Rebecca Hauschild
Artesia Daily Press

The Artesia City Council passed an ordinance that will regulate the consumption of alcoholic beverages on city-owned property at the Artesia City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 13th.

The current ordinance does not allow alcohol consumption on City property under any circumstance whereas the new ordinance will allow it when authorized by a resolution.

“So basically, what this is— if a person is holding an event and wants to use a piece of City property, like Jaycee Park, Heritage Park, or the Balloons and Tunes events on Eagle Draw, the current ordinance does not allow us to have alcohol sales on City Property,” said Byron Landfair, Infrastructure Director. “This will allow it by resolution. So the Council gets to decide on a case-by-case basis.”

“There will be an application process,” said City Attorney Cass Tabor. “It will have all the requirements and restrictions and once the application gets past there then it comes back to the Council for a resolution.”

“It’s not a free for all,” said Mayor Jon Henry. “The only folks that can serve alcohol will have a licensed establishment that will allow their license to be used and they are responsible for the serving, the servers, IDs, etc. That falls on that on them just as if they are walking into their establishment whether it be a bar, restaurant, or whatever. It’s their license and their responsibility.”

The Council also held a deliberation on the proposed transfer of a liquor license for the 7-Eleven store 104 N. First St., Artesia, NM. After an evaluation of the request, the council voted in favor of approving the liquor license transfer.

The Council adopted Resolution 1878 formally opposing the New Mexico Construction Industries Commission’s proposed mandate for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) installations in all new residential and commercial buildings built after July 30, 2024.

“One of the main issues is that this legislation passed the Senate but died in the House,” said Mayor Henry. “This was never voted on in the House to actually become law. An outside agency was the one who put this into place. We see this as a huge impact for residential buildings and huge impact for commercial.”

“The current interpretation of this rule is the average cost per house is going to be somewhere around $1,000,” said Landfair. “You must have a 220-amp service to do this. And it would be required for level three remodels.” If it’s interpreted differently the cost could go up to $5,000 to $7,000. “For commercial five to seven percent of your parking must have EV chargers on it. One charger can do two spaces. That cost can be anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000 depending on size of the parking lot. The other interpretation would be another $2,000 to $7,000.”

“I fear rolling blackouts if adding all these EVs,” said Henry. “I fear for those folks that do need their electricity work like those on oxygen or the elderly.” 

Landfair shared that the state is scheduled to an inspection of the new splashpad on August 15. If they issue the permit the City will be able to open the splashpad shortly thereafter. The contracts are out on 26th Street and the City is waiting on their return.

The Council passed an ordinance amending fees for traffic violations, many of which went from $25 to $75. “We have not changed any of the penalty assessments (fees) in a very long time,” said City Clerk Summer Valverde. “Pretty much everything was raised by $50 per assessment.”

“This does put us closer to our neighbors, but we are still below them,” said Councilor Wade Nelson.

The Council granted a variance to construct a fence on a 15-foot public right-of-way at the southeast corner of 7th Street and Dallas Avenue. The property is owned by Jace & Isela Ragland.

The month of July 2024 saw a positive safety record with zero OSHA recordable injuries, according to Artesia HR Director Jerry Conde. However, there was one worker’s compensation injury reported. Additionally, three accidents involving city vehicles occurred during the same period.

The Council approved a resolution amending the classification plan to convert the Accounts Payable Clerk position from part-time to full-time status.

The Council also approved the Firefighter Recruitment Fund Grant Agreement resolution authorizing the allocation of funds to support the recruitment of new firefighters.

Fire Chief Kevin Hope reported the Deputy Chief Position has been filled and just completed the division chief promotional process. The selection has been made. Battalion chief’s testing will be held next week, and lieutenants testing after.

A public hearing has been scheduled for September 10, 2024, to discuss the Park Place Subdivision Annexation Plat. The proposed annexation will rezone the area to General Residential (R-2) district and includes property south of 2519 W. Hermosa Drive, east of 26th Street. The property in question is 16.963 acres owned by Fairacres, LLC.

Two park shelter usage requests were approved. Susan Molina was granted permission to use the Guadalupe Park East Shelter for a family reunion on September 1 and Yadira Mendoza’s was granted permission to use Jaycee Park West Shelter and bathrooms for a family cookout on August 17th.

The Council approved the consent agenda with the following items:

– Bid to Constructors, Inc. for the ATS TWY rehabilitation project at the Artesia Municipal Airport

– The 2024/2025 outside request PSAs to:

Artesia Advocacy/Chaves County CASA PSA 08132024-1 for $25,000

Artesia Paws and Claws PSA 08132024-2 for $9,981

Artesia Clean & Beautiful PSA 08132024-3 for $55,000

Artesia Main Street PSA 08132024-4

– For Downtown & Community Revitalization Services not to exceed $25,000

– For Main Street holiday expenses for $25,000

– For Main Street maintenance expenses for $88,000

– For Greenway project expenses for $73,000

– Artesia Department of Development PSA 08132024-5 for $35,000

– Greater Artesia Foundation/dba My Neighborhood PSA 08132024-6 for $16,000

– The hiring of:

Mary Lou Kochaniec, Police Corporal/Detective, at $6,532.93 p/mo

Gregory Brittelle, Fire Firefighter, at $4,940.13 p/mo

Stephan Drake, Cert. Police Officer, at $4,860.26 p/mo

Josh Stites, Fire Deputy Chief, at $8,550.59 p/mo

-The demotion of David Bailey, Police Community Service, at $3,182.40 p/mo

– The transfer of Catalina Franco, Police Evidence Tech, at $3,251.73 p/mo

– The exits of:

Kristi Perkins, IT/IT Tech, effective 7/19/2024.

Lionel Barrera, Solid Waste/Equipment Operator, effective 7/23/2024.

Zane Brown, Police/Detective Certified, effective 7/29/2024.

Marc Nason, Fire/Deputy Chief, effective 7/31/2024

Victoria Thompson, Senior Center/Van Driver, 8/01/2024.

Dakota Corbell, Fire/Battalion Chief/Medic, effective 8/02/2024.

Jacob Roberson, Facilities Maintenance/Community Improvement Tech, effective 8/06/2024.

Kenneth Kilness, Fire/Lieutenant/Medic, effective 8/17/2024

Mario Samaniego Fire/Certified Firefighter, effective 8/21/24

– Travel and training as follows:

Police – one employee to attend Conducting Pre-Employment Background Investigations in Albuquerque, NM.

Police – one employee to attend the Report Writing and Courtroom Testimony in Roswell, NM.

Wastewater – two employees to attend NM Water & Wastewater Association 2024 “Fred Ragsdale Memorial” Central School in Albuquerque, NM.

Wastewater – two employees to attend the 2024 New Mexico Wastewater Association SE Section Workshop in Roswell, NM.

Police – one employee to attend NMML Conference and Chief’s Association Meeting in Clovis, NM.

Police – one employee to attend the Fall CJIS Working Group Meetings in Pittsburg, PA.

Fire – one employee to attend the EMRTC Response to Bombing Incidents Residential in Socorro, NM.

Police – one employee to attend the Handgun Red Dot Instructor Course in Hobbs, NM.

Police – one employee to attend the Persons with Mental Illness Instructor Course in Albuquerque, NM.

Police – one employee to attend the Fort Bliss – Military Community Hiring Event in El Paso, TX.

Police – two employees to attend the NMPET Conference in Albuquerque, NM

Legislative – one councilor to attend the NMML Annual Conference in Clovis, NM.

– Annual agreement with Southeastern New Mexico Economic Development District/COG.

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