Council - Regular Meeting

Three minutes.

One minute.

Your life.

Well, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to City Council meeting. Today is Monday, September 21st, 2026. It's approximately 1 p.m. I am Mayor Eric Enriquez. Before we start, I want to mention that we, do we have the ASL? Not here today. Usually we have the American Sign Language up front. I don't see them here today. If you all rise and please join me, and we'll start with a moment of silence for the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces as they protect our interests around the globe, as well as the courageous men and women of the Las Cruces Police and the Las Cruces Fire Department as they keep our city safe 24-7, 365. Councilor Curran, if you'll lead us in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, Alright, thank you for that. We'll start out with some presentations and proclamations. We're going to start out with the Veterans Parade poster winners. The Veterans Parade has been going on since 1995. It will be held on November 7, 2026, in the city of Las Cruces downtown. I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS BEEN COORDINATING THIS PARADE SINCE 1995. HE WAS AT THE TIME WITH THE NATIONAL GUARD. HE WAS ACTIVE WITH THE NATIONAL GUARD, RETIRED FROM THE NATIONAL GUARD, WAS SERGEANT MASTER, MAJOR WITH THE NATIONAL GUARD, AND HAS BEEN COORDINATING, ORGANIZING THIS PARADE SINCE 1995. I WANT YOU ALL TO GIVE A BIG HAND FOR BILL HAWKINS.

Mayor Enriquez, city council members, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I'm Bill Hawkins, the committee chair for the Veterans Day Parade, which will take place on Saturday, November 7th at 11 a.m. The Las Cruces Veterans Parade began 31 years ago in 1995 as the brainchild of Colonel retired Fred Frank. Throughout the years, with the support of the city of Las Cruces, we have published a poster to announce the date, time, and location of the parade. After years of utilizing the artwork provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, we decided to hold a contest with the middle school students of Las Cruces to produce a more personalized announcement for our parade, as well as to encourage our local youth to learn about the role of our local veterans in the history of our country. Our first contest was in 2015. The response was so positive that we decided to make this an annual event. This year, our theme is honoring 250 years of military service to our nation. Today's presentation is to announce the top four local artists and reward them for their efforts. We judged approximately 30 submissions from Mesa, Picacho, and Camino Real middle schools. After careful consideration, the top four artists are, in alphabetical order, Ximena Del Valle. Ximena. Next is Ariella Lopez. And then Brendan Peterson. And Chloe Sensei. Now for the awards. This year's fourth place finalist is Brendan Peterson, and he will receive a $20 prize. Third place receiving a $30 prize is Ximena Dalval. Second place, who is receiving a $40 prize, is Mason Middle School's Ariella Lopez. And the winner of the 2026 Veterans Parade Poster Contest is Chloe Sensei, who is in Mr. Valdez's art class. She is from Mason Middle School and is receiving a $50 prize, a framed copy of the Veterans Parade poster, and she will also have the opportunity to be in the parade in recognition of her contribution to the parade. Let's give them all a round of applause one more time. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THIS YEAR'S CONTEST, SUPERINTENDENT REESE, JOSEPH FLORES, DIRECTOR OF FINE ARTS FOR THE LAS CRUCES PUBLIC SCHOOLS, J.R. TURNER, MIKE CANO, TIM CHAPEL, AND BRIAN MAURO, WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE VETERANS PARADE COMMITTEE, AND MAYOR HENRIQUEZ AND THE LAS CRUCES CITY COUNCIL FOR ALLOWING US TO RECOGNIZE THESE STUDENTS. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, AND PLEASE JOIN US ON NOVEMBER 7TH FOR THE 2026 VETERANS PARADE. THANK YOU. And parents, if you want to come up and get a quick photo, now's the time.

Do you want a photo?

I hate teachers.

I'm not teachers.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Again, thank you to our students, to their parents. Thank you, Bill Hawkins and all the members of the parade committee that do this. I just want to mention that, you know, things that happen in Las Cruces, you know, for our veterans is that first and foremost, our park, our veterans park is a tremendous place, a safe place for our veterans to go to have events and to have healing. The parade is another avenue that allows veterans to heal during that time. And we ask members of the public to join and share in that healing process that our veterans go through. The other one is coming up this Friday. Honor Flight takes veterans to Washington, D.C. so that they can come back and we can welcome them in the community. So it'll be September 26, Friday. At 6 p.m., it'll be at Memorial Medical Center. We'll welcome our veterans when they come back. And I invite you all to attend that. It's a great healing process for veterans. And thank you, community, and thank you, all our council and everyone that supports our veterans here in this community. Thank you all. Thank you again, Bill. Next we have the mayor's top teens. It's my honor to introduce them as the mayor's top teen. They'll come up and introduce themselves to the public. But this is a great opportunity for our students that are going through high school that are excelling in academics and activities and also have gone through some form of adversity already in their young lives and able to cope and overachieve those. They have done essays, interviews, and have been selected. This year, I believe we have 28 individuals that will represent the mayor's top team. I also asked Councilor Bill Matisse, who was the mayor at the time that started this, and see if he wants to say a few words before we call everybody up.

He knows I love a microphone. No, I just want to say congratulations to the top teams, but it's quite an honor to have started this back in 2007 and to see the legacy and how it's grown and how it's been supported by all the councils and the mayors, but I want to assure you that the City of Las Cruces not only pays attention to the top teens, but our agency, our city, is trying to pay great attention to all teens. We're creating some great programs in the library, with the collaboration of Las Cruces Public Schools, the Dona Ana Branch, our after-school programs. So it's all teens that we love, but we especially are honored to have your presence here today as the top teens. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Matisse, thank you for that and for having that vision of what we can do for our youth and we'll continue to do the things for our youth and to maintain that legacy that you began. And with that, I'd like to invite the President of the Mayor's Top Team. Can you come up? Ronnie Medina and Vice President. Rudy Torres. This can't be done just by a couple of individuals. It's a program that there's sponsors in the community, volunteers and staff from different organizations that are also here. And so, I'm sorry, Veronica Medina, I call her Ronnie. But Ronnie, if you wanna say a few words.

I'm a little short. Good afternoon, everybody. As the mayor said, I am the president of the top teens. I have been here since the beginning, so 2007. Don't mention the years. Yeah, I did already. And I've been one of the advocates for the children. My business is a school bus driver, so you know I love children. Also, there's my vice president. I'd like to introduce to him. He's the photo guy who takes the pictures of the children. And we have a magazine out there that shows you the picture of the kids and what they're planning on doing. So without a doubt, I would like to introduce my top teens for this year, our 20th anniversary. And here you are. And come up front one by one.

Yeah.

Hi, my name is Oliverio Acevedo. I attend Las Cruces High School, and I'm planning to go to UNM to either study marketing or business management.

Good afternoon. My name is Troy Ainsworth. I attend Oregon Mountain High School, and I plan to attend Yale University to study in the theater or the arts.

Good afternoon. My name is Samantha Birch. I go to Oregon Mountain High School, and I'm planning to go to UNM to study kinesiology.

Good afternoon. My name is James Castrillon. I'm currently wanting to go to NMSU, become a commission as an officer as an intelligence analyst, while also pursuing my degree in computer engineering. Thank you.

Good afternoon. I'm Giovanni Chaparro from Centennial High School. I'm planning to go to NMSU to study electrical engineering space systems.

Good afternoon. My name is Alessio Cisneros. I go to Las Cruces High School. I'm planning on studying mechanical engineering.

Good afternoon. I'm Avery Connor. I go to Mayfield High School, and as of right now, I plan to go to NMSU to study history.

Hello, everyone. My name is Braden Gonzalez. I go to Centennial High School, and I aspire to become a physician, either going to UNM or going to NMSU to become a veterinarian.

Good afternoon. My name is Kayla Harris, and I currently attend Arrowhead Park Early College High School and want to attend UNM for architecture.

Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Andrew Adnubis. I go to Oregon Mount High School, and I plan on going to Texas Tech University to study or a minor in political science and then also in nursing.

Hello, my name is Enrique Herrera. I go to Mayfield High School. I plan to get my PhD in physics. I plan to get my master's in earth space. Oh my god. Earth and space science, and I want to get a bachelor's in biology.

Good afternoon. My name is Gia Jimenez. I attend Oregon Mountain High School, and I plan on going to UNM to study sonography. Good afternoon my name is Annie Lee. I attend Centennial High School and I plan on going to school and studying clinical psychiatry.

Good afternoon my name is Madison Leonard. I attend Arrowhead Park Early College High School and I plan to go to school to study medicine.

Good afternoon I'm Julia Lopez from Mayfield High School and I plan to go to school to study accounting.

Hi, my name is Brody McCann. I go to Mayfield High School, and I plan on going to school for public safety.

Good afternoon. My name is Madeline McKenna. I attend Las Cruces High School, and I plan on studying biochemistry.

Good afternoon. My name's Eli Nordsworthy. I go to Mayfield High School, and I'm planning to go to OSU to study ranch management.

My name is Samantha Aranda, and I go to Arrowhead Park Early College High School, and I plan to go to NMSU and study animal science.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Isaiah Alex Paz, and I want to attend NMSU to study kinesiology.

Hello, everyone. My name is Jaylene Ponce, and I'm going to play softball at NMSU, and I plan on studying kinesiology.

Good afternoon, my name is Olivia Reyes and I plan to go to NMSU to study kinesiology.

Good afternoon, my name is Elizabeth Scott and I'm from Oregon Mountain High School and I plan to go to NMSU to study mechanical engineering.

Good afternoon. My name is Carson Stewart, and I go to Arrowhead Park Early College High School. I plan on attending NMSU to pursue my degree in software engineering.

Good afternoon. My name is Melanie Trevino, and I have already been accepted to the kinesiology program at NMSU, and I plan to get my master's in kinesiology.

Good afternoon, I'm Gabriella Venegas and I attend Oregon Mountain High School and I plan on attending Texas Tech in the future to study speech pathology.

Oh, you want a photo?

Yeah. Oh, boy. The mayor does. You can get him.

Do you have a wide enough angle?

This is how you look from here. A little bit more guys on the outside.

Well, again, thank you all. And I just wanted to present this year's mayor's top teens. I'd like to say what a beautiful future. Thank you all.

We're up now. OK. Got it. All right. Next up, we'll welcome up all the younger kids here for International Walk to School Week. Come on up. I know there are lots of you here. Come on up. You can just come. All of you. Yes. They want to bring the teens. Oh, the top teens, come back. Top teens, come back and go this way. Or this way? This way. Top teens, come up. Top teens this way.

Walk to school right here in front of the blue thing. You're good.

Good job. This way. You're good. You guys are good.

Teens, top teens this way.

Secret passage. Uh-huh, there you go, you're good. Keep it, you guys are good. Awesome. you got this um Okay, we're ready. Whereas International Walk to School Day is celebrated globally to encourage children and families to embrace walking and bicycling as a way to promote physical activity, reduce traffic congestion, and enhance community connections. And whereas walking and bicycling to school can improve the health and well-being of students, offering them an opportunity to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines, thereby helping to combat childhood obesity and related health issues, and whereas International Walk to School Day provides an opportunity for parents, teachers, and community leaders to work together to create safer routes for walking and bicycling, addressing safety concerns, and promoting an active lifestyle. and whereas the City of Las Cruces is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all children and recognizes the importance of safe, accessible walking and bicycling routes to school as a priority for the community, and whereas participation in International Walk to School Day encourages a sense of community and shared purpose, fostering relationships among students, families, and neighbors, And whereas the events align with the county's goals of promoting sustainable transportation, reducing traffic congestion, and improving air quality, thereby contributing to a healthier and more environmentally friendly community. Now, therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim September 29th through October 2nd as International Walk to School Days in the City of Las Cruces and encourage all citizens to consider the benefits of walking and bicycling, to participate in the events and to support efforts to create a safer and more accessible routes for our children to travel to and from school. So now I think we have some speakers lined up. You ready? Okay, here you go.

Just say your name and then... My name is Iris Martinez and I like watching the store.

My name is Azariah Rodriguez and I like to walk to school. My name is Ethan Cardillo and I like to walk to school.

My name is Daniel Garcia and I like to walk to school because whenever we get there, we get to play at the park.

I like to walk to school because whenever it's time to go outside, we go up.

My name is Genesis Espinosa and I like walking to school because I get to see my friends and teachers. My name is Isabelle Montoya. I like walking to school because you get exercise and you always get to see your friends. My name is Adrian Gomez and I like to go walk to school. My name is Angel Garcia King and I like to walk to school because it's fun. Hi, my name is and I like playing in park and I like to walk in the school.

Hi, my name is and I like to walk to school because they allow to be helpful.

