Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody. I'd like to call the regular city council meeting of April 15th, 2026 to order. Mayor David Romero here. Councelor Marvin Martinez present. Councelor Barbara Casey here. Councelor Benito Pacheco present. Councelor David Ulivari here. Thank you Mr. Mayor. We do have a quorum. Arnold Lopez will lead us in the pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Councelor Patrick moment of silence. Let's have a moment of

silence for uh for all that's going on in the world, for all that's going on in our country, for uh the citizens of Las Vegas and their private intentions, and uh just for a better place for us all. Amen.

Mr. Mayor, approval of the agenda. Measure of the council. Mr. Mayor, I move approval of the agenda as presented. Have a motion by councelor Casey. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilman Martinez. All in favor? I. Those oppos.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to public input. We have no public input this evening. Moving on to our mayor's appointments, reports, recognitions, and proclamations. Uh before we start off, I want to first off uh bring up I know we have our cleanup, our river park cleanup, riverwalk cleanup on uh Friday. Myself, Mr. Marcus, and Mr. Haramo did a little video and it really helped. We're going to have uh Las Vegas City Schools, West Las Vegas participating, Highlands University, Luna. So, uh you know, those that are able to uh be present. I think it's going to be a great turnout. I'm going to actually have students from Robertson Bust and everything. So, a lot of positive feedback from that. Thank you, Mr. Marcus and your team. Uh on top of that, I also want to thank uh Mr. City Manager, Mr. Caleb Marcus, Mr. Lucas Marcus, and Miss Amanda uh this week uh yesterday actually. We're able to present uh to West Las Vegas high school students uh and discuss city government. I mean, really, really awesome. I think we use it almost as a recruitment tool for uh employment here in the future. You know, it was awesome to engage with students about city government, how it works, how we operate as a governing board. Uh great great uh great great engagement. Uh with that, I'll go ahead and uh start off. I know I have uh many appointments going on here. I know we went ahead and uh have adopted resolutions pertaining to certain uh committees. Um, so I'll start off.

That's extra.

So I want to go ahead and start off with the appointments of the economic development advisory committee. I know this committee really hasn't uh they met one time and we discussed about getting a a person a full-time person committed to work with this committee. Uh within our budget, we did reorganize and we are going to have an economic development director. Uh so that will be I know the city manager and HR are working on a actual job description for that. So that's coming. So uh I'm recommending uh appointing the whole committee again. They've all I think they're all committee members that will help with economic development. So uh with that I don't know if there's any questions on that specific or I would like to you know possible appoint them

we go through these different committees instead of going through each individual member if possible I think that'd be better. So what's the pleasure of the the governing body for the economic development? Mr. Mayor I move that uh we approve your appointment of the um economic development advisory committee as presented on the agenda. A motion by councelor Casey. Have a second. Second by Councilman Levari. Uh and Miss Cassandra, after we take the vote, could you just for the record? Certainly. Say your name. Thank you. Roll call. Councelor Levi. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes.

Have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor Levati. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. And that would be appointment uh to the economic development advisory committee of Matt Martinez, Michael Kintana, David Valdez, Andrea Encas, Jeff Selman, Dr. Neil Wolf, Dr. Vina Parutia, Dr. Carol Linder, and Helen Valentine. Thank you. If I pronounce those right,

the next appointment that I'm asking for is appointment to planning and zoning. Uh couple of additions here, Mr. uh Alen Serna and Mr. Michael Kintana. Uh they did uh they did uh show interest. Uh we still have one committee uh member that we would have to uh fill. The majority of them were already in place right now and I think we have a good planning and zoning committee. Uh they're asking questions that need to be asked. Uh they understand our ordinances. Uh there's any questions to that gladly answer. Let make make a recommendation for the for the individuals that are listed in the Mr. Mayor. Councilman Martinez,

I'll go ahead and move to uh to approve the planning and zoning commission as presented. Motion by Councilman Martinez. I have a second. Second. Second by Councilman Pacheco. Roll call. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Levi. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Have a motion by councelor Martinez. A second by councelor Pacheco. And that is for the appointment of Mike Sweeney, Andrew Salasad, Oliver Lesbron, Travis Riggginsburg, um Gayen Cerna, Michael Kintana to the planning and zoning commission. Thank you. And I know we have Mr. Michael Kintana here in the audience. So congratulations.

All right. Uh next one, appointment of the uh Lodgers Tax Board. Again, the same individuals. I think we have a a great board. They're asking questions. Uh it's operating good. There was two individuals that uh decided not to serve. So we'll have two openings. I am working with the PIO and I I don't know if it's went out already. It did go out. So uh you know I'll be asking for letters of interest to fulfill you know these committees uh aren't fully aren't fully uh committed. Uh any questions on LED tax work? It's the pleasure of the council. Mr. Mayor, I'll go ahead and I'll go ahead and uh approve the uh the names as presented for lodger tax board.

Second, Mr. Mayor. Motion by Councilman Martinez, second by councelor Case. Roll call. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Lee. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. I have a motion by councelor Martinez, a second by councelor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries to appoint Crew Bakta, Matt Martinez, Elmer Martinez, Tina Clayton to the Lodgers Tax Board. And you have one more.

Uh the final one for for now is I I know that we haven't had a an active even though the committees were supposed to still continue, we haven't really had any participation. Uh so with that I know I only have three members I think and then the ex official members that I'm appointing you know from this governing body uh three members and again you know the the remainder will be filled with those that put their letters of interest uh pretty much continued the same with those that were active. Uh the addition here was has been Miss Christine Dudy uh from West Las Vegas and two two ex official members, Councilman Pacheco and Councilman Martinez. Uh being that I know that uh they've been asking a lot of financial questions. So I thought, you know, having the having them on on this board and having staff present, I think some of the questions can be answered in finance committee and uh get a uh more more things pushed through there. So if there's any questions, uh not my recommendation is to approve the members as recommended.

Mr. Mayor, I move approval of the persons listed for appointment to the finance advisory committee and I know some of these people uh very well and know the quality of their work and so I'm very happy to see their names on there. Thank you. Motion by councelor Casey, second by councilman Leari. Roll call. Councelor Levari. Yes. Councelor Casey, yes. Councelor Bacho, yes. Councelor Martinez, yes. Have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor Levari. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries for the appointment of Dina Minus, Robert Witter, Christine Ludy, councelor Bonita Pocheo as exopicio member, and councelor Marvin Martinez, exopicio member to the finance advisory committee.

Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for my reports and my Thank you, Mr. Mayor, moving on to our counselor's reports. Councilors, I think we'll just start off here, Councilman Martinez, and I'll just go down the line.

Mr. Mayor, I I really don't have anything to report other than a few meetings that that we attended. Other than that, that's pretty much it. I know there's still a lot of moving parts and a lot of things taking place in our community. And um I I do want to I do want to mention one thing or ask of one thing. U if we have the lineup for the vendors for the 4th of July and all that kind of set and of course the uh the applications and so forth for the arenas and I wanted to make sure that we're already concentrating on those things to get those things off and underway. Uh I know that uh the committee's been working on the lineup for the fans entertainment and stuff. So but these items I wanted to ask about.

Mr. N. Mr. Mayor, uh Councilman Martinez, uh I was part of the dialogue today, but I'm going to defer to u Mr. Marquez for for starters and then I might make a few additional comments. But things are progressing. The committee uh met and had a good dialogue and some good debate. Uh but it was all cordial and professional and we have some good outcomes. Mr. Marcus, Mr. Marcus,

Mr. Mark, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Mayor, Mr. Manager, thank you. Uh so yes, we we did have our um we have been having our uh uh events committee meetings on Wednesdays at 8:15 in the morning. We had another productive one today. We've gone through a few uh uh meetings that that you know kicking around some ideas, bringing some some back and forth. We knew that today had to be the finalization so we could try to meet those deadlines. We're coming really close to our Mother's Day event which is May 10th and Friday's al frescos will be starting here pretty quickly as well. So we went through a good one today. Um they they did finalize the fiesta lineup. Uh um you know they they went through it and they were very particular with what we had and and how to put things uh forward. They made some adjustments where needed to be adjusted and like the city manager said, there was some professional dialogue back and forth uh through uh city staff and through the committee. Uh Mr. Dwight Torres, uh the chair handled it very very professionally and uh Mr. uh Cruz as well as Mr. Hon and and April Matias and and um um uh Mrs. Diaz Damian was out there taking care of business for us. They did very well and it seems like we're ready to go. We're locked and loaded for this uh for this event and we're we're excited to get this rolling.

Thank you. Not just not just the fiesta, sir. I want to also mention Father's Day, Mother's Day, Friday's al frescos, everything was set today. So, they they they did a lot of work today. Thank you, sir. Mr. Mayor, if I could one question, Mr. Marcus, did they vote and finalize that lineup? Yes, they voted on it. They voted and finalized it. U they they took a yay and they vote and uh the yays had it. Um, and we'll put those in the minutes and go ahead and distribute them, sir.

Uh, Mr. Mayor, council, the I referred to them today as ambassadors to the fiestas because they truly are dedicated to helping serve in the capacity that they are. And uh, I thought it was a good idea for them to get background on the vendors and just the whole Fiesta process. it doesn't fit within their approval or review process per se, but we uh felt it would be helpful for them to understand the full scope of the fiesta. So, uh vendors is in progress. Um you want to give a little update on that?

Sure. Sure. So, so vendors are a little bit different than than what they have been in years past. Fire codes do change. Uh we have worked with the fire chief closely to make sure that we could get more food vendors within the plaza, the the circle. Uh we're still going to have some vendors that are going to be running down Bridge Street and and believe it or not, some of those vendors came to us and preferred to be uh on on Bridge Street because uh they're a little bit away from the music. They can interact with their customers a little a little more um quieter and and they they they made a good profit. So uh we did work with Fire Chief. Uh so we we do have some food vendors up on top followed by uh regular marketers like t-shirt sellers and u uh ornaments and all that stuff that they do sell at the fiestas in between so that we could squeeze a little bit closer to each other and have a little bit um more food vendors up at top of the in the circle. That was one of the issues that we we did get from last year. So fire chief heard it and and assisted in trying to get that uh taken care of. Um you know and then for the Rainas um you know the way mayor said uh we were out at West Las Vegas uh yesterday uh presenting about city government but we did have a chance to speak with them right before the bell would ring and and we did mention to them about uh uh you know the young ladies coming out and participating in this event and and a lot of times we're wondering did they even know because as soon as we mentioned it there was a lot of uh you know open eyes and then they were they were in awe because they they didn't know that they could have do this and I I'm hoping we get a lot of applicants this here. Amanda's really pushing on that and putting applications together for us. Um, and I I appreciate the work that she's done there. The committee appreciated the work she did and I think uh I think we're going to get a good out outcome uh on this arena stuff and um you know we we got Mr. Hon committee that uh he's he he loves this type of stuff and he's ready to assist us in in in transporting the arenas where we need to get to.

Mr. Mayor, um council, if we could, I'd like to have Amanda if you would come forward. Amanda, uh, I'd like to just, uh, for the public, mayor and council, give a brief snapshot about what's been done relative to outreach to this point and what are we going to be doing going forward uh, through fiestas for information and outreach if you could.

