Council - Regular Meeting

Today is Monday, May 4th, 2026. It's approximately 1 p.m. I'm Mayor Eric Enriquez. Before we start, I want to mention ASL interpreter available up front. If you all join me, you can stand. We'll start with a moment of silence for the. Both men and women of the United Armed Forces and our police and fire Department that protect our city. And also, I just want to share that we had a one of our family member of the city employee with the quality of life. John lost his life in a in a tragic motorcycle crash this weekend. So we'd like to offer a moment of silence for him as well. Councilor McClure will lead us in the pledge.

Pledge of. 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. First item the presentation of certifications and proclamations by councilor McClure.

Good afternoon everyone. Strap in. There's seven of them, but each of them will get their own due here. First one will be proclamation for Affordable Housing Month, presented to Tierra del Sol and Mesilla Valley. Habitat for humanity. Those who are affiliated with that should come on down. Whereas safe, stable and affordable housing is a fundamental to the health, well-being and economic stability of individuals, families and communities. And whereas access to affordable housing strengthens neighborhoods, supports workforce stability, and improves the quality of life for residents. And Whereas communities across the nation continue to face housing affordability challenges that require collaboration and sustained investment from local, state, federal, nonprofit and private sector partners. And Whereas, the City of Las Cruces works to expand housing opportunities through programs that support homeownership, housing rehabilitation, neighborhood revitalization, and the development, affordable housing. And whereas nonprofit organizations play a vital role in advancing affordable housing opportunities, including Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation, founded in 1973 and celebrating 53 years of service to the Las Cruces community. And Whereas, Mesilla Valley Habitat for humanity, established in 1987, has helped families achieve

home ownership through the construction of affordable homes and has built 139 homes in partnership with the City of Las Cruces local families and volunteers. Now, therefore, we, the mayor and the City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Affordable Housing Month. And this is assisted by the mayor and Christine Rivera, the city clerk. So thank you very much.

This is wonderful. Yes, I am Rose Garcia with Tierra del Sol housing, and I'm really proud to be here and to talk about affordable housing and homeownership and Las Cruces. And we're very fortunate with the support as well as the the passion from the City Council about promoting housing for many of the residents in the community. Thank you, Kasey and City Council. Thank you very much for the continued support and for encouraging the residents of Las Cruces. And we want to continue to do more development and collaboration with other organizations as well as residents. Thank you.

What she said. Andrew McPhee. I'm board president of habitat for humanity, and ever since I've been involved, the city has been absolutely wonderful in supporting us. I appeared before the City Council about 12 years ago when we wanted to put our V lots across from our office, because we get habitat caravanners that come all over from all over the country to build houses here in Las Cruces, and the city approved it. And now we have a 12 slot RV thing across our across from our office. And the city has been very generous over the years with donating lots or giving discounted lots, one being Aurora star, where that is. I don't know if anybody knows this. That's an entire habitat street with 60 houses on it. So we just appreciate what the city has done over the years, and we look forward to further collaboration with you. Thank you.

Next up, we have proclamation for the Paso del Norte Air Basin. In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the Joint Advisory Committee. So if you're here for that, come on down. Hello. Can we get the mayor to get a picture of it? Absolutely. Okay.

Whereas historically, portions of southern Dona Ana County have exceeded the NAAQS for the ozone and Pm10, while El Paso has exceeded U.S. National Ambient Air Quality standards for ozone, particulate, particulate, particulate matter and carbon monoxide. Ciudad Juarez does not meet the air quality Mexican official norms for particulate matter and ozone pollutants. Long term exposure to these air pollutants poses a threat to healthy individuals. And whereas, on May 7th, 1996, the United States and Mexican governments took a major step toward fostering cooperation for implementing effective air pollution measures and signed an agreement that created the Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, El Paso, Texas. Dona Ana County, New Mexico Air Basin. Whereas, by signing the May 7th, 1996 agreement, the United States and Mexican governments formally recognized the International Air Basin as one unified Air Basin encompassing the communities within the Paso del Norte, emphasizing cost effective emission reductions, engaging local private citizens, and addressing priorities that more accurately reflect community needs. And whereas we, the people of these communities, acknowledge the jacks activities and their commitment for improving air quality and wish to recognize the 30th anniversary of the J. A s c on May 7th, 2026, honoring the organizers of programs and projects conducted in the spirit of One Air Basin approach. And whereas, after 30 years of signing the Pioneer Agreement empowering the communities of the Paso del Norte region to develop cooperative transboundary strategies for the improvement of air quality and committing to implement these strategies through each county country's environmental law. Now, therefore, we, the mayor, City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico do hereby proclaim May 7th, 2026 as El Paso del Norte

Air Base in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the Joint Advisory Committee. All citizens of our communities may share in the celebration of our air, the lifeblood of our region.

Don't want to take up a lot of the time, but we respectfully appreciate the proclamation. We don't want to repeat everything that's in here, but this is a significant milestone for our region, the 30th anniversary of the Joint Advisory Committee on the Improvement of Air Quality in Sweet Juarez, Chihuahua, El Paso, Texas. Dona Ana County, New Mexico, known as the Jack, the JAC. As noted in the proclamation on May 7th, 1996, the governments of the United States and Mexico signed a historic agreement formally establishing the Jack with a very clear mission. Foster international cooperation on effective air quality management within the shared Paso del Norte Air Basin. For three decades, the Jack has played a critical role in addressing air pollution across the region, with Las Cruces serving as an important contributor through its location within Dona Ana County, local governments, public health agencies, community organizations and academic partners based here in Las Cruces have supported the Jack's work by participating in air quality planning, public education, emissions reduction initiatives and regional coordination efforts. Although air pollution knows no boundaries, it's like a mosquito. It just kind of goes where it wants. Las Cruces has consistently been a part of the regional solution. We have recognized that the conditions in Juarez and El Paso directly influence air quality throughout Dona Ana County. The Jack's worth work has helped ensure that the residents of Las Cruces benefit from cleaner

air, improved monitoring and coordinated responses to air quality challenges that affect children, older adults and vulnerable populations. By recognizing the Jack's 30th anniversary on May 7th 26, just a few days. We honor the founding organization's past and present members and the collaborative programs that have made this a binational partnership as a model for the entire region. Thank you again.

The next proclamation is for National Bike Month. So if you're here associated with that, come on down. All the faces on the list. Excellent. Whereas the bicycle is an environmentally and economically sound form of transportation and recreation that also promotes physical and mental health. And whereas the League of American Bicyclists, the Missy Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, the city of Las Cruces. The Las Cruces Public Schools, Velo Cruces, along with local cycling clubs and independent bicyclists, are promoting greater public awareness of bicycle operation and safety education. And whereas the city of Las Cruces in 2021 earned a renewal bronze level designation as a bicycle friendly community from the League of American Bicyclists and is preparing the next renewal application. And whereas the City of Las Cruces has been awarded a Safe Streets for All grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and is using it to update the active Transportation plan and implement three demonstration projects. And whereas, the City of Las Cruces continues to improve bicycle routes and trails for transportation and recreation and the city with Mesilla Valley, MPO, Dona Ana County and Las Cruces Public Schools supports the Safe Routes to Schools program and. Whereas bicyclists of all ages throughout Las Cruces, the Mesilla Valley and the nation will be promoting bicycling as an environmentally friendly alternative to the automobile and a wholesome activity that improves health. During the month of May 2026, through group rides, events and commuting to school and work. Now, therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as National Bike Month, the week of May through May, May 5th through May 8th as the Las Cruces Bike to School Week the

week of May 11th through May 17th. The Las Cruces Bike to Work Week with May 15th as Las Cruces Bike to Work day throughout our proud city and urge all who support bicycling to participate in the events planned. Congratulations.

Thank you very much for this proclamation. May is Bike Month and we've had some nice weather, so we actually started out with some activities in April. The tour de optimism was April 19th and the Bike Fiesta was April 25th. This weekend we had May 3rd. Sunday was ride a bike day with bike blessing at the UU church and as mentioned, the bike to school days and on May 11th will be our next visibility ride with Vela Cruces and the mayor Pro tem told me he would come to this one, so I'm going to hold him to that. And then the bike to work week and bike to Work day on Friday, May 15th with a Vela Cruces meet and greet at 5:00 on the way home from work, you can ride to Little Toad Creek and enjoy some refreshments with us. May 20th will be the ride of silence, where we remember those who have been seriously injured or killed while riding their bicycles and then spilling over to June a little bit. We have the Everybody Rides with Grace Adaptive Cycle Parade and Mesilla, and we have a Father's Day ride on June 21st that we leave from Pioneer Women's Park and go up to the airport and have breakfast up there. So thank you for this. And maybe Ashley can talk more. Ashley doesn't want to talk more about the bike to school. So the bike to school is this week. So every morning watch out for bicyclists and come out and join if you can. Thank you.

Next is a proclamation for Nurses Week. And I see some people with scrubs and probably comfortable shoes out there. Y'all should come down. Come on down. I see you guys on both sides and big badges. That's also appropriate a lot of times. Don't worry, we will squeeze you all in. It's. We'll make it work. Perfect. Whereas nurses in the United States constitute our nation's largest health care profession. And whereas the depth and breadth of the nursing profession continues to meet the different and emerging health care needs of our population in a wide range of settings. And whereas, professional nursing is an indispensable component of the safety and quality of care of hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. And whereas, in addition to addressing vital health care needs, nurses have a critical understanding of the challenges patients face and are concerned with their patients overall well-being and encourage healthy living and preventative practices. And whereas, the demand for nursing services will be greater than ever because of the aging population, emerging health challenges and continuing expansion of life sustaining technologies, and the growth of home health care services. And whereas, more qualified nurses are needed in the future to meet the increasingly complex needs of health care consumers in our community. And whereas the cost effective, safe and high quality health care services provided by nurses will be an increasingly important component of the health care delivery system in the future.

And whereas, along with American Nurses Association, the New Mexico Nurses Association has declared May 6th through 12th as Nurses Week, with the theme The Power of Nurses with appreciation for nurses, unparalleled impact and their contributions to health care, and an open invitation to celebrate the power of nurses to enrich our lives and the world we live in now. Therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, ask that all residents of our community join us in honoring the nurses who care for all of us, and that the residents of the city of Las Cruces celebrate nurses accomplishments and efforts to improve our health care system and show our appreciation for the nation's nurses, not just during the week, but at every opportunity throughout the year. Congratulations.

Hello, my name is Denton Park. I'm the CEO at Three Crosses Hospital, and I was the former CEO at Mountain View Regional Medical Center. So many of these wonderful nurses up here I've had the opportunity to work closely with. We're so grateful for nurses. I think if you look in your life, you've always had somebody who's got a huge heart. Incredible compassion is always there and available for you and, and there to, to help you when you're at your lowest and, and when you need somebody the most. And nurses are absolutely amazing. So we're so grateful for them, grateful to be able to honor them this week. I'll be honest with you, if it wasn't for nursing, the health care system would crumble completely. So when you think about the health care system and all the wonderful care that you receive from your physician, from whoever may be your care provider, when you go to the ER, when you and you see a first responders who, who are there on scene immediately, if it wasn't for the nurses that we have, we would cease to exist as a health care system. So we're so grateful for them, grateful for the city of Las Cruces, for the wonderful people and the incredible leadership that recognizes just this, this wonderful group of individuals. So we're we're so grateful for each and every one of them, both here today and with us throughout every single shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So grateful for all the nurses. Thank you so much.

I wasn't expecting to say anything. Kathy. I'm the chief nursing officer from Memorial Medical Center. I just want to thank all of you for the proclamation, but as well as for allowing us to take care of you at the very beginning of your life, as well as the end of your life. It's a privilege and an honor to be able to do that and serve you and the community of Las Cruces. Thank you.

