City Commission - Regular Meeting

I call this meeting to order on Tuesday, July 28th at 6.30 p.m. Will the city clerk please call the roll?

Mayor Sharon McDonald.

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Josh Reardon. Here. Commissioner Baxter Petillo.

He's walking in right now. He's coming down the hall.

Commissioner Baxter-Batillo.

Here.

And don't forget to sign in. Commissioner Stephen Burnett.

Here.

Commissioner Warren Robinson.

Here.

Commissioner Al Hernandez.

Here.

Commissioner Mark Tapley.

Here.

Madam Mayor, we have a quorum.

Thank you. We are going to have the invocation tonight by Commissioner Robinson, so if he'll get on his post. And then the pledge will be done by Mayor Pro Tem Reardon.

Join me in a word of prayer. Eternal Heavenly Father, we thank you that the chambers are full this evening. We're glad when citizens take their citizenship seriously and involve themselves in government and in service and making Alamogordo better. Bless each family that's represented here today. Bless each official who's doing the best that they can to make Alamogordo a better place. And an extra measure of support to our new city manager. He's got his hands full, Lord. He can't make everybody happy, but bless him to do the best that he can. Lord, we thank you for the heat, and we thank you when it's going to cool off. But until then, Lord, give us your amazing grace so that we may run this city the best that we know how. We ask for your presence here to look over us, and we ask these things in your son's holy name.

Amen. Please follow me in the pledge.

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.

Can I get a motion for the approval of the agenda tonight?

So moved.

Do I have a second? Second. So it's been moved by Commissioner Tapley and second by Commissioner Robinson. And we're going to do the vote. And it passes 7-0. Next on the agenda, we're going to have the presentation by the MTB certificates to fire staff, and this is going to be presented by Justin Powell, Eastern New Mexico Roswell EMS Program Director, and Melissa Carter, and Eastern New Mexico University Roswell Adjunct EMS Instructor.

Air Pro Tem Commission and friends and family and the Commission tonight. Mr. Justin Powell is actually not present with us this evening, but Deputy Chief myself and Melissa will actually be doing a presentation. Can everybody hear me okay? So tonight we're congratulating these EMT basics that actually completed their course a week ago and now this completes a culmination of more than half the fire department as an EMT basic. So just going to kind of do an opening statement and then I'd like to turn it over to Deputy Chief Lashley and then also Melissa Carter for some great words that she's got to say about this class. So congratulations EMT graduates. Complimenting Completing your EMS training is more than an academic milestone. It's a commitment to serve in one of the most critical roles in public safety. Remember that this moment marks not just the end of your coursework, but the beginning of a career filled with purpose, pressure, and profound impact. Whether you're working alongside an ambulance crew or with your firefighter brothers and sisters, your next call will test everything you've learned. and teach you more than any classroom could. You are now ready to step into the back of an ambulance and make a real difference when people need you the most. Thank all families for your support and Melissa, our instructor, for your support. I toast all of you to safe shifts and good calls. Thank you.

All right, I'll keep it short, sweet, but I am proud of each and every one of you for stepping up, volunteering, and getting through this course. Because I know it's been a long four months, and you guys have sacrificed a lot of time. And you guys have shown excellent commitment throughout it. And I just want to say thank you to all the families for supporting them while they've been taking this class. I know it's been difficult, but you guys all pushed through, and I couldn't be prouder.

So like I said, my name is Melissa. I was the lead instructor for this course. This is actually my second class for the fire department. Last year's class, they came in. I didn't know any of them. This class, I knew most of them. And boy, did they come in like a wrecking ball. They kept me on my toes for sure, but it was an incredible class. We started in March and we finished at the beginning of July. Just kind of to put into perspective what they did. This class is 180 hours. It's 90 hours of didactic portion, which they get to sit with me for 90 hours to listen to me teach. And then they have to do 90 hours of skill time, which is also with me. And then they have to go into the ambulance and do 48 hours of clinical time. So that is on top of their regular shifts at the fire department, sometimes 48 plus hours a week. And then they got to spend three days a week with me in class and then have to find time to do clinicals. So it was a lot of time, not only in the classroom, but also studying because then they also had work to do outside of class. on the computers, and so they spent a lot of time. They were very dedicated. I was very proud of them. They were at 100% pass rate on all their exams, so nobody had to retake any tests, and so I really look forward to them going and getting their National Registry EMS license for the National Registry as well as the state. So a special thank you also to the ambulance company in town, which is American Medical Response, and specifically their preceptors for allowing them to come into the ambulance. They spent 12 hours a shift with one preceptor. I think sometimes they got to bounce around, but they spent 12 hours, at least 12 hours, getting to run calls out in the streets, getting to put what they have learned into the real life. And some of them got to see some pretty cool stuff, from what I can remember. They all did incredibly well, and I'm so proud of them. I couldn't tell them enough times how proud of them I was. So next, they get to go on to the National Registry, and they get to carry a license into their hands. So I am going to present them with their certificates of completion, as well as a little pin for them. And then it'll be time for them to go test. All right, first one is going to be John Stroop. Next is Nathan Preissner. Next is Juan Valles. He was my loudmouth, but my favorite. Thanks. Favorite loudmouth.

And then Eric Martinez.

And then that is the four that are here today. I also want to acknowledge John Stewart. He had a personal reason he couldn't be here today, but he will also get his certificate of completion as well.

That's it.

