2009 - City Manager Jaime Aguilera's Memos to Mayor, City Comm. & Attorney

Interoffice MemoDate: To: C: From: 01/02/2009 Jay Rubin, City Attorney Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners Jaime Raul Aguilera, City Manager

Re: Friday Memo week of 01/02 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with the Mayor, David Ferrell and Com. Green to discuss issues (see attached list) that we would like Lt. Gov. Denish to be aware of. The meeting was set up by Com. Green because David is on Denishs transition team. Sent response to Mr. Menicucci regarding the airport contract dispute issue (copies went to Commissioners and Jay). Received an e-mail from Chad Rabon regarding a new proposal for the old fire station. They are now willing to put in more of the $500,000 and less from the City. Chad asked to first meet with the Mayor and I to discuss the issues before it was presented to the City Commission as a whole. I set up a meeting with the Mayor and Com. Stagner for Monday. I will also invite Gary Whitehead to the meeting. Met with Jesus who informed me that a piece of equipment in the clarifier is starting to go bad. He said the last time this happened was several years ago and he thinks the repair will run about $1,600.00. I told him to get it fixed now before the summer season increases the flow at the plant. Met with Ruanna, Theresa and Kerin to review the Citys web site. We did not make any major changes and told Ruanna to go ahead and finish the work. The web site is already online and we have received good comments about it. So far we have gotten over 2000 hits on the web site with over 600 return visitors. Met with Gina and went out to tour 3 different Spa hotels in town. Met with Al regarding the keys for the Civic Center. The following is a long story for a simple issue. It all started with Patsy becoming the new SCEDO President. Mindy was fired soon after and the Tourism Board had asked that the door separating SCEDO from Gina be closed so that the separation between the two entities not become blurred. The Board thought that with Mindy gone that SCEDO would begin to depend on Gina to do some of the work at SCEDO. It

seemed a likely scenario and an easy fix to lock the door between the two offices. Nothing is ever simple. After I had the door locked, Patsy demanded that I reopen the door because visitors could not go into the Spaceport part of the building. While that is somewhat correct (Zelma can still go through the back and open the front door), I know that there are not that many spaceport visitors and that we were working on a more permanent solution for the Spaceport anyway. Well, Patsy was not pleased and she again pushed the issue and suggested that the City employee and Gina switch office space with SCEDO. I thought that was a good idea because it puts the City employee and the City contractor (Gina) in the appropriate place to greet Civic Center customers. I agreed with her proposal and sent her a letter to that effect. I thought she was going to tell Steve (new SCEDO Director) about it, but she did not and now Steve is asking for keys to Mindys old office. I went to visit Steve and spoke to him about the switch. He said Patsy mentioned it in passing but that he needs to talk to her after the holidays. So well wait and see. Met with Berna and a young couple that wanted utilities turned on. The problem is that the husband (before they got married) had 2 past due bills and if we allowed them to get utilities in her name, the husband would skate without having to pay his old bills. He denied that the bills were his and Berna told him we had his signature and his Social Security number on record for 2 prior addresses. I worked out a payment arrangement with the young man, which I hope works out so that we eventually will be fully repaid. I also told him that if he can prove to us that those bills are not his, we would credit them their money and assume someone committed fraud by using his name. Met with Chris, he said he will retire on May 1st. I called HR and told Becky to start the hiring process early enough so that we can have the new building inspector on board by April 1st so that Chris can do some training before he leaves. Met with Ray about the Elephant Dogs hot dog cart business. I had asked him to check to see if she had a local business license. He said she did not but that she was told by the City Clerk that she did not need one if she was based in another City and had a business license from there. I checked with Hazel and she confirmed that it was correct information. I said most other cities require that mobile vendors get a license at the City they are vending in. Hazel said that is the way Elephant Butte is but our ordinance is different. I told Ray to get a copy of the EB Ordinance and begin the process to amend our ordinance so that we also can collect GRT locally. Went out to the Service Center to look at the Ford Ranger truck that was stolen at the golf course last week. The truck was taken for a joy ride and beat up pretty bad. It was left at the old racetrack with 3 of the four glass windows broken out, a bent rim and 2 flat tires. Howie said that it was in a secure area but the thieves broke the side window, used pliers to turn the key, and ran through a wire fence on their way out. Joe said it still runs and that Howie wants it back with just the tires fixed because they only use it to haul stuff around the golf course. The truck was a hand-me-down to the golf course and is really not

