The county commission signed a contract to begin work on the Arrey ball field. They also heard public comment regarding voting integrity and heard an update on the county-wide broadband project. In closing the meeting, commissioner Paxon, announced the resignation of county manager, Charlene Webb, effective October 18.
The recorded meeting can be viewed on facebook. The viewing times are included.
Arrey ball field gets a start
Lydia and Edward Belmonte, residents of Arrey, who have been working with their community to see to fruition a new ball field spoke (24:00) during the public comment section of the meeting. They requested that the commission continue to help keep their community’s dream alive. The project has been in the works for “3-4 years” and they have had funds allocated to it thanks to the work of former and current Representatives Martinez and Terrazas. However, those funds have not been enough to generate bids to start the work.
Lydia Belmonte described how soccer and baseball players have had to practice on the grade school field which “is all dirt and weeds and goatheads”. The old ball field “was not even square” and they had to use “PVC pipe as foul poles” since little league play requires exact measurements.
Later in the meeting (1:03:00) the commission discussed a $363,915 bid by Highland Enterprises to do the dirt-work for the field. The field has been a priority for the commission so the discussion was not whether to sign the contract but whether and how to allocate funds from the county to supplement the cost which exceeds the current funds available.
Jocelyn Holguin, the county’s chief procurement officer said that she had “gone to so many vendors”, including local businesses, to get bids and this was the only one she was able to get. She worked with the vendor and got the bid as low as possible.
Holguin presented the commission with two options for doing the work. The first, and favored by Holguin because it would “guarantee” the cost and work, was to accept the bid by Highland Enterprises and find $59,454.41 in the county budget to offset the cost that exceeds funds available. A second option Holguin suggested was to use the road department personnel and equipment to do some of the work. This would save a direct cost of about $27,000 but would tie up the road crew and any surprises like underlying rock or other difficulties could result in a cost increase.
Holguin stressed that the dirt-work is the most important part of the project and that with that work underway, additional grants should be easier to get to complete the project.
Commissioner Travis Day, who represents the Arrey area and whom Paxon described as “a fiscal conservative”, expressed the only concern, “Where is the money coming from?”. County manager Webb told him “the rainy day fund’” but that she was also waiting to hear if the county had been awarded one of the state’s Quality of Life Grants. That results of that is expected at the end of the month.
“I hate to pull $60,000 out”, said Day, “but would hate even more to pull out $27,000 and then have problems.” He and his fellow commissioners agreed to start the Arrey ball field project with Holguin’s first option.
Voting in Sierra county
Following the trend of the last three months, most public comments (16:40) focussed on voting integrity in the county.
Susan Carlstedt expressed her faith in the local county clerk and the secretary of state and requested that any complaints in the county be backed up by data from the county, not elsewhere. Carlstat concluded by stating “my vote is as worthy of respect as anyone else’s”, and “just let people vote”.
Valerie Two-Wolves also spoke of her confidence in the current election process. Paper ballots are in use in the county and are there to examine if the results of machine counting are in question. Two-Wolves opinion is that “the role of government in our representative democracy ought to be to assure that every legally authorized person has the opportunity to register and to vote without undue interference, influence or coercion. Neither government nor private citizen should be making it harder for a legal voter to cast a ballot.” She requested that the commissioners do everything in their power to support these processes.
Susan Moore told the commission that she had never had any problems with voting in the county. She also praised county clerk Shelly Trujillo for the way her department runs elections. Moore related that when she was last in for voting, a poll worker was adamant in not giving a ballot to someone who had received an absentee ballot in the mail. “She’s awesome” Moore said of Trujillo.
William George Norris spoke again on the topic this month. He advertised a summit on how voting machines manipulate that can be streamed online.
Later in the meeting (1:13:00) the commission discussed signing a memorandum of understanding with the secretary of state’s office to provide funding for the November general election. Clerk Trujillo explained the the $17,400 in the MOU is to pay for postage, election workers, and publications. “The funds are plenty”, said Trujillo, and allows for hiring an extra person for the day and having two workers for early voting. The county needs 33 workers for election day but it can be difficult to find that many. “Any one who is not on the ballot and is eligible to vote can work at the polls” she encouraged.
Update on broadband installation.
Misti Willock, a representative from Ethos Broadband provided the commission with an update on the project to make broadband accessible to everyone in the county (47:50). Sacred Wind Enterprises, the parent company is merging with ComNet, Willock told the commission, and that is good news because of the size of the company, which makes them “more powerful” and enhances their buying power.
While Ethos continues to explore funding options for additional sections of the county they have “made a lot of progress” with the first phase which is covered by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture ReConnect 2. The final permit from the Bureau of Land Management is expected soon and Department of Transportation permits are in the works but not impeding progress.
Willock elaborated that Ethos has finished the “make-ready” (preparing the infrastructure to accept fiber optic line) and have strung the fiber in the northern part of the county from Mitchel Point down to their offices in Elephant Butte. Ethos is still working on the “backbone” between Elephant Butte and Hatch which will connect Sierra county to the world. The next step is to complete make-ready work in Palomas and Animas Creek followed by Hillsboro and Kingston. The expected completion of that work is the first quarter of 2023. The first group of customers are expected to start receiving services at the end of this year. Willock invited all to the ribbon cutting ceremony at that time.
County manager Webb to resign
Following the executive session, commissioner Paxon announced that county manager Charlene Webb had tendered her resignation (2:24:00). The commission “would accept it with regret and great appreciation”, Paxon said in a halting voice. Webb has held the position since July of 2021 and her resignation will be effective Oct 18, 2022.
Also of interest
(35:00) County emergency services Ryan Williams updated the commission on continuing work with the USDA to modernize emergency communication towers at Emery Pass off of highway 152 west of Kingston.
(42:00) Jail administrator Virginia Lee updated the commission on prisoner counts for the month and the progress of grants she has acquired for the county to help incarcerated and at risk individuals.
Lee also spoke about the memorandum of understanding (1:15:00) between Sierra and Doña Ana counties to house inmates in the Doña Ana facilities. She assured the commission that those facilities would be used as a last resort for inmates that Luna county could not take. Webb emphasized the limited use the county would make of Doña Ana facilities. “They are pricey but still cheaper than using the department of corrections” facilities, concluded Webb.
(2:23:00) The commission has approved the sale of the property at 855 Van Patten in Truth or Consequences “at market rate”. The appraisal report for the property is not yet available.