Again, thank you everyone for the support, the city for all their support. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Okay, next on the agenda is going to be the update on the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce, and Adam Hoff is going to, he's the executive director, and he's going to give us the information tonight.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Commission, City Administration. Thank you for having me. My name is Adam Hoppus, Executive Director for the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce. It's a pleasure to be giving you guys an update. I've been with the chamber for almost three years. I'm happy to say that we have hired two new individuals. One of them is Pearl. She's from Portland, Oregon, has a background from Boise State, got a degree in communications. We also hired a local, Damian. He got a degree in marketing from New Mexico State University and decided to come back to Alamogordo. So we're very happy to have them with us. So I was asked to give an update on the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce and so I'm going to touch on some of the stuff we've done over the past couple years and as well as what we have on the radar for the next coming year. Gateway Freedom Monument, I'm sure everyone in here knows what the Gateway Freedom Monument is. It's the F4 project that we've been working so diligently on the past couple years. For those who don't know, it's a F-4 Phantom II fighter jet that actually fought wars, served at home in Air Force Base. It sat at the White Sands Regional Airport for almost seven years before we had some work done to it and actually put on site for a monument. So we could not have done that without all of our volunteers. We had over, there's some statistics on the screen, but they're a little bit dated. We've had over 200 volunteers, over 15,000 man hours, and we're reaching that 175,000 mark for private donations. What the slide fails to mention is all of the comps from businesses that made this project possible. For example, KE&G did the concrete for the monument, and that was over $100,000 in free labor, material, time, and effort. So we estimate this to be over a million dollar project between private funds and compensated funds from local businesses. So we're very happy to have that project done. It really stands as a testament to what Alamogordo and Otero County can accomplish if we all come together with a common goal. And speaking of accomplishments, we did get the Altus Trophy for the year 2025. Previously won in 2023. This award goes to the community that best supports its training base. So we go up against communities like San Antonio, Texas. We go up against Phoenix, Arizona and Wichita Falls who won in 2024. So these are communities that have much larger populations and much better resources. But the idea is a group of retired generals comes together and analyzes the packages from each community that was submitted and gives the award to the community that best supports that training base for that year. And thankfully, we were able to win two out of the last three years. My team and I worked very hard. We put together a 108-page packet in about a month to submit to the Committee of Generals, and we're blessed enough to win that award, which is now sitting in the Chamber of Lobby. Housing developments, we've had some questions about housing developments. I'm sure you guys are already familiar with the Patriot Point apartment complex and the Sendero complex. My understanding is Patriot Point had some adjustments they made to the plans and they're pending state approval and hopefully going to be grounded here in August or September. As well, Sendero, you guys know, is well under construction. They've built those buildings incredibly fast, and this is all thanks to the City and County Commission approving the Metropolitan Rehabilitation Tax Rebate Program. Without that program, it would have been very difficult for both entities to break ground or begin to break ground for spending that amount of money. It's an immense amount of money, and thanks to your tax rebate program, we're able to make that happen. So investors and developers, those two complexes are not the only things we have coming into town, thankfully. As important as they are, it's still only a drop in the bucket for the dramatic need that we have for Holland Air Force Base. They did a study identifying that there's over 900 housing units short from Holland Air Force Base. So this ranges from single airmen to airmen and their families. So over 900 between those two complexes, it helps, but it's not the final answer. There still is a huge need for it. So thankfully, we have a couple investors and developers that are very interested. I've been working very, very hard with an investor group out of Montana and Utah. They're under contract and in their due diligence period with the hotel next to Dutch Brothers. So their idea is to take the hotel and convert it to long-term stays, specifically to cater to the families at home in Air Force Base. So rather than having a nightly hotel rate, they'll have weekly, monthly, and six-month stints that you can rent the hotel for. So they're in their due diligence period and looking to close here hopefully within 30 to 45 days. It's very exciting because they're, from conversations with them, they're offering competitive pricing. And that will hopefully affect the whole market in Alamogordo. So not only helping our families at Holland Air Force Base, but our citizens of Alamogordo as well. They've already discussed the option to look at other hotels and apartment complexes as well. So they're very interested in our market because they recognize the huge need that there is from Holland Air Force Base. The housing, there's a developer that just finished a duplex project. and he's already got the plans to break ground on another one. So he's got about eight more units planned and has 12 more planned near the hospital, but is waiting to finish the other ones he's about to break ground on. After having conversations with both of these investors and developers, they've asked for similar incentive, like the Metropolitan Rehabilitation Tax Rebate Program, which I thankfully had a conversation with Ms. Shelley at the city. We're very early in conversation, but identifying whether or not it's an option to scale down the incentive for smaller projects like this, because it's still a huge need for our community, but hopefully we can give an incentive to smaller investors and smaller developers. So microplex opportunity. This is one of my favorite slides. So some people know, some people do not. Alamogordo and Otero County is what's called a micropolitan statistical area. So essentially what that means is the population of Alamogordo considers all of Otero County. So instead of saying Alamogordo is a population of 30, 32,000, we say Otero County is a population of 67,000. And we can use those analytics to attract developers, businesses, et cetera. The idea is we take our 32,000 We identify as the micropolitan statistical area, so the all-encompassing 67,000, and we partner up with Lincoln County. My understanding is our Otero County attorney has already made communication with Lincoln County to combine our micropolitan statistical areas into a microplex. So we go from 32,000 to roughly 100,000 or more using simple marketing, branding, and a common language approach. And we can use this information to target bigger businesses. Businesses tend to target a population of 45 to 50,000. Alamogordo has notoriously not had large corporations come in because of the fact that we're sitting at that stagnant 32,000. With this branding change, we're gonna be able to target those bigger markets. And this is not something that's never been done before. We're not reinventing the wheel. Clovis and Portales actually did this back in 2005. And as you can see with some of the analytics there, it dramatically changed their market. And permanently, if you drive over there now, you'll see a huge shift from what it was in the early 2000s. This is just a letter from the White House stating that Alamogordo, New Mexico, is a micropolitical statistical area. It's highlighted in the blue there for anybody that has any questions about that. The other thing on top of targeting, whether it's restaurants, entertainment centers, or businesses, is a regional jet service. Regional Jet Service, I wish I could wave a magic wand and bring in Spirit Airlines, or, well, not into Spirit