I'm April Heidenreich from Three Crosses. I'm the CNO there, and I'm so privileged to be able to be part of a new hospital to help the people of Las Cruces. I've been in the system for over 30 years in the city, and to watch it grow, to work with many of the people that are here, standing in front of you has been such a privilege, and to serve the community is such a privilege every single day. That's what we believe in. That's why we're here. That's why we do what we do. And so grateful to the city that promotes health care and helps us to keep our population as healthy as possible. So thank you.

I know that person. All right. Anyone else? If not, thank you very much. Let's take a picture. Do you want to do you want to do it here or can we squeeze? Okay. Tied it up right now. Thank you very much. Hey, how are you?

Next proclamation is for Economic Development Week.

All right. Oh, we're.

Having more coming. That's all good. Going once, going twice. Okay. Whereas more than 100,000 economic development or related professionals worldwide are committed to creating, retaining, and expanding top tier opportunities that facilitate long term, equitable community growth. And whereas economic development profession cultivates thriving neighborhoods, champions sustainability and resiliency, boosts economic prosperity, enhances the quality of life, and builds robust tax bases. And whereas economic development professionals operate through diverse economic environments, including rural, suburban and urban settings, local, state, provincial and national governments, public private partnerships, chambers of commerce, institutions of higher education among many similar organizations and associations. And Whereas, economic development professionals serve as stewards, bridging connections between community stakeholders such as residents, business leaders, elected officials, industry executives and educational administrations to collaborate in promoting job creation, community investment and infrastructure advancements and optimistic future. And Whereas, economic developers contribute to the betterment and progress of Las Cruces in Dona Ana County within the state of New Mexico. Now, therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim May 4th through eighth, 2026 as Economic Development Week and remind individuals of the importance of this community celebration, which supports expanding opportunities, bettering lives, and moving society forward. Congratulations to all.

Good afternoon, Mayor Council, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for this proclamation in recognizing Economic Development Week this week. We as a department, we work together every day. We work with our partners who help us get pull our initiatives through. We support our small businesses, and we work stronger to provide opportunities for our workforce. And that is what's making Las Cruces a better place today. It is with our partners that stand with us today, that make us a stronger community and help us through all of our initiatives. Would any of our partners like to speak today?

My name is Lorenzo Alva, the immediate past chair of Navidad and also a current executive board member at Movida. And it is an absolute pleasure to be up here representing this organization that not only partners with the city of Las Cruces, Dona Ana County, but also the chambers to bring a better life to New Mexicans here in southern New Mexico. So thank you so much, and God bless all of you.

Thank you, thank you. And I just want to take this time to recognize and acknowledge our Senator. Thank you. Thank you for. Thank you for. The next proclamation is for Historic Preservation Month. All those. In associated. Doctor Wallace. Okay.

Whereas historic preservation is an effective tool for revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering local pride, and maintaining community character while enhancing economic stability. And whereas, the city of Las Cruces is home to a rich cultural heritage, including buildings such as the Railroad Museum and the Women's Improvement Association building and neighborhoods such as Mesilla Park Historic District. And Whereas, the City of Las Cruces retains certified local government status through the United States Department of the interior, affirming its commitment to preservation while enjoying the benefits of CLG status. And. Whereas, preservation efforts in Las Cruces contribute to the city's economic development by reinvesting in neighborhoods, supporting local businesses, and encouraging adaptive reuse of historic buildings. And Whereas, the city of Las Cruces values the role of its residents, organizations and institutions in advocating for and preserving historic resources that embody our community's unique identity. And Whereas Historic Preservation Month is celebrated nationwide, each May to recognize the importance of protecting and promoting historic places that tell the story of our shared past and help shape our future now. Therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Historic Preservation Month and extend its gratitude to the members of the Historic Preservation Committee and the staff of the Community Development Department for their commitment to historic preservation and call upon all citizens to celebrate, promote and support the preservation of our community's irreplaceable historic assets. Congratulations!

Hello, I'm Caitlin Beasley, I'm the historic preservation specialist with the City and Community Development. I'd like to thank you guys for the appreciation and the recognition. And also I want to recognize I've had two great interns over the past year. This marks actually my one year anniversary with the city. So it's it's a yeah, fun time to be here right now. Thank you. I'd also like to recognize our current intern, Kenneth Pataki. And we have a former intern, Jordan Gladstone, who couldn't be here today. So thank you both for Historic Preservation Month. We have a few activities that are happening around the community. To find out more, please pay attention to the city's website and social media accounts. I will also be at the Farm and Farmers and Crafts market on Saturday. I have a booth outside the Branigan Cultural Center, so for anyone who wants more information, please come find me at the farmer's Market. And I think I'll turn it over to our chair, the chair of our historic Preservation Committee, Jerry Wallace, who is. This isn't public quite just yet. I mean, it is now, but is going to get an award from the state. So please give him a round of applause for that.

Thank you. And I'd like to say that, you know, thank you for acknowledging Historic Preservation and Historic Preservation Month. A couple of things. I just want to update the community about when we're thinking about preservation is that in our long history of both being in New Mexico and part of the borderlands, we often think about our identity in a very complex way. We think about it mostly through race and ethnicity. But one thing that I would sort of challenge everybody to think about is the historical identity of our buildings and what they say about our community. And in Las Cruces, we have a really interesting brand of architecture and building styles and types that are not what you see in the rest of the state. And so every time that we preserve these particular buildings or think about what they mean to the community, we're also preserving our identity as being very unique in this contribution of New Mexico and what it means to be New Mexican. And so what we're going to we're still, I would say, as a historic preservation committee, we're still thinking about what our role is in the community. But one thing that we're hopeful that we're going to do this year is come up with a historic preservation plan that will give the entire community a common language so that when we're thinking about preservation and we're thinking about buildings and what they mean to our identity and our community, we can have a common language to discuss what that means. And so part of that piece is thinking about guidelines to historic preservation. And also a piece of that is thinking about new historic districts and new historic neighborhoods in our community, which we have lots and lots and lots that contribute to that identity. So we're going to be active. We're going to be out in the community talking with lots and lots of residents. And so we would love to hear your

thoughts if you have any, about historic preservation. Thank you.

Next is a proclamation for Professional Municipal Clerks Week. That'd be you. Yeah. Come on down. Yeah. Come on, come on. Come. You do whatever you want. Read it first. Read it first. Okay. You gotta jump out. Okay. Okay. Wonderful.

Whereas the office of the Professional Municipal Clerk, a time honored and vital part of local government exists throughout the world. And whereas the office of the professional Municipal clerk is the oldest among public servants, and whereas the office of the Professional Municipal Clerk provides the professional link between the citizens, the local governing bodies and agencies of government at other levels. And whereas, professional municipal clerks have pledged to be ever mindful of their neutrality and impartiality, rendering equal service to all. And Whereas the professional municipal clerk serves as the information center on the functions of local government and community, and Whereas, professional municipal clerks continually strive to improve the administration of the affairs of the office of the Professional Municipal Clerk through the participation in education programs, seminars, workshops and the annual meetings of their state, provincial, county and international professional organizations. And whereas it is most appropriate that we recognize the accomplishments of the office of the Professional Municipal Clerk. Now, therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd through ninth, 2026 as Professional Municipal Clerks Week and further extend appreciation to our professional Municipal Clerk and to all professional municipal clerks for the vital services they perform and their exemplary dedication to the communities they represent. Congratulations!

I attested my own proclamation, so I just want to let everybody know. I asked my team to be here today. They're actually in the back because I told them they're not forced to come up here, but I asked them to be here today because they deserve just as much recognition and sometimes more than I do. These are the faces that you never see, but work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that we stay compliant. They do not get all the credit they deserve, and as a city clerk, I cannot be prouder to have them on my team. They are literally the backbone of the city clerk's office. And so I just want to thank my team for everything that they do. Thank you guys.

Next on the agenda is the financial highlights. We'll start with economic development. Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. My name is Elizabeth Teeters, and I'm going to be giving you an update on economic development, what we have going on. But first, as part of Economic Development Week Communications, put together a video that highlights my amazing team and the work we're doing. So I wanted to show it.

Economic development is about helping our city grow in ways that are strategic, sustainable and community focused. Our work supports businesses, creates opportunity, and strengthens the places that make Las Cruces unique. That impact happens through people and through the roles each of us play every day. It starts off with projects and recruitment, supporting existing and expanding businesses and helping them find a place to grow, especially within our industrial park. So make sure those efforts are successful. We rely on data. And targeted.

Programs that respond to real business needs, including tools like storefront repair and safety improvement programs. Those investments are supported by long term planning. We're able to revitalize neighborhoods and corridors by reinvesting in targeted areas. In downtown. The planning becomes action by supporting local businesses and activities in the area through events and initiatives that bring people and energy together. So come on down. A key part of that activation. Is the Rio Grande Theater, bringing.

Visitors downtown through performances and events that support the local businesses, tourism and the overall experience. Behind all. Of this is. Strong collaboration, connecting businesses with workforce resources, and building partnerships that support long term retention and expansion. Supporting growth also means managing the city's real property, coordinating acquisitions, sales and leases, and maintaining the inventory that makes development possible.

This is just a snapshot of an economic development does. Together, we'll continue supporting businesses, strengthening neighborhoods, and continue making places where Las Cruces will continue to thrive.

Okay, so now it's getting started with the update. We already talked it's National Economic Development Week, but I did bring want to bring to your attention that last week was National Apprenticeship Week, and this week is also National Small Business Week. And since Blair was able to come up and talk to you all last week and discuss everything going on with the memories and all the work that's being put in, I wanted to spend the spotlight today focusing on the industrial park, so our Las Cruces innovation and industrial park has a lot of activity going on. And I'm just going to go project by project. First off, we have the independent electrical contractors ISC. They are apprenticeship program within the city. I remember first meeting with them about two years ago up in the city manager's office with gentry. They had property. They just didn't have the funding needed to get this project going. We have spent the last few years building a relationship with them. They are one of our Arpa recipients for workforce development, and then we were able to connect, connect them to Nmfa to finish that financing. And so they have already broke ground out there. And this is going to be a huge asset to the industrial park having apprenticeships out there. The other project we have dirt moving. It's a property by Joel Calderon. He's going to be building 10,000ft on just the first phase of three buildings. I'm putting about $1 million of investment in for CNC part manufacturing and bringing about eight jobs. This was a city property that was sold to him like 4 or 5 years ago. So it's taken a while, but we're finally happy to see progress. You're all familiar with endurance. We've had a lot. Again, I want to mention that this was a nationwide competitive process. We were able to put in IRBs on the table to put their New Mexico border, Plex closing fund and the states bringing Lita to the table, which I hope to be bringing to council in the next month or two to get finalized. They now spend about a week here every month trying to get their building going,

and we're hoping they're still pushing for an end of the year operation. So a new business, Southern Roots, is a local business. It's a pecan company. They are expanding their operations. They built they just purchased a facility out there. And so I just want to take a moment to welcome them to the industrial park. It's an exciting local business expansion X, y, z. That's but I just wanted to give a minute, like a little bit of background on this project, as a few years ago, we learned that companies that wanted to expand or locate in our area, they were looking for existing buildings, which we didn't have a lot of or any really, because time to market is key. And so with the our partnership with Movida, we spent a few years coming up with strategy for either pre spec or spec development, trying to get a developer here. We are very, very fortunate to find the developers that are going to be buying this property today. And while we first started the project for pre spec, we are so excited that they're actually moving forward with spec. And this is because we've had every building that comes on the market in the industrial park is sold in a very short period of time, which is showing proof of concept and showing that if buildings go up, they will be sold. We have two projects in the work still going by project project names. It's Project Payne and Project tracking. We have put. These are very competitive processes and we have put incentives on the table. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we can hopefully get both of them, but we will see. It's been really exciting up to this point. The last few projects are partnerships within the city that I want to talk about. So as you know, we received the strategic site designation and with that comes pre-development funds that are available. That application process is open

right now. So we are partnering with PD and their Emergency Vehicle Operations Center to hopefully get some of those funds for road build out and to help with some of the infrastructure at with Chief Story site. And we're hoping also to leverage the $850,000 in congressional dollars to do so. Hopefully, if we get the funding, it will be for road build out. That will not only help for the PD center, but also help get access to properties. We currently don't have access to. And then finally, as you all know also that the airport has hosted the United States Marine Corps a month or so ago. They were able to provide immediate airspace, ground facilities, and support for testing that would otherwise require months of planning and preparation. We've been talking to contractors from Wismar and various other entities that need testing. That can't take months and months for the weight that Wismar. So we are hoping to build on this and with our relationship with PSL, the physical science labs, to get other testing out at the industrial park and at the airport. So that was a quick update. I just want to I wanted to put this on here. And so things always may seem calm, but I want you to know that my department and my amazing team are doing everything they can to bring economic development to the forefront of this city. Economic development takes years sometimes to to come to fruition. As we're seeing, we've been working with Z, X, Y, Z for at least a year and a half, maybe two years. And we're finally here today so that they can build spec. That's just one example. And then, as Blair was saying with MRAs last week, we've seen how much work that's been put in and there's still work to do. So I just want to thank you for

your support over the years and your continued support as we see progress. All right. Thank you, Elizabeth. Next, we have Parks and Rec. Good afternoon.