My name is Alejandro Garcia and I like to walk to school because I get little charms. My name is Beverly Montoya and I like walking to school because I get to walk my dog too. My name is Calliope Rodriguez, and I like to walk to school. Hi, my name is Desiree Acosta, and I like to walk to school.

What about you? Do you want to say something? Do you want to be up here? There. That one's easier to reach. Yeah? This one?

My name is and I like to walk to school because we get to play on the park and we get to get exercises.

My name is Jeannie Apkiss and I'm privileged to be one of the walk leaders for this great group. These kids come out every Friday morning. They get up early. They come to the park to walk with us. They create like this family community. It's been amazing to walk with them. I also wanted to thank the city of Las Cruces for supporting our programs and for walking with us and for just being a really great partner to us. Thank you.

Hi, everyone. My name is . I'm a PhD student at NMSU. I volunteer with the school program, and I enjoy working with the kids. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, City Council, members of the public. My name is Ashley Curry. I'm the Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Las Cruces Public Schools. And we're honored to get to have these amazing kids with us from Booker T. Washington today. But just to also let you know that we have 24 elementary schools that walk to school. Three of those are monthly and the other 21 walk every single week, rain or shine. The only time we cancel is if there's lightning. So I just want you to see this is a very important representation, but a small fraction of the kids that are walking to school. I also want to just make sure that you all received our invitations to come and join us for International Walk to School Day. That starts next week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I think I sent everybody the list. If you didn't receive it and want it, please reach out. SRTS, Safe Routes to School, at lcps.net. Same for members of the public. If you're interested in walking and participating, let us know. It's a really fun event. And again, I would just like to echo what Jeannie said of just thank you for your support. You're great partners. We love what's happening with active transportation in the community. There's a lot of forward movement with getting this community friendly for bicycles and for pedestrians and really for our most important pedestrians. As you heard, most of these kiddos say how much they like to walk to school. We want them to be able to walk for the rest of their lives and be safe in our community. So thank you again for your support.

Thank you.

All right. One, two, three.

Next up we have Hispanic Heritage Month, and I know we have some folks from the chamber here. Come on up, please. And anyone else here for Hispanic Heritage Month? Whereas Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for our nation to honor the many contributions, histories, and cultural legacies of Hispanic and Latino communities whose roots run deep in the soil of this region long before there were borders. And whereas in Las Cruces and throughout southern New Mexico, Hispanic heritage is the living heartbeat of our neighborhoods, our families, our traditions, and our shared identity. and whereas the people of this region have carried forward a legacy of resilience, faith, creativity, courage, building communities, defending civil rights, enriching our arts, strengthening our economy, and shaping the cultural fabric of New Mexico and the United States. And, whereas, we honor the generations who came before us, the farm workers who labored under the desert sun, the mothers and fathers who were already here and those who crossed borders seeking opportunity, the doctors, the entrepreneurs, the educators, and the advocates who fought for equity, the artists, the storytellers, the cultural bearers who preserved our language, music, and history. And, whereas, Hispanic contributions to the fabric of our society are profound and enduring. From Joseph Marion Hernandez, the first Hispanic member of the US Congress in 1822, to Vicente Guerrero, the first Afro-Mexican president of Mexico in 1829, from Colonel Sidney M. Gutierrez, NASA astronaut and leader in aerospace exploration, to Dolores Huerta, New Mexico-born labor and civil rights icon, to Soledad Chavez de Chacón, the first Hispanic woman elected to statewide office in the United States and who was appointed acting governor of New Mexico. And whereas Hispanic heritage is not only a celebration of the past, but a commitment to the future for uplifting our youth, expanding educational opportunities, strengthening civic participation, and ensuring every family can thrive with dignity and hope. And whereas the city of Las Cruces stands proud in its identity as a place where cultures blend, languages meet, and traditions flourish, reminding us that diversity is not a challenge to be managed, nor a burden to be tolerated, but rather our greatest strength. Now, therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and call upon all residents to celebrate the stories, achievements, and enduring spirit of the Hispanic and Latino community, past, present, and future.

uh everybody here members of the city council members of the community members of our city department who keep us safe and keep the city running thank you very much so today's more more than just a proclamation It's about being present in your community. And Las Cruces is a bastion for our comunidad and everything we do. So everything that Councilwoman mentioned, we have here standing before you. They serve the community. They market the community, community health. They serve the community in Nopalitos. There's more deals I've seen go down in Nopalitos than in Las Vegas. And it's a good thing, right? And that's one of the, like our tables, our kitchen tables at home, it's a center of the universe, right? Roadrunner Food Bank serves the community. Richard Aguilar has been serving the community doing taxes and religious service. Maria Lupe Hernandez with Powerhouse Diva, representation for our women in our community, a huge voice. Efrain and Roadrunner Food Bank serving the most needy and marginalized communities in the 10 southern counties in New Mexico, right? And David at Mountain View with Community Health, Miguel and with the storytelling. So everything that was described here, we have at the Chamber and in our greater community in Las Cruces. So we're very proud of this. And just keep in mind the events that we do, the Dia de los Muertos, the Pachanga, we're bringing back the Mariachi Conference and those things that represent our community that keep it vibrant and make Las Cruces the destination to be raza and to build community for whoever decides to come here. So thank you again. Richard, I don't know if you've got a couple words. Si quieres, okay. So thank you again.

Good afternoon, everybody. I'll keep it brief. I trimmed it down to about an hour or so. No, I'm just kidding. I turned to look at the mayor, and he's looking at me like, really, seriously? No, just a few words. Again, my name is Richard Aguilar with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I want to thank Mayor, Mayor Pro Temp, City Council, City of Las Cruces for the proclamation in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. On behalf of the Las Cruces Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, we're deeply honored to accept the proclamation recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month here in Las Cruces and also throughout southern New Mexico. This month is a time to celebrate the vibrant cultures, rich histories, and enduring contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities. not just across the nation, but right here in our own neighborhood. From small business owners and educators to artists, healthcare workers, civic leaders, Hispanic Americans have helped shape the very fabric of our region with resilience, creativity, and heart. We are proud to stand alongside the City of Las Cruces in recognizing the importance of this heritage. The Chamber remains committed to empowering Hispanic entrepreneurs, advocating for equitable opportunities, and fostering a spirit of unity and collaboration across all communities. Let this proclamation serve not only as a celebration, but as a call to action to continue uplifting voices, honoring traditions, and building bridges that strengthen our shared future. Thank you to City of Las Cruces, City Council, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, community leaders, and all those who've made this recognition possible. Juntos somos más fuertes. Together, we are stronger. Once again, gracias, thank you, and may this month be filled with pride, reflection, and inspiration. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up we have Seniors and Community Day. Folks, I'm not sure who is here to represent Seniors and Community Day. Serving Seniors of Southern New Mexico. All right, come on up. Sorry, I realized maybe I'd... We're just gonna ask you if you walk to city council today and you're gonna have to give a little testimonial about why. It's okay, it's okay, don't worry. Whereas senior adults are valued members of our community whose experience, contributions, and continued well-being enrich the lives of Las Cruces and southern New Mexico. And whereas many older adults and their caregivers experience financial and practical barriers when essential services, supplies, medical equipment, and other forms of assistance are not fully covered by insurance or public programs. AND WHEREAS THESE BARRIERS CAN AFFECT THE SENIOR ADULT'S LIFE, HEALTH, SAFETY, DIGNITY, AND INDEPENDENCE, AND THEIR ABILITY TO REMAIN CONNECTED TO FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. SERVING SENIORS OF SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO WAS FOUNDED IN 2023 AFTER RECOGNIZING UNMET NEEDS EXPERIENCED BY PATIENTS, FAMILIES, AND CAREGIVERS THROUGHOUT THE REGION. And whereas the mission of Serving Seniors of Southern New Mexico is to provide support services and equipment to our parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, families, and caregivers in need to improve their health and quality of life. And whereas the organization helps address needs that may include transportation, food, durable medical equipment, caregiver and respite services, home modifications, hearing aids, medical alert systems, nutrition and wound care supplies, and other essential resources. And whereas, Serving Seniors of Southern New Mexico demonstrates dedication to compassionate care, commitment to improving seniors' quality of life, and a culture of collaboration and philanthropy guided by high ethical standards. And whereas, the organization brings together healthcare professionals, community leaders, first responders, social services organizations, businesses, volunteers, donors, and advocates in support of older adults and those who care for them. And whereas the city of Las Cruces recognizes that supporting older adults and caregivers strengthens families, neighborhoods, and the community as a whole, and most importantly, our being there for them as they have been for us for so many years. Now we... the mayor and city council of las cruces new mexico do hereby recognize serving seniors of southern new mexico for its commitment to improving the health dignity independence and quality of life of older adults and caregivers throughout our community and proclaim friday september 18th 2026 as serving seniors of southern new mexico community day and remind residents to learn more about support and attend the annual charity golf tournament that happened last weekend at the golf course which I hope you will tell us about. On behalf of mayor and city council, please.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council, all of you that are in attendance today. My name is Tara Winter. I'm the President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico. We are the fiscal home for the Southwest Center on Aging and Friends Golf Tournament. This is our eighth year doing the tournament, and really this is a part of Dr. Duran's legacy and history here in the Las Cruces area. We've been really proud to be a part of the golf tournament. We have been able to raise a lot of money for our seniors. But one of the things that we decided to do a couple years ago in 2023 was to connect serving seniors of Southern New Mexico. So this gives us the opportunity to not only do the golf tournament, but to have other donors connect with us so we can serve seniors in southern New Mexico. We have anything from social workers from our local hospitals, the rehab facility put in grant applications for seniors that may need a piece of medical equipment or something at their home so they can go home safely. to also supporting grants throughout Southern New Mexico. So this year we awarded $58,000 to partners throughout Southern New Mexico. This includes our New Mexico ramps program where we're gonna be getting 43 people off of a waiting list. um that need a ramp here in the community and throughout the county we're also supporting casa de peregrinos with senior food boxes adelante for warm hot meals throughout the county we're actually supporting others in luna county and sierra county as well and because of that support we're able to serve our seniors more and more each and every day So we just want to thank everybody for being supportive. These are some of our committee members over here. So David Almagor. David actually is the person who runs the committee and keeps us all in check. So we appreciate David and his time. And Matt, that's from electronic caregiver, who's also part of our committee. But I'll let Dr. Duran come up and speak.

Thank you. Well, Mr. Major, Major Pro Team, and members of the Council, good evening. My name is Dr. Jesus Duran, and on behalf of serving seniors of Southern New Mexico and all the members of the committee, thank you for the proclamation. It is a true honor. We founded Serving Seniors in 2023 because I saw in my own patients struggling to get support, services, and equipment they needed. Too often the limits of federal insurance and state assistance leave our older adults with nowhere to turn. Our mission was simple, improve the quality of life of older adults in southern New Mexico. None of this would be possible without the generosity of the community. Thank you to everyone who has supported over the years, including joining us last September 18, our charity golf tournament. If you couldn't attend, you know, we can still help, you know, not only attending next year, but also, you know, you can always, any contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference for the seniors here at Las Cruces. You can also visit our website to ServingSeniorsNM.com, where you can learn more, donate, and apply for assistance. Thank you very much, and let's celebrate aging together. Muchas gracias.