Mr. Mayor, councelor Martinez. Um, so we have moved forward with the um, application as you know for the v for the entertainment. So that's already done. vendors. We're doing one right now, but just more of collective for data of currently of whose vendors there have already been selected. So for next year, we'll go through the same process as we did for entertainment. So that's the plan moving forward. Um, we're also working on doing a postevent um, I guess survey would be the best way to say it. So we can see how we how we how successful we were, you know, when it comes to events, uh, when it comes to music, when it comes to our vendors, do they like the lineup? Do they not like the lineup? Uh, so we're trying to gather more data so that we can improve the process and make it stronger for all of our events, not just for fiestas as well. Um, we have the lineup approved. So, now we can start working on getting that submitted. Um, I started working on the Fiesta guide as well. I've been working with mayor. Um, I'll be touching base with city manager so we can get that collectively done. The goal is to have that printed and completed for Father's Day for distribution. So, we have quotes, we have all that. So, we're we're ready to go with that that section. Um, as far as Reas, the application is ready to go. We had a few little things that needed to be tweaked. I'm going to touch base with city manager in the morning. Once we have that done, I'll be able to submit it right away. So, the goal is tomorrow to get that out. We have the flyer ready, all of that stuff. So, we're going to get pretty heavy on promoting this um over the next couple of days. We really were just waiting on those final approvals to get that going and and moving forward. Mayor Council to Amanda and myself, we do have an idea of making sure that we get enough flyers and getting out to the high schools and uh uh you know getting getting notice out there as much as we

can. Of course, we're going to use our city uh website page as well, which uh we garner a lot of views from that uh that social media page. But we're we're really excited to get it out there to the young ladies so they can see um how much of an honor it is to try to be a fiesta rea princessa as well. and it brings us back to our heritage and they need to start learning more about that so they can uh uh carry it on into the the future.

Mr. Mr. Mayor, Mr. um councelor Martinez. So, what we're going to also do is I'm going to meet with an Raina and we're going to start going to the high schools. Uh we're going to do some video, a little bit of outreach. I might do like a little Q&A where how is it like to be a Rea? What do you do? Why it's important? A little bit of the history. So, you know, just trying to get more engagement out there and show that it's fun. It It's something that you'll remember for the rest of your life. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Councelor Casey.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to just say thank you to so many people that just do wonderful work for our city and I'm I'm so pleased. Um, we have our little libraries that have been placed in eight different uh parks and I have received very wonderful comments from people all over town. One woman approached me last night and she says, "Barbara, I took some of my children's books and put them in there and um I think she took them to Hannah Park, so that one's already filled up. And another one at Truder Park also." So, people are getting excited about this and I really want to thank Amanda, our wonderful PIO, because she wrote just the most awesome uh PSA and um I was just I was I can't even think of the words. It was a wonderful PSA. Thank you so much for the wonderful work that you do. And uh I look forward to reading the PSAs because they are complete and um they are very well done and we have a true professional uh with us and we're very pleased that we have her where she is and hope that she stays forever. I guess you can tell I really like her. Anyway, I also want to thank uh Solid Waste,

Mr. Marquez. Um he always has um he has so much energy and he has so many things going on in in his departments that he oversees and um always he is kind enough to make sure that I know what is happening there and keep me posted on issues that are addressed. And whenever I call him up with uh you know the trash bin fell over or whatever, in like two seconds I already have it picked up and everything's cleaned up. So I really appreciate that. Uh Parks, Mr. Rudolph uh with the assistance of his um co-workers did a wonderful job of putting up our little um libraries all over town and uh people were just like, "What are those guys doing?" And then after they saw the finished product um you know product, they were just so appreciative. Parents are going to be really excited about that. And I just want to, you know, make sure that the people of Las Vegas know that we have a lot of wonderful um community-minded employees that really focus on the things that benefit our community. And I want to thank them all, Mr. Lopez, Adele with, you know, some of the new computer stuff. Um, I'm just I'm blessed to be associated with such wonderful people that we have here. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Councy. Councilman Pacheco.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, not too many updates today. Just uh again, thanks to the uh uh city staff and all our personnel. Uh you're the the wheels that get us a motion. Uh I just want to uh put a reminder out there uh about uh code enforcement and our inventory. If I could get that uh I know we talked at the beginning of the year. I just want to put it out there publicly publicly. Again, I'd like to get a properties and uh an update on our our signage, especially coming into the fiesta season. Again, that's low hanging fruit. Those are things that that are under our control and that we can handle relatively simply. I also want to say, and this is this is no one's fault. It's just a predicament that we're facing as a community. Uh animal control, it has to uh uh we have to have some some priority and focus on that. We have many areas in town that are uh less than ideal when it comes to to uh loose animals, particularly dogs. Uh, and if if I think we we're at the point where we need to really analyze that and consider a a long-term strategy how we how we combat that. I know there's steps in place. Uh, but we're going to have to make some some uh tough decisions before that situation improves itself. That's really all I have. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you to all.

Thank you, Councilman Pekko. Councilman Liari. Sorry, I thought you were good. I'm not here. Mr. Manager, thank you. Staff took care of King Street after I've been there after 70 years. Thank you very much. People are very happy about that. The drainage, the water drain is good. They did a good job. It looks a lot better. It's close to Rodriguez. And people always every time the city or council whatever it takes to do we do something they look at that and they're they're they're proud and I'm proud because I do that and it's a beautiful place close to the mountains real quiet. I want to thank the the staff and the city manager and the council and our capital all that money that came in any staff that was handling that area. Thank you. There's a lot more to be done and we'll work on it. That's what we're here for. Just thanks for everything.

I I do have one, Mr. Mayor. That does uh slip my mind. Uh this last week we had that uh the New Mexico 81 that our gas department participated in. Thank you there, Mr. Marquez. Uh David Marquez. I know the two brothers are sitting there together, but uh uh that was uh three of them. Oh, yeah. Uh but um that was a great event with with the city in collaboration with Highlands. It was a a great way for for our city personnel and their expertise to be on uh showcased. So, um it was it was great overall for for us in terms of collaboration and in terms of uh drawing people to the to the city. I think we had close to 100 people there.

So, thank you.

Thank you. I just want to add real quick uh Mr. Manager and I I know councilman I think pretty much everyone the counselor is here and I I've been thinking about this but it would it be you know to publicly put it out. I know we have these continued nuisance properties that I know that our code enforcement and community development are addressing. But I think in the community, they don't realize some of this uh the work that's being done. So, they see properties that aren't addressed. I think maybe what we might have to do, and I guess council, if you guys might consider, is maybe we put a public dashboard or a public posting and say, "Hey, uh because if you see yourself on the newspaper and you're not addressing your yard, that might be something that might get people moving." And so just kind of an idea counselors as as we move forward. But I do want to address I know uh Mr. Marcus and Mr. Chuck Grego were on the phone earlier with the isotopes. Mr. Marcus, do you mind saying a few words of kind of how that call went and some of the news there?

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. Um we did get on the a phone call from Mr. Dylan. Um I I can't remember his last name, but he he he's the marketing manager for the isotopes in Albuquerque. Um last council session we went ahead and approved uh a purchase to market Las Vegas over there and um tonight will be the night the first night that our videos start rolling. It's pretty much uh telling everybody that this this is the new destination for people to come to and come and look at our events and come and look at our historic buildings. Um they're they're really promoting Las Vegas and and it's exciting. We're hoping to get um somebody to send us a video while they're over there at the game uh with with the with the footage rolling. Um, but there's also, uh, more exciting news. Uh, they gave us an official game for the city of Las Vegas, and it'll be on August 23rd, and believe it or not, it's a Sesame Street night. So, I think so, we'll have the opportunity to be there with all the Sesame Street characters. You know, I got a couple of uh employees that I I want to have a race against some characters, so I'm hoping that uh that they'll participate. Um but uh you know it's it's really exciting because and and even even uh Dylan himself said that this is going to be big for you guys. Uh they get so many people over there. Um and and there's also going to be um an employee picnic that can be had over there and that'll get into discussions with city manager on that. So we could go ahead and and and do that the proper way uh to make sure that uh that we're there uh professionally and doing what we're supposed to do there as far as marketing our community. Uh, but yeah, I'm super excited for it. And mayor, if you have anything else to add,

not that specific game. I guess the giveaway is bucket hats and the city logo will be on those bucket hats, which is big. So, yeah. Mayor, Mr. Manager, uh, maybe we can come up with a project where we, uh, have nominations for which Sesame Street character best is represented at the city. Uh, I got a few nominations uh, for for Oscars that I've heard about. Um and maybe Snuffalophagus Elmo imaginary uh friend but uh anyway exciting. Thank you.

Very very exciting. Thank you mayor and and uh and city council and and and Mr. Manager for allowing us the opportunity to do this. I think next year I think we want to try to hit it up a lot earlier, get a better package for us and and something better to uh pro to promote the city of Las Vegas. And just with that every pitching change that happens is when the video will be played. So, I mean, that's that's a lot of play. So, yeah. Thank you,

Mr. City Manager. What are we doing with the unwanted cars and and uh what are we doing with the unsafe properties that all all over town? I know that they're they're not doing too much with it and they're just the cars are all over the place and they're pack all over the place. So, I'm insane if you guys are working on it. Your point for working on it.

Absolutely. uh mayor counselor. In fact, uh uh not only as code enforcement working on it, but the mayor and I had a a discussion uh with the judge today. Um Mr. Marquez has also been working on potential ordinance modifications to strengthen up the teeth associated in our ordinances uh so that we have a little more latitude to uh uphold people to those fees. Uh we're also incorporating the work of uh our chief of police uh Mr. Mr. Marcus in that as well. So, uh, loud and clear. I hear you, Councilman Olabati, and we're absolutely working on it to improve and fix those issues. Thank you, Mr. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Cassandra.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our finance report. We have our finance director, Mr. Morris Madrid.

Good evening, Mr. Madrid.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I have a lot to report this evening. So, uh with your permission, I'll just give you a summary on the the numbers themselves. They are falling within line. We always have some timing differences in our revenues or our expenses, but um they are all coming in within our projections. The only uh one that I see is coming in lower is both water and wastewater and that's consumption. That's not necessarily revenue collection. It is consumption. It's just been lower. But uh in comparing uh revenues to expenditures, they are within a reasonable amount because we do depend on our reserves somewhat until the end of June. So in general our finances are going along as we expected. We are saving some money in the general fund. Uh that will be addressed uh during current year budget preparation or future year budget preparation your uh retreat and within the department head meetings themselves. Where we stand right now is uh we're preparing for year end in the finance department. We're in April. We usually send out a memo the beginning of May, stop spending unless it's critical. We want to wrap up our purchase orders and incumbrances, get our payments in prior to the budget deadline, and make sure that we fall within our budget projections. That's we don't have any major issues there at all. We will probably bring a final budget adjustment to you to make sure that all funds are within the resources that we had planned. But uh we don't see any issues

at all. Our uh our general fund revenues, our lodgers tax revenues, uh they continue to climb. Um, that's one thing that I'll be addressing this year in in in the general fund budget is that while we are still climbing, we may reach a plateau as FEMA money starts running out. So, we'll need to be a little bit more conservative. And uh I, you know, I want to let you all know that openly since now uh that and and in that regard, I'm talking about recurring expenses. In non-recurring expenses, we can still plan for and include major projects and initiatives from the department heads, from you all, from the manager. Those can all be considered still. It's just that we don't want to create a recurring budget that we can't sustain. So, we'll be a little bit more careful about that. In regard to that, I've sent out the worksheets for the general fund to the department heads. uh they're working on those tomorrow and the next day I'll be sending out the worksheets for enterprise funds and special revenue funds so that next week I can start meeting with the department heads and the manager and go over the initial draft of the budgets uh when that's complete and thank you mayor and and and all of the finance committee members uh this will be something that will be taken to the finance committee and they'll be included in the process. This will also be something that will incorporate the wishes of the governing body as you formulate your priorities at at uh the retreat that you'll be having. We'll take all of those things and prepare a final budget in in cooperation with the manager, the finance committee, and the

governing body. And we'll we'll do a draft before the deadline so that we can make any revisions uh way before the deadline. Our deadline for submitting the U interim budget is May 31st. We anticipate having a good budget way before that for your consideration. That's usually a special meeting. Uh the other thing that I want to mention in in regard to that is um the process will be about the same as last year except we will uh last year uh you didn't have a retreat. So we'll have more input from the governing body and uh we anticipate a lot more discussion and uh not necessarily policym but direction from the finance committee and uh I'm glad we're going to have more participation from the governing body there. The other thing that I want to mention is uh before I forget I wrote a note with your permission Mr. Mayor, I'd like to ask ask councelor Casey if you got your report on payables this month.