anymore, but Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and have them come because we have the numbers, but we are able to use those numbers to dramatically shift what the Air Service Study will do. So the Chamber, the Airport Advisory Board, and Holloman Air Force Base meet monthly to identify what can we do to bring in Regional Jet Service. a big part of that is first doing the microplex. The first step outside of the microplex is creating a scope of work for an air service study to be done. So we've started the first draft of that. So again, we're working with Harlem Air Force Base Airport Advisory Board in the chamber to identify what that scope of work exactly is. Therefore, we'll be able to go out for RFP and have a company do it and do a study to determine whether or not Alamogordo, Otero County, and Lincoln County can serve give enough money to provide an airline to be able to serve as regional jet service. Thankfully, we have a letter from Colonel Etheridge, as you can see on the screen here. I'm gonna read a direct quote from this letter to abbreviate it. The establishment of this air service study is a top priority for our installation in the local community. That's from Colonel John Etheridge, the previous wing commander for Harlem Air Force Base. So that tells you that they're playing a huge part in that. And the reason that is is because we've identified that the most feasible and quickly attainable way to regional jet service is doing it at Holloman Air Force Base rather than our regional airport. And we're not going to neglect our current regional airport. We're going to still strive for that 139 rating because it gives us more grant opportunities. But the fastest way we can get to regional jet service is partnering with Holland Air Force Base to bring it out there. And this is something that has also been done in nearby communities like Albuquerque and Clovis. So not only does the Chamber work on macro initiatives like that, but of course we have to cater to our membership. We have over 450 members for the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce that we support. Some of our standard networking events is something we've had for a long time, but we're also looking at bringing in new benefits. And some of those are the online concierge. So we get a lot of calls every day about what there is to do in Alamogordo. a broad range of questions, and we're going to focus that towards alamogordo.com. We get a lot of traffic on alamogordo.com, the Chamber's website, and we're going to drive that into leads for our Chamber businesses. So if somebody has a question on where to stay or where to eat, they're able to go use our chat, which actually goes to one of our staff members rather than an AI bot. It gives a personal connection to that person in need of an answer, and we're able to answer them with membership. And if we're not able to answer their question with a member of the Chamber of Commerce, We'll go to the whole community. Business spotlights, we've been doing this on social media twice a week. We're able to spotlight some of our businesses. Damian, our new media coordinator, has done a fantastic job of that. And we're also looking at partnering with the city of Alamogordo to put that on your billboard outside of the zoo. We've got a verbal commitment on that. So we'll be able to spotlight some of our businesses in a high-traffic area on White Sands Boulevard. The black card and loyalty card. So being a chamber member comes with perks, but we're also analyzing if you're a chamber member and you offer a discount, you can get other discounts from the rest of the membership. So if I own a furniture store and I offer a 5% discount to other chamber members, I can go to a flooring place and say, hey, I'm offering you a discount. You can take my furniture for 5% off, and they'll be able to get incentive from that flooring company to hopefully replace their floors for 5% off. So we'll hopefully have that on a large scale. 400 members doing that immediately pays off the value of your chamber dues. And then also a loyalty card for the community, so something similar for the community members as well. some of our branding initiatives. So we're doing targeted ads towards Las Cruces, El Paso, Rio Doso, and surrounding communities to identify Alamogordo as the hub of enchantment. Everybody knows New Mexico is the land of enchantment, but Alamogordo's the hub. We're in the middle of everything. We have the New Mexico Museum of Space History, Clowcroft, Rio Doso, White Sands National Park, we're in the middle of everything. So we're gonna identify ourselves as such. Las Cruces is a great community, but they've done a better job at identifying themselves as the home of White Sands National Park, which we know we're closer, so we're going to fight for that to be identified as bringing in that money. And this ties into the White Sands recreational rentals. So if you go to a ski town, for example, Rio Doso, there's plenty of ski shops where you can go rent skis and snowboards to sled down the hills for a relatively cheap rental rate. And we've identified that there's nothing similar to that in Alamogordo, New Mexico for White Sands. So we've identified some equipment that we should be able to rent. Right now we're waiting on insurance to see how much it's going to cost us. but we'll be able to rent out snowboards, sleds, tubes, and even handicap accessible wheelchairs specifically for sand dunes. It's a wheelchair with inflatable tube tires, so somebody that's handicapped may be able to get around better than with a classic wheelchair. So the idea is we attract people to Alamogordo before they go to White Sands, and then after they're done with the rental, they bring it back to Alamogordo, and we give them a discount to go see other businesses in Alamogordo rather than going to Las Cruces. Leadership Otero. Although our applications have closed, we're sifting through some. There's a committee identifying who the best candidates are. There's only 20 people that are going to be accepted into the cohort, and we're going to do a nine-month program. You'll meet once a month, and the idea is to build the next generation of leaders. As you guys know, it's a small group of individuals in Alamogordo and Otero County that strive to make things happen, and it's important that we have a succession plan. So there's somebody left to carry the torch. And this program identifies those individuals. So I wanted to briefly touch on the Union Pacific train stop and the hotel. This is a specific ask from the city to the chamber for our RFP. We were asked to identify whether or not it's feasible to get a train stop from Union Pacific. At one time, Alamogordo was built because we were a train stop and that was critical to our economy. Now we're served by Holman Air Force Base. The logical thing is to have a train stop, whether it's for pedestrian or cargo, to be that urban core for southern New Mexico and New Mexico in general. So the idea of hopefully one day being able to hop on a train, be able to get to El Paso or Albuquerque, wherever that train stops, starts and stops is a very real possibility, but we're gonna work with Union Pacific to identify whether or not that's feasible. A hotel, we were asked to identify a developer and hopefully bring them in. As you guys know, hotels are very crowded in Alamogordo, and that ranges for many reasons, whether it's from tourism or government contractors coming in from out of state to serve out at Holloman Air Force Base in White Sands Missile Range. It crowds our hotel market very quickly, and it's important that we get a new hotel very soon. We've identified a developer out of Las Cruces who's specifically interested, and this is very early conversation. I want to preface that. There's no pen on paper or anything like that, but there's a developer that's very interested in the specific property, the burnt-down hotel by Applebee's, and I've had a conversation with Shelly to identify what the status of that is, so hopefully we get some answers on whether or not that's a feasible option for them, and he's interested in building a hotel and... core of maybe a car wash or restaurants in that area. So that's, again, an early conversation, but it's a very real possibility. The idea that somebody from Las Cruces has identified Alamogordo as a possibility for their next hotel is exciting because we have a lot to offer. So with that, that's the end of my presentation. I wanted to be brief, but I am happy to answer any questions you guys may have.