Thank you. Next up, I think someone from utilities is here. It has an award presentation. Oh, you guys are on your way. All right. I have no notes so let's just do this.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Las Cruces City Council, Joaquin Murillo, Deputy Director of Wastewater. I'm here to present a recent award that was given to the Utilities Wastewater Department. The Office of the Secretary of War, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, also known as ESGR, recently stopped by the Jacob Hands Wastewater Treatment Facility to recognize the administrative staff with this award for providing support during Mr. Errol Lockett's recent deployment. Mr. Errol Lockett is a heavy equipment operator within the wastewater department and a critical member of the team. At this moment, I would also like to thank his coworkers, specifically Julian Morales and Johnny Rubio, for always being team players and ensuring workflow during his deployment. At this moment, if you could join me in giving Mr. Errol Lockett a round of applause for his safe return on his most recent deployment. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, city council members, thank you. The reason for these awards and why I selected them is because they held my job down here. And I was stationed on the Horn of Africa and Djibouti, the country was named Djibouti, Africa. I was at Camp Lemonnier. We were also part and stationed in Kenya and in Somalia. And in the first time in 14 years, New Mexico National Guard led the charge in going into Uganda. While I was there in Camp Lemonier, I kind of nerded out a little bit because, as you know, I'm a heavy equipment operator. And they have a fully functional water plant and wastewater plant. The water plant is only about 4,500 gallons per day. And they have one standing tower. and four other ground tanks. And I kept bugging my battalion commander. I was like, sir, sir, you've got to get me into this. You've got to give me a tour there. You've got to give me a tour there. He's like, why? I was like, it's my bread and butter back home. This is what I do. So he got me the approval. I got the tour. We went on the little water plant, which is cool. Then we went over to the wastewater plant. And my tour guide, he asked me, he's like, you're the first guy that's ever done this. Why? Why did you ever want to? I was like, I work for the city of Las Cruces and I'm a heavy equipment operator. I do this every day. This is my bread and butter. He's like, well, what kind of plant do you have there? We have a plant that serves over 13.5 million gallons per day, he's like. That much? I'm like, yeah, that's basically what we do. And he's like, what do you do there? I turn our sludge into compost, and we give it out to the community for free. And that's what I do day in, day out. I drive this semi truck, the dump trucks, everything, heavy equipment, that's me. And that's my partners. And this award was just a little something that I could do to tell these guys, thank you for holding my job down. Thank you for my coworkers for picking up the slack while I was gone. And because of that, I can't tell you how much proud I am for being an American and bringing a New Mexican. Because what I saw out there, we are so blessed to be in this country. So blessed. What I did as a thank you for my tour guide, my old uniform, I have the utilities patch that I took off, had these guys sign it, had my coworkers sign it, and I went up to him and I was like, Mr. Youssef, as a part of the City of Las Cruces Utilities, I want to thank you for giving me that tour. Here's a piece of us, and you always have a home in Las Cruces if you ever come down. And so a little piece of Las Cruces is still in the Horn of Africa right now. So thank you.

I think that's it. Next up, our pets of the week. I don't see Jasmine here, actually. I'm not sure. Oh, hey, sorry. Come on.

We need a microphone.

Mandy, we need a microphone.

All right. Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council, and city leadership. My name is Jasmine Urena, and I am the interim digital content specialist of the Animal Services Center of the Museo Valley. It's coming over here. Our pets of the week from September 20th to the 26th are Pickles. He is a one-year-old neutered male who is playful, friendly, and very loving. He takes treats gently and has been at the shelter for 102 days. We also have Moose. He is a one-year-old neutered male who is friendly, sweet, and loves being around others. He gets along well with his kennel mates and enjoys having a little company. Both Pets of the Week are available with no adoption fee. As with all of our adoptable animals, they are sterilized, microchipped, and receive appropriate vaccines for their age. I would like to highlight a few adoptable animals that are also looking for their forever homes. We have Hot Dog, Maggie, Augumon, and Elsa. For dogs, their adoption fee is $100. And then for our cats, we have Bluebell, Barbara, Tula, and Tabby. We have many more available for adoption, so we encourage the community to stop by the Animal Services Center during adoption hours or visit our website, ASCMV.org, to see who is currently available, including animals in foster care. So we are focusing on our long-term residents and helping shine a little more attention on the animals who have been waiting the longest for their forever homes. And we have Maui here that has been with us for 281 days. And then we have Bonnie that's been with us for 251 days. And then we also have Maddox has been with us for 195 days. And Noelle, she has been with us for 192 days. And these are our community events for the rest of the month of September. We will be at the Farmer's Market on the 23rd, PetSmart on the 26th, and Farmer's Market on the 30th. We hope to see members of the community come out and support us. For anyone interested in adopting, fostering, volunteering, or simply learning more about animal services, please visit our website at ASCMV.org. And I've also included our social media platforms, so please follow us for updates, adoptable animals, events, and more. Thank you.

The mic is back.

All right, thank you. Thank you, Jasmine. Next is conflict of interest. Does any member of the city council, city manager, or any member of the city staff have any known conflict of interest with any item on the agenda?

No.

None. None.

None. No conflict.

Next, we'll go to public participation. We'll allow up to three minutes. No pending litigations or item on the non-consent. And Katrina will usher you to the microphone. Thank you.

mayor mayor pro tem folks here today those watching online i'm lynn moorer the people have scored a big win after 21 months of urging las cruces utilities to comply with the lead and copper rule inspect all mobile home piping and include that information in the city inventory and on the map a utility staffer finally acknowledged at the last meeting that those mobile home service lines should have been included it's not reassuring however that a consultant told them this rather than the director instructing that this required activity be carried out to serve all the citizens of las cruces there's no excuse for the director failing to check for clarification once we brought this legal requirement to her attention more than a year ago it appears that she stuck with her incorrect plan because she has a dim view of legal requirements and it's not reassuring that the staff are merely said that the upcoming that the updated inventory will include locations within mobile home parks. He did not say all mobile homes will be included. They absolutely must be. Many deficiencies persist like utilities inadequate meter box inspection technique that other cities are using the same technique and the state and EPA know about this is not dispositive. What the staffer didn't acknowledge is that other cities use additional techniques also. It's just the beginning of a process. Plus, competent utilities know that it's rarely necessary to dig up an entire yard to inspect pipes. They dig little trenches or potholes along the service line, which most property owners will allow, or they shoot a camera up the pipe. The responsibility is to find all the lead pipes. They won't if they don't use competent techniques. People who heard the staffer's explanation why the department has stopped doing inspections have said, what? That makes no sense. I agree. Utilities has a mandate to find all the lead and galvanized piping, then compile an accurate inventory of that information. Based on that, pipe replacement must be done. the inventory cannot be accurate or complete without the inspections which ferret out where the lead and galvanized piping is now is the time to do this key work involving thousands of water lines across the city there's no way that utilities can claim the updated inventory due in november 2027 is credible if they don't get busy and inspect all properties starting with disadvantaged ones IT'S AN ABDICATION OF LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY IF THE DIRECTOR DEFERS TO A CONSULTANT WHO IMPRUTENTLY SAYS HER INSPECTORS DON'T NEED TO INSPECT NOW. COUNSELOR BINCOMO AGAIN DEMONSTRATES CONFUSION, THIS TIME AS TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL CRITICISM WHICH CALLS FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AND A PERSONAL ATTACK. A personal attack would be if we criticize the utilities director's hair color, the timbre of her voice, or her word pronunciation, none of which we've done. Criticism of the director's professional performance on the public payroll is entirely permissible, indeed a duty by watchful ratepayers who are paying her generous salary. Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

Mayor, City Council, I'm Liz Rodriguez-Johnson. We citizens have been closely watching the Utilities Department's performance for 21 months. We again had our findings confirmed that Utilities has not been complying with all legal requirements, but we will keep watching. There are so many deficiencies that continue. Trying to hide behind a consultant's bad advice is both cowardly and unprofessional. It's foolish to incriminate yourself by following any consultant's advice that's plainly at odds with legal requirements. The city has an obligation to comply with all legal requirements, including federal and state laws and regulations, as well as additional legal agreements it has entered. This includes the agreement it signed to obtain $15 million for lead and galvanized pipe replacement. The city can't honestly claim that it need not abide by all the requirements outlined in this additional legal agreement, including prioritizing disadvantaged properties, just because it's not spelled out in the lead and copper rule or any of its progeny. That's disingenuous. The utility director knows they have legal requirements as a result of that agreement that are in addition to the lead and copper rule. We must point out again that the definition of disadvantage should track the federal definition. The definition weighs several factors including property valuations as well as income. The estimated values of the properties the Utilities Department includes in its so-called disadvantage category tells a lot. When it categorizes dozens of properties valued at a million dollars or higher as disadvantaged, this is clear proof that the city is not doing right by truly disadvantaged property owners. It's preposterous for utilities to claim that these multi-million dollar properties are disadvantaged. Yet, utilities department documentation shows that that's what they've done. This is dishonest, this is fraud, because they've not only chosen to do this, this constitutes intent to commit fraud. Bottom line, we want everyone to be taken care of respectfully and compassionately as the law rules and legal requirements required to have truly disadvantaged properties prioritized, to have everyone's tap sampled when they requested, to have test results truthfully reported to them in a timely manner, to have everyone's pipes inspected using competent techniques, to be fully informed right away in English and Spanish as to the findings, to receive truthful information in English and Spanish about financing options if piping needs to be replaced. and to not be ignored or lied to anymore by utilities personnel everyone needs to be taken care of we're gratified when las cruces utilities takes even one hesitating step closer to taking care of everyone even if it took almost two years of alerting them to the problem of mobile homes being ignored to finally acknowledge that what we've been requesting needs to be done thank you

Good afternoon, City Council. Lucas Herndon for the record. I mostly wanted to be up here today and say thank you to this body for the last week of really instructional, really informative information that was provided right here in these chambers. Myself and a lot of the community I spoke to really appreciated being able to attend a work session that was after hours. I will note that I'm approximately five minutes late back from my lunch break as a result of the fact that this meeting takes place during work hours. And has been said many times, that makes it difficult for people to engage and be a part of the process. So I wanted to say thank you for having that opportunity. Additionally, the information presented at Monday's event, which I know was the city work session, but also Thursday's event, which took place here in these chambers, it was full of information, full of experts who were extremely well researched in their fields, with notable results in whichever topic we were talking about, whether that's young people, so-called public safety, housing, whatever the issue was, we were very, very fortunate to get to hear from a variety of people who are experts in those fields. And I think that's exactly what we as a community are asking for. And then the follow up to that is for you as the city council to follow through on their expert, well-researched, validated opinions so that we can continue to move forward and make progress in this community. And so I know that I often get up here with critiques and criticisms, but I did just want to pass along that on behalf of myself and many people who were in attendance at both meetings, really, really excellent. And that's the kind of thing that we love to see, that we love to participate in, and we'd love further opportunities to, again, not only participate in this body in ways and times that are accessible to more people, but to engage with people on that assuming best intentions kind of way, which is to say people who are experts in their field and not necessarily those of us with an opinion. So I do, I'm asking, right, I'm asking you as the city council to listen, to listen to those experts who came forward and provided testimony, listen to those experts who have the research, who have the years of understanding of how certain systems work, because they're gonna be the ones who help us to figure out what the next step is. So thank you again for those opportunities.

Good afternoon. My name is Michelle Johnson and I live in Sonoma Ranch North subdivision. I'm here because the city has been made aware of serious governance and infrastructure issues affecting our subdivision. Yet homeowners continue to be treated as responsible for a municipal storm water system that we do not own. Sonoma Ranch North is not a single subdivision. It is a collection of separate subdivisions governed by separate declarations and developed over time by different developers. Over a 20-year period, the city reviewed and approved declarations, plats, and development filings for each phase. Phase one through four is under the Sonoma Ranch North Subdivision Homeowners Association, yet five was never annexed into our HOA, and the phase five developer was treated as though he had authority to act on the behalf of our association. The Arroyo behind our neighborhood is not owned by Sonoma Ranch North. It is private property owned by Alameda Land. There is no annexation to our HOA. We do not own the Arroyo or the drainage structures. City storm drains run beneath the runoff areas, and the city approved the plats and drainage system. We have documentation showing the city approved multiple phases with infrastructure in the privately owned Alameda Arroyo, despite knowing those easements did not exist. Responsibility was later shifted to the HOA, which spent homeowner funds on drainage work on property it does not own. while the actual Arroyo landowner was never notified and in 2023 requested the structures to be removed, a request the city ignored. The financial impact is significant. A single stormwater repair can cost tens of thousands of dollars and multiple projects is overwhelming our modest HOA. The city has now been presented with plats, CC&R's land records, correspondence, engineering records, video evidence, and ownership documentation. The developer of phase five does not legally represent the HOA. for phase one through four. The city never verified that he had the authority to speak or act on the HOA's behalf. Yet, to this day, the city continues to rely on his claim authority over our HOA and its finances. We are requesting immediate action, ongoing communication, and regular interaction with the city so homeowners know this matter is being actively address until it's fully resolved. This issue must be addressed before additional costs, liabilities, or financial harm are imposed on the homeowners of Sonoma Ranch North. Thank you.