Yes.

Okay, good. Cuz I forgot. Um the other thing that I want to mention is next week we will be bringing next next meeting we'll be bringing forth for your approval the acceptance of our fiscical year 25 audit report. It's already a public document. we just couldn't get the uh auditor to come to tonight's meeting. So, that'll be scheduled for next meeting. And uh I won't go over it now, but I think you'll be pleased with the results. Uh one more thing I want to mention is that uh now that customer service is part of finance, we've been having some meetings dealing with issues there. one of them because the meter readers and and some of the service involves the meters themselves for water and gas. Uh we're beginning some discussions with with both uh uh Travis Martinez and and David Marquez and the rest of the staff. Uh we're anticipating some funding for meter replacement and we want to do a coordinated effort for gas and water hopefully at the same time and address uh slow or non-moving meters throughout because that it's a revenue issue uh for the city. So you'll see some planning in the in the next couple of months related to that and hopefully that'll become a major project that the majority of gets funded externally. Um that's about it. I stand for any questions.

I'm sure there's any questions in the budget.

I have a kind of a backwards question sort of. Um I was seeing um that the prices for enrolling children at the rec center for the summer program. Um I guess two things. One, I'm concerned because I'm concerned about people who want to maybe have more than one child participate and that could be kind of expensive. And then the other is um will this help so that we don't have to be transferring funds into the rec center budget from other uh line items in and the budget?

Will what help counselor increase uh the enrollment for the summer program? It'll help some but it it is not a it's not a fix. No. Okay. Okay. Mr. Mayor, I I just wanted to ask, you know, with the prices of fuel and everything that's going on, how is that affecting the budget as far as pickup or, you know, trash services? I mean, everything it's going to affect it does affect everything that takes place within, you know, within our community. So what

it's an impact and in the in the general fund not as much because we do have savings in most departments in our enterprise funds in uh especially in in water and solid waste. It's an impact that uh that we're going to feel and we just have to cover from other areas mainly line item transfers where we've saved money. We're going to have to put it there.

Okay. I just wanted to bring it up because I know that you know people everywhere are you know being affected by it and you know price of f food fuel everything that's going up and continues to rise because of the ongoing crisis but I mean it's it's understandable and hopefully it'll go down soon but but I know it does it does affect the bottom line definitely it is an impact we're fortunate that it happened this late in in the fiscal year so we can plan for next fiscal year just in case that happens again and and we do have the resources to make it through the end of this fiscal year.

Thank you counselors. Any other questions? Councelor Pacheco. Thank you Mr. Madrid. I appreciate the uh information. I just have uh one question couple questions. So on that line item 4810 which is code enforcement that's the entire budget for uh for that is that the entire budget for that department for the department. Yes. So does that amount include the funds that are that they're allocated to abate nuisance properties? The abatement fund is a separate fund. Okay. This is only for the the staff and regular operations.

How much is our abatement fund? We budget 100,000 normally. I think our balance now is about 30,000 because they have they have done some abatements and and that fund is one that's considered for increase next year. Thank you. Uh the other I just had a a comment on I did review that uh check document that that we all received and if I see that correctly, do we do we cut that many paper checks per month? Yes. So, do we don't do any electronic transfer? We do some if it's uh a large amount and it's upon request.

We've done some for major vendors and for uh the state and federal government. Okay. Just just curious. It seems like electronic transfer is less labor maybe and time, but I don't know. You're you're exactly right, counselor, and and I know the state of New Mexico has moved more towards that. um that's going to be a little bit later in our analysis of of electronic processing. We're going to move to electronic document processing first, but that is a consideration. It's just not immediate, but it is a consideration. Thank you, councelor. Mr. Manager, do you want to

Yeah, just a comment. Um, Mayor Councelor Pacheco uh we recognize we need to upgrade electronic uh across the board and uh Miss Ludy and her team along with all the department heads have been going through a process to uh review software to review lensure to review necessity uh tracking process procedure and so uh we'll we're targeting the start of the fiscal year uh as an opportunity to to start to engage in that at a higher level. But that's something that's been in the work for several months and uh we'll definitely keep you updated. Thank you. Thank you,

Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item. We have our fire chief's report um by our fire chief, Mr. Steven Span. Good morning, Chief. Mayor Council.

Uh, so first I'd like to start off telling you that we had State Fire come out a few weeks ago and do our annual eval which goes through our paperwork files and our trucks and we passed flying colors. That report was sent to the MC manager so they were aware of it as well. So we're doing good as far as state fires. Um, since this is our first report, I started with January 1 up to April 1 to try to catch all up and then it'll be by monthly every time after that. Thank you. So, I can get it up on the screen here.

And I added pictures to make it firefighter friendly. So, okay. So, this is our basic calls of service from January 1st to now. We ran 499 EMS calls. As you can see, that comes out to 94% of our calls within the city. 36 public service calls, eight alarm activation responses, four false alarms, 19 no emergencies canled by dispatch, six outside fires, five structure fires, one special fire, three hazardous situations, non-chemical that could be a power line in the ground or any item like that. seven hazard situations with hazard materials and two hazard situation investigations. Um, and that's basically someone calls in and says they think something's going on, the guys go investigate. No hazard found a total of 590 calls since January 1st. As far as training, the crew's been doing really good. They've done 118 hours of in-house training just since January. They are required to do training every shift. So, usually one to three hours training in a 48 hour period. 10 personnel went to their EMS renewal class, which is a combined total of 340 hours, depending on if they're basic, intermediate, or paramedic, excuse me. Two of our fired, firefighter Freeman and firefighter Barba are in the EMT intermediate class at Santa Fe Community College right now. They should be graduating within the month. And two of our firefighters, firefighter Silva and I'm gonna say it wrong, Mascan Mascarenas, are attending MTB at Luna Community College.

Uh we have 200 hours of training. Just the crews attending the state fire academy which includes hazmat fire one, fire two. Two personnel just completed the fire incident safety officer course which is 20 hours long. Um and our safety officer Mr. Hario actually served as the test proctor. He's now registered as test proctor with them. And we have two that just enrolled in the class as well. Uh departmentwide all the personnel went through their annual refresher wildland uh training arch 130. Total training hours since January 1st is 954. Our staffing currently right now we have 26 uniform personnel, two civilian personnel, one being our admin, the other one being John, our museum operator. Vacancies, we have one fire inspector, four firefighter positions, and one captain. Captain Attentio is retiring within the next two months. So he finally I reached that age. Uh for ear marrow John gives me the update on how many attendants we have and I think you'll actually be surprised. He's open Wednesday through Saturday 11 to 4. And those numbers are pretty impressive. But John is what I call our circus caller like back in the day. He stands outside the doors. Come on in. Come check it out. So in January he had 24 guests. He was open for 30 hours, six days open for that month. He was out on medical for a while during the month. February 116 visitors, 83 hours opened and 14 days open during that month. And then for March, 133 people, 74 hours

open, and 14 days open during that month. With the number ceasing, the ultimate goal is to add more part-time or full-time positions to that museum because for a little museum, it's doing pretty well. Community Connect. This is a program we talked to you last year about our that's on our first do where citizens go and sign up and if we have an emergency call their house, it pops up the information. For instance, if you look at the picture there, that's city hall. That's thanks to uh Mr. Harmo that if we get a call here, that tells us where everything is located in this building. How many people are in here? Fire extinguishers, if there's an alarm system, if there's not. Um, it gets as far as you can put your pets on there. Our house actually has our two Chihuahua and you put a picture so we know what they look like. If they're not in that picture, we know to contact animal control and the dog goes there. Um, any special challenges that a resident may have or any medications, items like that, you can put in here and the only time the crew sees it is if dispatch has a a call at your house. Other than that, the only people who can see it is myself and my admin. And that's because we have to go in and verify geo fencing and that you do live in the city and you're not a county resident. Um, but you got all those items in there and that's about it. I promise the next one we'll have more information, but do you have any questions?

Mr. Councilman. Thank you, Mr. Manager, Mayor Council, Mr. Chief. Sir, how many uh business license do we have here in town? Uh we're working on getting together for the next one for you. Right now we have I believe it's 760 inspected all of them. We're in the process of doing it. We're actually several weeks behind our inspections right now. Sir, how do you work that out? Do you work it out like every how do you work your inspections? Do you work them every year or how do you work it?

No, sir. The way it's supposed to work is one year from the day that they do their operational permit. That way it spreads them throughout the year and we don't have everybody trying to do it at one time. So if you do operational permit September, we'll see you next September. That's when we'll do the next inspection. Mr. M, I would like a copy of all the business people that you have already inspected and some of these businesses don't have inspections and they're still running. Okay. I don't know what's going on right there, but I would like a copy of that. Can you do that, sir? Thank you, sir. You're welcome.

Couners, councelor Pekko. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Chief. Uh I just want to uh include tag along with with councelor Levari here because I I have received some feedback on on the length of time it takes for some of our expect uh uh our inspections. What is the average if a business is ready today? When do we get there and inspect?

Normally within a week, but we're in that time frame where everybody renews their business license. So they think that because of business license do this time of year, they come to us to do it as well. We don't have enough inspectors to do that many businesses within one or two months. That's why we try to spread it throughout the year to make it where our inspectors do it pretty much every week and can inspect it. But during this time of year, we do fall behind a couple weeks. So, what would you say is our our amount of of businesses that are uninspected just because we're overburdened?

Uh, I couldn't give you an honest answer, sir, but I can tell you right now we're about 3 to four weeks scheduled out for those. So, what happens to those businesses in the meantime? Are they allowed to operate or are they They're allowed to operate and we'll sign the the thing with uh community development because under the ordinance we do have the right to issue a CCD assist or to put a halt on the bridge license if it's issued to them. But we don't make them wait for us. We move forward. Okay. That's what I just wanted to verify. I I I would not be in favor of of us issuing a cease and desist if it's a matter of the the city being behind. So, thank you for answering that.

Casey, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just have a a quick question. Uh when will uh Captain Aensio retire for real? Um in actuality the last day of this month he begins a month off to burn his vacation sick leave and then he'll retire I believe is May 28th or 27th retirement is

I told him I wasn't happy with that I really like Captain Captainio, how do you uh is there somebody that can move up to his position when he's gone or how does that work? We sent the Cooper TR this week to advertise for it because the goal was for Captain Atenzo to train them what he knows. Most of the guys that are qualified, they don't want to come off 40hour shift and go to four days a week. So it will be advertised inside. There are a couple. If not, we'll advertise outside and find someone that can do it. But I don't blame him. If I'd go back to 48 hour shift, I would.