Very impressive. Adam, tell me about the air study scope of work. Yes, sir. What's the price tag for it? What ballpark? What would that cost us?

So we went out for initial one, and we got ranged from $7,000 to $90,000. And what that told us is our scope of work was not clear and concise enough. But historically, we're looking at 15 to 20. But that was done many years ago, so my guess is probably 30. But I don't want to speak for the advisory board or the city. That's just a rough number based off of my knowledge.

That's all I wanted.

Yeah.

Thank you.

But the air service study is critical for the next piece of getting regional jet service. Without that study, we'll never get the regional jet service. We'll never know if it's an option or not.

Colonel Etheridge is gone, but his name still has a little bit of power?

Absolutely, yes. So he's not retired. I believe he's in South Carolina, but he wrote that on behalf of Harlem Air Force Base. As you can imagine, if you're the wing commander of Harlem Air Force Base and you have to send or accept people and you have to fly through El Paso, that gets very expensive. From the hourly rate it takes them to get from Alamogordo to El Paso, overnight parking, hotels... That adds up very quickly. So the idea that they could bring regional jet service directly to their installation is very appealing to them.

Thank you.

Yes, sir, thank you.

Quick question. On the air service, would it be open to the general public, or is it only open to the military?

Absolutely, so it'd be open to the entire public. Just have to go to the base, get checked in, and fly over there? Yeah, and this is very early conversation, but the idea is you'd have a separate gate to enter that'd be open to the general public and military enlisted. Once we get their service study, and I'm very optimistic it'll come back positive because if you put in the terms of the microplex, it's very appealing to a service provider. Once we get that, we'll have more in-depth conversations of what exactly that looks like. But it'll take money, probably an OLDCC grant to build a terminal, build a parking lot, build a taxiway from wherever that terminal may be into the runway. But yeah, and open to the public, absolutely.

Adam, what is the timeframe on that?

Uh, timeframe. So right now, uh, I'm attempting to make contact with similar communities who've done the same thing. Uh, like I mentioned, our first study, uh, didn't come back or our first quotes didn't come back specific enough. So I'm going to communicate with a Farmington Clovis and hopefully Albuquerque to see what their scope of work look like to see if we can use some similar, similar information. As soon as we do that, we'll hopefully publish the RFP. Hopefully in the next 30 to 45 days would be ideal. 60, hopefully latest.

Thank you.

I'm not a patient person when it comes to development.

Thank you for your presentation. Thank you. Question on membership currently and where you expect to be here in the next year or two.

Yeah, so we're sitting around 450 to 465. I gave the board, I work for the Chamber of Commerce board, I gave them a two-year plan to reach 575 members in the next two years. So that's very achievable. There's a lot of businesses in Alamogordo and Otero County. So cut that in half for the next year, hopefully 525. Thank you. Okay.

A lot of great projects. Microplex opportunity is something that a lot of people ask about and don't understand the population thing. I'm glad you spoke on that. 50,000 is that magic number for a lot of businesses. The one that I'm really interested in and was exciting for me was the Leadership Otero. I did that in 2010, 2011, and it was just really different because There was probably half of our classmates that didn't have any clue of what was in Alamogordo and the surrounding area. And that was really neat to see and do these classes and everybody understand what all is available and what all we offer here in Alamogordo. You see a building and you drive by it and you don't even know what it is. It's not really marked. It doesn't really say. For instance, it's a commission for the blind. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of people don't understand what that is. building does and so that's a really cool class and I think it's good for leaders to take that.

Absolutely. We appreciate the support on that. We're actually building an alliance if you will of alumni from from previous classes so they can rejoin and hopefully advise us on what's best for our next steps i wish i could talk more about the specific locations we'll visit but holloman air force base white sands missile range the school for the blind are all on that list we're finalizing some details and once we do get those details finalized we'll be able to publish that thanks for our partnership with the sacramento mountains foundation We would not have been able to do this without them. They've actually hired a consultant that ran Leadership New Mexico. So we have the best minds on making this first class the best possible.