Good afternoon and thank you for your time. I'm Robert Medeiros. I live in Sonoma Ranch North and this is a good follow up. Michelle Johnson addressed this city council about this meeting this past August. Prior to that meeting, she emailed a complete package of information about this topic to each of you. We've since uncovered a lot of other things through records, emails, and so on. On September 7, 2026, our group, consisted about eight of us, had a two hour plus meeting with Mayor Pro Tem John Munoz and Chris Favier to present facts and our concerns. Purpose of that meeting was to get some help from the city in solving a problem that the city, whether in error or intentionally, had a hand in creating. Facts front and center, it's the only way to ever solve any problems and I know this from experience. First, this surfaced when a resident of Purple Sage named David Lynch contacted the city just a few years ago to request an erosion issue to the east outside of his border wall in the Arroyo be corrected. Any work to be done would not have been on his property but on the Arroyo itself. The water causing this was coming from a series of storm drains on Sonoma Ranch Boulevard and North Rise exiting out of a large pipe underneath a rundown next to his home owned by the city of Las Cruces. That rundown is owned by the city of Las Cruces. Note, all development of land right up to phase five of what's referred to as Sonoma Ranch North was reviewed and approved by the city, the city engineer. The city asked the developer to fix the problem. The developer quickly agreed but stated on behalf of the HOA he'll pay for this. So the developer's using HOA funds even though this is an infrastructure issue. This Arroyo is not owned by the developer. It's certainly not HOA common property either. Throughout, there's documented evidence of Michael Kinney, the city's plans review engineer, following up with the developer, written correspondence for updates on repairs. When are you going to do this? When are you going to do this? This was in spite of the fact that a year before, the owner of the property demanded that work on his property cease, and he had written to Steven Pacheco of the city of Las Cruces about this. It's critical that the city understand in trying to get at this, because it is a sticky thing, right? That the HOA, the developer, HOAMCO, which is the administrative company for the HOA, are not one entity. The HOA is the Association of the Residents, the developer is a private entity. I see I've been cut off. I can just tell you it's important you understand this. You've gotta be asking yourself what we want. We want the city to stop this developer from doing any more of this work with HOA funds. We also request a list and details of all conditions that accompany past approvals. We want that, we've requested it before, too. There may be a question if the current condition is the city's responsibility, the developer's responsibility, or both, but one thing's for certain, it is not the homeowners association's responsibility. Thank you. And thank you for the extra time.

Good afternoon, my name is Carrie Medeiros, also a resident of Sonoma Ranch North. I have just a few, very few, very quick added comments, some of them to highlight what was already said, others slightly new. But like Mr. Medeiros, this is my husband, said, we have emails from the city asking the developer of Sonoma Ranch North phase five, to to fix and i air quote for the record i air quoted fix the erosion issue in the arroyo under white sage rundown this is particularly questionable as the city owns that rundown now sonoma ranch north homeowners association phases one through four And there's also one in five. There are other rundowns in those phases that the city expects Mr. Moscato and by association, in our opinion, incorrect association, the HOA to fix even though the city has large storm drains under the rundowns dumping water from city streets into the arroyo causing the erosion. How can the city honestly say this is not the city's responsibility to resolve? Other troubling items were revealed in a city meeting recording from September 30, 2024. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the Arroyo erosion issues along Purple Sage. I think it was entitled Sonoma Ranch North Alameda Arroyo Erosion or something along those lines. During discussions regarding continual approval for phase five, the city engineer stated he knew about the drainage and erosion issues, but did not want to be a stick in the mud, so he didn't block approval. I'm sorry, council, but isn't it the job of the city engineer to bring up problems with drainage? Is that not his job? Did he not fail us all in not voicing his concerns over this? Now at that meeting, while no resolution was determined, the meeting attendees apparently thought the situation was funny as you can visually see on the recording and hear on the recording a number of council people laughing over the situation and the lack of resolution. The residents of Sonoma Ranch North do not find any of this funny. Thank you for your time.

Good afternoon, my name is Michael Mesquiteau. This is the third time that I've come to refute what was said back in April in support of the National Day of Reason, which was, and I quote, our founding fathers identified religion as a threat to liberty, unquote. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. At least 50 of the 55 attendees at the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787 were men of Christian faith. That's 90%. The list I provided contains their names, the states they represented, and their Christian affiliation. It's true our founding fathers would meet in taverns to discuss and debate politics, and many of the ideas discussed came from political philosophers. But there were other sources used during the convention, and the most influential source used was the Bible.

Well, how do you know that, you ask?

Political science professors at the University of Houston spent 10 years analyzing over 15,000 writings and speeches by the founding fathers during the colonial period in order to assess the main sources of inspiration underlying the Constitution. The results of the 1988 study revealed that the Bible was quoted several more times than any other source. The next two closest sources quoted were French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu followed by English philosopher John Locke. Ask yourself if the following quotes from some of our most prominent founding fathers sound like men who believed that religion was a threat to liberty. George Washington, our first president, said in his farewell speech in September of 1796, of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. John Adams, our second president, addressed a militia unit in October 1798, saying, Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Thomas Jefferson, our third president, said in 1774, God who gave us liberty... God gave us life, gave us liberty. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and co-founder of the first American anti-slavery society, said in 1806, the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible. How apropos with all the children that were here earlier. And there are many others I could quote, but I don't have time here. I encourage you to do your own research. I will close with what Ben Franklin said to a lady right after the adjournment of the Constitution who asked, what form of government do we have? His reply, a republic, madam, if you can keep it. Today there are many destructive forces seeking to tear this nation apart, to include some who want to do away with the US Constitution. And I consider efforts to undermine and demean our Judeo-Christian heritage one of them. I submit that this republic will only continue so long as God is recognized as the only reason why it does. It's that simple. Thank you.

Sorry, just one moment. Setting up my camera. Mr. Mayor, City Council, my name is Derek Pacheco. Councilor Bencomo, I appreciate your full attention. Councilor, no, we are undivided, full attention with your eyeballs. So because you keep doing this prep, I'm gonna address the public so that the cameras can catch Councilor Bencomo being disruptive and rude. I'm Derek Pacheco. I represent a new district, District 7. the people's district. We keep going up and addressing these people, and they keep not caring. Now it's Sonoma Ranch, not just Tarek Pacheco. We're all saying the same stuff. You guys laugh at us. You don't take us seriously. We have to beg for over 20 months. to even have you, Mr. Mayor and Ms. Curran, still not listening, you guys just go to the bathroom. After the mayor went to the bathroom, he went outside when Ms. Moore was speaking about how awful you are treating us. Ms. Teeters, thank you for your attention right now. I appreciate a callback regarding the BLM land swap. that you were advising or helping to advise as far as bringing data centers here. So you and Connie and the mayor and IFO, you are all trying to bring Meta here with a BLM land swap to put Meta data center at the ridge above Mesilla. NM Borderplex and Project Jupiter developers are speaking about BLM surrounding the west side of the project and that insulating it for future development. That's disingenuous. If the BLM is willing to swap land for data center development, we have a problem. Deb Haaland, we have a problem. You denounced data center development, but you took in almost 100 grand in donations to your campaign. You graduated the same as some of these counselors from these leadership groups that keep screwing over the people, and you just feel like you can lie about it, just like the rest of the council here. Flock. Lieutenant, I appreciate your video that you posted online, but that was a BS video. You've now siloed the mass surveillance system here in Las Cruces to... basically dumb it down to just 43 ALPR cameras. Except you stop talking about the cameras pointed at children wearing swimsuits at Labs Pool. You stop talking about the Flock Wing Gateway that supports up to 900-plus private feeds into the real-time crime center, all powered by AI. You people need to have a town hall about Flock and mass surveillance here in Las Cruces. or you're going to keep hearing from us more and more. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council. I am Lara Jansen. On a recent Friday, my husband and I noticed the sidewalk in front of our house had buckled. I called the City Code Enforcement Office and gave the information to the nice lady who answered the phone. About 10 minutes later, yes, 10 minutes, a code compliance officer had arrived. He said this was happening all over the city, and this one was a pretty bad one, and he would report it to the city department in charge of the sidewalks. Before 8 a.m. on Monday, a red cone had been placed on the sidewalk along with writing instructions. Now neighbors would know the buckled sidewalk had been reported, walkers would be aware of the hazard, and the repair would be on the list. I'm impressed with the speed of the response by the code enforcement officer and the city sidewalk department, thank you.

Diane Starbuck, for the record. These comments are all kinda hard to follow, but I'm just gonna do my own thing here, except I live in Sonoma Ranch East, too. We have the same developer. There's some issues there. But I did wanna bring something positive today. About a month ago, somebody dumped four five-foot fluorescent lights, fixtures in my neighborhood. I pulled them to the curb and added a bag of litter that I picked up and made a report through Ask Las Cruces app. Within 24 hours, it was gone. So kudos to the city for being on top of that. This app can be used for issues with animals, erosion, graffiti, park maintenance, potholes, weeds, repair of sidewalks, street lights, street signs, traffic signals. I encourage everyone to download this app and use it. Something else I wanted to recommend, I guess. Not the situation, but the place. Three weeks ago, I suffered a cardiac event. My husband and I went to Three Crosses Regional Hospital. I was sedated for three days while the cardiac team worked to fix my wonky heart. When I woke up, I had two cents and an ICD, which stands for implantable cardioverter defibrillator. For short, I just call her Penelope the pacemaker. I believe if it was not for the emergency room staff, cardiac team, and the hospital staff at Three Crosses, I would not be here today. The care I received was always professional, kind, and caring. I also feel privileged that I was able to receive quality health care. But health care should not be a privilege. Health care is a human right. And I appreciate the community members who continue to advocate for better health care in the state of New Mexico. And one last thing, October 3rd is the Gay Pride Parade. The Las Cruces nuns, spelled N-O-N-E-S, will be marching in the parade. We are the ones that when asked to choose a religious affiliation, nothing fits, so we choose none. If this fits you, we invite you to march with us. Even if it doesn't fit you, we invite you to march with us. We will be the turquoise banner that says separation of church and state. The lineup starts at 3 p.m. on Church Street and the parade starts at 4. We have found the parade to be fun, joyful celebration of people loving people. Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

Mayor, Council, my name's Eddie Thomas. Recall the last meeting I called your attention to numerous dilapidated structures like the one directly across the street from here and the old village inn on El Paseo. or the Ten Pin Bowling Alley, which is over 30 years old, which was also the scene of Las Cruz's first mass murder. Go back and view the tape from that meeting. The point I was making is that you have a crime problem that has now metastasized to an appearance problem. This city looks like a war zone in a lot of places. I would not want to move my family here. Although the crime stats are trending down as a credit to Police Chief's story, It is the spectacular and even gruesome nature of some of these crimes. The headless incident at Apodaca Park, the Young Park shooting where 15 kids were shot in addition to the three that were killed, and the man that shot 10 bullets into a truck, risking the life of the driver and his 11-year-old son. When people come visit and see all the boarded up structures, the nearly empty streets, the homeless shuffling on the sidewalks, they quickly pass judgment and decide to move on. Not to mention, the school system is ranked among the lowest in the country. I can't blame anyone for not wanting to raise a family here. Next, there's a lack of any action from the city with regards to infrastructure improvement. I'm talking in particular about the Casas Lindas project, where I was told would include much needed drainage. To date, Calle del Sol is a dirty mosquito infested swamp and my street looks like twin rivers that have turned green with algae. The only place you've done any work on Calle del Sol doesn't include any drainage, at least none that I could see. All they have is loose gravel and a big pond in parts of the road. You can't see the potholes because they're covered by water. What are we paying taxes for? We still have the same potholes we've had for years. I thought the money you took from the Telshore Fund was going to be used for road maintenance. What happened to that? I'd like to see some receipts. Thank you.

Tim Jenkins here. I'm here to address Councilors Bencomo and Karan about the Model City Initiative grant that you refuse to even consider. This is not about personalities. This is not about political parties. It's about responsibility. You have characterized the federal Making America Safe Again initiative as an attempt to bribe local government and undermine trust. and suggest that this grant would flood our streets with weapons of war. This could not be farther from the truth. The sole purpose of these funds was to support public safety. The Department of Justice made nearly $150 million dollars available to our community for law enforcement, recruitment and retention, public safety technology, behavioral health services, victim services, youth crime prevention, and reducing repeat offenders. So I have a simple question. Why would a city committed to public safety refuse to even apply for these funds? Applying for a grant is not surrendering local control. Evaluating a federal grant is not selling out our neighbors as you suggest, Joanna. When you take legitimate public safety resources and portray them as dangerous, you are creating the exact distrust that you claim you are fighting to prevent, Bencomo. You also suggest that these efforts would harm immigrant families and black residents. Where is your proof? These are serious allegations that you use as political talking points that are not supported by any evidence. By you refusing to even participate in this grant, you slam this door shut in everyone's face before the city even had an opportunity to determine what could be accomplished here. Public safety cannot be something we only support when the money comes from a source that Bencomo and Joanna approve of. Our officers don't get to choose which resources are available to them. Our victims don't get to choose which resources are available to them. So why do you sit here and judge what resources to reject? Disagreement is part of democracy, but I ask you to consider this. Perhaps supporting public safety does not require us to agree with Washington. Perhaps supporting our police officers does not require us to abandon compassion. Perhaps protecting immigrant families does not require us to weaken the ability of our law enforcement. The question should be, would these funds make our city safe? Our community deserves answers with results, not empty promises. So let's put this all into perspective here. Our community just lost out on $150 million because of your ideology and your utter hatred for an administration that will not even be in office when these funds become available. The truth is that you two council members are destroying our community, a community that you say you love and support, but your fruit says differently. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves for the destruction of our community, all because of your rotten ideology.