So, okay. Thank you so much. Uh, congratulate him for for me anyway. If u you know when you see him because I don't see him often, but when I do, I always enjoy visiting with him and he keeps me up to date on what's going on. So, I appreciate that very much. I appreciate him very much. I'll let you know. Martinez. Mr. Mayor, thank you. U good report, Chief. I I do like it. The community connect piece that you mentioned or talked about, uh any business could register for this. Any business or any house or any house. Okay.

If you go to the city website, the fire burn page, very bottom, it leads you to it and it lets you select whether you're business or home. Um, we've actually had a few city employees that have done it so they they could experience it and tell people it's like you can go in and update it on a regular basis. It gives you a login and everything, but it's it truly helps us because if for instance, if we go to your business at 2 in the morning, it tells us who to call,

right? and it tells us access codes instead of let's just say my guys have other ways to get in that are very costly but it saves lives but if we have the access codes or know how to get in we can okay I I do want to sit down with you and and work work on that with you because of the uh storage facility that we have and that I work for with Pendleton Gas and and of course the location Of course, the trucks, you know, there's all kinds of other equipment and it'd be be good to have that information available to you guys. You guys are first responders and need to be out there and understand that,

you know, even like the nearest hydrant or, you know, all of those things matter. Our our system automatically does that. Like if we pull up the city hall in there, Yeah. it shows where the hydrants are, how far they are, and what the last flow test, what's warm, what's the wall. Okay, good. just thanks. Good information. I I want to sit down with you and and work on this piece with you. So, I get it done right, you know. Yes, sir. Thank you. You're welcome.

Just just a comment uh Mr. manager. And uh first of all, thank you uh chief uh you know, I know there's a lot going on, but I I do want to bring up something that I know the two counselors I think all of us have probably received calls from is the business the business inspections, how long that's taking. And I want to commend you, manager, and also, you know, Chief uh Span, Chief Marcus, and also community development. I know you had a a meeting that I was able to kind of uh get there towards the end and and sit in uh and I I think we all have the concerns as a governing body, but you kind of you guys mind I mean I don't know how you want to tag team this or however, but kind of address the discussion and how things are taking place and how you're addressing that specific uh that topic of business license inspections. AB:

Absolutely. Uh Mayor, I can start and then I'll kick it to to our team uh for some brief comments. Uh the essence of it is we need to do better at collaborating with our communications and our workflow as we process business applications. And so we're all in agreement that that'll be a a more efficient manner to handle requests as they come in. Uh and not just for business license, but for any uh business associated with zoning and other approval requests. So, we're working collaboratively to basically create one-stop a one-stop type scenario um so that people don't come in and have to go to multiple different places to achieve a efficient end at getting their license. um uh payment uh fire department, customer service, uh community development, uh coalesing those in a more coordinated way together uh so that we minimize the amount of work the the business owner or the citizen has to do coming in. So, it's a work in progress, but we're uh making good positive steps forward and we will uh bring more information as we finalize those uh processes. And it includes uh most of the executive leadership team, but for sure the ones you noted as well as Miss Ludy, uh Mr. SC, uh Alena, Chief Marquez, um and others. Um, Lucas, could you provide a little snapshot and then Chief uh Span and Chief Marcus, if you want to chime in a few comments on that discussion and where we're headed. Mayor, Council, the microphone g issues there. Technical difficulties. Uh, mayor, council, city manager. Uh

yes, we we've been having some meetings trying to make sure we're getting everything in order. There had been a little bit of of uh hiccups with it. Uh but you know, the the tall skinny of it is that you know, existing businesses will get their business licenses on time. We don't intend on holding any business up. Uh fire department will follow through on their inspections um every year on their on that business's annual u date of inspection for fire. Uh so we're continuing we're going to do that and and we're also trying to make sure that these new businesses that are coming in are able to not have to wait uh such a long time to get themselves up and running. So we're working very closely with the fire department on that as well to make sure that we're getting these businesses up and running within a week or two's uh worth of time. Uh and and they they will have to wait for that fire inspection to be done before we could give them a business license. It's it's a matter of safety for that situation. So we we make sure that we're working very closely with fire department on that and with police department because they do some inspections on certain businesses as well. Um we u city manager is correct. We we've involved uh Miss Adel Ludy and the IT team in there. I think with the ideas that they're putting together for us, we're going to streamline uh this process for not just business licenses, but for zoning and and uh zoning permits and uh pretty soon um uh building permits. Uh that we don't have to be having our constituent or your constituents running back and forth to different departments to make payments, to pick up different permits. Uh everything should be a one-stop shop. And I think we're headed in that direction with some good guidance and some good teamwork. uh we we've we've had those discussions and and it's looking very positive and I think in the very near future we'll have that and you know we've kicked around ideas of kiosks um other things that we're thinking about maybe you know just a one-stop shop is what we're looking for very positive uh discussions

I know uh Lucas probably covered majority and Mr. manager and everybody. But um yeah, it's just kind of trying to make our our internal process more efficient. We also want to give the businesses, whether you're an existing business or a new business, kind of like a map and a guide, uh of what to expect also, so there's no delay on our end or on their end of the processes that they need to open up these businesses or to maintain their business moving forward. Um I think there's some confusion that goes out that wording wise that we're also clearing up. um you know there for instance uh I do do certain inspections for some of the cannabis shops but then we get people for a restaurant that come in wanting my signature and it's something that I don't they don't need signature uh from me on. So just clearing up that process and making sure that we have a good streamlined um mapped out version for for everybody to pick up and know where they're going and what to expect uh and bringing in their businesses. And I think it'll be more uh friendly for businesses to open up in Las Vegas and make it an easier process and we encourage that economic growth in in our community. I guess the closing thought I would have on that is that once we have that workflow and that streamlined process done, we're going to work closely with Amanda to make sure that we have appropriate packets and communication that goes out to the public so they're well aware of how that's going to flush out and how that'll make their experience at the city better. Chief, do you have any closing thoughts on that one?

Yes, sir. The only thing I I have is uh like chief said we are going to streamline it. The system we use first do does allow them to do permits online and pay online. The only thing is I need to get finance. We need to set up the clearing house that receives electronic payments for the city so first can put them in the proper way. We're looking at maybe within 30 to 60 days to get that going. So we're working on it.

Thank you. and and and also in part of the discussion that I overheard was also that new businesses that are coming in you know try to work with them as uh as soon as we can because I mean when you're starting a business you don't want to have to wait you know 2 3 months before you open I mean every day is a dollar lost you know as a business owner right so that discussion was taking place so I think the concerns we've had are being discussed and and uh solutions are being made towards that so thank you thank you chief thank you Mr. manager. Thank you everybody,

Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item is presentations. We have one presentation by Robert Anaya, our city manager, Arnold Lopez, public works director, and Deborah Salser with the Salser Group, giving an update on the Gyenas debris removal. Mr. Lopez,

Mr. Mayor, uh councilors, uh this is going to be a brief presentation. Um Deb Szer uh did not need to be here tonight for this. We had her team that's been helping us lock step in the planning associated with the debris removal. It's a project that's overdue, but it's underway. And so we're excited that the work's happening. It's been a smooth process thus far with the removal. And uh Mr. Lopez, if you could just give a brief snapshot u for the public certification as to what's going on and uh who's doing it and how that's work has progressed uh in the few days that they've started.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Manager, Mayor and Council. Good evening. Um so we did break ground on this project, the debris debris removal, um which consists of starting at the Mills Bridge all the way to Grand Avenue. So we contracted, we went out for bids and uh received those of course went through all that process and we contracted with Cordova contracting. So there that's a contractor on board doing the project. So um and they broke ground yesterday. Um there's quite a bit going on. Um currently they haven't started removing actually physically removing debris out uh yesterday and but they did start today. But they do have a lot of uh debris already staged in that area and uh I don't know if you had an opportunity to go by there and you could tell the the the process and the effort that's going into that and it's huge. Um and I visited the area today got with the monitoring company which is GMC. they um were were hired and brought on board to monitor, you know, all the debris and sediment that's coming out of there and also to make sure that all the debris and um sediment is qualifying and will be paid for through the through the FEMA fund. Um so um so I had a conversation with her because in my opinion I wasn't sure, you know, it's it's intensive. there's there's a lot of uh clearing going on, but they they did verify to me that it is all qualifying in case if there was any concern or question in regards to that. So, um you know, to the city, it's going to add a lot of value, not just to the beauty of the whole river, but um it's going to be a lot of protection to um flooding and and I'm sure we're going to get some at some point, but um you know, there's this by these debris, you know, it can

create increased erosion on the river banks because then it's diverted outward instead of um flowing positively down the river. So, um, that being said, you know, it creates a lot of hydraulic pressures that are unnecessary to those banks. So, it's going to be protection to our banks and and the ecosystem, you know, that that lays within those those banks. Um, and then also, you know, we have major structures, which is our bridges that could be severely impacted if if we get a major flood and there's some large debris in there that will continue to, you know, flow on down river and possibly end up in in our structures. And if that was to occur in a in a major flood, you know, they would dam up and and possibly take out one of our or multiple structures. So that's going to be a lot of benefit to the city as well to to protect those structures that are are very vital to to our connectivity to the east and west side. Um and but it's going to be a lot of effort. Um I I'm looking forward to them moving a lot faster once we get out of that initial area by by mills. Um and then we did meet with with several um stakeholders um in regards to the impact to the river which is like the river alliance and and and some other people there um and informed them that you know we're going to try and keep the impact minimal as much as possible but we don't want to sacrifice you know what what our intent is. So, um I'm proud to say that that um it's getting done and uh you know it's it's it's much needed and uh I stand for questions.

Mr. Mayor, uh counselors, before we take questions, if we would, I' I'd like to have uh Miss Salas just uh highlight the press release that went out connected to the debris removal project and uh some of the highlights associated with safety and other things. So, if you would, Miss Alas, if you could read into the record some of the highlights contained in that uh PSA, I'd appreciate it.

Mr. Mayor, Mr. City Manager. Um, so we put out a PSA, I believe it was yesterday. Um, so it kind of just describes overall and overall what the project's going to be like. It started yesterday and it will continue through May, weather permitting, of course. So, that's always also being considered. Uh, the goal is May 5th for everything to get completed. Um the goal is we don't want people walking through that area. So um it's going to start at Mills Bridge and progress southward towards Grand Avenue. So it's basically three separate sections per bridges. Um the whole goal of this was to improve public safety in general, uh restore river flow, and reduce the risk of flooding specifically to adjacent properties.

