to just have staff look in the budget and find?

Possibly. Possibly. It's something to consider.

So with the natatorium, we're going to lose our soccer fields or a portion of them. Yes. So that's a big concern for that. Yeah. That's my thing with the balloon park.

Yes. Yeah.

And I think the minimal at the Dudley School, we can probably budget that in somewhere, somehow.

And the Balloon Park, this would just be the first part of it. Eventually, they would need to improve the parking area and other things for that. But this would be a good initial stage for it. Okay.

So do we want to move anything around or just to prove it the way it is?

Approve it the way it is because we're going to finish Dudley.

Dudley, yeah. It's not that much.

And we've had money allocated from an outside source to finish the sidewalk and the entryway to the building. Oh, great.

I see Joe volunteering to finish.

Okay.

I'll just make a motion to approve Resolution 2026-22.

Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Okay, so it's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Hernandez. So we're going to go for the vote.

Commissioner Robinson, what is your vote?

Mine never came up. My vote is aye.

It hasn't come up yet, Commissioner? Mayor Pro Tem Reardon?

There it is. I got it.

And it passes 7-0. Okay.

Thank you.

And then we're going back to item number six, consider and act upon resolution number 202620, removing uncollectibles and unsecured utility library and other miscellaneous accounts from the city's accounts receivables. And Debbie's going to speak on that.

And the question was regarding the three abatements.

Do we have to have this done before the end of the fiscal year?

We do have to have it done before the end of the fiscal year, yes. And the abatement, they did pursue collecting them. For four years they tried to collect them. They're four years old, and they said at this point they feel that they are uncollectible, so they wanted to put them on the list.

We spent that kind of money, and we never put liens on their properties?

They tried to do it through our legal system, and they weren't able to collect anything. You can pull those three off and have them still pursue it if you'd like. Evelyn said that you could do that if you'd like to do that.

I would like to pull those three and pursue them because they're real properties that we demolished, and we have a considerable amount. One of them is $101,000, one of them is $74,000, one of them is $70,000 worth of taxpayers' money tied up demolishing those properties. We should have leaned, the staff should have leaned the properties, foreclosed the liens, and then we would have recouped a little of it at the sale. And also, I'd like to add, customer ID number 3984 needs to be pulled, because she was just here in the room, and she needs to pay her bill.

Okay, okay, great, thank you. Okay, yep, she said you could approve it with us removing those.

Okay, and also, like I said, customer number 3984. 3984, yes, I got that.

Okay, thanks.

And if you need her number, I think we can get it for you.

Okay, thank you. Okay, so it's four. Four, altogether four will be pulled.

Yeah, the rest of those look like they were just like regular normal 50 cents or a dollar or a couple dollars.

So we're going to vote on item number six with the exclusion of the 104, the 74, and the 70, and the 3984. Yes. Okay. So those four will be? The dollar amount on 3984 was $520.65. Okay, thank you. Okay. Okay, so do I have a motion? So moved. Second? Second. Okay, so it's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Tapley.

And Commissioner Robinson, what is your vote?

Am I still on here?

Yes.

Aye.

And the vote passes 7-0. And next on the agenda is to adjourn into executive closed session pursuant to NMSA 1978 10-15-187 for the purpose of discussing threatened and pending litigation Edwards versus the City of Alamogordo D-1215-CV-2026-00514. And we will be with James Wilkie and Dixon Scholl Carillo Law Firm. And do I have a motion for this? So moved. Second? Second. So it's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon and second by Commissioner Hernandez. We're ready for the vote.

Commissioner Robinson, your vote, please.

My vote is aye. And it passes 7-0.

We're not coming back, are we?

No, we're adjourned. And then now we're adjourning, so do I have a motion to adjourn? We've already adjourned. Okay, all right. Which room are we going to? I don't know. What room are we going to?

Go to finance.

Which room do you want to go into?

Let's do finance. Finance, okay.

So Joseph's going to help you.

Okay.