worth fixing. I received a letter from the State Engineer stating that they were denying an application for water diversion for well # HS-11 that was filed in 1995 by City Manager Trujillo. I know the State moves in a slow manner, but 13 years has got to be a record. I will have to look into the issue and file a request for a hearing. Later I went to see Steve Kortemeir about representing us on this issue but I just found out his office has moved to Socorro. Just found out that Quest has shut down our internet provider for non-payment, so I told Bob Hupp to look at switching to Windstream. We and most people in town and most of New Mexico and parts of Colorado will be without internet service for a while. Friday I found out that the PRC ordered Quest to put Ski Wi back on line. I will call Sandy Jones to see if I can find out if this PRC order is going to last or if we should switch to Windsteam anyway. Later I spoke with Sandy who was out hunting quail in Deming. He said he could not advise us on switching internet providers but that he did think that Quest would win the fight. That means we would lose our internet provider so I told Bob to go ahead and switch to Windstream. The switch will cost the City more money per month to the tune of about $1000 more per year.

City of Truth or Consequences Needs and Issues(not in any particular order)

Water Tank Repair we have $200,000 from the Legislature, but we need another $200,000 to do the job properly. Hospital future funding has been promised, we just need to make sure the promise is kept. Rodeo Arena the Governor has a special fund for the Rodeo Industry, we have a lot of usage of our arena as well as the Sheriffs Posey Arena, but they are inadequate for growing the rodeo industry in Sierra County. Spaceport Visitors Center the Spaceport Authority should spend their $500,000 funding on a local Visitors Center. The City is also concerned about Transportation requirements by the Spaceport. We would like to se a public/private partnership that would provide transportation to and from the Spaceport as well as local in-town transportation. GRT Reporting we believe the Taxation Department did not properly account for GRT reported in T or C. They have not answered phone calls or letters regarding the issue. Landfill - the NMED has told the County and T or C that they will close our Landfill in 3 years. The County and the City will form a Joint Authority to create a new Landfill. We need funding for a new landfill and for the interim trucking to Las Cruces. It would help if they extended the deadline to close until we have a new landfill in operation, that way we would not have to truck in the interim. CID Issues the Department is not providing adequate inspections in our area. This is hampering economic development; it causes shoddy inspections and increases housing costs. Not only can CID not provide the proper manpower, but they make it extremely difficult for local governments to provide their own. This is the only State in the Southwest that has that problem. The problem is huge and multifaceted. The department needs to be overhauled entirely. The new Governor needs to appoint a new Reformist Department Head. Contractors are afraid to protest because they fear reprisals from CID inspectors; Alamogordo is a good example of what can happen if you buck the system. Senior Citizens Complex Sierra Joint Office on Aging is serving more seniors that they have room for, they need a new facility.

Road Improvements the City applied for GRIP II funding for street improvements 2 years ago. That project was not funded due to the high local match (35%) that the legislature added to the project. The City is still concerned about the status of local streets that either need new pavement or need to be repaved. This is definitely a local infrastructure project that can be bid and have people put to work very quickly.

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Re: Friday Memo week of 01/09 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met Gil, he said the week was uneventful. Met with Ed R. and Al Bauer regarding the change of office issue at the Civic Center. Al was not in favor but I told them that I was and that if SCEDO was also then the change would take place. Met with Mayor, Com. Stagner and Chad Rabon to discuss the proposal from the Spaceport Authority to lease the old Fire Station. we told them that with the approval of the Commission we would lease them the building for a long term, they would rehabilitate it at their expense and we would help with some of the work outside the building related to grading. We would also agree to pay them back for their improvements whem we took the building back on a prorated basis. We also agreed that we would explore expanding the parking capabilities to the triangle park. Went out to look at the Veterans Museum work. The contractor needed the shed moved again because the proposed museum had to move west and was now in conflict with the shed. Bobby Allen told us to move it to the rear of the proposed museum because in the future the shed would act as a storage place for the museum. Went out to look at the Old Fire Station and proposed parking at the triangle park and at the empty lot next to the Rio Bravo Gallery. Met with Greg DAmour regarding tonights meeting. We discussed how to schedule the presentations by the Architects.