It also makes it easier for a public safety team to see what's going on in the river. So, if you notice right off the bridges, many times there's a lot of trees, a lot of shrubs that you can't see much. Um, when we're out there, you know, dealing with flooding, potential flooding, it's always good to see what the river looks like. So, at every bridge section, it's going to look different. So, um, that's super important. So, that's going to help them greatly as we proceed through, um, the monsoon season. Uh, so Sza Group helped us with this on the federal side. Um, we have court of construction like Mr. Um Arnold Lopez mentioned we have Goodwin Mills Cowwood as GMC which is doing the debris monitoring. So that's pretty cool with with what what they do. Um they monitor what they tell you what you can pick up and what you can't pick up, what qualifies, what doesn't qualify. So the majority of it is loose loose uh debris. So it can be like pieces of branches, um wood stumps, large boulders, um items that have traveled through the river and gotten stuck along the way right on the outside. So the goal is just partially on the banks, not internally into the river, uh minimal removal to avoid any further damage, but the goal is for safety reasons. Um let's see. I think that's pretty much it. Um, so we'll we'll continue putting out more information. If it were to block roadways, uh, we do tell people that are traveling through the Riverwalk Park, do not go through those areas. Um, we have requested police presence, especially if it's necessary. Uh, because some people just kind of want to continue down their process and, you know, they say, "Oh, well, you guys aren't that far away." Or, but it safety is extremely important when it comes to this as well. um staging areas. There's two separate

staging areas. Um specifically when the debris is removed, uh they are approved locations because you have to go through a process for those locations with the environment department and so forth. So that has been done as well. So that's that's pretty much in a nutshell. Um but this is really really positive and very much needed. Thank you. to Mayor and Council. We uh it's within compliance with FEMA requirements, state, local, and federal requirements. Uh we'll stand for any questions. Mr. Mayor, Councilman,

thank you, Mr. Manager. I don't know that it's being added guys been working in that for a lot of years cleaning up in the all the shrubs and all the bedwood and I don't know what else is in there but it's really nice to clean it up because you're going to have I think you're cleaning up from mills all the way to the to the north grand or south not right west national to to Grand Avenue bridge from Grand Avenue all the way two mills. Yes, sir.

Well, there's a lot of shrubs and you know, I I walk through there sometimes before and that area needs a lot of help and you guys are doing it now. And once you guys finish, it's going to be it's going to have a water flow. Usually we get our floods from all the way from Guyas all the way down. But if we clean that area out, it's going to be really super nice because it's it might push that water through and we won't get as much shrubs and and junk on on whatever whoever the residents are doing. They're throwing whatever they're doing. Maybe you could go through and we can clean up that area pretty good. Thank you for all the work you guys do.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Lopez, what's the uh expected uh timeline? Um we're we're hoping that it'll be completed at the end of May. Okay. Is is targeted date. It's hard to that's really hard to estimate cuz you don't really know the exact amount of of vegetation, debris, and sediment that's going to come out, but that's our targeted date, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lopez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mr. Mayor, moving on to our business items. Our first business item is request approval of addendum number one to contract 421325 with Albuquerque Cadling LLC for access control and camera system services. These first seven business items are the ones that were tabled from our last meeting. We have Miss Adel Ludy, our network systems manager for IT. Good evening, mayor and councel.

And I guess counselors, I think to kind of I know we have a lot of these items, but I guess the big thing is if you guys have questions, uh, instead of, you know, maybe Adele going through everything, but if there's specific questions, uh, you know, we could get to those questions and then, uh, from there, Miss Ludy could answer them. Counselors I don't really uh have any questions on the contracts in general. I just have some comments before we get to it. Uh as I've been, you know, had had some questions on on our past process. So, I want to I want to say that I'm thankful that that we're going to be reviewing some of these in committee. Um, you know, my concerns, and I just want to state it for the record, is that, uh, the contracts, not all, but the majority that I've received for review have no amount on there. So, it's it's very difficult for me to make a decision with all the without all the information. Um, we have no checks and balances from my perspective built into our contracts in terms of approval thresholds. And those would be things within the contract that we need a change on. Uh we have no control over that. We don't say if it's 20%, we don't say if it's a dollar amount. We just let it happen. It seems like um and for extensions that have come before me, I do not see any outcomes built into those extensions. So, if there was a previous contract, which typically has not been presented at this point, uh I don't see what was expected out of that contract. If we were supposed to get A, B, and C, I don't know what A, B, and C are. I don't see any performance review built off built off of the previous contract to justify an extension. Uh

it's I know the funding source is the city, but it's unclear exactly what part of the budget that funding source is coming from. So that's another thing that I would uh uh like to be considered as these things move forward for review. Um and then in terms of our RFP process, uh I I voice this. I mean I I am in favor of trying to keep our our business local when possible. uh and some of the RFPs that I've seen be seen before me. We have a uh and this I know the review is independent and it's going through a outside party at times. So I appreciate that it's transparent. I I will say that. But we don't look at from my perspective best value versus lowest cost. What's the best value to the city of Las Vegas and how do we measure that? RFPs just do not require that we go at lowest cost, but what's our best value? Uh, so I would just like to voice those before we go over all these contracts. I think we we are where we are. We're we're moving forward in the process, which I appreciate and I just want that uh out there and and voice again for the record. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mr. Manager, and I'm also going to throw probably our our finance director into this. I know a lot of discussion on internal controls and maybe policy moving forward as far as contracts. You guys mind kind of touching up on some of the discussion?

Yeah. Uh Mayor, uh first if I could, mayor, I want to address Councilman Pacheco. Uh I know Councilman Pacheco uh is doing his homework. Um he's already done some outreach. I've had some discussions with him. He's done some outreach with other jurisdictions that he has connections with uh in other parts of the state. Uh and so I think there's some relevance to an analysis overall of what we do. uh uh Mayor Councilman Pacheco expressed that and was going to have that dialogue here and um uh I'm appreciative uh from my standpoint uh that he altered that direction and is willing to go through a process through finance committee and have more evaluation and consideration and uh I think we can make some improvements to our process and so I'm thankful uh for that review and we'll we'll continue to work closely with finance our legal team and look for best practices and other improvements we can make to our to our processes and function. Uh so uh relative to what we are doing, we are engaged in that process. Um mayor and council to look at uh what are the state laws, what are our local requirements, what are our local ordinances uh and ensure that we're operating as in the best practices uh and standpoint we can. And so uh Mr. Madrid. Uh few provide a few brief comments. Uh but that's where we're headed.

Sure. Uh mayor and councel. Uh one very briefly, I'll I'll highlight the the uh intent and the process involved in some of these contracts. And in contacting some of these vendors that you see on your agenda tonight, uh there was one that we have never used, but these just serve as another tool in the toolbox for the directors to have at their disposal. They may never use them. They may not use them for a specific purpose when the contract is granted, but uh I'll I'll give you an example of the process and the controls that are in place. Uh the first one is when we produce when they request a requisition that's subject to budget approval and procurement approval. If it doesn't meet one or the other or both, it's rejected. If it is approved, then it's turned into a purchase order. That purchase order does have a specific amount not to be exceeded. If it's if it's intended to be exceeded, it has to be increased with justification. So there is a couple of internal limits there. Uh in addition to that, there is the budgetary control at the line item level. So if there's going to be any increase to those line item expenditures, those have to be justified uh through myself and the city manager and the total budget cannot be exceeded. Uh I think one of the main differences in in some of these contracts versus others, for example, if you have a construction uh project that's going to be bid, you have specific deliverables uh units, quantities, and price and a bottom line that you cannot exceed without a change order. You have something like that on

the agenda later tonight involving the roof at the recreation center. They are units, quantities, and price, and an amount not to be exceeded. That's a specific purpose. These types of contracts are just tools that are available when they're needed. And they give the the directors uh additional resources and some discretion. It is up to the directors to control these and use them only when they need them. But there are several sets of eyes on them as they move through the process. and and uh you know this is one good topic for the finance committee. We see that and it will be addressed.

Thank you Mr. Mad. And I also want to note I know uh Mr. Manager and myself uh we met with the mayor of Santa Fe uh Mayor Garcia and it was kind of interesting because he brought up and asked us some of the same questions about contracts and procurement and the thresholds. So, it's not, you know, we're not the only the only ones, uh, you know, asking those questions. I think this is happening more than just here locally. So, councilors, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Martinez,

so this this contract is also as needed as you know stated here, but uh, this is basically an extension of a contract that was in place. No, it's because if you look at the dollar amount, it goes back two years, right? Which is zero. So when when was this RFP? Uh I believe the RFP was in 2025. Um however, the dollar amount Yes. Okay. Correct. Okay.

The RFP was in 23. I thought it was 25. Uh, M Travis, do you mind getting the microphone just in case? Thank you. This contract was uh granted two years ago, so back in 2024. So, the dollar amounts that are on the uh on the form,

uh I believe those are specific to utilities. Um, however, citywide what I was seeing for uh so far for like FY26 was $9,562.36 and that's what's been expended. We also have a project that's nearing completion uh over at the senior center to implement um surveillance uh a surveillance system access control and a temperature uh sensor for the refrigerator and the freezer. And so that is uh for $53,65663. And we actually did do a a threequote uh process on that one just to make sure we were getting the best deal and finding something that was going to best meet our needs.

Thank you.

Sure. Um so I would request uh extension on this contract. As we as you're aware, we do have uh systems citywide uh access control surveillance systems and having them available to us um especially on an emergency basis if we need to reach out to them for support. Um I know some of the concerns are over uh controls. One of the things that we're trying to do to minimize cost is get as much training and access uh for the IT team so that we're able to do in-house support for what we can and then um have a like an open PO for let's say 20 hours for the remainder of the fiscal year uh in case we need to reach out to them uh for something we can't resolve. Um and so that's uh that's that's my main recommendation, but just making sure that they're available to us when we need them. What's the pleasure of the council?

Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve addendum one to contract 421325 with Albuquerque Cabling LLC for access control and camera system services. Motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilman Martinez. Uh roll call. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Levi. Yes. Have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to our second item, request approval of addendum number one to contract 421425 with Cabinet Incorporated for access control and camera system services. Miss Ludy

to the council. Is there any specific questions to that contract? I've seen none. It's the pleasure of the council. Mr. May I move that we approve addendum one to contract 4214-25 with cabinet incorporated for access control and camera system services. Second Mr. M by councelor Casey. Second by councilman Levari. Roll call. Councelor Levari. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Bacho. Yes.

Have a motion by councelor Casey. A second by councelor Levari. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Thank you. Item number three. Request approval of addendum number one to contract 421925 with next level for access control and camera system services. That one is also few of them. That was too easy. Any any I guess Mr. Manager uh you know as we're approving these I guess uh maybe what I should do is start asking you your recommendation on some of these also but uh I mean any comments to that? Um Mr. Mr. Mayor, given my previous comments uh and the work that we're going to do for the processor oriented stuff, I I recommend approval.

What's uh any specific questions? Uh if not, what's the pleasure of the council? I have a question. Councilman Pacheco. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, Miss Ludy, what are these uh the uh access control and camera system services? Are are those on our buildings throughout the city?

Not on every uh building and not consistently. Uh but yes, across the city we do have uh a number of surveillance systems. Unfortunately, we have a lot of disperate systems and so we need to do an assessment and see what we need citywide. We also have a number of surveillance systems that need to be replaced for security purposes. Um and then the access control, there's really only a handful of buildings that have that. So, we need to modernize, but there's a number of challenges just with uh some of the infrastructure in our buildings. But uh uh you know we're working with the different departments on their priorities and trying to help uh facilitate that. Um one of the issues that we have with our access control now is everything is sort of separated and we're trying to centralize everything. Um so I don't know if that answers your question.

Yes ma'am. Do you in terms of centralizing what what's the anticipated timeline? I know it takes time. So that's why I'm asking

for the systems that we have now. Um so at um utilities, customer service, utilities on 12th Street, and now the system that just came online at Senior Center. Um that should be pretty soon in the next two to three weeks. Uh because we're going to be able to put all of those together. Uh I don't have enough information on the access control here at the city. I I think it's kind of a standalone system. And so we again we need to do a an assessment on that and see what our our needs are and what we're able to realistically do. Um I think it's going to have to be a phased approach kind of a long-term thing just because of the cost.