Mayor, members of City Council. We're excited to be here and. Present. Some highlights. We want to feature just one of our summer programing things right now. And today, the reason we're featuring it is because the registration opens today. It runs for seven weeks. It'll be located at Juanita Elementary, Monte Vista Elementary and Lynn Middle School. There's things that will be like the great outdoors, all about animals, the world of sports, 250 years of red, white and blue, superheroes and animation and other. We also want to announce the music in the Park series. The first part of it will kick off with the Mother's Day concert on May 10th. Carlos. Sesto and Exito will be the group on that. And then we have the Mayor's Jazz on the May 24th. The Kaiser Band. So just a couple of the ones of that I'm going to mention at this time, we will be putting out news releases with information about the groups for the summer music program. Those are the two coming up here in May. You'll see more information on that. Please enjoy a summer full of light music and community fun and great vibes. We invite everyone to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and family and friends. There's features that are going to be,

you know, featuring artists who are local and regional acts. We also have our outdoor summer movie series. We just have four movies this year, Zootopia, two, Black Panther, Goat and in Canada. This is the part I'm most excited about. Though I do have to say, all of these programs are going to be exciting. As you know, this year marks a momentum milestone in our country's history. 250th anniversary of the founding of our country, and we're going to have some exciting things going on. But as usual, on July 3rd, the night before, we have the life parade and we have the five day and one mile fun run, we encourage all of you to come out and do it and invite the community as a whole. One of the really neat things I have witnessed the last few years is I've seen kids as young as five running in the one mile, and so I think I'm going to be committed to running this year if you want to join me. I saw some nods. I'm very excited for you. But no, we're not. The parade. The parade is, I think, one of the greatest things this community has. It's has some of the best, most beautiful floats. A lot of them. It's just really high quality. And so we invite you and the entire community to come out on July 3rd. And now

for July 4th, we're ecstatic to announce our feature band, the 49 Winchesters, Rolling Stones magazine, among others, have named them the next Big Thing in country music. They are nominated for the ACM 2026 nomination for the Group of the year. They've been touring with Luke Combs and Chris Staley, and they have 80 million streams on their song Russell County Line. And so we're getting a really high end band was just about to just take off hot. They're projected to really become the next big thing and we're excited. Its mix of Appalachian soul, southern rock and country music. On the 4th of July, the gates will open at 4 p.m. We want to remind people to bring Claire back so that they can bring their stuff in securely, starting at 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. we'll have a kids zone with a bunch of activities. Triple J will be the opening act starting at 645, and then the Winchester 49 Winchesters will start at 8 p.m. and I believe the mayor will be coming to do a welcome again this year. Thank you mayor. Fireworks are anticipated, not the 9 p.m. I stand for any questions you might have.

Good things coming up, a lot of events. Thank you for sharing and presenting. And yeah, I'll be there on the fourth. Thank you mayor. Thank you. Amelia. Amelia. Yeah, yeah. That's why I quarrels with the pets of the week.

Hello, mayor. City council. All right. All right. So I'm back again for pets of the week. So this week we have Micah. She is a four year old girl who loves meeting new people and jumps right into making friends. She enjoys active play, especially with other lively dogs, and thrives when she gets plenty of exercise and enrichment. Once she settles, she's sweet, affectionate, and she just wants to be part of your day. She's the perfect match for an adopter who enjoys an active and playful lifestyle. Our second pet of the week is buddy, who is a microchipped one year old male. This lively boy is full of happy energy and loves greeting new people. He may get jumpy or vocal when he's excited, but his sweet nature shines through with plenty of activity and attention. He'll quickly become loyal, affectionate companion who's eager to share life's adventures. Both of these dogs are very energetic, very playful, and they are free for adoption all week. Some of our long term residents and we've noticed that some of our pets of the week, we've kind of been going through long term residents. That's what we've been highlighting, and some of them have been getting adopted, which is super exciting. But we still have a few on there. Rose has been with the A, SCMV for 333 days. Guardians has been with SCMV 285 days. Dauber has been with the SCMV for 273 days, and Francesca has been with us for 268 days, so we have some events coming up. We've been really trying to get more out into the community. So as you can see, we're at the farmers market almost every Wednesday in May and one Saturday in May,

we go to Petco on May 9th, PetSmart on May 23rd and Tractor Supply on May 30th. So come out and see us. We love to bring our animals out there and, you know, get them out for adoption. You never know when you can meet your your new furry best friend, right? So for more information, always you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and visit our website. Our website does have all of our available animals and it's always up to date. So come check us out. Our adoption hours start at 1230. Feel free to come by the shelter anytime and see what we have to offer. It's a great place, so thank you. And any questions?

No we're good. Thank you. Thank you guys for having us. We appreciate it. Next is a conflict of interest as any member of city council, city manager or any member of the city staff have any known conflict of interest with any item on the agenda? No, no. No conflict.

Next is public participation will allow up to three minutes. Please state your name and speak directly into the microphone. Like any medication or items on the consent. And Katrina will assist you to the podium.

Mayor, mayor pro tem council folks here today, those watching online. I'm Lynn Maurer today I'm providing further scope and detail regarding Las Cruces utilities, mishandling of drinking water quality related to lead. I have three charts hand out. One is the drinking water sampling schedule the department used from 2015 through 2025. You can see that utilities samples properties only once every three years. Nothing present prevents them from sampling more frequently. Handout two compares the actual test results for lead with the 27 consumer confidence reports that falsified lead levels. It sets out the lab reports by ID number, showing that in every case, utilities falsely reported a lead level lower than the lab report. It also notes that utilities did not report any of the five results, which exceeded the EPA action level of 15 parts per billion. Handout three lists all sampling utilities carried out for lead from 2015 through 2024, showing, among several things, each sampling date and each result. It totals just 154 properties sampled out of about 4000 connections citywide, which utilities acknowledges it doesn't count the thousands more, particularly mobile homes. That utilities doesn't acknowledge. In 2017, the department provided no notice at all to two property owners, whose lead sampling revealed a lead level above the action level of 15 parts per billion. One test showed 40 parts per billion of lead in their water, the other 21 parts per billion. This is a major noncompliance with federal requirements. In addition to potential harm to the property owners. During this 11 year period, the department sampling only every third year results found five exceedances of the actual level. In addition to the two just

mentioned, a disadvantaged property registered 89 parts per billion in 2018, almost six times the actual level, and in 2023, two others showed 24 parts per billion and 18 parts per billion, respectively. More exceedances likely would be found if utilities sampled more frequently and sampled the requisite number of properties each time. Utilities did not resample the property with 89 parts per billion. There's no evidence that utilities has gone back to this disadvantaged property since that Skyride reading in 2018. That's very troubling. Hand out for is the notice the department sent this property owner. You'll note how it downplays the significance of this very high lead level in their drinking water. A majority 53% of the property sampled have an estimated value of $300,000 or higher. The median estimated value for high value property sampled is more than $100,000 higher than for lower valued properties. So utilities pattern of favoring wealthier properties continues. Absurdly, the department classifies a quarter of those high value properties as disadvantaged. Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

Mayor. City Council, I'm Luis Rodriguez Johnson. The evidence continues to grow that utilities personnel are not trustworthy. We citizens cannot be confident that they are taking the required steps to protect our health. Rather, evidence multiplies that Las Cruces utilities habitually downplays and deceives. When findings show public health is at risk. This comes on top of clear knowledge that they are not complying with numerous federal legal requirements. Lead in drinking water is particularly hazardous for young children and unborn children because lead passes through the placenta. It's also very hazardous for seniors. Las Cruces utilities failure to notify the property owners with lead exceedances in their drinking water is unforgivable. Consider what you would think and feel if you had a pregnant wife or daughter whose water utility sampled than after the child was born. Discovered through an independent researcher that her drinking water tested 89 parts per billion for lead, but the department had not notified her of that very high level. What have you saw that Las Cruces Utilities lead and copper inventory listing for the property where your elderly parents live said, not lead for both service lines, and you hired a licensed plumber to check the service lines. And he found both were made instead of galvanized piping with lead connectors. Whether due to the department's incompetence or deception, this too is unforgivable. Why did utilities come up with two entirely different inspection reports for each of 36 different properties that originally showed galvanized piping, as detailed at the last meeting, if you were one of those property owners, you'd want a

thorough explanation as to why the department now says that the piping is not galvanized. You'd also question the competence of the inspectors and the integrity of the manager, who instructed the second inspector to come up with an entirely different report. If, after hiring a plumbing firm to investigate your piping, two of the firm's plumbers looked at the same stretch of piping, then came up with two different assessments as to what it was made of. I suspect you'd be inclined not to pay the firm, and you might also want to throw the plumbers off your property. The evidence is strong, as spelled out at our last two meetings, that Las Cruces Utilities is taking many actions to cover up the true number of galvanized pipes in the city. It's exceptionally unforgivable that utilities did not notify, in accordance with federal rules and requirements. Even one of the 83 property owners with galvanized pipes, Las Cruces management needs to change. Thank you.

Good afternoon. City Council members. Mayor, my name is Cindy Haber. I am here to ask the City Council to pass a resolution against religious services here at City Hall. As I understand the Constitution and the principle of separation of church and state, the National Day of Prayer and as practice. Here is a promotion of religion at the state expense. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and the Honorable Councilors. For the record, my name is Doctor Adam. Today I stand before you with urgency. We are losing too many of our young people. Some lose their lives, others carried out in physical and emotional trauma. Many more are living in fear. And that is not the sign of a healthy community. It is a sign of a system under strain. We must be clear about what is happening in public health. Public education and public safety are interconnected public goods. When one erodes, the others follow. And right now we are seeing the consequences of that erosion across our three. This is not just affecting individuals, it is impacting the foundation of our community, including small businesses. Small business owners are the backbone of the city. They create jobs, provide opportunity, and invest in our neighborhoods. But when safety declines, when instability becomes normalized and when leadership appears divided, they pay the price first. They reduce hours. They hesitate to iron. In some cases, they close. This affects every law abiding citizen who depends on a stable, functioning local economy. At the same time, the everyday resident, the parent, the worker, the student is experiencing a decline in the quality of life. People do not feel safe and trust is eroding. And we also need to be honest about outcomes. Efforts carried out under the auspices and in the name of social justice must be judged by their results, not their intent. When actions lead to greater instability or future or fewer opportunities, it is often black, brown, Native American and low income families who are most negatively impacted. That is not social justice. That is a failure to deliver meaningful change. Quality of life in Las Cruces is social justice, and what is not here matters. Too often we see division without direction, criticism without solutions, disruption without accountability. Our young people are watching. If we cannot demonstrate respectful, solution oriented leadership,

we should not be surprised when conflict escalates elsewhere. So here's a path forward. Mayor. While there may be differences in belief, we recognize your willingness to serve mayor Pro tem initiatives like a youth council, mentorship programs and job pathways are essential and should be prioritized to the councilors. Our community members, including business leaders, ready to partner with you. Not just to talk, but to act. But understand this our community cannot afford delay. This moment requires alignment, accountability and measure results. Our young people deserve safety and opportunity. Our small businesses deserve stability and our residents deserve a better quality of life. We can do better. We must do better. And that is our counselors. The time is now. Work together with us or get out of the way. Thank you.