Met with Leonard regarding the work being done by Gordon Environmental and about the dumpster in front of the Chamber of Commerce. I told him to investigate the possibility of removing the cardboard dumpster and relocating the trash dumpster. By the next day he had removed the cardboard one and was still looking at where to relocate the trash dumpster. Responded to an e-mail from NMDOT regarding our request for a planning grant for Safe Routes To School Program. Received a call from Tom ONeil who represents the insurance company for Swansons. Now that the leak has been fixed by the water department and Swansons is no longer getting their basement flooded, the insurance company will probably file a tort claim against the City. Met with Don out on 3rd St. to review the work by the contractor that did the sidewalk work. He was back in town to finish some the work that had not been done from the punch list. Attended the Recreation Board meeting and the P and Z meeting Tuesday night. The purpose of the Recreation meeting was to interview 4 architects to perform the work necessary for the park and pool improvements. The Recreation Board selected the Albuquerque firm of NCA. It will be on the Commission agenda for the 13th. The P and Z meeting was a workshop on Planning Practices and Issues. That went well and they asked for another workshop in the future. I had received a complaint that the lady that sells hot dogs in a mobile cart in town had not paid for a business license. I asked the Clerks office and they said that the code did not require vendors who are registered outside the City to register in our City. I researched our code and found that it did not say that. It simply says that anyone doing business in the City is required to pay a business registration fee. I then spoke to Mary about the issue and she said that many years ago Jay had opined on a Hayes Plumbing issue that businesses that were registered in other cities did not have to register in our City. I called Jay and he did not remember the Hayes case, but he did say that if the hot dog lady is doing regular business in town then she should register in town. I went back to Mary and the other 2 clerks and I told them that from now on they should require that all businesses that do business in town pay a registration fee just like the code says. Called the NCA Architects to let them know of the Recreation Board decision and that they would be on the Commission agenda for the 13th. Met with the 95 Years In Hot Water Committee. We assigned duties to each other and are making good progress. Held the Department Head Staff meeting. Joe reported he just bought Gas and Diesel at about half the price he had been paying. Jesus reported that the wastewater operator that EB had hired is in the hospital and probably wont return. I told him I would tell the EB City Manager that we will help but that we

can no longer contract with them because of our manpower shortage. Russ reported that Sgt. Sholkofski is doing very well and expects him to return to the force in the near future. Chris reported that the new auto parts store (at the old Sonic) is getting ready to begin construction. Berna reported that the amount of red-tags has not decreased despite the higher fee. Bob Hupp reported that the departments will have the internet down next week as we switch over to Windstream. Received a copy of the settlement agreement on the McCanns case. Received an e-mail from Rebecca Dow stating that the grant for the Boys and Girls Club that we co-authored with the BGC to the State Child Youth and Family Department was approved. Met with the Main Street Downtown group to discuss the upcoming seminar in Santa Fe on the Main St. program. SCEDO representatives (Steve and Patsy) were there also and Steve said he might go to the seminar also. Met with Berna, Theresa, and Bob to let them know that I expect them to make the ability to use credit cards for utility payments a priority. Berna said she had already contacted the City of Aztec because they have the same utility software program and they just started using credit cards also. They are sending her the contact name and information. Met with Merry Jo to discuss more work to remove salt cedar at Rotary Park and on other land the City owns. Met with Gil to discuss the hiring of the engineer to design the Williamsburg Circuit reconstruction. He and I felt that the one engineering proposal that we got was too high. I called Dumas Slade and told him to sharpen his pencil on the fee. He said he would get together with me next week to see where they could reduce some of their costs. Met with Tom Burris about the portable classrooms at the school. We discussed the possibility that they would give them to us in exchange for some dirt work at the football field parking area. He said he would ask the Board about it. We also talked about sidewalks for new school road. I told him that if the school got a grant that the City would do the labor. Interoffice Memo: City Manager PagePAGE 3 of NUMPAGES 3