Uh Mr. Mayor, Councilman Pekco, uh those are excellent points. Uh the strategy that we're employing is for critical infrastructure as priority one uh based on requirements associated with um emergency management. There's a I don't remember the title chief but that uh disaster recovery emergency management protocol procedure that all municipalities are going to need to need to be under that we're striving to get to. Could you just speak to that briefly?

Yes sir. Uh there was an executive order put out I believe 2008 uh pretty much just uh outlining that all municipalities, towns, villages are required to maintain their own uh um critical infrastructures uh in house as our responsibility. So this will be part of uh assisting in those efforts as far as the the access control security cameras and then we're working on the open space officers which we just posted and hopefully we get those uh but this is just one step to that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councilman Martinez,

I'll move to approve addendum number one, contract 4219-25 with next level for access control and camera service system services. Motion by second by councilman Levari. Roll call. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Levari. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Have a motion by councelor Martinez. A second by councelor. Anybody? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to our next item four, request approval. Request approval of addendum number three to contract 396723 with Haze Plumbing and Heating Incorporated for Enall Commercial Plumbing Services of our water director, Mr. Travis Martinez.

Councilors, uh, with that on item number four, is any specific questions for Mr. Martinez on the contract? I I do just have one question, Councilman Pickle. I assume it's probably because of the flooding, but I see in 24 and 25 the expenditures were significantly higher than in 23 and 26. But is that because of the flooding?

Um partially. um back from 23, 24 and into 25 that was preme there was a lot of other projects that were assigned to them. Um during that time I came in we kind of pulled away of utilizing their services and just utilizing the services for on call and 25 well late 24 and into 25 they did help with the disaster recovery. Okay. Thank you. Yes sir. questions.

Mr. Mayor, I move approval of addendum three to contract 3967-23 with Haze Plumbing and heating uh for on call commercial plumbing services by council. Do I have a second? Second, Mr. Second by Council Levari. I had uh councelor Pacheco with one.

I just have another comment after looking at these expenditures. I'm I'm and I just want to use this as an example because when you look at and this again it's it's it's no one's fault. It's just our process. It's it's a way we can improve. But you look at these expenditures and we have 12,000 in one year and then the next year we jump almost to 675. So that's a significant jump on the same contract and and I think that shows, you know, our need for a bit more fiscal control over these. And maybe I'm not saying it wasn't warranted. You know, I'm not I'm not saying there was any anything that was out of line that that occurred there. I'm just saying we don't have the steps to address that and to be able to have a clear pathway to to approval. So I just wanted to use that as an example. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. And then I had uh Mr. city manager. He wanted to say a Yeah, I'm sorry I interrupted. Mayor, I just want to say I uh I recommended a recommend approval. Okay. Uh Mr. Madrid, you had a comment. I saw you kind of raise your hand and grab the mic, but yes.

Yes, Mr. Mayor, councel. Uh the numbers that you see are total expenditures to vendors and I believe that Haze Plumbing was involved in major projects that were awarded through bid. However, our system does not separate vendor payments by project. It's just total payments to that vendor. So there there are specific projects that were awarded by bid or by other contracts included in those numbers. And we can separate those for you if you need them, counselor. Thank you, Mr. Mid. Roll call. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Levi.

Yes. I have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor Levati. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to our next item, request approval of addendum number two to contract 48324 with curb services company for on call pressure reducing valve and altitude control valve maintenance. Mr. Travis, any specific questions for our director? No. Um, Councilman Martinez. Mr. Mayor, I just I'll go ahead and move to approve addendum number two, contract 4083-24 with curb services company. Motion by councelor Martinez. Do I have a second? Second by councelor Casey. I just want to make sure there's no discussion on this item. Any discussion? Seeing none. Roll call. Councelor Leari. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey.

Yes. Councelor Pekco. Yes. I have a motion by Councelor Martinez, a second by Councelor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to item six. request approval of addendum number one to contract 421525 with GM Emulsion LLC for concrete work services. Okay, before we get to that item, uh Travis, I don't know if you were going to say something to that previous

uh to this contract if it's okay if I speak to the PRV. It's one of my specialized contracts. So, Mr. uh PCO, this is one of my specialized contracts. This is uh curb services pressure reducing valves. These are the valves that control the pressure of water throughout all of town. He's one of maybe two uh contractors that actually do the specialized work. Curb services takes care of Arizona, takes care of New Mexico and midway through Texas. On these contracts right here, the budget is set forth on our line items that systems of maintenance, anything like that. The reason that we do task orders like how we're talking about not to exceed is because sometimes when we call him on call services for emergencies, he can't give us a quote right away on what's going to take place because he comes, he evaluates if a PRV is down. Depending on the size of PRV, it can go anywhere from 14,000 all the way up to 60,000. Plus, you have your maintenance, you have other parts, stuff like that. So on specialized contracts like this and there'll be other ones for water treatment and wastewater. For us, it's very hard to predict the type of budget that we're going to have depending on the emergency. As we go back to the filter beds, which mayor and council is all part of it, we did go, we did get an assessment. We had one vendor that came out and said it was $3 million. We had another vendor that came out and said they can do it for 500,000. and along with another vendor they said they can do it for the 700. So it altogether that project based off of the contracts that we had set in place came out to 1.3 million. That was something that we could never u forsaw on how much that budget was going to be. Thanks to the contracts the specialized contracts that we had. We were able to get that project fixed. And like I said, my specialized contracts

that just goes back to water and keeping operations and all that. So basically, if I talk with Morris, u the specialized contracts falls under all three procurement codes, soul source, uh professional services, and uh the on call emergency purposes just to give you a little bit of background. No, I appreciate that that uh feedback. So, this was a relatively it is a relatively small contract at this point, right?

So, right now we actually have a PRV that we actually two we have an altitude valve that we're going to be replacing. We got a quote for 47,000 and there's another PRV that we need to replace for the wastewater system. I haven't got a quote on that because he hasn't been down here to quote me on how what's going to do to either maintenance it or replace it. So, one we did get cuz it's an altitude valve. He was able to find us, send us the information that we need. That's a quote that's going to go under this contract. We haven't pushed it through just yet, but we're going to need to do it. And that's the altitude valve that controls the water that goes to the Valencia tank. The Valencia tank takes care of zone 3, which is from Mills all the way down. The PRV, that's the one that controls the irrigation system to Rodriguez

Parks. And I haven't got a quote on that. So, I mean, when he gets down and stuff like that, then we'll be able to see what the budget's going to be for that. Where's the company located? So, this guy, I believe, is out of Albuquerque. The city has done uh work with him for the past, I think, 10 years, and he's been the only one that's ever really applied to our contracts and has come down and worked on our PRVs before. So 3 years ago we had a major PRV overhauling and he was one of the main ones that came down and overhauled I think nine out of all out of 15 I believe PRVs

and that was that was based on a bid. Thank you. All right, Cass go ahead. I'm waiting for a motion on item number six. Okay. Any questions specific to the contract? I move approval of addendum one to contract 4215-25 with GM emotions LLC for contra concrete work services. Second motion by councelor Casey. Second by councilman Levari. Uh any further discussion on that specific item? Seeing none, roll call. Councelor Casey, yes. Councelor Martinez, yes. Councelor Pacheco. No.

Councelor Levi. Yes. I have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor Levi. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to item number seven, request approval of addendum number one to contract 421825 with Magnum Welding and Construction LLC for Concrete Work Services. Question specific to that contract? Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve addendum number one to contract 24 uh 18-25 of Magnum Welding and Construction LLC to contract concrete work services. Motion by councelor Casey. Do I have a second?

Second. Second by Councilman Pacheco. Any further discussion on that specific item? Seeing none, roll call. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes, councelor Levari. Yes, I have a question. Mr. Martinez, this is only for one-year contracts, right? Yes, sir. Thank you. I have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor PCO. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. They are citywide as well. The contracts. Thank you. Thank you.

Moving on to our next item. Number eight, conduct a public hearing and request approval of a variance at 26167th Street, Las Vegas, New Mexico. We have our community development um and parks and recck director Lucas Marcus. I at this time I uh will entertain a motion to enter to a public hearing. Mr. Mayor, I move that we enter into public hearing. A motion by councelor Casey, second by Councilman Martinez. Roll call. Councelor Leetti. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Martinez. I have a motion by Councelor Casey, a second by Councelor Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

Anybody who wishes to speak on this item, please stand and raise your right hand. Under the penalties of perjury, do you swear that your testimony this evening is the whole truth and the truth? Good evening, Mr. Kintana. Good evening, Mr. Marcus.

Hello, Mayor Council. I'm Mr. Uh Mike Kintana here with me, owner of Phoenix Ranch, Phoenix Ranch uh feed store. Um Mr. Kintana does uh own the property on uh let me get the proper address for you. 2616 2616 uh 7th Street. Um and it does sit like in a little bit lower than ground level. Uh so his existing sign was about, let me get to that part, uh 28 ft and 6 in. Um, so we wanted to go up to 35 ft so he could be more visible. Now, per ordinance, we're supposed to be at 20 ft. Uh, so he did apply for a variance and went to planning and zoning on March 30th. Uh, the planning and zoning and board of adjustments did hear the the the issue and recommended approval unanimously. Um, and um, just for a little bit of a clarification, the height of Mr. Kintana, it's 35 ft. and we start looking down to um our North Grand uh Avenue buildings like Maverick and and Loves, we're talking about signs that are 85 ft. Uh and they had to come for their variances. This took all of 15 minutes uh to get through uh planning and zoning. And now it's time for any questions and of course I have Mr. Kingdonna here to talk about his uh business if needed.

Mr. Mayor, so so being that this is a public hearing um questions. Go ahead, Councilman. Anybody? Mr. Marquez. Uh, is this all on the city right away on the fencing? Mayor, council. Uh, no. It's going to be within his property. That'll be inside his property and and it's at a lower elevation. So, even though it's at 35 ft, if we if we would measure from street level to the top of that sign, we wouldn't be above 20 ft. But since it is in his property and as you drive in there, it's going to be higher than the 20 ft he have to come through the variance. Thank you. Any questions specific to any testimony that might be needed?

Council may Martinez, I I guess I'm a little unsure of the the height recommendation. It's 20 ft normally and this is asking for was it 35 or 28 28 35 ft. Okay. I just wanted to get that cleared up because I um I read it one way but you're saying it a little bit different so I I read it wrong. No, you're go ahead.

The sign that's Thank you, Mayor and City Council for having me here tonight. Um the sign that's just about um maybe a quarter mile down the road on Seventh Street in front of the old Kmart building. That's approximately 40ome feet and that property is not recessed. U my property is recessed approximately about 13 feet. So that's why I'm asking for that variance. Right. Yeah. Thank you, Casey.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to speak from personal uh experience that trying to find Phoenix was hard because uh it it's like it's in a hole. Okay. So, it's more than a recess. It's like a giant hole. And uh the sign is definitely something that is needed in order to um help people find uh the business. And we drove right by it like twice and we finally it's like it's got to be here somewhere. And so we went back until we uh saw the sign on the building itself, but it's not uh that visible from the street. So I think it uh it's just it's definitely something that is needed.