Good afternoon, City Council and mayor. Good afternoon. My name is Leslie Woods. The New Mexico Constitution says every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and no person shall ever be molested or denied any civil or political right or privilege on account of his religious opinion or mode of religious worship. No person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious sect or denomination, nor shall any preference be given to law, to any religious denomination or mode of worship. Consider these words no person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious sect or denomination. When the city allows religious services on City Hall grounds, it is providing city resources to a religious purpose. We want the city to stop doing that. We are asking the City Council to pass a resolution forbidding the use of the City Hall grounds from hosting religious services, including, and especially the National Day of Prayer, May 7th this year, as Trump has declared his intention of making religion great again, thus declaring his intention to use the government to promote religion. It is incumbent on the City Council to take a stand against the erosion of the wall between church and state. Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. My name is Larry Jansen. I am not against Christianity. I am not against any religion. Everyone must be free to practice any religion as they see fit. And everyone has the right to have no religion at all. I agree with separation of church and state. No religion should influence our government, be it federal, state, county or city. Moreover, no religion should influence our laws. The city of Las Cruces holding a national day of prayer on city property, sends the message of exclusion for all people who are not Christians. In this era of the rise of Christian nationalism, it is even more important to keep religion far away from government and our law laws. This is not a Christian country. Religion should not have influence on our government or our laws. A religious prayer event held at City Hall sends the wrong message. Please show your support for separation of church and state by not holding a day of prayer on city property. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Daniel Castleberry. I'm a retired United Methodist clergyman. I served 41 years some of that time in the New Mexico Conference, the rest of it in the new Jersey conference. And over the course of that period, I have always stood unequivocally for the separation of church and state. And it may seem strange to you that I'm going to agree with the persons who've already spoken today in that I do not believe it is appropriate for a government facility, government building to be used for religious purposes. And I think the separation of church affords everyone in our country the right to be religious or not religious. And so the ultimate respect we can pay is to not have religious services within government buildings. And that not only the only thing we can do here is ban it here. We may not be able to do it nationally at this point. It should already be national because it's in the Bill of rights in the Constitution, that we should not be giving observance to a particular religion. What happens? I grew up in a small West Texas town, and whatever religious group existed in that town that had the biggest numbers, they dictated what happened, and it certainly was not fair to. I saw Jehovah's Witness kids bullied because their religion would not allow them to. Self-Reflective allegiance. I saw other kids bullied because they didn't belong to the cool church, the most prominent church. You know, everybody should have the right to either be religious if they want to or choose to, or to have no religion. I have just as much respect for my atheists and agnostic friends as I do my

friends who are Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or Hindu, any other, any world religion or no religion at all. So I just ask you to consider what we do to provide the ultimate respect for our residents here in Las Cruces. And that is, let's respect everyone by not. Going in and siding with the religious over everybody else. Thank you.

My voice is probably going to shake again, but our job says to keep talking anyway. City council. Mr. mayor, good afternoon. My name is Haley Walker. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I ask that the city cease having religious services on the City Hall grounds. Using city resources promotes religion as a free. Using city resources to promote religion is a breach of faith between the city and its citizens. I pay taxes and the city uses those taxes in the public interest. I don't want a penny of my tax dollars used to support any religion or religious exercise. Anything more than nothing is too much. Any use of city resources in my tax dollars for such purposes, no matter how small, violates my constitutional rights. Under the New Mexico Constitution City Council. Mr. mayor, unfortunately, there are many voices intent on denying and diminishing the principle of separation of church and state. A prime example is the Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, president of Donald Trump's religious Liberty Commission, who wants a sign in every Texas school declaring that separation of church and state is a myth. Sir, it is not a myth. It is one of the foundational principles of America. We have separation of church and state to protect religious liberty. We don't want a government that is likely to favor one religious group over another, thus compromising religious liberty. We have separation of church and state because Christians wanted it to protect them from the government interference. Once the government decides we should all be religious, the government will decide what religion we should be. I think America works best when it's governed by our Constitution, even in matters some may think are trivial and matters if it matters. If our city sees gives the impression it supports religious belief over

non-belief, it matters if the city is honest about events it allows to be held here at City Hall. Please set policies for the use of this facility that make sense, are accessible to all, and protect the separation of church and state. Please do not allow religious services to be held here at City Hall. Thank you.

Good afternoon. City Council mayor Pro Tem munis. Mr. mayor, my name is Jim Hurst. Mr. mayor, we are.

Here today to call this council. And you, sir, to recognize our constitutional rights. Article ten, section 11 of the New Mexico Constitution states, and I quote, no person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious sect or denomination, nor shall any preference be given by law, any religious denomination or mode of worship. Mr. mayor, the City of Los Cruces sponsors a religious service here at City Hall, and with the exception of last year, it has done so nearly every year. It is called the National Day of Prayer Service. The Town of Room on the first Thursday of May at the flagpoles here at City Hall. Mr. mayor, this is a branch of our Constitution and that citizens are required to support the city through our taxes, and the city has no right to use those resources to support or promote religion in spite of our Constitution. This unconstitutional tradition has been practiced for many years. To my knowledge, without Federal Council approval or recognition. Indeed, I have spoken to many councilors who are unaware of these events. As I read the City charter. Although Las Cruces is granted to the City Council and no one has the authority to do anything without the approval of the City Council. Mr. mayor, where is it clear that anyone, including you or the city staff, has the authority to authorize a religious service on these grounds? Unless, Mr. Mayor, that you and the City Council have been deceiving the citizens of this city by pretending that the National Day of Prayer services are being held without authorization of this city. The jig is up, Mr. mayor. I know

there is a National Day of Prayer service scheduled for this Thursday, May 7th at 12 noon. I know that because your staff informed me, in the presence of two witnesses, that the flagpole area is reserved at that time and date for the group that is traditionally used, the space. So the city cannot pretend that the National Day of Prayer services are being held without the city knowledge or authorization. So we are coming to you this morning or this this afternoon, to ask this Council to support the principle of separation of church and state, and pass a resolution forbidding the use of City Hall and its grounds for religious services. Thank you very much.

Mr. Mayor. City Council, I think there has been a gross misunderstanding. I am the president of National Day of Prayer. You'll have to state your name for the record.

Oh, sorry, Jacko. I am the president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. I have been in charge of the city events that have happened over the last ten years. Prior to that, I don't know what was in record, but I do. I can tell you that every year I have called and I have requested just the same way as I know everyone else has to use the flag area. Last year was the first year that we were ever told that we. I got a call two weeks before the event and they told us that there was a conflict of scheduling and that we would have to move. We got the same call this year. I called in November and I was told that we had the the area, and I called back to double check about bringing our own all of our own equipment and what we would need to use to do to use our own equipment and making sure that we weren't utilizing anything other than public grounds. I was told, yes, that we have the area, but three weeks ago I was called and told that we no longer have the area because there was a conflict in scheduling. That's fine. So we have moved. So I feel like this is null and void, but I do want to continue talking about this because I I'm hearing that is just for Christians alone and that it is not. I thank Mr. Hurst for opening my eyes to the nones and looking into that. I did not know that he was speaking on this today. So I'm actually here for something else, but I'm glad I'm here. I now know

that nones don't have to be atheist or agnostic. They just agree that organized religion may not be the way to go. And I quite agree with that and several different ways. I agree that we all need to be free to to celebrate the prayer and the confrontational person I am not. So I do believe that we have addressed this, and I wish I had more time to go into this. If I had known, I probably would have been able to prepare a better statement. I just want to say that Jesus himself did not agree with an organized religion that caused division. And if we together cannot come together in unity for peace, how do we allow anyone, each of us, to coexist? We are made for love in his image and he is love. Thank you.

Pastor. Okay, thanks. And guns have been stolen in the past five years. In Las Cruces, 1069, as reported by CPD. That's 213 guns gone every year, nearly one every two days. And that count is what people bothered to report. Who knows how many disappear. And I like the stats. The sad part is, if those gun owners had actually lost that case, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Or how many citizens to include those teens murdered during the Young Park massacre, or most recently, 13 year old Chris Caballero, who was killed by a 13 year old, would still be alive. A 13 year old who can't legally buy, possess or hold a weapon, committed murder. Was this crime committed using a stolen gun? From Chief story and I quote, despite being stolen or not being used for lawful purposes, they are going to be used in the commission of a crime or other purposes. What's worse, we believe most of all the burglaries were guns are stolen or being committed by people who are using the stolen firearms or selling them to their friends who will use them in crimes. And of course, if you can't keep your gun safe, you should face real consequences. This isn't about gun confiscation or about control. Pushed by Senator Edward Hamlin. If you're a responsible gun owner, it's time to step up and hold yourself accountable. This action does what Senator Diamond Bentley is proposing can't make a difference. And I quote, A teenager can commit violent offense after violent offense short of premeditated

murder and never trigger meaningful accountability. My legislation closes that gap for offenders 15 and older. It says we are not giving. We're not going to wait until someone is killed to intervene. We're going to step in. Whether it's still time to change the trajectory. That intervention comes with real accountability, but also education, rehabilitation and a structured path forward. There must be serious consequences for serious offenses in a meaningful way for our life and deter escalating violence. And the court. So two questions for this community. How many more kids will be murdered before they start safeguarding their weapons, that is. Our Senator Obama's new bill or not. We're talking about responsible gun ownership. Thank you.

Good afternoon ma'am. My name is Eddie Thomas, and I'm here to speak to you regarding several issues. But I want to go through commendations out of the way. First of all, I want to commend them for having the courage to speak regarding your personal beliefs regarding abortion. I commend you for having that courage. Second thing, I want to commend you on the Meta Las Cruces celebration that we had just this last weekend. It was me and my mother thoroughly enjoyed the staple dancers, the Ballet Folklorico, the mariachis, the 575 band. You pulled out the old one. So I, I thank you for it. And I just want to let you know that we thoroughly enjoyed it. Next to you, sir, is regarding my word, which I brought up to you the last time I got up and spoke regarding the. The lead of project, which is where I live, and this morning the city personnel arrived and we sweep the street and a truck came out and sucked up the. The the remaining water, since I don't have drainage and I know that Mr. David Sedillo is is working on that. And so I want to commend you and thank you for that. However, let me just give you a brief update on what's going on on the adjacent street, Casa del Sol. It. It's still a muddy mess. Okay. The barricades, the street

barricades are gone, which is good. The porta potties are gone. And so the heavy equipment. But there's, there's nothing going on. And I hope there's something planned in the works to bring another contractor in or something to give it a continuance, to bring it to its to its end. I must tell you, though, that I have a fear of what it's going to look like for my street once the project comes to my street. And and the renewal starts going on there. I hope it doesn't take a year and a half to complete. I do not want to be like our neighbors on Gallagher. And then just one more quick note. The park at the end of the street, there's a little park there at the end of of Garofalo and Calle del Encanto. The. The grass. If it wasn't for the recent rains, the grass would be completely dead. So I hope we can save that park. I'm sure the grass will come back if you guys continue to water it, so thank you.