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Re: Friday Memo week of 01/16 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with Ed Williams about the Communication Committee. The public entities in the County have gotten together to form a Communication Committee to review and discuss communication equipment issues between the various first responders including utility crews. The C. Committee will be making recommendations and looking for funding for communication equipment. Ed told me that in order for the City to be eligible for some of the grant money that the Committee might get we need to join the Committee officially. I will place this item on the next Commission agenda. Met with Chris and Joe Torres regarding a subdivision he had done without our

knowledge. We concluded that the subdivision was only a lot line adjustment and that he just needed to go through the City process in order to make it legal. Met with Mary and Jay to review the agenda. Met with Bill Buehler to discuss a building he owns that he would like to rent to the City for a court house. I told him that 1700 square feet was too small but that maybe the SCCOG would be interested. The building is on Main St. where the existing Pet Store is next to the museum. Met with Sam Senn and their race track designer to discuss the proposed racetrack that will be the subject of a public comment process later this month. They hope to get all City approvals in time to have their first race on Memorial Day. Met with Helen to review the budget amendment. We also discussed some issues related to the proposed NMFA loan. Finally got Pat to put the bid package together for the Court House. She will advertise the request for bids in this weeks newspapers. I received the quotes on the cameras for the Parks and the Service Center. The total for all areas is about $108,400 plus GRT plus travel and per diem. Later, I attended a meeting with another company that is also on a state contract that provides the same service. The two companies have a different approach to the software and fee issue. Bob is currently comparing the two and will provide me with an analysis. The group that runs their motorcycles at the old racetrack rebuilt it after the movie company changed some of the terrain. They asked Chris if the City would give them effluent water so that they could keep the dust down. I told Chris to let them know it was ok if they used their own water wagon. Attended the Tourism Board meeting. Attended the RPO meeting at EB. I was informed that the grant Ray and I submitted for the Safe Routes to School was approved and that we were at the top of the NMDOT list. I dont have an official approval yet. Attended the River Trail meeting at the Soil and Conservation Offices. Spoke with Gina about the bicycle program. I had told her that we were just waiting to get a donation for helmets and she said Sid Bryan and Rob Wheeler (Blackstone Lodge owner) had said they would donate the funds for the helmets. I then told Theresa to get the ball rolling on the bicycle program, i.e. call Norm and have his crew build a rack, call the volunteer bike repair guy and take him the bikes to repair and Gina will get with Sid and Rob and get the helmets. Spoke with Ed Zendel from the Muni League. He was responding to a call from me asking who was going to pay for the settlement fee on the McCanns case. He

said the League would and it would not affect our rating. The City received the check for $2300+ from the Cable Company for the public access channel. Sent NCA Architects an e-mail asking them to prepare the first Task Order to design the Pool Cover. I did some research and found a company that specializes in training for municipalities. They sent me a quotation for a Strategic Vision-Mission-Goal Retreat. The fee would be $3,200. I will place this item on the next Commission agenda for discussion. I propose that we and the Department Heads go out of town to perhaps the Black Range Lodge on 2/20/09. Met with Ray Chavez. He is working on a grant to get $20,000 for an addition to the Recycling Center to fence in a one acre parcel so that we can locate the plastic, bottle and newspaper recycling program on City property. Called The Taxation Department again, I left a message for the lady in charge of the GRT disbursement. Received a return call finally but I was unavailable so I returned the call again. I received a call from Paula Green. She said their group is receiving several trees from a grant by the end of the month and the Garden Folks would like to plant them at the perimeter of the Community Garden. I told her I would have Ed R. contact her about assisting in digging a trench so that the Garden Club would just have to fill in the dirt when the trees arrived. I called Jay Armijo regarding the SCCOG meeting in Santa Fe on 2/27/09. I asked him if there was something special about the meeting and he said there was not. The reason for meeting in Santa Fe was that the Board thought that members might want to visit their legislators after the meeting. I told him we would all be doing that on 2/2/09 so there was no reason to do it twice. I just received the GRT report from the State for November. It came in at $62,022 higher that our projection. This means we have now cut our projected shortfall to about $200,000. Also, I finally spoke with the head of the Taxation Dept. She explained it all. Wal-Mart opened on 12/14/08. Because it was in the middle of the month, they did not report their GRT on 8/30/08, they reported on 9/30/08. Therefore we did not see their income reported to us until 10/15/08. This means we did not see the October income until the report of 12/15/08, which makes sense since that was the first month that we saw a $24,000 increase. I am now confident that we will end the year with a surplus. I will probably lift the budget freeze next month. Attended the Main Street meeting in Santa Fe.