When I took it, we actually took a helicopter ride of the White Sands Missile Range, which is pretty cool because you get to see the ranches, all the whole areas out there. They just basically explained White Sands Missile Range out of a helicopter, and that was pretty cool.

That's awesome. I don't know if we'll be able to pull that one off again, but that is very cool.

So it's something I would highly recommend to any leadership in Alamogordo, really anybody. There's a lot of stuff that Alamogordo offers that people don't understand.

We appreciate that. There's going to be a lot of good stuff behind the scenes. Not only are you developing the leadership skills, but you're getting to get that understanding of the behind the scenes of Alamogordo and Otero County.

I'm a live member of Alamogordo, so I knew most of the stuff. The helicopter ride was different for us. I've been on a helicopter before, but that was actually pretty cool out at White Sands.

Yes, sir. I don't know if we'll be able to make that happen again, but I'll write it down. You don't know unless you ask, right? Is there any other questions I can answer?

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you all.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is our public comments. And we do have... Ms. Owens on as number one, but since we have the baseball team here tonight, the champions, We would like to just switch that out so they can come forth, and we appreciate you coming out tonight. David Burundo is the coach, and so if you would come up and you can introduce him, we're going to give you an extra couple of minutes. We usually allow the three minutes, but since they're champions, we want to acknowledge them. Thank you. And I brought my signed ball, the one I threw out. Yes, to the team.

You brought your ball cap over there for teaching them how to pitch. OK. And one pitch, you taught them how to throw it. OK. Well, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, commissioners, we just wanted to come and share a little bit of exciting news for you guys. From 1988 to 2023, American Legion Baseball has been absent from our area. We started working on it in 23. I started researching what it was going to take. 2024 was the first year we competed in the state tournament. We actually competed. We ended up in state. We took fifth. And I told some of these boys, Cade's one of my My guys from the original, and he said, him and Nico, and I told him, I said, within a few years, we're going to win a state title. And here we are three years later, and we went and got it. These boys went and did it. So we're extremely proud of them. And they qualified to go to Fairfield, California next week. to play in the regional in region eight regional tournament so and hopefully if we win there we'll go to Shelby North Carolina so it's been a long time 1984 was the last time Alamogordo won a state title in the American Legion so we got a lot of pride we got we're proud of our boys coach Mike Bennett and coach Hyming those guys make me look good they do all the work and And then everybody says, man, that guy's smart. No, it's those guys. They're the smart ones. Do you want me to introduce them? Yes, please. First off, we'll start. You can come up here. We got Nico Carrillo. You guys want him to run around and shake hands? We got Brandon Williams. We got Chris Brown. Congratulations. That's tough, man.

Congratulations.

Jackson, what's your last name? Cole?

Congratulations.

We got Jordan Swinford.

Ethan Phillips. Congratulations. Kate Kiss. Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Isaiah Vigil. Congratulations.

Sam Kuzmak. Congratulations. Ernesto Ramos. As you can see, we do have some young guys here playing.

Congratulations.

We've got, what's your name again? Bennett Kiss.

Congratulations.

We've got AJ Paws. Daniel Silva. Aiden McGinnis. And Jaden Ruiz.

Congratulations.

And like I said, our coaches, Jaime Paz and Michael Bennett. Or Michael Kiss and Michael Bennett.

Congratulations.

And we also had, with our deal, we had a most valuable pitcher. We had a most valuable player. We had a most valuable pitcher for the tournament. It was Isaiah Vigil. Most valuable player was Brandon Williams. And Cade back there in the back, he won a $500 scholarship for him. for being an exemplary athlete. Him and Brandon were a boat apart in being the most valuable players. Other than that, we just wanted to share that with you guys and let you guys know that not only these boys, we've got 39 young men. age out from the Little League, they have no place to go. So we started this. So we've got 39 kids out of three teams in Alamogordo. We got a team out of Roswell that we played. We also have two teams out of Redoso and a team out of Tularosa playing right now. So we're getting the ball moving with some young men and making some things happen. What is the age limit? 19. 19? 19, yes. So Cade's going to go. He's going to play at New Mexico Junior College this year, and he'll come back, and hopefully we can talk him into playing again so we can defend our state title.

Well, thank you. And the name of the team?

It's American Legion Post 34th Force. Okay, thank you.

Congratulations.

Thank you, guys. Appreciate y'all.

Good for you.

Where are you going to hang that at?

My house.

Okay.

And thank you all for the cap and the shirts. I appreciate it. Next on the list for public comment, and thank you so much, Ms. Owens, for allowing us to take them first. We'll let them. All right, next on the list is Katie Owens, and she's going to be talking about the water bill.

Yes, good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Katie Owens. I'm apparently going to be the first one to complain about the water bills. I know a lot of this was preset a year and two years ago under the previous manager, but as a resident, I'm asking you in this hard time to please reconsider re-address the issues with the water bills. Number one, paying online, you have to pay a fee. Our bill just went up. So any little fee is going to eat us even more. I live in a one-room apartment. One room. I love it. I wish I would have had it forever. But I shouldn't be paying $52. And now my August bill is going to be $68. That is so much more than I can afford in a one-room apartment. I take three showers a week. I wash my dishes three times a week. I don't water outside whatsoever. I have a few indoor plants, but I don't literally use $52 worth of water, and now I'm not going to be using $68 worth of water. With the electricity gone up, groceries gone up, I am asking you, please reconsider, readdress the water billing issue. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on the list is, is it Nolani? Nolani? Nolani.