Good afternoon mayor, councilors, everyone. My name is Yoli Diaz. We've requested a meeting with your staff to speak on the city's authority, responsibility and opportunity to address gaps in access to health care for indigent residents. We will be asking for your support and approval. The City of Las Cruces created the Telshor fund from the lease of Memorial Medical Center. Those funds are public resources and carry with them a clear public purpose to benefit the health and welfare of this community. At the same time, Dona Ana County operates an indigent health care program pursuant to New Mexico law with the responsibility to provide care for qualifying residents. However, when gaps exist, particularly in access to hospital based services and diagnostics, there is both a policy and legal basis for intergovernmental collaboration to address those gaps. New Mexico law expressly allows local governments to enter into joint powers, agreements and memoranda of understanding to provide services that serve a public purpose. This includes the ability to pool resources, avoid duplication and ensure continuity of care across jurisdictions. Given the documented concerns regarding barriers to hospital care over the past decade, the city is justified in taking corrective action that directly supports access to care. For that reason, I am requesting that the city enter into a memorandum of Understanding or joint Powers agreement with Dona Ana County and allocate $500,000 from the fund to the county's indigent program, specifically restricted for diagnostic services and medically necessary care resulting from a

diagnosis. This proposal is grounded in three key policy principles. First, access to care diagnostic services are an essential entry point into the health care system. Without them, conditions cannot be identified or treated in a timely manner, undermining the effectiveness of all downstream care. Second, fiscal responsibility funding diagnostics reduces higher downstream costs associated with delayed treatment, emergency care and uncompensated hospital services. Early intervention is widely recognized as a cost containment strategy. Third, accountability where a public asset such as a formerly city county owned hospital, has not fully met community expectations for access, it is appropriate for the city to use available public funds to mitigate those impacts and ensure residents are not left without options. An MOU or JPA structure would also provide necessary safeguards, including defined eligibility, restricted use of funds, reporting requirements and measurable outcomes. This ensures transparency and alignment with the intended public purpose of the Telshor fund. This is a legally permissible policy. Sound and fiscally responsible action that directly advances the health and welfare of the community. I respectfully urge the city to consider, support and move forward with this

proposed partnership and funding allocation. Thank you for your consideration. Good afternoon, mayor. Mayor Pro. Tem and council. My name is. Jan Thompson.

I am a person of faith and it is as a person of faith that I want to add my name to others who have already spoken regarding the separation of church and state. I am aware of two instances that have occurred within the last couple of months that violate the separation of church and state principle. I doubt very seriously that council was informed that these were going to happen, or were asked for their blessing regarding them, but I will hold council responsible for ensuring that this stops. Thank you.

Good afternoon, City Council and mayor. My name is Victor Jaco and I want to address the National Day of Prayer, and I'm going to read a little dialog here. It's. It goes like this. The National Day of Prayer complies with the separation of church and state because it is voluntary. Non-coercive call for reflection rather than a government mandated religious practice as a symbolic recognition of the role of faith in American history, it falls under the category of ceremonial deism, which the Supreme Court has often distinguished from establishment of state religion. No threat. It is not a threat to force or adopt a religion under government, rather than rather a place to ensure the freedom to stand for your own beliefs. I believe we have the freedom of speech under public law. 82-324 section 119. Signed by the president in 1958. No person is forced, but rather stands for the freedom to maintain. If the resolution is made, the even. Or sorry if the resolution is made, the. Even a national day of reason could not even be held as. The same could say this form of belief is a religion in itself. Religion is a social culture system. Designated behaviors, practice, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations that generally relates humanity to supernatural transcendence or spiritual elements. We have

similar driving force. We fight for separation of church and state in the stand to make sure our liberties are never taken away from us. One of those indeed is prayer. Prayer is not a religion. It is a livelihood or a relationship. The mayor has not changed who he was when he was elected. He has practiced who he was when elected. He was practiced his own liberties. He has done this the same way before and after elections. Consistent I love it. This is not enforcement of a way to believe, but rather the freedom to be able to continue. That's all I have. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Mayor. City Council. My name is Lucas Hernan, for the record. I was looking forward to potentially not having to come to City Council this week after coming week after week, fighting hard for the GR and the ongoing respect that this community asks for from our officials. And yet. Again. I stand before you. After the Las Cruces Police Department killed a person in the act of being a human person. And I.

Know and I know I can already imagine the posts after this where my testimony here is taken from the public record and put on to the YouTube page of certain political activists in this community at my expense and my family's.

But I. Can't help but think of this person as prisons do not disappear problems. They disappear. Human beings and the practice of disappearing. Vast numbers of people from poor and marginalized communities has literally become big business. And I think about posts from the Las Cruces Police Department this week about how many service calls they received, and I think about the press releases that they put out and the videos and their requests for more and more and more dollars to continue, whatever it is that they do, which, based on the statistics of both this city and our state, continues to be the most dangerous state to exist in when it comes to being shot and killed by the police. The Mapping Police Violence Project updates their records in the middle of the month. So we don't actually have an update. But for going back to the middle of April, New Mexico continues to lead the nation once again for the third or fourth or fifth year in a row as the most dangerous place to exist to be killed by the police. The argument about the killed and what he is or what he was, or what he was doing, or what he might have done, is irrelevant. We live in a police state where the police get to eke out justice as they see fit, based on their quote unquote training. That is always the excuse. And so I will continue to show up every time we talk about funding the police for quote unquote, more training, because all I can hear is to

learn how to kill us better and to kill, learn how to kill us more every single time. Tim Jenkins. Here. I stand before you today as. A member of our community. And as of today. We are going 123 days into 2026. And me personally, all by myself have had to call Lcpd 127 times. Now with.

119 of those times being in district four under the watch of Joanna Bencomo. Let me repeat that one more time. 119 times I have had to call Lcpd in district four and continue to make our community safer for all. So my question is what Joanna Bencomo, what is it that you are doing in your own community to make this community safer for all? Because from my side of the aisle, it doesn't look like much. And that's also mentioned that three members on this dais last month wasted over two hours of time going around and around about how to defund the police, to the point that one council member says, I don't even know why we're still having this conversation. We all know that the police get whatever they want, so why not just take the funds from public safety and they will figure out how to get them back? The same council member also says she will not sit by and allow Border Patrol to terrorize our children. I have never in the history of my life seen either Border Patrol or law enforcement terrorized our community, as you suggest, along with others. In fact, what I did witness two weeks ago was an individual on the highway approaching a border patrol station, driving extremely careless and erratic, to which I managed to get in front of him and pulled into the Border Patrol station. Two cars in front of him and alerted Border Patrol that something was not right. Turns out this individual had over 700 0 pounds of liquid cocaine marked as aloe vera in the back of his vehicle. This right here is the track record of our law enforcement officers and Border Patrol, who we back and support 100%. Not the account that you

and your progressive friends portray day in and day out, as to defy and strip funds from their department to open our community to even more danger. God bless and protect our officers from the evil that lurks in the very chambers we stand in today. We as a community, back and support our officers in all of our efforts to make the city safer for all. Thank you. Thank you. Next.

That took place today, May 4th. The City Council meeting. On May 4th, 2026 at 10:02 a.m. The following were in attendance. Councilor Harris. Bencomo Munoz. McClure. Karen, myself, the mayor, Eric Enriquez, utilities director. Adrian Wimmer, Dominique. Dominique Rodriguez, Sonia. Delgado.

Christine Rivera, Brad Douglas, and our city manager Connie. Outside of council with Melissa Westbrook, John Jones, shoemaker, Jay Stein, non winter, James Brockman, members of the utility board. Member board were filled. Simply. Dory. James McAvoy. And Edmund Archuleta. The items were discussed to. Discuss water.

Rights, which is closed pursuant to New Mexico State Statute 1978, section ten 15-1H8. We also discussed threatened litigation in the matter of Benjamin Ochoa claim number 2025AL0144. We discussed the threatened litigation in the matter of Jose Puente and Juan Flores Cifuentes, and also discussed the threatened litigations in the manner of in the matter of Juan Carlos. All were in closed. Pursuant to New Mexico State Statute 1978, section ten 15-1H7. I'll note that. 1155 outside counsel, Utilities and Utility board members left. The meeting adjourned at 12:27 p.m.

Acceptance of agenda. Move to accept second. Mayor. I'm sorry, can we pull 7.1 from consent? We have a motion and a second. Are we okay with the pulling? 7.1 from those that made the motion in the second. Yes. Whom did you not make it? Sorry.

Yes. I didn't make the second. Oh. Harris did. Yes. Yes. Okay. Sorry. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. We're good. This is the motion to accept the agenda as presented with removal of item 7.1 for discussion. Councilor McClure. Yes. Councilor Mattis. Yes. Councilor Harris. Yes. Councilor. Bencomo. Yes. Councilor. Koran. Yes. Councilor Munoz. Yes.

Mayor. Yes. For that one first. Okay. We'll start with item 7.1, resolution number 26-135. Good afternoon. Mayor councilors. My name is Donnie Prosise, purchasing supervisor for the Financial Services department. Sorry. Was there a motion and. A second? Sorry. Terribly sorry. We need a motion. To approve.

Second. Go ahead. Tony.

Thank you. Mayor Donnie, purchasing supervisor, for the record and before you, is a resolution to authorize an existing contract purchase agreement for Program Evaluation services. The City of Las Cruces is slated to receive almost $10 million in settlement funds related to nationwide and state opioid legislation. On August 18th, 2025, City Council passed resolution 26-025, adopting a two year funding strategy for the use of opioid settlement funds. The city and Dona Ana County will be coordinating efforts to use the settlement funds for delivery of treatment services and prevention programs. Through discussions between leadership and the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, the city and county agreed that a unified evaluation approach is necessary to ensure consistent metrics, shared reporting and accountability across all contracted service providers. The Financial Services Department is requesting authorization to contract with Pivot Evaluation, LLC of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for independent evaluation and reporting for the settlement funded programs delivered jointly by the city and county. Pivot will support the city and county by conducting program evaluations tied to opioid related services, including reviewing provider service data, developing evaluation plans, and aligning metrics with community strategies and state and national opioid response frameworks. Advising on data collection methods, analyzing outcomes, preparing required reports, and helping ensure compliance with expectations for jointly funded programs, and meeting regularly with city and county teams to review deliverables, establishing evaluation frameworks, and coordinate ongoing tasks outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding and Task Orders. Without these program evaluation services, the city

and county would lack unified, credible reporting needed to comply with expectations for opioid settlement funding. This could affect transparency and long term funding justification. Each entity would have to conduct its own evaluation, leading to inconsistent metrics, duplicated effort and potentially conflicting data. Service providers would receive less structured guidance on reporting requirements, reducing the ability to program effectiveness and impact. The city and county may face delays or challenges in demonstrating outcomes to governing bodies, including City Council and the Board of County Commissioners, which were previously presented with a shared evaluation model. Services from pivot are available via Dona Ana County. Contract number 26165 for a potential term through November 30th, 2029. Las Cruces Municipal Code Chapter 24, section 24-4. Authorized exemptions authorizes the city to utilize contracts from other entities. Utilization of these contracts allows for efficient and cost effective procurement of goods and services to meet the city's needs, the Financial Services Department is requesting authorization to contract with pivot via County contract number 26-125 in an amount, not to exceed $147,253, including applicable taxes subject to approved budget appropriations. With that, these are your options and I stand for questions.

