Mountainair Town Council Votes To Clean Things Up

The January 7, 2025, meeting of the Mountainair Town Council was primarily focused on Ordinance 01-2025, the proposed property maintenance ordinance. Nonetheless, the town council addressed multiple other matters as well, including the 2024 activities of Mountainair’s Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), an Open Meetings Act resolution, acceptance of capital appropriations for improvements to the town’s water system, donating old Mountainair Police Department uniforms, welding services, and EMS billing services.

Property Maintenance Ordinance

With respect to Ordinance 01-2025, the town’s proposed property maintenance ordinance, the town council unanimously voted to approve the proposed ordinance. (A draft PDF copy of the ordinance can be found on the town’s website with the ordinance’s original citation, Ord. 03-2024.) The town council members discussed how the town should address graffiti. Mayor Peter Nieto stated that he thought graffiti could be addressed in a later ordinance.

2024 Fire and EMS Response Rates

EMS Chief Josh Lewis advised the town council of the number of calls received - and responded to - by the Mountainair Volunteer Fire Department and the Mountainair EMS Department in 2024. The fire department provided 121 responses to 162 calls over the course of 2024, a 74.7% response rate. The EMS department responded to 306 calls of the 417 it received in 2024, a 73.4% response rate.

Open Meetings Act Resolution and Acceptance of Capital Appropriations

The Mountainair Open Meetings Act resolution is an annual requirement of New Mexico’s Open Meetings Act, NMSA § 10-15-1, et seq. (2023) (enacted 1978) (link). The resolution specifies when and where town council meetings will be held, that the town is required under normal circumstances to provide three days’ notice prior to holding a meeting or before a possible quorum exists, and that the town will post its agendas online and in six physical locations throughout the town, amongst other details. The six locations where the agenda will be posted are (1) the Mountainair municipal offices, (2) the US Post Office in Mountainair, (3) Gustin’s Hardware, (4) Mountainair Meds and More, (5) Burns Auto AKA Napa Auto Parts, and (6) the Mustang Diner. (The Mountainair Dispatch provides a notification of upcoming meetings as part of its weekly “upcoming events” posts.)

Town Clerk Cheryl Allen briefed the town council regarding Capital Appropriations SAP 24-12483 (SAP refers to the State of New Mexico’s Special Appropriation Program). This capital appropriation would provide Mountainair with $60,000.00 for improvements to the municipal water system. The town council unanimously voted to accept this appropriation.

Police Department Uniforms

As part of Police Chief Paul Lucero’s move of the Mountainair Police Department from green uniforms to black uniforms, he requested that the town council approve his donation of old green uniforms to the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office. The town council unanimously approved this donation.

The town council meeting closed out with the approval of an annual agreement to share welding services with other communities in Torrance County and with an agreement to retain a company known as Zoll for billing for EMS services.