Well, good afternoon. Name's Jim Hurst. When our country was founded in the 1700s, there were a lot of religious questions on the table. One of those religious questions was, does the king have the right to rule by birth? That's not controversial today. It was controversial in 1776, and that's why Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense. And in Common Sense, he spoke of running a government based on reason rather than running a government based on the Bible. And he said the worst possible government was government by birth, government by privilege, a king. You couldn't have a king any more than you could have a royal mathematician by birth. You should be ruled in a country by merit. And in spite of what the Bible says in Romans 13, he said, it's stupid to run a country that way, and we won't run America that way. Later, reflecting on the birth of our nation and rights of man, Paine speaks of government belonging to the living, not the dead. tell me all you want about what our founders said about christianity most of which is cherry picked and i will remind you that most of our founders most of the signers of the declaration were followers they were not leaders the leaders were men like jefferson madison monroe franklin in washington that's why they're called the founders and the other guys are just called the signers Paine spoke in Rights of Man about the right of every generation to choose their own government, to choose their own religion. Edmund Burke argued against Paine and argued against the merits of democracy. And Paine answered him, by saying whatever pledges were made between a previous generation and the king and Christianity and anything else like that is null and void if the proceeding generation chooses to make it so. Government and religion belong to the living, not the dead. Whatever the religious values of the founders were, unless they are what they are now, they mean nothing. We have the right to decide our own religion, our own government, and that's gonna matter this election. Thank you very much.

I'll say my name again, Brother Tommy Stevens. Mr. President, Mr. Governor, Ms. Governor of New Mexico, Mayor, Council, and staff, liberty is not up for debate. Did anybody else learn anything today from the children today when they pledged allegiance to the New Mexico flag? Praise God, I liked it. I'm learning from the children, hallelujah. Gentlemen and ladies, it's in the New Mexico Constitution that the name of our great state will not be changed. Thank you for standing on the New Mexico Constitution. That is not up for debate. It's the master, it's the matter of fact, that same liberty of our founding principles dictated so eloquently by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence and appeal unto the supreme judge of the world 1776 56 sons of liberty signers of declaration were in agreement with the followers the framers of our constitution and bill of rights thank you jim signed in the year of our lord 1787 the same almighty god in the preamble to our new mexico constitution is the same lord jesus christ anno domini 2026 Glory, hallelujah, praise God, amen. The liberty of our great nation is not up for debate. Say his name, Lord Jesus Christ. My Jesus Christ does not bow in Babylon, but it is if not be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Look up, our captain stands in his seven stars with the sword raised and shield defending against the horns of the bull. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. His remnant church of Philadelphia Liberty will ride on the wind and tide. Just like old Noah. No, old Noah. God said Philadelphia Liberty will ride on the wind and the tide. My Philadelphia German heritage denounced their German heritage during World War I and World War II to assimilate unto the liberty of the founding principles of our Constitution Bill of Rights. Go ask Philadelphia Germantown what they gave up for liberty. Go ask Frankenmuth, Michigan what they gave up for liberty. Go ask Fredericksburg, Texas which what they gave up for liberty. And let me say hello to Hermano Tejanos in the Glorias Neamo de Jesucristo. Go ask East Germany what they gave up for liberty. Look up. Christ is the archer, the great archer in the stars. He hath pierced through. the scorpion of sin and death, for the transgressions of us all. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. The same liberty of our great state, New Mexico, is the same liberty of our great country, Constitution, Bill of Rights. I'm almost finished, Mr. Mayor. In the year of our Lord, 2026, this liberty is not up for debate. Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and death. It's not up for debate. I will rejoice in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Thank you.

Next is the acceptance of agenda.

Move to accept the agenda.

Second. This is on the motion to accept the agenda as presented. Councillor McClure? Yes. Councillor Matisse?

Yes.

Councillor Harris? Yes. Councillor Bencomo? Yes. Councillor Curran? Yes. Councillor Munoz?

Yes.

Mayor?

Yes.

First up is item 7.1, resolution number 27-045.

move to approve second

Good afternoon, mayor, counselors, city staff, and community members. My name is Gabriela Prats. I am the city's grant manager in the financial services department. Today I bring before you a resolution to approve a budget adjustment for two grants recently received and awarded to the city. The first grant was awarded to the City Manager's Office Airport Department by the New Mexico Tourism Department in the amount of $1 million for the Sky Fiesta 2026. This year's event will be held on Saturday, October 17th. In addition to the air show, there will be aircraft displays, activities for the entire family, and food and beverage vendors. The second award was also made by the New Mexico Tourism Department, this time to the Keep Las Cruces Beautiful program housed in the Parks and Recreation Department. The award total is $12,030 with a required match of approximately $3,000. The goal of this program is to beautify Las Cruces, reduce litter, abate graffiti, and provide Las Cruces opportunities to beautify their neighborhoods. This volunteer-driven program provides opportunities for young Las Cruces to express their pride in their communities by energizing friends, family, and neighbors to take part in various cleanup events. In partnership with Las Cruces Utilities Solid Waste, Keep Las Cruces Beautiful helps to remove commonly seen environmental hazards such as trash and tires. Here are your council options, and I stand for questions.

Thank you. Councillor Harris?

Thanks, just a quick question. Can you remind me on slide two what the city's match is for the Sky Fiesta, if any?

No, there's none.

All right, thanks.

Sure.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Gabby, thank you, Mayor. Page three, was that a $2,000 match or a $3,000? $3,000. $3,000. Okay. Just wanted to clarify. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Sure.

Councilor Matisse?

Yes, can someone speak or maybe you could tell me or tell us, and you have a match of, let's say, 15,000, is that adequate? I mean, do they use it all? Do they have a deficit?

Yeah, they do use it all. They also have a small amount from the New Mexico Department of Transportation that lead the program, although the legislature did not fund it this year. They did allow us to carry over whatever we had left in the last fiscal year into this year, so they've got an additional 70,000 or so. There's also support for this project in the, or rather the program, in the general fund, because we never get enough funding for it.

I was thinking that was the case, but the additional helps.

Yes, and over the years, the amounts have come down quite markedly.

Yeah, I don't know who's doing the job of the abatement, the graffiti, but I do see less in almost all parts of the city, so thank you to that team.

That's part of that, of this program.

Okay, seeing no other, Christine?

This is on the motion to approve resolution 27-045. Councillor McClure? Yes. Councillor Matisse? Yes. Councillor Harris? Yes. Councillor Bencomo? Yes. Councillor Crand? Yes. Councillor Munoz? Yes. Mayor?

Yes. Next is item 7.2, resolution number 27-046. Move to approve.

Second.

Good afternoon, mayor, city council, staff, and public. My name is Crystal Silva with the Grants Administration Program. Today I am bringing forth a resolution to accept two capital outlay awards from the New Mexico Department of Transportation for the Public Works Department. The city requests funding on an annual basis from the New Mexico State Legislature to implement capital projects. The city was awarded funds in the amount of $1 million from NMDOT for the Angler Road Extension Project. Funding for the project includes the design of Angler Road from Delray Boulevard to Thurman Road, and design of the corridor and beginning of construction for phase one, which will include a section of Delray Boulevard to North Roadrunner Parkway. The city was also awarded funds in the amount of $2,050,000 from the New Mexico Department of Transportation as well towards the Mesa Grande Drive Extension Project. Funding for this project will be used to assist in the construction of the extension from Mesa Central Drive to East Lowman Avenue and the connecting major west-east roadways. Construction will include all roadway, utility, and drainage infrastructure for the entire corridor and major thoroughfare connections. The New Mexico Department of Transportation is the oversight agency for any transportation related projects, and they do require a resolution of acceptance prior to fully executing a grant agreement. Once executed, agreements are then brought back to council for the acceptance into the city's budget. Before you are your council options, and I stand for questions, there is also staff from the Public Works Department that are also available for questions. Thank you.

All right, thank you, Crystal. Councillor Harris.

Thanks. Same question on both items. How much more do we need to complete them, and kind of what's our rough timeline?

Yeah, Mayor, Councillor Harris, for those specifics on the project totals and those details, I would like to defer to Public Works. Mr. Jimmy Moreno, thank you.

Thanks.

Good afternoon mayor counselor Harris for the message on there. That's that's a large project. The entire project is approximately 75Million dollars. We do have 60Million of a federal grant. Those funds will be coming fall of 2028. Currently the project is in design right now. The private developer is designing that. This grant that we have here will help us with, it can help for anything, but we're going to use it for a lot of the management and design overview for this project. For the Engler, we need approximately $26 million total for that project. Phase 1 is somewhere right around $10 million for that phase for its completion. The current funding that we have is approximately $4 million, and that'll get us through the entire design for the entire corridor. and it'll allow us to start construction depending on cost where they come in for that first phase, which is from Delray to Roadrunner. It does include both the intersections, so it'll be a full connectivity there. So timeline on that, we should be getting the design probably the latter of next year for that timeline and then starting probably construction early, either late 2027 or early 2028. Thanks, that's all I got.

Councillor Curran.

Thank you, sorry, thank you. This might be a, I'm not sure whose question this might be, but when we take these, funds for instance for me so grand i i i i know that angler is sort of our own project and we are working on a number of things but i know my second has other uh... parties involved in the planning and implementation of that and a large amount of money that's still outstanding uh... if we accept this money for planning that we have to I guess I have a question about how that relates to what we can actually do without having a larger amount of money available to finish the project. And will it be creating something concrete that we can use whatever the timeline is for raising the other money, I guess is my question.

Mayor, Councillor Curran, that's a good question. The actual federal grant is secured. However, we still need the private developer to put in the match. So that is unknown at this point on how much that will be and what those details are. However, this can be utilized for all construction or anything that's related up to that point. So there's things that we can do with it depending on contingencies that may arise due to funding.

Thank you.

Another question on that, Jimmy, you mentioned you'll receive the funds 2028, the fall of 2028. And then is there a timeline then on when it has to be completed?

So the timeline on that, I'd have to get you the details. I'll have to look at the final details of how long we have to spend that funding. Maybe Crystal has that information.

Alrighty, thank you. So Mayor, I do have for the $60 million amount, those funds, they do expire September 30th of 2033. So they become effective 2028, they do expire 2033.

Okay, thank you. Another question? I think there was someone from the public would like to speak. We'll give you a couple of minutes.

Good afternoon, mayor, council, city staff. My name is George Pearson. The design standards that have recently been adopted by Realize are minimal standards. And this is a large, publicly funded project. We're at 2026 right now, a quarter of the way through the 21st century. We need to be designing 21st century roadways. a roadway that can be used by all users on the road, not just vehicles, but also pedestrians, bicyclists, and make it safe for everyone. Particularly with the Mesa Grande project, To me, it seems like there might be a gap between where the project starts away from US 70 and so that we're gonna have different types of facilities. So we might need to improve the first portion of that. During previous conversations, protected bike lanes have been suggested that would be included in the design so uh... request that that become part that we look at uh... protected intersections where depending on the type of intersections use maybe roundabouts will be appropriate maybe not but there are designs that can make it much more safer for bicyclists and pedestrians at the intersection uh... so As you sit up there, I hope you continue to watch this project and direct that we create a safe roadway that is usable by all users and not just vehicles. Thank you.

Okay, Christine, see no other.

This is on the motion to approve resolution 27-046. Councillor McClure? Yes. Councillor Matisse? Yes. Councillor Harris? Yes. Councillor Bencomo? Yes. Councillor Curran? Yes. Councillor Munoz? Yes. Mayor?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Item 7.3, resolution number 27-047. Move to approve. Second.