Thank you. Tony Council. Thanks, mayor. Thank you so much for the presentation. I'm. Thank you for the update. I feel like we hadn't gotten one in a little while, so this is good to have you all here. I'm curious about once this if this is approved today and they start making recommendations, how often then council and county governing bodies will get an opportunity to hear these projects. Mayor Councilor Bencomo for that, we're going to have to defer. To West, who I believe is here from our fire department. Yeah, yeah. Dream team.

Hi, my name is Athena Huckaby. I am the special project manager for Dona Ana County, and I'm overseeing the expenditure of the opioid settlement funds. My answer to that would be as often as you'd like. I would say yearly reporting is required. But the the would be meeting once once a month, and I would want to have updates no less than quarterly personally, but I don't know how you all feel. Would that be sufficient, do you think? Yeah, I think so. I wouldn't want to overburden the committee either. So I think honestly, yeah, I would really appreciate something like that.

Okay. I think we can definitely make that happen. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Madam Bencomo, the City of Las Cruces Accountability website is also being updated regularly. We have a live graph or live chart that will tell you where, when the revenues are coming in. And we're working with management to get a report for our graph. That'll show expenditures as well. But we're not expecting expenditures with these contracts until July 1st.

Okay. Thank you so much for that. I had completely forgotten about that. And congratulations on your new role. That's very exciting to hear someone like you is is running the show. Thank you both. I'm really excited about it. Thank you. Seeing no other questions. Christine. This is on the motion to approve resolution 26-135. Councilor McClure. Yes. Councilor Mattis yes. Counselor. Harris. Yes.

Counselor. Bencomo. Yes. Counselor. Koran. Yes. Counselor. Munoz. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I'm falling. Next item on the agenda is item 8.1, resolution number 26-138. Mayor. I apologize.

I didn't say this during the conflicts of interest, but because I serve on the board of one of the organizations on this list, I would like to recuse myself for this consideration. So I'm just saying that before we move to approve, I'll step out. That's on this one. 8.1 yes. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Move to approve.

Second. Okay. Sylvia. Hello. Are we ready? Yes. Go ahead.

Good afternoon. Mayor. Members of City Council. My name is Sylvia Caldera, housing and neighborhood services specialist. The resolution that I present before you is for the allocation of the torture facility, funds for the health related public services. These grants are awarded to various nonprofit agencies in Las Cruces, based on a recommendation from the Health and Human Services Advisory Board. On August 4th, 2025, Council approved resolution number 26-018, earmarking up to 600 000 for the next four years to fund health related public service programs. With the interest from the Telshor fund, the city conducted a competitive application process with the nonprofit sector. A press release was sent out. We advertised on the city's website and sent emails with our interagency list. Grants are awarded on a two year funding cycle, with the renewal of the second year based on program performance, the health related public service grants are to help support the physical, mental, developmental, emotional, social well-being, as well as safety and housing needs of the City of Las Cruces residents and to improve the lives of sick, indigent or low income people of the city of Las Cruces. On March 4th, 2026, the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee recommended to fund a total of $600,000 to the following 18 nonprofit organizations. Each

organization would be awarded $33,333 per year. Here are your standard council options and I stand for any questions. Okay. Thank you. Sylvia. Councilwoman Clark. Yeah, I had a question on it says it's to support all the needs that various types. How are the current needs assessed for Las Cruces residents?

I'm going to defer this question to Miss Natalie Green. Mr. mayor, councilor McClure, So the Housing and Neighborhood Services staff does a needs assessment every five years. In fact, you will be approving that in the next action item. And so we use that as part of our priority setting for our application processes.

Thank you. I'm just I feel like I'm a slight deja vu because last year too, I had said I don't quite understand how all the needs cut exactly the same way. And so I find it disturbing that we haven't been able to kind of say, hey, there is a there's a couple more needs in this arena than this arena. And it just seems like we could be doing better to give money that is impactful.

Mr. mayor. Councilor McClure, the recommendation is based on the committee. So the committee has the option to give some agencies more or less. Typically, they have done even increments just for ease of contracting. But we do that competitive application every two years so we can look at changing the application process before the next round. I'm not entirely sure how it's competitive, if they're going to all get the same amount of money. And I also kind of spoke to my representative too, who's on that board. And it wasn't didn't seem even reading the minutes that there was that kind of conversation and perhaps I missed it in previous minutes, I'll give you that. But I did not feel that that was a true reflection of the needs of the Las Cruces citizens.

Okay, we can take that into consideration for the next application process. The application and guidebook is adopted by City Council. And so we're just using the guidebook that was previously adopted by the council. But we can look at changing that for the following year. Whereas our application process, when does it actually start?

Mr. mayor? We run alternate application processes. So this year is year one for health related public services. It started in November of 25 and it goes through May, which is today. And then we'll work on contracts. Next year is a Cdbg year. So Cdbg again will start in October or November. We'll solicit applications, go through that scoring process again, and then health Related will be up again in 20. 27 for the 28 fiscal year. But council can make interim funding decisions at any time. Council just sets an allocation of the 600 for the competitive process. So.

Okay. Thanks, Natalie. Mayor pro tem. Could you explain. Why. Cdbg, just for the application of the public? Sure. We're actually going to cover it in the next presentation. So Community Development block grant funds, there is a small portion that's a 15% of our entitlement allocation that's set aside for public service programs. And then there's also a competitive application for other funding pots. But again, I'll cover that in the next presentation more fully. Thank you, thank you. Councilor Bencomo.

Natalie, thank you. And Sylvia, thank you for the presentation. Do you have is it seven members of the committee? Mr. Mayor? Councilor Bencomo there is seven members. There has not been seven members in a while. We are going to work with the clerk's office to send reminders to the rest of the committee. It does make it challenging when there's not full membership of the board, so we would like to get some additional members.

Yeah. Thank you. Natalie. I always like to ask this question when we talk about this item specifically, because I think, I mean, all boards obviously are really important, but I do think this board particularly has, you know, like this responsibility. So it's important that we get folks to apply. And then perhaps if, you know, we're really lacking folks figuring out a way to try to recruit folks that are interested in this because I know it's pretty important. So thank you.

Okay. Say no more questions, Christine. This is on the motion to approve resolution 26-138. Councilor McClure no. Councilor Mattis no. Councilor Harris yes. Councilor Bencomo. Yes. Councilor Koran recused herself. Councilor Munoz yes. Mayor. Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. Next item 8.2, resolution number 26-139. To approve. Second.

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. Members of Council Natalie Green. For the record, the resolution before you is adoption of the 2026 to 20 2030 Consolidated Plan. The program 26 Action Plan, and then the city's analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. Just a little bit of background today. This is a HUD required planning document that must be performed every 3 to 5 years. Because of the level of investment, we choose to do it every five years. It uses both a mix of data and community outreach to identify the top housing and community needs and supportive service needs in the city. As part of that process, it includes a strategic plan with goals and priorities, and then proposes the use of Cdbg and home funds through the action Plan. The Analysis of Impediments is a separate document that identifies housing barriers and supports fair housing requirements. As part of our further affirming fair housing requirements from the Federal Government. As part of the process, we conduct a series of public input meetings, surveys, outreach targeted to low to moderate income populations. In this case, we did over 10,000 postcards to LMI census tracts, and then we also put about 6000 postcards in food pantry boxes across the county. We had a city council work session. And then prior to the adoption and today's action, we also had a 30 day public comment period. And we did receive two public comments or two written comments as part of the plan. It does outline five goals for the next five years. The first is to increase affordable housing supply, preserve existing housing, enhance economic well-being, enhance quality of infrastructure, and prevent and reduce homelessness. The priority needs outlined in the plan is for affordable rental housing for workforce and low

income renters, affordable homeownership opportunities, home improvement, and Ada improvements for low income owners and renters, and then to work on subsidized housing and supportive services for residents who have special needs. As part of the. This year, we received just about 1.6 million. Between Community Development Block Grants and home entitlement partnership funds. We did have some unexpected payoffs, so it's always nice to get some program income. So we are also allocating that program income as part of the action plan. The home program income came from the sale of a multifamily tax credit. So we our loan was reimbursed. And then the Cdbg program income was from a home rehab home rehabilitation project that also paid off. As part of our recommendations for Cdbg funding. The first is our administration that helps cover implementation of the program, staff salaries and some supplies, and general administration. We are dedicating the bulk of our funds to our home rehabilitation program. That'll cover both rehabilitation of single family homes, our mobile home rent program, and then some of our utility connection and expansion programing. We received some applications for funding. We are recommending the award of Jardin de Los Ninos that is a infrastructure improvement program. So they will be using that funding to ensure their building stays certified for their programing. We're also awarding funding to Abode Inc, and that will be to support the energy efficiency, some replacement of windows and

other improvements. And that is a supportive housing project. As part of that, we allocate up to 15% of our total entitlement plus program income to public services. We are recommending for agencies there in year two. So they went through a competitive process last year, and this will be their year two award. And they have met their compliance requirements. The first agency is Casa de Peregrinos. The second Mesilla Valley Community, Hope, Mesilla Valley, Casa and La Casa Inc. And those amounts are all in equal increments as part of the home funding. We're recommending, again, program administration. There is more program administration than typical because we got the program income. Otherwise, that dollar amount is typically less. We have community housing development operating funds going to Mesilla Valley Habitat and Tierra del Sol. We also have entitlement and total reserve funds going to Valley Habitat and Tierra del Sol for single family affordable housing development. And then we are funding two agencies for tenant based rental assistance, and that is La Casa and Mesilla Valley Community of Hope. The impediment to Fair Housing Choice Plan outlines, I believe, five impediments. The first is a shortage of deeply subsidized rental housing, especially for vulnerable groups. There's barriers to home ownership. There's an increase in people who are unbanked or underbanked, or have limited credit access, housing conditions and overcrowding and Ada improvements, especially for seniors and people with disabilities, were also noted within the plan. And then there's an emphasis in overcrowding for large households, single parent households and households with disabilities. The other two impediments are discrimination

in housing, primarily in mobile home communities and then in overcrowded households and single parent households. And then there was some broader economic and opportunity barriers that were identified as part of the study. Higher rates of food insecurity, people who are uninsured, underinsured, who experience wage gaps or job insecurity. And then there was quite a bit of poverty concentration in the infill of the city. With that, you have your standard Council options, and we stand for questions. Thank you. Natalie. Any questions? Councilor Harris? Thank you. Mayor.

I'm Natalie for the presentation. On the last slide. Can you expand on what discrimination we're seeing, especially in mobile homes? I have to go back to the plan, but good thing I have it tabbed. So we had about 17% of Las Cruces respondents said they felt or experienced discrimination primarily. It doesn't say what they were experiencing. I'll have to dig deeper into the report to look that up, but I can send that at a after this meeting.

Okay, that would be be interesting. To know. And I guess. Hearken back to the last topic I am. I would be interested in visiting our criteria for those competitive awards. It is. I mean. I know there's a lot of overlap. In services amongst all of these organizations, but splitting. Them.

Up evenly. Doesn't scream competitiveness unless they were competing against other organizations who weren't included at all. But that's a pretty complex. It seems to be a pretty comprehensive list of of orgs that we have in the city. So before the next. Application cycle, you know, I think I'd be interested in looking at that as well. Mr. Mayor, Councilor Harris, we'll send that application out right after this meeting, and then we are happy to take any feedback on how to change or improve the process. Okay. Thanks. Tim.

Thank you. Councilmember.

Going back to slide 7 or 8, can you go back? Yeah. Again, not the issue, but definitely I think another consideration would be contemporary events or what's happening. And so what I think of what's happening now, affordability, food insecurity is significant. So when I think about groups like Casa de Peregrinos or other groups that affect or the community hope, I think that there's there are some significant needs and we have so many priorities. I get that they're competing, but I would think that on a contemporary basis, we should see what's. Happening around us. And food insecurity seems to be screaming at us right now. So thank you, Natalie. Thank you mayor.