Thank you. So Mr. Council Mr. Kana. Yes sir. When you bought the property data any of the owners require anything that you supposed to put a fence up there or anything or you just bought it just like that and got the city to take care of the fencing? I I haven't done any fencing to the property. I bought it the way it is right now is the way I bought it. Thank you, sir. So, can I get a motion to go back to regular session? Yes, sir. I move that we go back into regular session. A motion by councelor Casey, second by Councilman Martinez. Roll call. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey?

Yes. Councelor Lei? No. I have a motion by Councelor Casey, a second by Councelor Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. Now, uh what's the pleasure of the council on the specific item? I make a motion to approve the variance for the Phoenix Phoenix Ranch uh feed store. Second. Motion by Councilman Pacheco, second by Councilman Martinez. Roll call. Councelor Casey, yes. Councelor Martinez, yes. Councelor Pekco, yes. Councelor Lei, no. I have a motion by Councelor Pekco, a second by Councelor Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Yes. Mr. Mayor, can I make a a comment? And this is personal.

Uh we my husband and I went over there because we had heard that there was a a new store. We didn't know who it belonged to or anything. We just showed up and um we had been told that the the quality of the meat there was exceptional. And I want you to know, Mr. Kintana, that it really is. Um, the meat that we bought was I mean, I can't even begin to describe it because we were so used to like chewing on a piece of leather and and the meat that we bought from your store is exceptionally uh tender, flavorful, and at really good prices. So, I think um I want to wish you a lot of success on that.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. And and I wanted to go ahead and and kind of add to that. You kind of beat me to the punch, counselor, but but you know, thank you, Mr. Kintana. I know, you know, in conversation with you, you have a lot of investment here within the community, and you continue to do that. Number one, you know, now having this uh you know, this uh market, meat market, uh store for the community, and I've heard nothing but great things. I haven't had an opportunity, but uh you know, thank you for continuing to make investments. I know sometimes uh business owners don't always aren't aren't always appreciated within our community, but I want to tell you firsthand, I think I could say this for all of us. Uh your continued investment in this community is important and we're glad you continue to invest here, not only within your own businesses, but within the bank and uh thank you for all that you do.

Thank you, Councilman Levi.

Thank you. I just want to make a comment, Mr. Marcus. Good night. It's it's a little rough because you know we have a lot of property here in around town and usually what people whoever's buying properties that's close to the city and this and that and you know I think uh the owners who is buying it got to take care it's got to look at what they're buying to see if it's need it's fencing because you know if you're going to do fencing all all around Las Vegas or whatever you have to do selling properties it's it's a little to me it's a little up the road now because you know just the business people will have to do that and then let the let the city start doing that it's going to cost the city a lot of money. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Martinez. I I do want to make a comment too. We we've actually tried to you know to meet there and it it's it's excellent excellent product. Uh and I wish you a lot of success moving forward. any business opportunities coming to our town, we accept, of course, and uh we want to see our town flourish and grow and continue to grow. So, I appreciate the new business in our community and good luck with all that.

Um, thank you all. Um, we have plans on opening up a steakhouse. So, that's something that we're going to be probably doing that the old KBOs. I purchased that a year ago or so. Um, so we have plans on doing that. But one thing I would like to say is thank you to Lucas. He's really helped me through this whole variance pro process. And also Archie. If it wasn't for Archie um calling me and reminding me today, I probably would have forgot about today. There's a lot on my plate. And there was also another gentleman in the department. I forgot his name. Charles Ortiz. Charles Ortiz. He was great to work with. Um I know um people complain about maybe the some of the licenses and stuff that some people mentioned here, but um I have businesses in Colorado and all over um New Mexico, and it's easier to do business here than it is in a lot of other communities. So, it's not always that bad here. So, thank you guys. Thank you, Macho.

No, just wanted to say thank you, Mr. Kitana. We appreciate you. Uh uh and what you mean to the community. It's uh I can't wait for another steakhouse. So, you know, I I like to go out and have a steak on Thursday or Friday night, Saturday night. Lately, I've had to kind of cook those at home. You know, I have some of that high quality beef. Uh I I I know uh Mike's cows are fed off uh a lot of them are fed off that great Mo County water and grass. So, uh, that's why they're so good. Thank you guys. And I think, uh, Mr. Kintano is going to have a soft opening for us. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,

Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item. Request approval to award phase one of the recreation center improvements project to J3 Systems. Mr. Marcus. Mr. Marcus. Mr. Alimman.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening, Mayor Council. Uh I brought Mr. uh Archie or Adrien Allemon up to up with me. Uh you know, when when uh he was brought over to community development, uh I had been working on this project. Uh we've had uh numerous uh people have a shot at this uh um you know, directors, managers, uh people to try to get this uh this roof project uh corrected at this at the rec center. So, we we've gone through some processes. We um I put Adrian on top of it and he's uh he's come a long way with it. Uh we're near we're near to getting what we need to get so we could get this roof completed. Um and you know we we've gotten this far and I want to make sure that uh do we have the the gentleman on uh on Zoom?

Yes, sir. I believe they're joining on Zoom as I wanted to make sure that we got the the architect and uh the the contractor on Zoom on Zoom with us so we could go ahead and they can help us with some explanations as well. This is a huge undertaking for us. uh you know this this uh this project uh is is well into the into the million uh dollars dollar dollar amount and we want to make sure that the council knows everything about it and we've been through this roof inside and out and u we stand for questions.

Thank you. Thank you uh Mr. Alimmon and and Lucas. But I I just and I just want to make sure you know you know to the public that might think that uh you maybe we're not asking enough questions but we do get a lot of you know information in our packets especially now with memos and and so forth and that's why when I ask you know the governing body here if there's specific questions to the contracts uh or or you know uh awarding any of these bids you know we are getting a lot more information so I just want to make that public. So with that any counselors do you guys have any specific questions for Mr. Mr. Alamman, Mr. Marquez, the architect, or the contractor. Councilman Pacheco,

I just have a uh so I see it's a 20-year warranty, which I like. Uh how old is the current roof? The current the current roof um mayor council, uh the current roof was just done, I believe, uh I want to say at least maybe less than 10 years ago. Yes.

Yeah, that's that's correct. And um to add to that um you know the architect did go out there and and we did find that it was um it was installed incorrectly in some locations. So currently right now the standing se uh standing seam metal roofing panels are not screwed onto structural to structural framing. So they're they're pretty much free free flowing right now. And that's a major concern that we have um not only for our city staff but for our for our community just in case you know with these winds that we've been having. We don't want one of those those panels to become airborne and possibly injure somebody or worse.

And to add to that, counselor, it it does it sways pretty badly in the wind right over the raet ball area. Uh that's where the roof is pretty much really uh uh really really hurting and also um just drill. It's just uh screwed into each other. It's not screwed into nothing uh that would actually brace it for in case we do get some these stiff winds that we do get over here. Um, and it's it's a huge concern. And you know, as a matter of fact, just to just to say, we just finished repairing some of the the stairwell uh from all the the leakage that had happened prior and now we're starting to see damage again after just the small rainfalls that we've had. So, we we definitely um are in this we're in this deep. Yeah. Mr. Mayor,

uh Mr. Manager,

Mr. Mayor, uh I wanted to make some comments. Uh this particular project is tied to roofs and projects citywide. Um one of the things that that I learned early on in working with our team is that we have historically had some roofs that that uh have pro performed okay and some that have underperformed. Uh the other thing that uh we recognize and acknowledge is that the New Mexico Municipal League who handles our risk associated with our uh risk had specific concern associated with some of that uh happening on construction and projects. So, we worked in collaboration with the municipal league, with our team, uh, not just on this particular roof, but we've done it on other roofs in the city as part of a pilot program to get to your point, uh, Mayor, Councilman Pacheco, that we have appropriate design, appropriate construction, and appropriate warranty that all coincide with better efficiencies and save costs to the taxpayer. Uh the the piece that we'll work on and and need to build upon is assuring that there's the capacity moving forward for those projects to be bid and opportunities to be had for the local contractors as well. And so it's a comprehensive analysis. It involves the municipal league. It involves our team. It involves architects and engineers. But the the primary purpose and intent is high functioning roofs uh applied accordingly with appropriate warranties to to go with them. And so I just want to add that and this conversation didn't just happen with these two individuals. This compre conversation has been

happening co comprehensively and affected the police department. It affected the museum. It's affected the library. And so, uh, I would just note on the record as well, this was one of the pilot programs that Mr. uh, uh, AJ Fort, the director, noted to the whole legislative body on positive steps that, uh, the city is taking to more comprehensively comprehensively review projects and get projects completed. And so, uh, a lot more background to it, but, uh, the essence is we're we're headed in the right direction. Thank you, Mr. Pacific. Just

one more question. I I I look at the uh the diagram and I noticed the entire building is not included. Is there Yeah. a reason why?

Yes, sir. Um so we did we did when we got with the architect um we did different phases and that included some concrete outside, some stuckco and the tpo some other tpo roofing that that is in different locations of the rec center. And when we did that, we found out that this phase one, which is the standing uh standing seam roofing, was the one that was most important. So that's why it's just this section for now. This is the one that's failing. And this is our main concern right now. And we're just trying to get it complete just before the before the rain and, you know, prevent any any um any more structural damage. No, no further questions. And and I'll say firsthand, I mean, I' I've spent a lot of time in that gym.

Yes, sir. And there are a lot of uh leaks that occur when it's raining and uh puddles all over that that gym floor. So thank you Mr. Council.

Thank you. Thank you Mr. Marquez and Mr. Director. We do need that kind of work at the brick center. It's it's a little mess but you know you're taking care of it. But there's a lot of residents that go out there, a lot of kids and they're looking at that around the buildings. they they go inside the building. Everything's nice. So, we need to take care of that and you guys are on top of that. Thank you. Thank you. And I just want to add, you know, just his a little history to what uh what uh Mr. Marcus mentioned is this is uh some money that the city had that we as a governing body allocated towards the roof. Of course, we still know that there's still uh more need to address other portions of it, but based off of projected costs, we knew that we couldn't do it. So, you phased it out. That's kind of correct, Mr. Marcus, if you don't mind kind of.

Yeah. Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor and Council, so you know, the at the beginning the project that uh they went ahead and did the whole uh estimate estimate of the of the area. Um we found some really severe areas. Uh they wanted to do the whole entire building. Uh but it came out to a little bit over 2.7 million. uh we talked with Mr. Tomas Sanchez to try to uh redirect that and that's how we wound up phasing it and uh wound up with phase one right now. We are going to sit down and talk with Mr. Morris and see where we could go from there. He's he's had this money in hand and encouraging us to to make sure we get this project complete as well. Uh so I want to thank finance for assisting us in a you know a lot of a lot of the things that we went ahead and did. Thank you Mr. Morris for that. Um, and you know, we we're just we're ready and eager to get this roof repaired and make sure it's it's a safe environment for uh uh the public that's coming in and using it and it's very well used. I mean, I'm seeing a lot of people in there. So, I I really appreciate the the um the people that are they're working over there at the rec center.

And I want to add another comment. Uh and I know Mr. cuz you're your team is already working on this but uh you know we have had some hail damage in the past and uh municipal league has not funded it because of un no documentation of maintenance for the roof and I know you're working on a plan as this gets done that you're going to make sure there's going to be documented maintenance uh so for any future hill storms or anything. So I appreciate you know uh that because that's been a big issue. I know it's a big fight that since I became mayor uh trying to get uh some of these hell damaged roofs, but you know, unfortunately documented uh maintenance was never done. So, I don't know, Mr. Manager, if you want to kind of touch up on that and

No, absolutely, Mayor. And that's also part of the program that the municipal le has been working directly with us on with Matias, I think, is the gentleman's name. Yes, sir. Mr. Marcus. And so we will uh stay connected with that and assure we're doing uh appropriate documentation. We were also acknowledged that municipal uh league day and what we were doing with some of these pilot projects. Councilman Martinez.