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Re: Friday Memo week of 01/23 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with Bob Hupp. He told me someone tried to get into the computer room at City

Hall. The door was opened but the steel bar the Facility Maint. Crew had installed kept them out. I told him to contact the PD and have them lift prints at the door. Met with Ed R. and Pat from the library. I told them that the Garden Club wants to plant some trees at the Library site. I told Ed that he needs to dig a trench for them and they will plant trees in it and fill it in. Pat objected to trees near the Library because they could break the slab and cause other problems. I told Ed to contact Paula Green about where she wants the trench dug. On other business Ed told me the new playground equipment is arriving this week and will be set up next week. Met with Berna. She told me she had finally received the information on the credit card program for utilities. This is a new process that works with our existing software. We will be able to offer online bill-pay and credit card services in the office. The set up charge is about $4000 plus a yearly maintenance charge of about $400 plus the existing maintenance fee. All users will pay a fee to the company that provides the service similar to the State Department of Motor Vehicles. Put together some deal points to discuss with the Spaceport folks. I sent a copy to Com. Stagner and the Mayor for comments before I sent it to Chad. Spoke with Patty Lester. She was calling to give me a heads-up on the fact that she is going to tell Kim Audette that she can not have the keys for the Senior Center to conduct her Tax Return work that she provides to Seniors. Patty said she can provide the service during the times that the center is normally open but that she is too much of a flake (her words) to let her have the key. She thought Kim might complain to me about it. I told her I was sure she would not come to me with the issue, but that she might call a Commissioner or two. Met with Kathleen Sloan regarding the Airport Master Plan. We spoke for about an hour on the issues with the cross-wind runway and the FAA. Met with Greg and Rose Garettson from HSLD regarding grants for water and sewer. They also updated me on the upcoming public hearing for the racetrack. Called and left a message for Lara Ratliff at the City of Farmington Utility Dept. to ask her some questions about how they operate their utility assistance program. Received a call (message) from Alan Briley. He informed me that their wastewater operator had passed away and that he needed our help again. I called Jesus and we talked about what we could do since his department is low on staff. We agreed that Jesus could provide 10 hours a week of supervision of the plant and the guy they have working there could be his assistant. Per State Law the plant has to have a minimum of a Level III operator in charge, so Jesus or one of our other Level III or IV could be the person in charge. Later I called Alan and we decided to use the existing JPA with a reduction in the fee to 10 hours per week instead of 20.

Met with Jan P. Carrejo to discuss the jail contract. She said it does not make any difference if prisoners go out of town or if they stay in the jail because the fee per prisoner is the same. She also said that after February 15th most if not all prisoners will be kept here and no one will be shipped to Grants. We also called D. Rush and set up an appointment for next Friday to discuss the medical fee issue. Well now that the election is over, Deborah Toomey is back wasting our time with nonsensical requests related to social security numbers. I knew this lull was too good to be long lasting. Met with Patsy Barnett (SCEDO) regarding the office space situation at the Civic Center. I mentioned that the old court house building would be coming vacant in the near future. She was interested in it and we set up a time to go tour the building. Spoke with Randy Ashbaugh regarding hotels. He said that one hotel is approved for the site except for one last person up the line that has not taken action on it. I suggested that I could write him a letter that explains why the City needs another hotel. He said it might help. Later spoke with Gina and asked her to get me some statistics on the hotel occupancy. She actually wrote the letter for me and I signed it and sent it to Randy. Met with the Department Heads for our bi-weekly meeting. Joe reported that there are some departments with vehicles with very high mileage. He said the motor-grader has the equivalent of 700,000 miles on it. Ed reported that all the playground equipment is now out of the parks and that the new equipment is on site and will be installed starting this week. Russ reported that he is still 3 men down and that the bikes have now been sent to the volunteer that will fix them. Chris reported that OReileys Auto Parts store will get their permit this week to begin construction of their new store at the old Sonic building site. Don reported that his 2 sweepers are in El Paso in the repair shop. Attended the SCEDO meeting. Met with Patsy B to tour the court building. She said that SCEDO like the space and would definitely consider moving to this location once it is vacant. I also explained the whole mold issue. Met with Andy to discuss the purchase of a piece of safety equipment for working inside trenches. Met with Gil to discuss the engineering contract with WH Pacific for the design of the Williamsburg Circuit. I had called them and told them the fee was too high. Gil said they called him today and cut $26,000 from their fee. Met with Jay and Hazel to review the agenda. We also called Randy VanVleck to discuss the best way to handle the Open Meetings Act issue related to the Retreat. He said we could call it training and not have to advertise or we could call it training and advertise as a precaution.