Councilor Bencomo.

Yeah, I just wanted to speak to this point that we're sort of all circling around. I think certainly the feedback from the council on what we're seeing is important. I'd argue the feedback from these organizations is also important. I mean, I think all of these organizations on this list and the item before, they're all organizations that work together consistently. And then we come out and we say, here's this funding. Now you guys have to compete against each other for, frankly, peanuts. And so I, I think that maybe the bigger issue here is that there isn't enough money in the pot that people are competing for number one. And number two, you know, I think all of these organizations, I assume, have to go through a grant writing process. Like they have to expend as non-profits time to write grants, which is not easy. And then I think they present in front of the committee. Right. And so I, I, and then the committee recommends, and if the committee is saying, we believe all of these organizations deserve some pot of money, then let's do that. And, and then they come to us and, and we're sort of setting doubt over the whole process. I feel like there's a level of respect to be had and also like recognition that it's just a really small amount of money, frankly. And it goes back to this conversation about scarcity that I think we I've raised even a couple of weeks ago when we're talking about, you know, the budget and GR and all of these things, that just doesn't feel like there's ever enough that the need is really great and there's just never enough for social service organizations. And I think that that's always kind of a shame. But I, I really just want to say that, that I'm always willing and ready to have a discussion on increasing the amount that gets, that gets spent every year or every two

years for sure. And then three, just really want to thank these organizations for not only providing the services that they do in our community with limited resources, but applying, being good partners. And of course, to the committee who give of their time to come up with these recommendations for us.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I will add that we do not allow duplication of services. So the services funded under Cdbg are distinctly different than the services under HR and within those organizations. We also don't allow duplicate programing. So each individual organization will have a distinctly different service than the others. Okay. Seeing no other questions, Christine. This is on the motion to approve resolution 26-139. Councilor McClure. Yes. Councilor Mattis. Yes. Councilor Harris.

Yes. Councilor. Bencomo. Yes. Councilor. Koran. Yes. Councilor Munoz. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Next. 0.3 Council bill number 26-019. Ordinance number 3111. Move to approve. Second. Ready?

All right. Good afternoon. Mayor. Members of City Council. Mesa with economic development and the ordinance before you is a. Of city owned land within Las Cruces innovation Industrial Park. Two development partners, LLC. The subject property is located at 300 Ray Boulevard and comprises of 15.3 acres. All utilities are provided at the subject property. Here's the vicinity map. The subject property. The property is on the corner of Boulevard and Robert Robert Larson Boulevard, just east of the Lowe's Travel Truck Stop Station. Here's a street and aerial view. We received two independent appraisals, with one appraised at 617,585, and the second appraisal coming in at $530,000. The negotiated purchase price is $573,792, and the city and buyer will split the closing cost. The proposed use of this property will be a speculative warehouse, with the first phase constructing 7500 zero square foot building and the second phase of construction. Another 75,000 square foot building. The total capital investment for the first phase is 12.2 million. And here is the site plan of the first building, a little bit highlighted in dark black and then on the futures to the east side of the of the subject property. This project has a lot of benefits for the city of Las Cruces that aligns with the strategic plan, economic development goals and elevate Las Cruces. The speculative warehouse supports key recommendations from the adopted master plan, and most importantly, it is the return on investment for the city. The project brings immediate private capital investment, grows our property tax base

grows, our gross receipts, gross receipts, tax during and after construction, and also creates quality jobs for our community. Here, your standard Council options and I stand for questions. And we also have some of the the developers with the team here to speak, just in case you guys have any questions with them. Thank you, Councilor Harris. Thank you, Mayor and Isaac, for the presentation. I just have one question, which is pretty general. Where where do you sell land like this? Where do the proceeds go inside the city accounts.

Mayor Councilor Harris, good question. So the the funds are split up into accounts. 50% is going to be allocated to the affordable housing, land Bank and trust, and the other 50% will be in our our own budget here at the economic development. Okay. And then that's an economic development that can be used for general operations, for improving the industrial park.

So we try to identify whether it's with industrial park, different projects that we need, such as infrastructure. As a. Elisabeth mentioned earlier that there are some projects that will allocate investment or incentives to such as technology. So some of those funds can also be used at that time. Okay, thanks. That's all I got. You good. Okay. Yeah. If one of the representatives. Would come up and kind of share. We appreciate. Good to see you, mayor.

And how are you doing, Council? I'm Leon Lloyd with KLS development. Share about the project.

Yeah. So project. Yeah. So definitely something that, that we're attracted to when we hear the needs of the city and the needs of the state in terms of speculative infrastructure, in order to attract jobs, which then attract attract the rest of the economic value chain. We do expect this to be one of a few. So we do want to start with this phase one. But the hope and pray is that it gets consumed. Like Miss Elizabeth Teeter said earlier today, like some of the other projects. And we can start phase two. And really thereafter, we do want to make a true class a product. So hopefully something has curb appeal, something that looks nice to folks driving by I-10 and so on and so forth.

If you could. Also share some of your background. Your interest in. Las Cruces. All right. So I myself am a.

Graduate of New Mexico State. I was a student from 9904, played football here, enjoyed the city, and always thought it would be a place to to come back and bring some development. Upon graduation, I left and worked in oil and gas and Houston area ExxonMobil specifically for nearly 20 years and leveraging some of the same project management and sound engineering, you know, methods to bring something that's reliable, repeatable, and, you know, nice to the city that can then spur economic development is definitely something that's high on our mission statement. So yeah, as a historical engineer, we want to build stuff. So we do like building boxes, so to speak, nice and easy and boring and let the, the business themselves then drive the rest of the, the value chain.

That's great. Thank you. Councilor. No. I know back then we were trying to do this. I don't know how many years ready to fill that in the eight and a half years that I was at the New Mexico Authority was directed. This is what made Central Croatia grow. When we had these warehouses ready and built and the plants done, we just showed that businesses pour in. So I really appreciate you investing in Las Cruces and the Industrial Park Economic Development Department. Thank you as well. Yes. Thank you.

Tom. Mayor. I just want to thank Isaac, Selena, Elizabeth and the Ccls partners for putting this together. We hope that this is a venture that will continue for many years ahead. Welcome to Las Cruces. Thank you.

Again. Thank you. Just an appreciation and gratitude of you wanting to get back to Las Cruces. Educated as you are playing football. It's it's it's great that you're coming back and trying to do something for our community and we appreciate it. And we thank Preston also for keeping you in mind and keeping you involved and recruiting you. So thank you for that. Thank. With no further questions, Christie. This is on the motion to approve ordinance 3111. Councilor McClure yes. Councilor Mattis. Yes. Counselor. Harris. Yes, counselor.

Bencomo. Yes. And counselor. Koran. Yes. Counselor. Munoz. Yes. Mayor. Yes.

8.4 Council. Build number 26020. Ordinance number 3112. To approve second. Ready? Yes. Go ahead. Jen.

Good afternoon. Mayor. Members of Council Jan Lauterbach with Housing and Neighborhood Services. The ordinance proposed allows for the land disposition to new wind incorporated for affordable housing development. The property. The now vacant parcel, located at 705 Fifth Street, was acquired by the Nuisance Abatement Team, which was formed to identify vacant, abandoned and unsafe properties, and the Nuisance Abatement team worked with the property owners to bring those deficiencies up, up to code. In instances where the properties could not be brought back up to code, the parcels were abated and foreclosed upon. The proposed ordinance is for the donation of the property to New Wind, Inc. doing business as cross town ministries for the development of support centered housing for women. The deed will contain a reversionary clause that ensures that affordable housing will be constructed on site. New Wind Inc. is currently working with Housing New Mexico to obtain funding for construction on the property, and they have experience with this type of supportive housing. Currently operating four other properties in the city of Las Cruces. New Ending has been certified as a qualified Grantee under the State of New Mexico's Affordable Housing Act, and the act allows for the donation of property for affordable housing to qualified grantees. The city's staff and city's Affordable Housing committee recommend the donation of the property to new wind, as it supports goals of several city

plans, including realize and elevate Las Cruces. Our consolidated plan, our affordable housing plan and strategic plans. City staff will follow, which is a land use restriction agreement on the property to ensure it remains affordable housing for a minimum period of 15 years. Here's a vicinity map of the property, located on the corner of Fifth and Brownlee Streets, just a few blocks east of Valley Drive. With that, I have your standard Council options and I stand for questions. And we also have members of New Wind Inc in the audience for additional questions.

Thank you. John. Any questions? Seeing. No. Did I want to come up and speak or share anything? I will have them. This is Mr. John Pickett. He's with New Wind Inc. Good afternoon.

Mr. Mayor. Council, it's real privilege for us to stand before you in this opportunity. We have been doing work with transitioning men back from prison for over ten years. Our programing has been this successful. We only have had two men out of 65 who've returned to prison. We're transitioning them with programing that starts in the prison and then continues as they come out. The Department of Corrections called us and asked us if we would consider a women's house, and we said, we've really wanted to do that. And with their encouragement, I went to Rose Garcia, and I'm very thankful to Rose because she told me what to do. And and we followed her example. And so we're we we've been to the MFA. They have preliminary preliminarily approved half $1 million for this project. We have a contractor, Randy farmer, who you probably know, who is donating all of his his time and material. He's gotten several that have come along to donate to us, and we think we have it covered now. And if worst case scenario, if something crops up that we don't know about first American Bank has already guaranteed us a loan to finish the project. So we're ready to go. And this will be a Department of Corrections, new wind partnership for women returning from prison. Any other questions you have?

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. All right. Christine. This is on the motion to approve ordinance 3112 Councilor McClure. Yes, councilor Mattis. Yes. Councilor Harris. Yes. Councilman. Campbell. Yes. Councilor. Koran. Yes. Councilor Munoz. Yes.

Mayor. Yes. That says five Councilor number 26021. Ordinance number 3113. Thank you. Jan. Good day. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Hold on. Oh, no. Sorry. Move to approve. Second. You're good. Don't worry. We got you. Don't worry. Don't be scared. Okay. Go.

Good afternoon, Mayor and city council. Oh my gosh. Good afternoon, Mayor and councilors. My name is Hilda Reyes. I'm with Housing and Neighborhood Services. I am presenting an ordinance to authorize the donation of four city owned vacant parcels to the Seoul Housing Corporation for their use in affordable housing. The donation chemical properties were among those acquired through the Nat process. Due to their deteriorated conditions. All the parcels are ready for housing developments. The city will file a land use restriction agreement on the property to ensure it remains affordable housing. The ordinance before you today is to donate the listed properties to Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation for the construction of affordable housing. These include the parcels located at 1240 North Neil Street and 1040 North Campbell Street. The 1240 North Neal Street property was acquired in May of 2020. The city platted the original parcel 0.33 acre parcel into three lots, and each parcel is .11 of an acre. On the right side of the slide is a diagram of the replat, showing how the single property was transformed into three lots. The new addresses are 1262, 1252 and 1242 North Neal Street. Here you can see an example of a conceptual floor plan for the type of house that could be developed on these lots. The conceptual home is designed as a three bedroom, two bath home with a garage. The vicinity map shows the location of the three properties parcels in the surrounding neighborhood on the corner of Poplar and Neal. Here

is the parcel at 1040 North Campbell Street. This property was acquired in May of 2019. It is approximately 0.15 of an acre. The aerial photo outlines the parcel and the drawing show a possible floor plan for a family home with three bedrooms, two baths and a garage. This map highlights the Campbell parcel within the neighborhood, giving a clear view of the lots position, and it is near the Las Cruces Police Department. Land disposition is allowed under the act to. Heather Sol is a qualified grantee and is also a designated community Housing Development organization. This position is recommended by the Affordable Housing Committee and is in alignment with the city's adopted plans. Before you are your council options and I stand for question also, do I have. The sole staff is also present to answer any additional questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? Yes. No. Good. No. Thank you, thank you for all that you do. Did you want to come up and speak, please?