Nolani?

Nolani? Nakameni? Okay, and she's going to speak on the MIAC.

Good evening, Mayor McDonald and city commissioners. My name's Nolani Nagamini, and I'm so excited about the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission. As a young person growing up in Alamogordo, it means so much to me that our ideas, opinions, and voices matter. The commission gives students like me the opportunity to learn, serve, and help, and make our community better. Instead of waiting until we're adults, we have the chance to start making a difference now. I can honestly say that I will be one of the very first students. Sorry. to submit my application because I want to be involved from the very beginning. I want to learn how our city works, develop leadership skills, and work alongside other students who care about making Alamogordo the best it could be. I believe this program will inspire young people to stand up, volunteer, and become future leaders. It shows students that We aren't just the future of Alamogordo, we can make a difference today. Thank you Mayor McDonald for believing in the youth of our city and for creating this opportunity. And thank you commissioners for considering this opportunity. I truly hope you approve it tonight. I can't wait to apply and hopefully become one of the first members of the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission. Thank you for your time.

Then next on the list for a public comment is Gina Donahue, and she's going to be talking about the palm trees.

Good evening, Mayor and Pro Tem Mayor.

and the Alamogordo City Commission. My name is Gina Donahoe and I reside in Alamogordo. I'm here to respectfully request that the city council consider directing the city attorney, the city staff to draft and present a palm tree maintenance and neighboring property protection ordinance for the city of Alamogordo. Palm trees certainly add beauty and character to our community, and this proposal is not intended to discourage residents from planting and enjoying them. It's about encouraging responsible maintenance so that one property owner's neglected trees do not create hazardous and financial burdens for the neighboring property owners. On June 28th of this year, my air conditioning unit sat down twice the only one in the neighborhood, due to these palm trees. When palm trees are not properly maintained, they shed large, heavy fronds, seed pods, flowers, bark fibers, and other debris. These materials do not remain on the owner's property. They are often blown by our strong desert winds onto neighboring yards, rooftops, and vehicles, and outdoor equipment. One concern that deserves attention is damage to our residential air conditioning units. Palm tree debris can collect around outdoor condenser units, restricting air flows, reducing efficiency, causing overheating and shutdowns. It also increases our wear on our equipment. In some cases, debris may contribute to costly repairs and even premature replacements of our air conditioning unit systems, which are now costing $20,000. In a community where summer temperatures regularly exceed over 100, a properly functioning air condition is not a luxury. It's an essential for our health and our safety. Neglected palm trees can also create other serious problems. Dead farms may weigh dozens of pounds and can fall without warning. This is creating a risk and damage to our roof, fences, vehicle, and neighboring properties. and also will increase elderly from slipping and falling in their own yards. Many neighboring property owners spend countless hours cleaning debris that do not generate on their own property. They bear the cost of cleaning gutters, maintaining landscaping, repairing damaged property, and protecting equipment that should not be affected by a neighboring tree. You have 20 seconds. Sorry. I'm just going to wrap it up. And I just want to show just a little bit of photos that will show the debris that are around our properties, how the palm trees are looking, as well as around our air conditioning units, affecting our rooftops. Sorry. And that's it.

Here is a proposal I just drafted. We cannot accept it. We can't take it now.

Oh, okay.

Give it to the city clerk. You can hand it to the city clerk.

Oh, gotcha. Okay, thank you all for your time.

Thank you. All right, next on the list for public comment is Kim, the White Owl Murillo, and she is going to be talking about neighborly love.

Hello. My name is Kim Great White Owl Murillo, and I am spotting what I'm wanting to talk about tonight, and that was neighborly love that I saw in action and experienced at the mayor's city-wide cleanup. I met neighbors who had fallen on hard times and couldn't keep their yards up and were so grateful and yet reluctant to accept our help. But in the end, they were so grateful. And that's just overwhelming for me, the gratitude and just to be of service to my community. And so much waste and I just want to say my team was one of the first teams that dumped when we dropped two truckloads and I got these sporty glasses because of it so their score I scored big. And I also wanna talk tonight about the Youth Advisory Council. That's a vision that's been in play and should have happened a long time ago, but shoulds are not. I'm just so proud of what we are going to provide for the youth, meaning and purpose in their life. And they're going to contribute to this city to leave a foundation, for the next generations to come. And it's just rewarding to see you follow through and with all the nuances that you've had to battle with this last six, seven months, and to stand alone as a woman against this force. You're showing women everywhere. of what it is for a woman to rise up, to be a true service to their city, to their citizens, and to the future. And I want to thank you personally for that.

Next on the agenda is going to be the city manager's report.

Thank you.

to celebrate the good things that happened. This last week, we can go Monday, we open City Hall now from 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. We'll be able to bring the board shower, and we'll be in good response to the citizens being able to have a sufficient time to come into the business with us. And a very positive thing, I think, in our relationship with the citizens, with our staff, to be able to have

Thank you. Next on the agenda is going to be remarks and inquiries by the City Commission.

I just have one. To address your issue that you're having, Mrs. Owens, I did speak to Mr. Stockwell about a budget billing plan for the city, for the water bills that way, something similar to the power company that they have, that they'll be on it for fixed income people that are, so we are looking into that, so.