Received the following e-mail: NMFA Loan 2246-PP, $3,369,941 to the City of Truth or Consequences, is now closed.


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Interoffice Memo

Date: To: C: From:

01/30/2009 Jay Rubin, City Attorney Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners Jaime Raul Aguilera, City Manager

Re: Friday Memo week of 01/30 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Received a call from Sandy Jones on Saturday to let me know that a $200,000 grant for tank repair was on the chopping block at the State. He wanted to know if we had encumbered any money. I told him that the City had hired an engineering company to apply for a grant to add to the Legislative grant because $200,000 was not enough to do the job. He said he would call John Arthur Smith on our behalf and let him know. Met with Josh Ashbaugh regarding taxes owed on the Andrews property. He said that Sierra Title had screwed up and not followed up on taxes owed by the Andrews. He said Sierra Title would pay the penalty. I told him to send me a letter to that effect so that we could have documentation in the file. Spoke with Ed Williams and asked him when was the last time we had a sexual harassment seminar. He said we had one 8 months ago. I told him to set up another one in about 4 months and make it mandatory. He said he would set up one for supervisors and one for employees. Met with Leonardo to discuss the white goods contract. He said the current contractor does not have a proper license and that he is going to bid out the contract again. I told him to contact the contractor that takes the Countys white goods. Received a call from Billy Sedillo from the Gas Company. He wanted to know the zoning of a property because the tenants are saying that they are not a business. I told him that the location on Broadway was zoned Commercial and so the people with the new pawn shop would have to pay the commercial rates. Returned a call from LaRena Miller, she wanted to set up a meeting with me and Kathy Clark regarding entry signs. Later we met at the Charles and we went out to the out end of the building and decided where the Historic Downtown Sign would go. Spoke to Sylvia Forstner for an hour. She likes to talk and talk. The bottom line is that she wants something done about the traffic and I told her that we might hire an engineer in the future when the financial picture turns around. Reviewed the letter from the Utility Advisory Board. I went online to the El Paso Water Utility web site and copied their desert landscaping list. I told Berna to

have copies available at the counter and I told Bob to put the list on our web site. I also asked Theresa to call El Paso Water for a copy of some brochures. I am so impressed by the response from El Paso. The brochures arrived the next day! Also included in the packet they sent was a booklet from the NM State Engineer. I asked Theresa to call the State engineer and see if we could get 5000 from them. Later I went on our web site and the list is already there. Met with Ed R. and Mike Kirikos to discuss a patio cover for funeral services that was in the Citys cemetery budget. Ed had told me Mike did not like the idea, so I told him to set up a meeting. Mike said that the idea had been tried once before and because the City did not make it mandatory that funerals be held under the patio cover, people always elected to have the funeral at the grave site instead. He proposed that doing a better job at the gravesite by removing the dirt mound would be much better that buying the cover. We all agreed that the money would be better invested on equipment that would smooth out the services at the gravesite instead of trying to move the services away from the gravesite. Sent a memo to Russ asking him to have a patrol unit with radar set up on Austin St. at night and to actually hand out tickets. That last time they only gave out warnings. Later I received a memo from Russ stating that ticketing had started on Austin St. Commissioner Green had asked me to look into the possibility of having the City ask for donations through the Utility Bills and then use the money to assist those who could not pay. He told me he was told that the City of Farmington had such a program. I had tried to contact Laura Ratliff in Farmington several times but without success. I then contacted Rob Mayes City Manager in Farmington for information on how the City assists people who cannot afford their utilities. I told him that I had been told that the City of Farmington collected funds that people donate for that purpose and then use the money to assist those in need. He said that they did not do that and went on to explain that they do exactly what we do when confronted with people who get in a short-term bind. He said their City sometimes also gives money to local non-profits who assist the poor. He said they do this because giving direct aide to a person in need would be in violation of the anti-donation clause. Spoke with Jay regarding the credit card agreement. Jay was concerned about the liability language. I suggested that he call the City of Aztec City Attorney since they have already gone through the process. He agreed. I called Berna and asked her to call Aztec and get the number for their attorney and send it to Jay. Met with Steve Spaw regarding the guy who had called about coming to town with a business that would build solar electric golf carts. Apparently the man is still interested in coming to town but had some more questions that Steve discussed with me. Met with Don Armijo to discuss the fact that Tom Burris received an invitation to apply for LGRF (local government road fund) money. I didnt know that the