Okay. Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. My name is Elizabeth Teeters, and I'm going to be walking you through today the proposed property reinvestment program for metropolitan redevelopment areas, or MRAs. So a little bit of an overview about the program. It encourages private investment within designated MRAs with adopted plans. It supports projects that eliminate or prevent slum and blight. It prioritizes housing, mixed-use development, adaptive reuse, redevelopment of vacant or blighted properties, and catalytic projects. The abatement period can be from seven to 14 years, and this is on incremental property tax. And then the property owners will continue to pay the pre-development property tax during the life of the program. Eligibility for this program is that it has to be in an MRA with an adopted plan. It must further the goals and objectives of the applicable MRA plan. The applicant must have site control. They have to meet the minimum size and community benefit matrix requirements as established in this policy. And project must comply with applicable design standards. So looking at the different criteria for the different projects, housing must have a minimum $1 million in hard construction costs and at least eight additional residential units. A NAP property is eligible. They have to put in at least $25,000 investment and it must bring the property up to compliance. And any commercial or mixed use property has to be at least 4,000 square feet of commercial space created, rehabilitated, or placed into active use. So looking at the community benefit matrix, there are five different categories. Economic impact, which is 50 points. Support for local business is 10 points. Sustainability is 15 points. Place making is 25, which equals 100. And then housing projects have an additional 20 points on top of it. So in order to qualify, you have to, commercial mixed use projects must have at least 50 points, while housing projects must have at least 60. So looking at the abatement terms, so the project is a minimum of seven years abatement, and so these are for projects that meet that minimum requirement, the 50, 60 points. Eight to 13 years is gonna be based on the project's overall public benefit, and the internal MRA committee makes the recommendation. So the committee fills out this matrix, we come up to a consensus together, and then we bring it to council for final decision. 14 years, so the state statute recently changed to allow more than seven years for MRAs. And so 14 year abatements will be for commercial and mixed use projects scoring at least 90 points and housing projects that score at least 110 points. So the idea for these programs is that they will be getting, they will be doing everything we need within these revitalization areas and are meeting all the criteria established within the matrix. The process for this program is going to be that a developer or business owner fills out an intake form. We will then set up a pre-application meeting, and depending on the type of project is who staff will be. It'll definitely be economic and community development. For housing projects, we'll of course have the neighborhood services. Sustainability could be options as well, so we'll play it on a case-by-case basis. And then economic development staff will work with the developer or business owner over the next, however long it takes them, to make sure we get the full application and the supporting documents needed for the entire application process. Staff will review for completeness, and then we will take it to the MRA committee to score the project and make a recommendation. Once a recommendation is made, it will come to city council for approval. We estimate the total timeframe to be three to four months, but it really depends on the back and forth with the business developer and making sure we get all the information we need before we take it to the MRA committee. The lease structure is set up similar to an IRB, so the city will take title to the property during the abatement period, and then the property is leased back to the original owner. The city may subordinate its title position to project lenders, and then the lease may include performance requirements and clawback provisions. Any transfers or assignments must require city's approval, and then at the end of the program, the title returns back to the property owner. And some of the risk and responsibilities is city council approval is not guaranteed. Pre-development and construction costs incurred before approval are at the applicant's risk. Applicant is responsible for coordinating lender, title, and subordination requirements. Applicant must deliver the project and community benefits represented in the application, and loan default, unpaid pilots, unpaid fees, or failure to meet project commitments may result in termination of abatement, which all this will be put into the actual lease with the company developer, whoever we're working on the program with. So that's an overview of the program, and I stand for questions.

Thank you, Elizabeth. Councillor Harris?

Yeah, thanks. I think I'm all for anything we can do to encourage development in the infill. So my question though is how much, so we're only abating the increase in property taxes, so if you were We're not saying that you pay no property taxes. We're saying if the value of the property goes up because of this construction project, that's what we're giving up for a period of time. There is a maximum cap on how much property taxes can increase every year, right? So we're not. I guess the question is, theoretically, what's our maximum cap on what people are getting?

So Mayor, Councillor Harris, I actually did an example and it's all based on the improvements to the property. So just say that somebody's doing a million dollars in improvements to the commercial property and then so that brings the assessed value to about a third of that and then The property tax increase that is abated is about $11,000 per year, and then the city's portion of that is about $3,000. So if you're looking at a seven-year abatement, it'd be about $77,000 with almost $21,000 for the city, and then the 14-year, which is the max, being almost $156,000 with about $42,000. So this is all... calculated prior to any agreements, any decisions that are made. So we will, again, it'll be on a case by case basis, but this is considered and then it's written into the agreement what the expected increment the pay every year and then what they're expected to have as the additional that they will basically be saving because there is a fee established with it as well and the fee is based on those numbers sure so okay so we're so because of the structure the city owns land and so they don't pay any county property taxes they pay any school property taxes we haven't considered that as part of it i would hope that we're not

taking money away from the schools as part of this. I think as the city and the county, like, sure, we can give up our money, but I think we should protect the schools. That's my only comment. Thanks.

Councillor Curran.

Thank you, Elizabeth, and I know that this is a part of a big bunch of work that you've done to understand how the MRA works, how to make business better in these settings, and how to leverage the city's resources to improve these areas, so I really wanna appreciate you. I know that this has been a thing that you've worked really hard on, so thank you for that. And I guess at a very basic level, this is a great incentive for people to improve properties in the areas that we've designated as metropolitan redevelopment areas. I have a question about how, so this sounds like a lot of paperwork and effort that will, if I think about other types of agreements like this, it's an enormous amount of work that folks have to go through. I am curious where that fits into your staff timing, how this fits into MRA funding, which I know it's all a big sort of pot of money that doesn't exist yet that we're taking from. So I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about how the staff and city-related effort associated with this, because I think it's important to note that every time the city does things to reduce paperwork to end users or make business easier, it often makes it harder for us. And I think it's really important to name that as a thing that's coming as a result of this. I don't know if you can talk a little bit about that in the scheme of how the MRAs are a hope that we don't actually have money in right now or we will be getting money in slowly but surely and how we're balancing sort of the effort that we're putting into that and when we might think to start. I'll be really happy when we approve the first one of these, just as a note. Very exciting, but I'm hoping if you can talk a little bit about that.

Yeah, Mayor, Councillor Corran. I'm trying to figure out where I wanna start. So when it comes to the program itself and the importance of MRAs is that, as we all know, that getting the tax increment is gonna take a while. So getting this program in place is one that we can implement immediately without upfront money needed. The fee that I mentioned that is built in, we have talked about it internally, and so if a development goes into an El Paseo, South Solano MRA, the fees will stay within that MRA. so we have like similar to the increment so that it can be used within the mra and so it'll help build up that pot hopefully a little bit faster as for staff timing i'm going to be the one implementing this program so um and uh so because i am the one that built it from the beginning and i'm the one that can help work out the kinks as we get through the first ones it will take significantly staff time significant staff time the first few just because we will be working out these kinks and there are so many departments that will need to be involved in it hopefully once we get our first lease under us the first program we can really start moving a little faster but i would expect like going through the gym magic lita for the first time being a local leader It took a little longer, and it was, I mean, we had a great partner, and that's what we hope to get out of our first one when we do this program. We have been gathering some developers and whatnot we wanna reach out to to see who we can start with to get this going, but it's such a huge benefit. We're just gonna make it work.

Thank you, okay, I just wanna officially acknowledge my gratitude for you for making this happen and understanding how it fits into this big picture and really appreciating your vision on that. Thank you. Thank you.

Council Member Como.

Thanks Mayor, thank you so much Elizabeth. I was also very excited to see this on the agenda and it just feels so innovative and I think it really does so much credit owed to you and to your MRA staff and to so many folks here who have decided that we are committing and investing in redevelopment. And I'm so glad we did that several years ago and finally we're here. I'm curious, Elizabeth, if you have gotten any feedback from any potential users of this program yet.

Mayor, Councillor Bencomo, we have not yet. I know Blair's been doing outreach and kind of testing the waters, but we're waiting to make sure the format that we put it in was adopted before we really started reaching out. But that's gonna be our next step, is we're gonna try to hit the ground running to find somebody.

I love that, and perhaps, I don't know, maybe we can see you back here after you get some feedback from potential end users of this. I'd love to know what people are saying and to like, you know, the bureaucracy of it, of course, but given that it's a big deal sort of tax abatement, I do think it requires you know a strict process but I would love to hear back from you and your team on what you're hearing from folks on the ground once shall this pass today but gosh I just every time we talk about redevelopment I just have to get on my soapbox a little bit because it it it's expensive to ignore and abandon something. And it takes a lot of work to get back to really watering those seeds. And it's not just expensive. It takes a lot of energy and time. And so I just want to give kudos again to all of you who have really committed to these kinds of projects. So thank you very much.

Thank you.

And thank you for the example. I was totally going to ask, can you give me an example? And you already had one prepared. I was ready.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Elizabeth, for working on this. One of the things that I want you to do is look at the three to four month runway. When we're starting up a new business or a new school or a new nonprofit, the expenses are very high at the very beginning. It's a hard entry. And so the sooner we can get to launching, the better, and the higher success rate that entity will have. At the same time, I want to make sure as you're doing that, because I know it's, I'm asking for a, as kids would say, a 6-7, right? It's also important to have quality checks throughout the process to ensure that we're doing things above board and doing things correctly and for the long term. So if you could tackle those two things, I would appreciate it. And thank you to you and to your team for putting this together. We're excited about launching this soon. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, Christine.

This is on the motion to approve resolution 27-047. Councilor McClure? Yes. Councilor Matisse is absent. Councilor Harris? Yes. Councilor Vancomo? Yes. Councilor Curran? Yes. Councilor Munoz? Yes. And Mayor?

Yes. Next is item 7.4, resolution 27-048.

Move to approve.

Second.

All right, good afternoon. Brad Douglas from the legal department. And I'm here to talk to you all about a resolution approving the acceptance of certain parcels of real property. This is all related to ongoing litigation between the city of Las Cruces and Alameda Land Investment Corporation. You might be asking yourselves, why is Brad here? He never asks us to approve settlement agreements in an open meeting. And that's because I'm not asking you to approve a settlement agreement. I'm asking for you pursuant to chapter two, section 1312 of our municipal code to accept or acquire certain parcels of real property. It's a requirement that we do that via council resolution. And so that's why I'm here today. Just a brief background, November 6th of 2006, the city and Alameda entered into an agreement for construction of Rinconada from Northrise all the way to Sonoma Ranch, portions of Sonoma between Highway 70 and Lowman, and South Fork Arroyo, including Arroyo improvements. The agreement provided that Alameda would be responsible for 100% of project costs, including design and construction.

Excuse me.

The agreement also stated that there would be a lien in favor of the city for monies invested by the city. The simple way to think of this is we acted basically as the bank for this rather extensive project. And if complete payment wasn't made by Alameda within 10 years of completion, the entire principal plus interest would be due. We accepted the roadways and drainage systems on August 28th, 2012, making the debt fully due on August 28th of 2022. And Alameda has been in default since that time. On July 25th of last year, we filed a lawsuit here in the Third Judicial District Court for foreclosure of liens, quantum, meruit, and unjust enrichment causes of action. And as of today, the total amount owed to the city is $7,697,746, with interest continuing to accrue at approximately $511 daily. Alameda has reached out to the city and is offering deeds in lieu of foreclosure for certain parcels owned by Alameda Land to settle its debt. I would propose after consultation with various city departments and management to accept parcels one, four, five, six, and seven shown on the next slides with a combined appraised value of $7,912,700. I would also say that that is a conservative estimate as to the valuation of those parcels with the upper end of valuation being around $8.3 million. And as you can see, parcel one, I was going to redo these slides, then I figured out I actually didn't know how to do that, so you're gonna see some old slides with parcels that are not subject to what you would be accepting. Parcel one, here in the North Sonoma Ranch Boulevard area, 6.5368 acres with an appraised value of $1.355 million. Parcels four, five, and six, also in the North Sonoma Ranch Boulevard area. Of course, parcel four, 6.5368 acres, appraised value about $1.2 million. Parcel five, 34, almost 35 acres, with an appraised value of almost $4.2 million. And then parcel six, approximately two acres, a little less, with an appraised value of $465,000. Lastly, parcel seven, which is in the North Sonoma Ranch slash Cuyahitas area, 3.1 acres with an appraised value of around $742,000. Those would be the parcels that we would be accepting if Council so approves to settle Alameda's debt to us. And so that is my recommendation, which would be to accept those parcels, and I stand for questions. Thank you, Brad. Councillor Harris?

Thanks, Mayor and Brad. Just a quick question. This Alameda is the same Alameda that was mentioned previously?

Indeed it is.

I'm so sorry, Brad. Oh, sorry, Mayor.

Councillor McMillan, I didn't know if Harris was done.

Thank you. Can you go back to where you had all of them? One, four, sorry, one, four, the one before this.

Sure.

One, four, five, six, and seven. Yes. Okay, can you go back to the last two? I wanted to sort of see their value. Thank you, you just, I didn't get a chance to write them down. Oh, sorry. That's okay, thank you.

Here, I'll go to one, and I honestly did have the best of intentions when it came to editing these images. I realized pretty quickly that I was very bad at it, and I said, we'll just stick with the original images.

I get you, thank you.

And so those are those valuations, and then there's one more parcel in the Cuyahitas area. And these are somewhat conservative values. These are on the lower end of the appraisals because I wanted to show that even with the conservative valuations, it more than makes us whole for what we're owed. The upper end of the valuations would be around $8.3 million combined for all of these parcels.