Yes, mayor. Thank you. Uh so none of this project is actually covered by right now it's just the monies that are set aside and approved by council of course prior to me coming in but none of these are covered by any insurance claim. Am I correct in saying that? Uh Mr. Martinez councelor Martinez. Yes sir. You're you're correct.

Okay. Yeah. And I guess if we continue to move forward with some of the plans and information that you know even the mayor just mentioned that I guess these roofs got to be inspected annually rather than okay we had a hell storm we'll check it next year. You know what I mean? But no that's not the case. We they need to be re they need to be inspected annually. Not only that roof but others as well. you know, other city uh buildings and that we have, but that's the only way we're going to be able to get some kind of coverage on him if we need to. And this is a a huge expense, but it's also a a well-needed expense for the uh community.

Yes, sir. We agree. Thank you. What's the pleasure of the council? I make the motion. Make a motion for uh contract approval. Motion by councelor Pacheco. Do I have a second? Second. Second by councelor Casey. Roll call. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Leari. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. I have a motion by councelor Pacheco. A second by councelor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Thank you, Mayor and Council. And I I do want to thank our architect, Tomas Sanchez, for for being on board here with us. I know we didn't ask much questions of him, but uh you know, he's been very supportive of us and and we're ready to and uh to work with J3 Construction and and make sure this stuff gets uh done correctly. We're we're we're very excited for them to be here. Thank you.

Thank you, mayor and council. I really do appreciate it. Thank you, Adrian, for all you're doing. Yes, sir. Go to Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to our next item. Request approval of addendum number one to contract 422025 with Northeastern Construction for Concrete Work Services. Mr. Martinez, the governing body, is there any specific questions to this contract? No, not seeing none. What's the pleasure of the council? Motion to approve contract. Motion by Councilman Pacheco. Second by councelor Casey. Roll call. Councelor Leari. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. I have a motion by by Councelor Pacheco. A second by Councelor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries.

Thank you. Moving on to item number 11. request approval of an intergovernmental service agreement between the city of Las Vegas and New Mexico Department of Public Safety for data sharing with Department of Public Safety. Have our police chief, Mr. Marcus. Mr. Travis, I was just uh we're trying to get this meeting going so you can go get some sleep before you take off tomorrow. Thank you, Chief.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, Mr. Manager. Thank you. Um this is uh to enter into intergovernmental agreement for sharing of our data. Um the New Mexico Department of uh public safety and state police reached out to us uh to be part of their pilot program uh in providing shared intelligence across the state. Um we not every agency participates in this. They did select us as one of the participating agencies. Um I sent over the agreement over to legal. Legal did approve of it. I know there's a portion in there that says there might be a cost, but being that we're not a a licensing member of Paraguin, the state does cover that cost for us. So, this will be zero cost, but it does have big benefits. Um, our current uh CAD systems, which are computer AED dispatch systems, are pretty much siloed and closed off to each other's uh agencies. This will allow us to share data across the board. If we have a missing endangered person, if we have a violent um felony, we felon that we're looking for, if we need to deconlict for narcotics purposes, we could share that information uh across multiple platforms. I know Albuquerque and Santa Fe PD and us are for sure participating with New Mexico State Police at this time. I don't know of any other agencies uh off the top of my head.

Thank you, Chief Counselors. Any questions? Mr. Councilman Martinez. I move to approve the intern intergovernmental services agreement between the city of Las Vegas and New Mexico Department of Public Safety for data sharing with Department of Public Safety. Have a motion by Councilman Martinez, second by Councelor Casey. Roll call. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Leari. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Have a motion by councelor Martinez. A second by councelor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Thank you, councelor Casey. Thank you, Chief.

Thank you, Councelor Casey. I don't have any questions, but uh just a suggestion after reading so many of these and looking at the um approval forms, it would really be wonderful if um we had the actual name of the person who signed it, you know, the signature page, because I'm sorry to say this, but some handwriting is terrible. You can't tell what the name is. Even if you try to guess, it's like, who knows who really signed this. And so, it would be wonderful if it said whoever that was that signed it had a name typed in there also so that we would know who is approving this stuff. You know, is it, you know, it says attorney review, but which one? you know, we have several and so it would be nice to be able to say, "Oh, okay. Now I know if I have a question, I can ask so and so attorney." But and the other signatures are not much better on some of these documents either. So, it would be so wonderful if we could actually read a person's name.

Mr. Mayor, Council, Councilwoman Casey, you're music to my ears. I'm sure all the staff, they probably said, "Okay, here he goes again." He's going to add to it. But I I appreciate the suggestion. I think it's a good one and we'll implement it for sure. Just the school teacher in me. What can I say? M Mr. Manager, I guess the one positive out of that is we could make sure it could almost guarantee that that signature can be forged. So true, but there's still this year the harder. Thank you, Mr. That's a good question. Got to pay attention because I'm not going to say it.

Thank you. Item number um 12, request approval to accept funding agreement from the state of New Mexico Environment Department for the purpose of addressing water shortage and for a water treatment plant in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Mr. City Manager.

So, if I could hand the microphone over to June, uh I got Sesame Street in my head. She's going to sing the start of that song. Yeah. Come and play Everything's A-OK. Okay. Right. Right. But uh right along right along with it uh a little bit of light-heartedness. But uh one of the things that that this contract does is it demonstrates that communication coordination with the state has definitely improved and the relationship associated with the IG has helped in other areas. Uh this particular agreement is going to help us uh uh get somewhere really fast and that's to expedite use of some monies that we hadn't been provided a grant agreement for or authorization for but that we need to get expended quickly. Uh it's been a a fullcourt press including the engineers office, including the Mexico Environment Department, uh Morris Madrid, conversations with Travis Martinez, uh and the whole team. And so basically what it does is it gives us $3.5 million that in this agreement we've been given a lot of latitude to uh utilize expenditures from July of this fiscal year to today uh to help assure that the resources are expended. What does that mean to us? A lot. it it provides uh $3.5 million once reimbursements are made of resources that the city's invested uh back into those coffers uh primarily within the water utilities. So a big deal uh a lot of work uh a lot of partnership and communication and a lot of flexibility I'll add from the state engineer and NMED as well as the department of finance administration. Um Mr. Madrid you have anything you want to add on it? Mr. Mr. Madrid's going to uh work in

handinand glove with Mr. Martinez. Mr. Madrid on this one's going to be the uh grant agreement leader, but he'll work in in close partnership with Mr. Martinez and myself to asssure the expenditures fit the compliance in the agreement. Uh Mr. Madrid,

I'm just going to talk really loud. Mayor and council, uh yes, as the manager said, this does give us flexibility. that is not normally available within external funding and we are able to kind of retroactively claim some of our efforts which will really help uh especially like the manager said in the water fund. So, I know uh director Martinez is already looking backward to see what we can claim and the effect is it'll relieve a lot of uh financial pressure that has been on the water department for some time. So, this is nothing but good news.

Counselors, any comments? It's the pleasure. Councilman Pacheco. Go ahead. Motion to approve. Motion by councelor Pacheco. Second by councelor Casey. Roco. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Levari. Yes.

I have a motion by councelor Pacheco. A second by councelor Casey. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Moving on to our next item. Consideration to extend the term from one year to two years on the professional service contract for police chief Caleb Marcus. Hey counselors, I know uh I brought this item before you last week and I do want to ask you reconsider for a two-year contract for Mr. Cayla Marcus. Uh coun councelor Casey,

thank you. I' I'd like to explain why I made the motion last week for a one-year contract because for years and years and years, uh all the contracts that were given out were one-year contracts. And so I just thought I was following what had originally been an ordinance and I'm a person that follows rules. And so I thought it should have been a one-year contract. I was uh I wasn't going to say anything and vote against the other contracts uh that were made for two years. However, uh I did not do it intentionally to make you look different or we didn't want you here for another period of time, but simply because I was following what had originally been in ordinance. I did look for that ordinance. City clerk looked for the ordinance and it no longer exists. I have no idea what happened to it. The other ordinance that doesn't exist is we had an ordinance and a job description for the city manager. Those no longer exist either. And I don't know why or where along the road they were removed. It may have been during the two years when I uh was out uh before I came back in in 2022. And so um I don't know what happened during that time. I used to watch the meetings but I can't remember everything that was that occurred during those two meet those two years of meetings. So my apologies uh Mr. chief. And so I would like to make the motion to um

uh approve the professional services contract for police chief Caleb Marquez for two years so that it matches everybody else. Motion by councelor Casey. I have a second. Second. Second by Councilman Martinez. And I just kind of want to note for the record uh uh Miss Cassandra, our ordinances, uh any ordinances that changes usually goes before the governing body and any changes would have probably been a public record. I I just want to be clear and I promise I have no missing pages of that ordinance. You know, it's you know, it's you know, it two years have been given prior to me being here and I just want to clear that up that, you know, there's

that is correct, Mayor. started in 2020 when um Mayor Truhill was here. Thank you. But no ordinance changes have happened. No. Undocumented or un unrecorded or anything? No. Okay. Thank you. Roll call. Councelor Levi. Yes. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. I have a motion by councelor Casey, a second by councelor Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. And I think this one deserves a round of applause. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Moving on to executive session. Mr. Mayor, Councilman, uh, I mean, city manager.

Um, Mr. Mayor, uh, with your permission, I'd like to release the rest of the department heads with the exception of, uh, Mr. Madrid, Mr. Martinez, uh, and our legal council. They're welcome to go. If they want to stay, they can stay, but they're welcome to go if that's okay with the mayor and counsel. Uh before we go in, we will we'll have the water attorney present or uh yes. Okay. I would have the pleasure of the council. I'd still like to keep attorney just in case. Okay. Thank you. Uh so at this time executive session. What's the pleasure of the council? Mr. Mayor, Councilman Martinez,

I'll go ahead and move to uh go into executive session following the New Mexico Open Meetings Act NSA 1978 section 10-15-1 H8 purchase, acquisition or disposal of real property water rights meetings for the discussion of the purchase, acquisition or disposal of real property or or water rights by the public body. Uh discussion on property and water rights acquisition. I have a motion by Councilman Martinez. Do I have a second? Second. A second by Councilman Pacheco. Roll call. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Bacheco. Yes. Councelor Lei.

Yes. Have a motion by councelor Martinez. A second by councelor PCO. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you all.

This time I'd like to entertain a motion to return to regular session. Mr. Mayor, Councilman Martinez, I move to return uh from executive session uh following the uh New Mexico Open Meetings Act and MSA1978 section 1015-1 H8 purchase acquisition of dis or disposal of real property water rights meetings for the discussion the purchase of acquisition or disposal of real property or water rights by the public body uh discussion on public on property and water rights opposition. No votes were were taken in close session.

Second motion by Councilman Martinez, second by Councilman Leari. Roll call. Councelor Pacheco. Yes. Councelor Casey. Yes. Councelor Martinez. Yes. Councelor Lee. I have a motion by councelor Martinez, a second by councelor Lee. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Motion carries. Have a motion to adjourn. So moved, Mr. Mayor. Motion by councelor Casey. Have a second. Second. Second by Councilman Pekco's adjourned. 8:30.