Anybody else? Well, I wanted to say thank you to the people, the commissioners who came out to man the different locations for the roll off and also for the people who participated. We actually did about 34 properties this year and If we include all of the people that were at the dumpsters this year, I think we can round our number up to about 60. And we usually have another group of people who are working with us. I have not received the numbers at this point, so I can't give you the exact number. But usually we add about 15 more people to the list and probably another five to seven properties. This year, I really have to give it to everybody that participated. When you have people that want to be there and they do their job and they're out in the heat. And let me say, I was going to lead off with the temperature. The temperature on July 18th started out at 66 degrees. The high for the day was 84 degrees. And somebody asked if I had ordered the weather, and I said, I wish that I could take responsibility for that. But it was wonderful to be able to come out that morning and not have the dread of the heat taking people down. And I am grateful to our sponsors, Sacramento Mountain Foundation, Amy Tilson at State Farm Insurance. We also had, usually we are down on equipment, but this year from the labor hub, we were able to get 12 weed eaters, plus we actually rented a couple of acres. lawn mowers, and a couple more weed eaters for that day. So it was just an amazing day to have the equipment and the people come together, because every year we're scrambling to get equipment. So I'm just grateful for all of the people who participated this year and made it possible for us to complete 34 yards. So thank you again.

Let's have one more thing. Thank you. I also attended the Porky's Heating and Cooling annual golf tournament Saturday, benefiting Base Otero. They were able to raise north of $25,000 for them for that tournament. And I also attended the Bart Crowe concert that Thrive put on, which they had a very good turnout.

Yes, and we sponsored four of those tickets. So whoever, it was Becca. Becca got the ticket. So we are grateful for that. So we participated in the overall attendance that night and the money raised. So thank you for mentioning that.

One more thing, Mayor. Mr. Stockwell, may I ask you where we are with the natatorium project, just for an update? Okay.

. . .

All right, if there's nothing else, we're going to move on to the consent agenda. Are there any items that we need to take off, or are we good with that?

And we can get a motion. I move that we approve the consent agenda as stated.

Okay, and any... Second. Okay, so it's been moved by Commissioner Hernandez and seconded by Commissioner Burnett. We're going to vote. And it passes 7-0. Next on the agenda, we're going to go to unfinished business. Number nine is consider and act upon Ordinance 1724 for adoption and final publication and ordinance repealing Chapter 22 subdivision requirements of the Code of Ordinance of the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico, and adopting updated subdivision regulations in Chapter 20. Land Development Code, and this is going to be presented by Shelly Barron tonight.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioners, Mr. Stockwell. The last time we had this before the commission, there was a couple of questions raised by Commissioner Tapley and Commissioner Petillo. I did meet with you on a couple of occasions, and the questions that you had were regarding the extraterritorial jurisdiction who covers and comes up with the estimated cost of construction from the engineer. And what we agreed to at that meeting was that we will strike that completely from this ordinance, anything to do with the extraterritorial jurisdiction, and we will incorporate that in the future in a separate portion of the land development code. So I hope that answers your question.

Thank you, ma'am.

All right. Commissioner Tapley, you had a question about the cost to a developer if we assess a fee of 3% to cover the cost of future maintenance of drainage retention or detention ponds. And the 3% is already in the code, the existing code. We are asking that that just be carried over. We're not necessarily asking for the 3%. We're just asking for an allowance in the new subdivision ordinance that we can have that levied against a developer in the future if we so choose. But it would be... come before the commission as another item in terms of a fee schedule. You would ask for some specific estimates of what it would cost in a particular subdivision. The fairgrounds commercial subdivision that's being done at fairgrounds and White Sands Boulevard, A 3% cost on that would be about $20,000 levied against the developer. The annual cost to maintain a detention facility is about $20,000. So that $20,000 would only take us through one year of maintenance. I don't think it's an onerous amount on the developers to levy that. Another example would be Somerset Village, the French Brothers off of Hamilton Road there. It's 47 homes, and a 3% on that would be about $47,000. And again, that would maybe take us through maybe a year and a half, two years of maintenance on a detention facility. So I hope that answers your question.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions on the ordinance?

If not?

I would make a motion to approve. Second.

All right, so it's been motioned by Commissioner Patello and second by Commissioner Robinson. And we're going to go for the vote. And it passes 7-0. Next on the agenda is number 10, consider and act upon the Resolution 2026. Is this supposed to be 2026, 2026, or creating a Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission? And Shelly DeHoneck-Baron from the Community Development Department, she's going to present that tonight, along with Cherie Edmond.

Good evening again, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioners, Mr. Stockwell. Funny story, Cherie and I both ran for city commission back in the day, and we didn't win, but one of the questions that was asked of us from the commission was, are we going to continue being involved in the community if we are unsuccessful? While we have forged a tight relationship, and one of the issues that was raised by Cherie, she was very passionate about doing something for the youth if she were to be elected, pardon me, selected for District 5. So we are here tonight to present a proposal for a Youth Advisory Commission, which would give the youth an opportunity to have a voice in how Alamogordo is run. So this is Cherie.

She has some opening remarks. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, fellow commissioners. I'm here to present with Shelly today for the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission. And actually, Lilani took my introduction, but I'm just going to reiterate it just a little bit here. Shelly and I are working in the process of forming a Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission, or MIAC, to actively involve high school students in community decision-making, leadership development, and future planning for the city of Alamogordo. This commission will provide youth with meaningful opportunities to learn how government works, while contributing their ideas, energy, and perspective to issues that affect the community. Shelly is going to present you with more details about the program, and we ask that you would consider approving this project to help inspire and prepare our youth for the future. Shelly. I think I have slides.

Can you clarify the dates on here? It says 2026, 26. Should that be 27?