Thank you, Brad. Mayor, city manager, I think, I guess I'd like to request that we have somewhat of a plan for how we're gonna make use of this land, right? If we just have it, Is it worth anything if it's just sitting there? And so I guess I would love to see whether we call it a strategic plan or it's just some sort of plan for how we want to strategically use these pieces of land given their value and what they could mean for us. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilor.

Councillor Curran, but first I just want to say, yeah, Councillor Bencomo, you're absolutely right, but in this case, this is the first step, is the debt collection, something that's been owed for a long time, so this is the first step, and then we can move on with strategic steps, absolutely, because we have the Lowman project that's across from Mountain View that already ties into one of those, so a great opportunity for planning there. I'm sorry, Councillor Curran.

No, I just wanted to say thank you for bringing this to a closed session that we had and sharing the information with us. Thank you for, frankly, identifying opportunities for accountability and making sure that we are following up on agreements that we have of the long past. So I just wanna appreciate you for doing that and for following through on this one. I do think it is, telling of the conversation that came in public comment. I think that we are trying to reconcile a long history of conversations actions, transactions about development that have happened in the city's past and I think that we're at this moment where we're trying to reconcile all of those things, leases and deals and land use and a number of things that I think I just want to appreciate that you took this positive action in this case and also that it's complicated long and complicated history that we're we're really trying to get a handle on and thinking about and and just want to acknowledge that in this conversation as well so thank you for bringing it forward and providing us with all the information that we needed in this conversation so thank you thank you counselor

Thank you, Mayor. Brad, thank you for putting this together. One question. On the parcels that we're considering, are there any risks, any maintenance, any liabilities that you are aware of that would kind of negate some of the value of parcels?

Mayor Pro Tem, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, thank you for that question. For the parcels that we would be accepting, not to my knowledge, I know that there were some parcels that had been suggested by the other party in the lawsuit, but in the city's opinion and staff's opinion, there would have been some remediation that would have been required that absolutely could have lessened the value of those parcels. Under this proposal, we would not be accepting any of those.

Thank you, Bradley. Thank you, Mayor.

Mayor. Councillor Matisse, sorry. Thanks. Tell me when the funds are collected, what fund will it go into?

When the funds are collected.

Yeah, when the land is sold, what fund does it go into?

Oh, I see. Mayor, Councillor Matisse, it's my understanding that if these parcels were sold, half of those monies would go into the general fund, I believe, and the other half would go into the affordable housing land bank, I'm pretty sure. Is that what you're referencing?

Yeah, because I'm thinking of bringing an ordinance forward that maybe we could give some of the 50% of the housing maybe for economic development. And so I just needed to assure myself that that's what's happening. Thank you.

Yeah, Brad, if you could go to the slide, I think it's partial three.

slide three mayor no the partial partial number three right so it would be parcel one and that slide and then we have parcels four five and six yeah i was looking at going back to partial three which is the one that ties into the loman project right

Looking at the property across the street of that, would that be something that's available?

The parcel across the street from parcel three, is that what you're referencing, Mayor?

Yes.

Mayor, off the top of my head, I'm not sure, but I can look into that. I don't believe that that parcel is owned by Alameda Lands.

Oh, you're saying that number three is not considered?

No, Mayor. Parcel one. I knew I should have redone these slides. And then four, five, and six. And then parcel seven, which is in the Coyahitas, North Sonoma Ranch area. Right.

Yeah, I was looking at three as being considered. you know, the green color-coded, I thought that was an option. Is that one not? Is there still room to negotiate with some of the other partials for that one? Because that's the one I thought we were looking at tying in with the Lowman project, so it's continuous and would have more value in strategic planning for us.

Mayor, I can certainly, nothing would stop us from continuing to negotiate with Alameda Land, however, in meeting with our land management division and other staff members here at the city, parcel number three did have some remediation concerns.

Mr. Mayor. yes could we hear from that stuff actually because I I sorry it's because we talked about this in closed session and I don't want to divulge anything but could we hear from either utilities or Public Works how much it has cost to remediate the land next door or clean up or the word is not remediate

Yeah, I think it was utilities that handled the majority of that project.

And my apologies to utilities. I did not anticipate that this was going to come up, so.

That's okay. That's okay, Brad. I think the concern with three, though, is that it is next to the portion of the land that we now owned that used to be the landfill, and so cleaning that up cost, you know, serious pennies, so the concern with three, I assume, is that it would cost significantly more to also, and thusly reducing the value of that piece of property.

And that's what I was getting at. Is that something that we can look at? Go ahead, Councillor Kerks.

Like in the future?

Well, that's what the question really is to Brad is, is this set or is this something that you could, I mean, we still want to collect the debt. We want them to agree that they're going to turn over property in lieu of the $7 million that they owe in payment. So is this something that could be also like we can vote on this, but it's a partial that could be negotiated? Or is this like an amendment for this resolution?

Mayor, Council, nothing is set in stone. I'm actually doing this a little bit backward because I'm just now on the first draft of the settlement agreement. but the parcels were parcels that were identified with the assistance of land management. Parcel three, It could still be on the table, but the parcels that we've identified provided the most value when taken together, all of them, because even using the somewhat conservative valuation that I've used today, which is around $7.9 million, it would be more than what we're actually owed. It would demonstrate a small profit. If we were to put parcel number three back in, We could do that, but we would have to rework some of the math, if that makes sense.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor. And I would be in favor of that. It goes back to my earlier question, if some of these parcels had some liabilities with them. And it sounds like this one does. So we need to look at that again. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Councilor Harris.

Yeah, I suppose for the sake of discussion, I'm also in favor of the original list that was presented. Maybe if the opportunity comes up in the future to look at Parcel 3 as another acquisition or there's issues with this developer, clearly, maybe we could look at it then. But I think for now, the original list sounds good to me.

Thank you.

City Manager, you want to say something?

Thank you, Mayor Enriquez, City Council. City Manager, I'd like Chris to come down. And as he's coming down, Chris is in, he's heading the Loman Project. And so when we brought this to Council prior, we had not made much advance. on the Lowman project. And so I just wanted to make sure that if we got to a point where we get to this intersection, this cross section where we either have an opportunity to take advantage of adjacent parcel, I just don't want this opportunity to be missed. here and so we've again through through Chris he's been reaching out to some developments we have 80 acres that we've had meetings with potential master developers who have come into since we've last met that have come into the city we met with them in the conference room or or online these are master developers that have capital in their budget and so when they're looking at getting these 80 acres off the ground and running this is one of the property that they continue to ask about this And it's really just a sliver where the number three is. But if we can create some, and it's not just residential development. When we're looking for a master developer, we're looking for all components of a master use development with commercial, with different types of residential units as well. And so this will look very unique. But I just wanted to make sure that we give council all the information possible before we move forward. Chris, please.

Mr. Mayor, Council, thank you, Akani. So yeah, I have been working with some developers interested in the 84 acres that we have. We originally went out to RFP a few months ago. Did not receive any actual submissions, but a lot of developers had sort of reached out to us after that RFP was over. And one of the questions that has come up is that commercial area that's sort of kind of adjacent to these you know these little shopping centers right here some of this area in here and it's a very intriguing parcel for the purposes of beginning some commercial redevelopment in that area so I think a broader discussion regarding parcel 3 would be beneficial to the you know expanded redevelopment of that East Lomond area so from that perspective I would like to keep that conversation going. Get some more information about parcel three and see regarding potential remediation at this point in time. But I think that's a very critical piece for the city to have as we explore redevelopment of that entire area. And just for some context, that little parcel to the north across the street is going to be currently under redevelopment by private developers as well. So we're starting to see a real uptick in development in this area. So I would highly encourage further discussion of parcel three. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris. And basically, that's what I was saying. If it doesn't change anything other than doing some math, right, Brad? I mean, it can still be explored.

Mayor, council, it could still be explored. And so I'm trying to think of how to do this because my recommendation was to accept parcels one, four, five, six, and seven. Parcel three, I suppose, I suppose we'll have to come back one more time. with regard to a settlement agreement, we could do that in a closed session. And so if council wanted to make an amendment to the resolution to also allow for the acceptance of parcel three.

The clerk, I guess, wants to talk about the process.

Mayor, City Council, I don't think we need to make an amendment, because the specific parcels were not called out in the resolution themselves. So I think we're OK to approve, and then he can go and look at further parcels.

That's true. That is accurate.

Mayor?

Council Member Cohn.

Thank you, I just have a couple other questions before we make any decisions. I'm okay with the initial list you presented as well, Brad. I'm curious if Chris, you, or Brad, or anybody has the current value of three.

Not on this one, I do have it.

You don't have it?

We have one appraisal for three.

And so, Mayor, Council, we typically require two appraisals, and I know that we do have one appraisal for parcel three, but not a second appraisal.

And you don't want to tell us what the first appraisal said? Is that not allowed? Is that taboo?

I don't recall what it is, Councillor.

I think, well, I think that's number one. Number two, Adrienne is here in the audience, and she's saying that cleaning up the Lowman property cost $4.8 million. So I think if we're talking about accountability and what it means for us to get back the 7.6 plus that is owed, to me that is what is, I think these other properties obviously are highly valuable. Like one, for example, and the others are in great locations by the community college. I don't think, moving forward with the list that was presented, by any means I don't think we end up in a worse position. I understand the desire for this place, for this particular location, but I don't think there's any semblance of accountability if we take a piece of property that we're gonna have to spend millions of dollars in potentially cleaning up. So I think for me that's what the red flag is here. $4.8 million. This is a really big red flag.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Okay, so as I understand the resolution, thank you, Mayor, from our city clerk and Brad, accepting the resolution means that... We also discussing the parcels and not the ones as identified necessarily on your presentation, correct? So it could be parcel six or other parcels within the, okay. I mean, I think it's important for taxpayer money that we collect and take care of and settle up this. I also wanna make sure that we do it in the best possible manner that we're not taking risks, we're not spending, you know, devaluing the assets that we're gaining. So, okay, I just wanted that clarification. Thank you, Mayor.

Councilor Harris.

Thanks. I just wanted to add, since it's in my district, I feel I should emphasize that, yeah, three does make a lot of sense from a redevelopment of that parcel area. Perhaps going to be very expensive. So happy to continue that conversation. But again, very expensive. I'm with Brad on making sure that we're made whole in this instance. That's all.

Okay, I think there was maybe some members of the public. Did you want to make a comment? You have to come up to the podium, state your name. I'll give you a couple of minutes.

My name is Michelle Johnson, and I just want to make a couple comments because I don't see our Arroyo parcel in there. It's not ours, but it is not what they're looking to buy. And there's some serious problems there. It's been offered by Alameda Land to the city. And I think you've got several half a million dollar houses, and some of them are in a FEMA zone. And the property doesn't, there's no one that will take it over. And really, the city needs to take this over. They seriously need to look, because it's not on here, what they're proposing. And I've been told, we're not gonna do that, we're not gonna take that land from Chris. But really, this is the only answer at this point, because we can't fund a municipal storm drainage. There's no way, and we don't own the land. It's owned by Alameda. And so I just wanna make that clear. As you talk about this here, I just wonder why that portion of land isn't part of the deal. But I think it's because there's potential litigation from the homeowners that they allowed them to build the houses along this arroyo. Okay, I don't wanna, I just want you to understand, what they're proposing here is not solving our problem. Thank you.

Brad, anything? Oh, yes sir, come on up.

Too bad, limited to three minutes and had the three minute period the crazies had.

I just want to point out, we met- Sorry, you'll have to state your name again for the record. Robert Medeiros, resident of Sonoma Ranch North. We met just a couple of weeks ago with Mayor Pro Tem. and Chris. Chris at that time stated, no interest whatsoever in anything that Custer's own, Alameda Land. No, we don't do it. We don't go to the Arroyos. And now they're ready to go into acquiring property that has cleanup liabilities. I'm hearing appraised value. I think you ought to see certified appraised value. I'm not a real estate expert. I'd say that's overstated. You know, I ran out of time with what I was doing, but one of the things I was saying is this has been in front of a lot of people within the city. We were told it was referred to you, Mr. Douglas, while you smile over here, and we've not heard a thing. So we're hearing the city wants to help us, but when I see dead silence, I don't get the impression that we're being helped. We knew nothing about this and apparently a lot was known about this when we were discussing Alameda land development and where it fits in with this drainage problem. That by the way, you're an attorney, that a for-profit entity is accessing money of a non-profit to make repairs that were never voted on or anything like that. So you should take a renewed interest in what was forwarded to you to look at because this is serious and we're not going away. Thank you.