I just wanted to say something. Rose Garcia here. Thank you. Mayor and Council, this is while it's a small project, it's in the center of the city, the oldest part of the city. And that's a very special neighborhood that we have worked for many years, about 25 houses. So we want to resume the infill lots that you may have. We're not asking for the money. We're asking for your vacant lots that you have in your land trust. And so that's a wonderful opportunity to be able to build homes and offer them to the local neighborhood, especially like the young families that want to live near their parents. And so that's what we're marketing it to. So I really appreciate the Department of Community Development, and the one worked with us very wonderfully on this so that we've been able to identify the lots. These lots are located right behind Saint Genevieve, not Saint Genevieve. It's Our Lady of Health. And then near the police department. So it's a it's a great infill location. But thank you very much.

Thank you. Rose, we appreciate your. Christine. Thank you. This is on the motion to approve ordinance 3113 Councilor McClure. Yes. Councilor. Mattice. Yes. Councilor Harris. Yes. Councilor. Bencomo. Yes. Councilor. Koran. Yes. Councilor Munoz. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Thank you. Have a great day. Next,

I have a motion and a second to reappoint to the a d a committee. Jennifer Beaumont. So moved second. This is on the motion to reappoint Jennifer Dahlgren to the a d a committee councilor McClure. Yes. Councilor Matisse. Yes. Councilor. Harris. Yes. Councilor. Bencomo. Yes. Councilor. Koran. Yes. Councilor. Munoz. Yes. Mayor.

Yes. Notice of proposed ordinances. There are none. So we'll go to city Council member reports and comments. Councilwoman Clark.

Thank you. Mayor, I tend not to do this, but I'm going to read something which is after you listening to me read through seven proclamations. I'm sure you're very excited to do, but I just wanted to read this in its totality, partially because there's always sort of a accusation that we're not doing enough. And I think the slide that had the duck on it earlier was very indicative of kind of the paddling that's happening underneath. And we look like cool, calm ducks up here. But there's a lot going on and not just from us, but also from our staff. More importantly. Let me give you a little bit of context. So I met with myself, Pat Acosta from the Youth Diversion Development, my vice chair, Vanessa Ordonez. And with the big New Mexico Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, they came down to do a tour of all the Continuums. So before our meeting, which I was, I was telling them, we're in a rebuilding phase. I'm inviting people, give us time. We had a really good conversation about where they wanted to go, where the state could go, how they could help. And I very much placed us on. We are willing to do as much as we can in terms of capacity, but here's what we are already doing, and this is what we received. And just bear with me. Dear City of Las Cruces leadership, thank you for hosting us on our recent site visit to Las Cruces to attend your local continuing Board meeting on behalf of the New Mexico Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, we're writing to express our formal and unequivocal support for the City of Las Cruces Youth Development and Diversion Program, administered through the Parks and Recreation Department. This program has established itself as a vital resource for youth and families throughout all of Dona Ana County, reflecting a commitment to community safety, early intervention and the well-being of young people at risk. Over nearly four years, the program has earned statewide

recognition for its community based approach, its responsiveness to youth needs, and its ability to evolve based on data outcomes and local needs assessment. While the Teen Intervention Prevention Program Tipp is one of the most visible and impactful initiatives, it is only one example of the high quality services being provided. Together, these programs create a continuum of care that strengthens protective factors, reduces juvenile justice involvement, and promotes healthier outcomes for youth countywide, the development expansion of the tip illustrate the program's dedication to addressing pressing concerns, particularly violence prevention, including domestic violence. In the past year alone, services have expanded to chaparral, hatch and Anthony have been incorporated into programing at the John Paul Taylor Center and will soon extended the Dona Ana County Juvenile Detention Center. These expansions demonstrate a clear commitment to ensuring equitable access to prevention and diversion services across urban and rural areas alike. We also commend this program's forward looking strategy to pilot a gun violence prevention initiative in fiscal year 27. This effort aligns with statewide juvenile justice priorities and positions Dona Ana County as a leader in proactive research. Informed prevention planning. I've been doing a lot of reading today. Give me a break. Hold on. Central to the program's success is its highly dedicated staff. These professionals regularly work evenings, weekends, and travel throughout the region to meet youth and families where they are. Their intensive case management, consistent follow up and strong relationships with the community partners represent the best practices in diversion and youth development. The commitment demonstrated by this team reflect the very best the City of Las Cruces investment in community programing. Given the breadth of services provided, the scope of the county wide impact and the significant demands placed on staff, the JJC respectfully supports and encourages the City of Las Cruces to consider staffing levels and compensation that appropriate

reflect the programs, responsibilities, workforce requirements and demonstrated outcomes. Ensuring adequate resources will protect the stability programs for our children and families across Dona Ana County, thank you for your continued leadership and for your commitment to supporting effective youth serving programs. We remain available to provide any additional information or support. Sincerely. Thomas was chair of the New Mexico Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, so I would like to give kudos to our staff who do work very hard to make sure that we can do what we can in terms of case management, in terms of reaching our kids. It's hard. It's in the beginning stages, and our next meeting is May 27th, noon at the WIA building. I would like to invite legislators, citizens, concerned people, kids, come on out and join us. There's always free food, and if we have to split a sandwich in half to feed everybody, we will do that. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilmember Council. Thank you. I just want to bring up the possibility of. Some research of. I feel great about the ranked choice voting. Possibly. In Santa Fe and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And, you know, we're going down. And I think that we entertain a resolution and make Cruces. Voting. So if I. On the label plan that in fact happen. Because we always do the same thing that. So. Many of the children. Thank you, thank you, Councilor Harris. Thank you. Mayor. So I.

I would also like to echo support for for our juvenile justice and our youth programs. If we if we don't invest. In our.

The community and try and get ahead of problems, then it's going to be a lot more expensive for us to address programs later. So I'm just. Always thought of prevention. I've also had a few people ask me about our youth council, and I think that is also a very interesting idea. You know, when we're trying to stand up these programs, I think that it's important that we're actually hear from the kids and get their input, get their ideas, and kind of stand up and say, we're going to do all these things. Please come in. And they're like, no, thanks. And so. Yeah, we'll have to get some more similar input for city council or some of our.

Other kinds of things that as, as models for that. Speaking of looking at other things as models and doing. Doing. The same thing that other cities are doing, it's, it's cool for us right now, but it's going to get real hot here soon. And a lot of other cities in the southwest and, and Albuquerque as well have passed ordinances that require certain levels of cooling in housing. And, you know, we've been doing some research internally. That's the lower half of the duck. And I think if.

People have some thoughts on that, something that I'd be very. Interested in championing and pushing forward. That's it. Thanks. Thank you. Council. The evil that lurks in this chamber has nothing today. Thank you. Councilor.

I thought that meant me, so I'm gonna take credit. That's okay. Same. I, I do have something to say, though. I do want to wish all of the Nmsu grads, which I think includes chief story. I'm not sure maybe I'm misremembering. I think I've heard from some folks that their graduate is. Is that true or sorry, all of the people that will be graduating in the next few weeks, regardless of institution. I won't force you to admit that you that it's not Nmsu, but also all of the Nmsu grads specifically. Happy graduation because I don't think we'll meet again before then at DAC grads, folks who are who are achieving all kinds of cool accomplishments, including those not from our our own institution, still respect and appreciation and gratitude for all those folks and their families. Welcome to town and I. Please be safe driving around. They're kind of taking a lot of pictures and around a lot of Las Cruces landmarks. So please be safe as, as graduates are are happily. Around town. Speaking of graduation, I also wanted to appreciate Chief Daniels for for the invitation to the fire department. Graduation. Ascension. What I what's I don't know what it's officially called. I'll call it a graduation pinning the. The folks who graduated were. It was great to see their families and the community support. Mayor told some really great stories in his in his speech, so I really appreciate it. Give me a lot of food for thought. So thanks. Thank you for that, mayor. It was quite moving. The entire evening was quite moving. So thank you for the invitation. And that's it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you counselor. With all. The things my. World and all the challenges we faced, you know, my goals for this this weekend I have the opportunity to attend the Capstone Engineering Award ceremony. And one. Those who put together projects that are really well and will have an impact now, not just. Not.

On our country, but perhaps on the found. It is great to see that there will. Be an. Report card. Gave herself together to recognize those students within. Alumni and also. Selfishly, maybe even.

Recruiting them to stay in our community. So I enjoyed that. Very enjoyed city staff was able to attend because also this weekend will be able to. Survey or say that, sorry, my wife calls me right now. Wonderful. Nonsense thing. I saw this. Was a few folks who have helped build and asked where we can bring them to smile and have a. Enjoy and have a great time. We greet you in our. Our. Worship service that afternoon. Everyone that is available for everyone. And so who did just. Amazingly, it was just a wonderful event and. I, I, I really got in, I was a little bit intimidated by some of the things that was going on. Very, very talented dancers were being done probably 80.

Or 90 years. So fantastic. Fantastic. Also. Wanted to pause for a moment to talk about. John Ryder, who, who passed, who was a member of of. City family. During the campaign trail.

I had some very direct questions for him, and we had continuous discussion. Later on, he was able to make time for me. And when I heard I understand perspective because he was a very knowledgeable about. Some of the issues were I had to make sure I understood everything from from. Past time and. To barricades to voting systems, just to a number of issues. So. Even our politics.

And policy. But if I was thinking about coffee. Have a coffee shop and I would say that it touches down. I don't know how. Like. But I enjoyed those conversations and, and the way that I has been reported that he was a friend. Thank you mayor.

Thank you mayor. We will. Congratulations to Chief Daniels and the fire Department on their 39th graduation Academy class. And now a multitude of gratitude towards individuals such as Mr. Olaya, that we want to go forward, that wants to give back to the community. And on Friday, I was also invited to read a proclamation at the baseball field at Nmsu while Mike and Judy Johnson donors contributed to the stadium. And now it's the Johnson Stadium. It's still Presley Askew Field, but it's Johnson Stadium. They do renovations and donated for the seats, the dugouts, the turf on the fields and just made it a spectacular place to enjoy baseball. But it takes a lot of work that went back to the community. And we have so many that do that. And I just want to say, I appreciate everyone that goes to Las Cruces in our community. And with that, I'll turn it over.

Thank you. Mayor Enriquez, City Manager, just a brief update. There was a a public comment. Share today about Casa del Sol, Avenida Blanco, and I just wanted to share an update. We are currently working with the surety company and the bonding process. A contractor was not fulfilling their end of the deal. And so we're working through a process and that does take time. But currently here is what's happening. Street crew Street crew will be removing the construction rock entrances, at the entrances, at milling, and compact them in place for covered surface for improved access. This will begin later this week. If. If not now, I'm hearing later this week, now or tomorrow. So it is happening at this time. So hopefully by next public comment we will see the improved access. So I just wanted to give an update on that. And again this is a temporary measure until we can figure out everything with the bonding company so that we can keep these contractors doing what they're supposed to, or if not, they're going to have to pay. Additionally, I appreciate Councilor Mattis sharing about looking into the ranked choice, voting and repealing. Just wanted to share that. I hear you if Council if that is something that council is interested in, just need consensus and then we can bring that to, to us as, as a body, just let us know. Mayor and mayor Pro Tem Council, thank you for your time.

Okay, with that motion to adjourn. Move to adjourn. Second. This is on the motion to adjourn the meeting. Councilor McClure. Yes. Councilor Mattis. Yes. Councilor Harris. Yes. Councilor. Bencomo. Yes. Councilor. Koran. Yes. Councilor Munoz. Yes. Mayor. Yes.