Yes, that's the resolution.

That's the resolution number.

Oh, I thought it was the date. I'm sorry.

So as Cherise said, we are proposing to establish a Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission. In many ways, it would mirror the existing commission in terms of establishing a leadership role for the youth. However, we look to this group to be a problem-solving group of youth that will give ideas to help make Alamogordo better moving into the future. So why do we propose to have a Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission or a MIAC? As Cherise said, it's going to be a vehicle to develop the leaders of tomorrow. We're going to be offering information and programming workshops on what local governance looks like. Students learn about how the federal government works in high school. They learn possibly a little bit about how the state government runs. But very rarely are they exposed to how a local government operates. And this is the forum where the youth can probably have the most impact in their world. So we're looking for them to provide their voice. We're looking for a broad representation across the youth. We want the high achievers. We want the kids who sit by themselves in the cafeteria at lunch. We want them all to apply. And there's going to be 16 youth commissioners. There's going to be three from each of grades. 9 through 12. There will be one selected from each of the middle schools from the 8th grade, and we are hoping to attract a NMSU-A freshman as well. So, again, just asking the question, why are we doing this? There was a Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission or a council many years ago, and Commissioner Petillo, I'm going to call you out because you are the poster child for why this is an excellent program because you served on that commission. So we want to kind of bring that back. We've been working with some of the people who were on the commission back then and working with leaders in the community to find people who are going to help us get this off the ground. A key part of the program is we are going to get mentors from the community who will work with the youth and guide them through the process of doing civic projects, learning how to... do things like pass a bill or an ordinance at the city level. So that's part of learning how the city government works. They're going to earn hours of volunteer work that they can put on their college applications. We're going to bring in experts from The Toastmasters from the NMSU, teaching them how to be an effective public speaker, how to solve problems at a community level. Alamogordo will gain from this because they will get a youth perspective on what could we be doing in our community to make it better. Oftentimes as adults, we are... constricted by the framework of acting like adults. And our ideas can be somewhat constrained, but the youth aren't like that. They have no holds barred, and they can come up with amazing things and ideas that, as adults, they just don't occur to us sometimes. So we hope to have them provide a voice, working through the mayor's office, providing a pipeline of future civic leaders, as Commissioner Petillo is, and have them as spokespeople for the youth of Alamogordo, showing our city how the youth can positively contribute to the community. So as I said, Sharon would be at the head of the commission. There'd be the liaisons and facilitators, community members. We've already had a couple of people sign up to work as community mentors. One of them is Eric Lucero from Christ Community Church. And we have some people from the Rotary Club who also want to step up and be community mentors for the youth. Again, it's grades 8 through 12. We want to get an NMSU freshman. We want a diverse representation across the youth of Alamogordo. And just like a real commissioner, they will serve without pay. So we're looking at having monthly meetings. It's going to be about a 70-minute meeting after school, and we will have workshops. The commission itself will run itself. We will teach them how to run an effective meeting, how to establish agendas, and they will set their own ideas about what they want to do in terms of community projects. The structured support will be, I am going to be involved with it. The mayor obviously will be involved. Cherie is stepping up and she's going to be very involved with it. And we will be there to be facilitators to help them get resources that they need for their meetings and just to be an adult in the room, so to speak. We've already received some funding from the Sacramento Mountains Foundation to kick off The program, we're looking at having the youth involved in service projects, possibly having youth forums where they go out and they survey their peers. So they have forums on perhaps things that could be improved in Alamogordo from a youth perspective. And some of the people we've talked to already are NMSUA. They are committed to providing workshops and support. Different organizations and businesses have stepped up. Some nonprofits are interested. And we're also going to be working with Holloman Air Force Base to get some of the leadership from there to inspire the youth. So our milestones are today we are presenting it to the city commission and we have a resolution to present to you hoping that you will approve this establishment of this commission. We are going to be actively recruiting the youth starting on Friday at the back to school block party. We are going to be setting up a table there and providing information and handing out applications. We are working with the school system, and April Shea at the high school, she's going to be finding the best times for us to go into the schools and to present the information and hopefully recruit more youth. At the meeting on September the 8th of the city commission, We would like to have the youth brought here and sworn in in front of the commission just to give a measure of gravitas to the importance of what they're going to be doing in setting the future direction for Alamogordo. In addition to that, on the 14th, of September. That will probably be the date we're looking at to have our inaugural meeting. We'll have an orientation and the following meeting, election of officers, October 13th and then again every Monday, second Monday of the month we will be meeting with them to the end of the year. The first part of the program we envision will be pretty much just orienting them on what civic government looks like and doing some workshops on developing leadership skills. Again, I ask that you approve the resolution 2626 to establish the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission. And in addition to that, we would hope that you would be able to reach out into the community with your connections and provide support in terms of encouraging other businesses to step up, other adults in the community who may want to become a mentor. And... We would also like to have the youth present occasional reports to the commission, and hopefully you would welcome them as a new board advising how our city is run. So that's all I have. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them or share.

Move to approve.

Do I have a second? I will second. All right, so it's been moved by Commissioner Robinson, second by Commissioner Patello, and now we go for the vote. And it passes 7-0. Thank you so much, Shelly and Cherie. Thank you. And now do I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second?

Second.

So it's been moved by Commissioner Hernandez, second by Commissioner Tapley. And the vote, I know what it's going to be.

Commissioner Robinson?

I vote in the affirmative. Let's adjourn. I just turned my computer off. I'm sorry.

And the vote passes. We are adjourned. Thank you.