Anything else, Brett? Anything else that you wanted to add?

Not with regard to any of that, Mayor. We have the resolution on the table. With regard to which parcels that will be accepted, I think we'll be coming back to approve the actual settlement agreement. But voting in the affirmative would actually allow the city to accept parcels from Alameda, if that makes sense.

Okay, thanks, Brad. And again, this is a resolution to collect a debt, and that's what we're trying to do today. More or less, yes. Okay. All right, seeing no other question, Christine?

This is on the motion to accept Resolution 27-048. Councillor McClure? Yes. Councillor Matisse? No. Councillor Harris? Yes. Councillor Bencomo? Yes. Councillor Curran? Yes. Councillor Munoz?

No.

Mayor?

Yes.

Motion passes.

Next on the agenda is the board appointments. This is just to be read into the record. Councilor Munoz reappoints Blanca Scout to the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee. Councilor Munoz appoints Robert Pelton to the Seniors Program Advisory Board. Notice the proposed ordinances. There is one. It's Council Bill Number 27-009, Ordinance Number 3125, an ordinance amending Chapter 16, Article 6 of the Las Cruces Municipal Code. 1997 is amended regarding pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers, junk dealers, and secondhand metal dealers.

Bring it forward.

I'm only here to answer questions, Council.

No questions. I have a question, Mayor.

Oh yeah, Councilor Matisse.

Is this particular to the copper wire that's being stolen or taken from our lighting fixtures?

Mayor, Councilor Matisse, yes it is.

And what other provisions have been made other than an ordinance to try to deter them or catch them or stop them?

Mayor, Councilor Matisse, there are multiple provisions in the ordinance because by targeting the copper thefts, we saw room for improvement in the general article. And so I believe the introduction provided with the ordinance provides more of an overview. To give examples, what this does is it divides, it targets people who buy the regulated materials, so copper wiring for example. Because this is the easiest way to stop the criminal behavior to remove any kind of profit motive that might come out of it. So instead of just trying to catch these people committing theft, which is already legal, we're trying to remove incentives for the business. And the business would be the two new regulated parties, junk dealers, second hand metal dealers. I don't mean to say anything specific about any particular businesses, this is just the only place where it could happen. And so it imposes requirements about tracking who's submitting these materials, not just copper, but other things that are similarly subject to theft in the city a lot. Tracking those materials, tracking who's trying to sell them, trying to get information about them if they represent a business, we call those industrial counts in the. proposed ordinance or if they're by individuals. If it's an individual without a business behind them, it's more likely that it's theft. And so for individuals selling things like copper wiring, we have certain things about how, for example, we can even pay those people. We might extend out. the time for payment, for example, by time to send a check. And that makes it unlikely that people who are interested in a quick score are going to do it. That's just an example. And there's a list of very specific items that simply can't be bought by a junk dealer or a second hand metal dealer. For example, we're all familiar with, I'm forgetting my words, but the things that go in cars, Sorry, just lost my tongue there. That's an example of one of the things that you just cannot buy now as a junk dealer or as a second hand dealer. Unless it's already part of a car, if you're just buying and selling cars, for example. So to answer your question, counselor, a lot of things, and they should be reflected in the red lines and in the packet information. It's not just as simple as adding copper to some pre-existing ordinance.

Okay, in other words, just strengthening on the seller, the broker, the buyer, whereas taking copper wire out of poles is illegal and that's a crime. Exactly. But we're strengthening up the, if there's shops or someone dealing in it, this ordinance will allow better prosecution. Yes. For that entity.

So this also adds two types of enforcement mechanisms. So some of these were already present. For example, you can already have your business license revoked for failing to abide by standard ordinances. But this makes it so that they can be fined, business license can be revoked specifically for this kind of transactional behavior. That's a civil penalty against the business. And then we are creating additional criminal penalties against people who are knowingly participating in this criminal activity as buying this kind of material. Now there's already, like you mentioned, counselor, criminal statutes about receipt of stolen property that are kind of broader or intentional theft is also a crime. But this is particular criminal penalty enforceable in the municipal court where we can make sure that we're seeing enforcement the way we want it to be enforced.

Now, have we reached out, LCPD or the city, like if I was gonna take copper wire and I know this ordinance is happening, I'd take it to Hatch or I'd take it to Sunland Park or I'd take it to El Paso. Have we collaborated with, do those cities have a similar ordinance or if they don't, it's sort of like when you tax building homes in the city and the development fees are too high, they go and build in the county. So has that been addressed or is there some work on notifying the other cities that are close by?

I know that LCPD has done some work on this, Counselor, so I'm going to hand this over to Deputy Chief Sean Mullen to answer that question.

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, Council. Councilor Matisse for the record. Sean Mullen here. Thank you. Specific cities that you mentioned, Hatch, Sunland Park, other areas, we don't have, obviously, any kind of authority or ability to make them change it. We've talked to El Paso and other area partners. They are continuing right now. We're seeing a trend already where stolen copper, we believe, came from the city is being sold in Texas. And unfortunately, there's nothing that we can really do about that other than encourage them to strengthen their own policies and their own ordinances as well. but it is combating it from a criminal standpoint and this is a layered approach that puts responsibility on the business and also a criminal mechanism for failure to comply thank you thank you both okay next on the agenda

Thanks. This is City Council member board reports and comments. I do have to leave. I got another appointment I have to get to. And so I'll turn it over to Mayor Pro Tem. But before I leave, I just want to make, well, kind of a comment or look for support from council. There's an opportunity with Juarez Mexico to become a sister city. And they're looking for our support because what it would take is a binational council meeting. So we would all be in support of. So just looking for some thumbs up that proceed and move forward with looking at Wattis as a sister city and for me it's one of those things that it's not just for economic development but also talking to NMSU for educational opportunities is working with them and students with that sister city MOU and understanding. It just has that ease of entry. So no, just thank you. Thank you for the support. We'll move forward with it. I think they're looking at maybe a meeting in April or May and we'll do that. So with that, I'll turn it over to Mayor Pro Tem and you can finish with the comments. Thank you all.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Safe travels. Councillor McClure.

I'm good, thank you.

Councillor Matiaci.

Good with the assistance city idea of what is.

Councillor Harris.

I just wanted to really quickly echo what Councillor Coren said earlier about we are definitely here trying to not unwind, but deal with a lot of history of problematic things that have happened throughout throughout the city's history, and going forward, I guess specifically with development, that's been one of the topics today, and representing District 3, and we have this huge opportunity with the East Lowman development and a lot of infill, that we do need to be careful and look at new stuff that's being built in a holistic way. I think one of the issues that we're definitely seeing uh... is not development has been evaluated on a case-by-case basis in history and so that often has led to well this development is fine because it's you know less than so many units and then the next one next door is mine because it's under so many units and then by the time you've got an area like well the last person now has to pay for the street light that's required because actually this this thing that we evaluated as four separate You know, 500-unit developments is actually 1,000 units, and now we need all this other infrastructure that was not really thought of because of this parceling out. So anyway, I know that we're dealing with a lot of stuff like that, and I hope that in a few councils' time, they're not also dealing with the same things. That's all I have.

Thanks, Councilor Harris. Councilor Vancomo.

Thank you. Earlier, when the top teens came by, one of the young girls complimented my pants, and so really nothing that happened after that was gonna bring me down. many of you who live with teenage girls it's quite a big deal to get a compliment so sorry everybody but nothing was going to bring me down after that um i do want to give just a quick civic lesson for how things work on the city council there are seven of us nothing happens uh through city council that doesn't have the support of at least four of us so um we'll just leave it at that I wanted to thank Lieutenant Bradley and LCPD for making the Flock Transparency Portal public. However, I was disappointed to not see a couple of items that I would encourage us to include in the Flock Transparency Portal, which include who LCPD, who LCPD is receiving network data from, the number of vehicles detected in the last 30 days. I was under the impression that traffic enforcement is a prohibited use and that was not included on the list. A way to download a file with the searches performed over the last 30 days that omits identifying information. And lastly, I would encourage us to add LCPD's internal policy for the use of ALPRs. I think these are important to consider. I know those are all available through the flock system to include. So I think it's important as Frankly, you know, reasonable concern, public concern grows over Flock as the company, really is really up to us to make sure that what we share to the public is as much as possible, as much as we can, and make it as transparent as possible. So I was disappointed not to see those items and up here petitioning that we do include those as well. And that would be it for me. Mayor Pro Tem, thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Binkle. Councillor Corrine.

Thank you. I also support those added components to the flock portal, which I think are pretty readily available in their possibility list. So thank you for bringing that forward and also to Councillor Harris, who I know is working on additional concerns related to flock and camera surveillance that occurs in our city. So thank you to you both for keeping that torch going. I just wanted to welcome the legislators to town this week who will be here for legislative finance committees. These committees happen all the time. Many city staff are often called to Provide expert witness so that there will be city staff this week talking with our with our legislators and so I really want to appreciate both the legislature as they come and recognize that Las Cruces has some of the most innovative practices in the state and also just generally welcome them to to Las Cruces they come often but But I look forward to seeing folks here this week. So otherwise, oh, I did also want to give a quick shout out to Kit at the front desk at the ASCMV who helped me adopt a new kitten this weekend who is at home, I'm sure, ready for me to give her more snuggle. So I was really happy to... go to the shelter and interact with all the staff there who work really hard. There were like four adoptions while I was just standing there. It was amazing. If you ever need a little bit of an infusion of goodness, go to the shelter on the weekend and watch as people walk away with their new pets. It's delightful. So thanks to Kit who helped me adopt my new cat.

Thank you, Councilor Curran. I want to take this time to thank the staff who helped us launch our after hours or evening work session. It was very well put together. It was well attended. I know that took time away from your families in the evening, so thank you. I know I've received some really positive feedback. overall just from different residents who were able to attend because it was after their work hours. So thank you. The other piece is, thank you Councillor Harris for bringing this up as well. You know, the item that we talked about, I think we've been working on for six years, and so the optics of it, with some of the residents from Sonoma that are upset, is understandable, and I get it. We inherit things, and we just happen to be at that time continuum, where it becomes an issue. And so our task as public servants is to figure out how to remedy or help out with that solution, with that issue, with some solutions or potential way forward. The other piece is also that looking at processes and templates so that in the future, Folks won't have to go through this. There's been a lot of clean up work, a lot of catch up work, which is totally appreciated. I've heard lots of positive feedback on where we are now versus where we were. And so I would say let's just continue to work on process improvement and getting better every day. Sometimes that feedback will be direct, sometimes it'll be harsh. But in any case, I think we can make things better, and I appreciate the work that the team has done so far to get us where we are today. It's an incredible improvement. There'll be some roadway construction that'll be starting up in this next couple of weeks, so please, if you're out there, be patient, slow down. There are employees and contractors working out on the roadways, those employees, those contractors have families at home or loved ones at home or somebody who wants them to come back in one piece. Please slow down and understand that there will be some much needed construction throughout the city. And with that, I would ask that as we're working on that for Parks and Rec and for Public Works, as we look at building out a few things and improving some things that we have, be aware and cognizant of the trees that we have. We have trees that are older, that have been there for a while, that help with our canopy, and if we have the ability to choose of working around those trees, that we do that just to keep those living organisms living for next generations to come. C major to Montpellier.

Thank you, Mayor Patel Munoz City Councilors. He got into my city manager. Just have one announcement and that is these Bruce and Telstra intersection improvements project has started today. So thank you for me. Pretend pointing out. Be careful as you're driving that that will that is proposed and projected to go through summer of 2027. So I ask for your patience and for the community to, as you plan your traffic plans for the rest of the day, we commit to you and the community that we will do our best to give you a heads up of which lanes are closed and which intersections, what part of intersections are closed. There is a phased approach throughout throughout the next 365 days and so as we have that information we'll work with our communication teams and a public works team to make sure that that's out on our website as well so people can just check in on that and see what to expect so no one's caught off by surprise but the contractor on that is a mountain construction that is a cost of three million dollars and that is one that we received some huge grants from NMDOT on that and just wanted to give again a heads up to everyone thank you Mayor Butten

Mayor Pro Tem.

Yes.

If I may, I just want to take this opportunity to thank city manager for showing up Saturday, a day off maybe for you sometimes. But anyway, thank you for showing up to the Creston Drive neighborhood association meeting. Really appreciated that. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Matisse. Right now, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Move to adjourn.

Second.

Christine?

This is on the motion to adjourn the meeting. Councillor McClure? Yes. Councillor Matisse? Yes. Councillor Harris? Yes. Councillor McComal? Yes. Councillor Curran? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem?

Yes.

And Mayor is absent.

We are adjourned. Thanks everyone.