school could also apply. Every year we get about $50,000 from LGRF, if the school can apply on its own then perhaps we can add projects. When I met with Tom last week I told him we would fill out the technical part of the application and the School could then submit it for repaving New School Road. Don said he would have the estimates done by the end of the week. Later I met with Don again to fine tune the proposal. At the Rotary Club meeting the Club presented D. Rush with a check for $54,000 that the Club collected from fines and fund raisers for the new mammography machine. D. said that the machine the hospital bought is 1 of only 3 in the entire state. Met with Dan Bovin from Smith Engineering. He was passing through town and stopped in to say hello. I asked him if he had a traffic engineer on their staff that could come out and look at the problem on Austin St. He said he would have Bill McFarland call me. Later received a call from Bill, he left a message that he was going to be out of town until next week and asked that I call him the following week. Attended a pre construction meeting at the sewer plant with Smith Engineering, SmithCo and Jesus. The work at the plant will start on Feb. 2nd. Went out to look at the progress on the museum. The work is going well, the slab for the restrooms has already been poured. Spoke with Ed Williams and Ray regarding sight visibility at intersections. Ed and Ray both said that they routinely respond to those types of issues and that if they see an intersection visibility problem on their own, they report it and have the problem removed. Met with Larena Miller and Eddie Irwin. They presented their proposal for budget request for Geronimo Trails and the Geronimo Springs Museum. Wrote a memo to all recipients of City funds to submit their budget requests. Met with Jay to discuss the changes to the PNP agreement. We called the PNP representative and he said we should write our proposed changes and e-mail them to him. He said he would get an answer from his supervisors and get back to us in 24 hours. Jay wrote the proposed language addition to the contract and I had Bob send it the same day. Later Jay and I conference called PNP and we agreed to increase the amount of liability that PNP would take. Jay was satisfied and I signed the agreements and sent them to PNP. Met with Chris Pappas. She wanted to know the status of the Tennis Court Renovation project. I told her the architect was hired and would begin work soon. Spoke with Dan and asked him about the sign at the airport related to the EB Inn. He said it is there because they are the only hotel that provides transportation services. He said we also have a notice posted inside regarding the Hot Springs

Taxi Service. I will place an ad in the newspapers letting all know that if they can provide a similar service they can also have a sign at the airport. Met with Mary, 2 Appletree representatives, Russ, and Don regarding a proposal to close off Simms, Daniels, and Clancy Streets in order to allow a carnival to locate there on Fiesta Weekend. Russ and Don stated that it had been done about 5 years ago and it was not a problem. I had also invited Sazi from the Sierra Grande Lodge to the meeting but she sent a letter saying she could not attend but that she was opposed to closing streets that would limit access to the Lodge. The streets in question would not limit access so I gave the green light to the group. I also told them to contact all businesses in the area and let them know about the closure. Worked on mine and the City Commissioners budget. Leonardo reported that the dumpster in front of the Chamber of Commerce was moved last week to the alley and it was reduced in size. Met with Casey Frazier. He is a rehabilitated drug user who wants to start a rehab center in T or C. He said he has $500,000 to put into a building and he plans to rent the old Market on Broadway St. he has letters of support from judges, probation officers, sheriff and Russ. He wanted to know if the City had a problem with his proposal. I told him the property was properly zoned and we therefore neither endorsed nor would we stand in his way to make the rehab center a reality. I told him he would probably have to comply with building code issues and that he should meet with Chris as soon as possible.


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Re: Friday Memo week of 02/06 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with the State Legislators and Governor Richardson in Santa Fe. The meetings went very well and I think that we have been spared cuts and will actually get funding for the landfill and the Senior Center Complex. I also heard later from a Department Head that he did not think our requests were out of line or overly ambitious. Met with Commissioner Green to discuss the legislative meeting with the Governor, he was apparently left out of the loop about the meeting and I apologized. Met with the 95 Years in Hot Water planning group. Some of the things we talked about are having bands play throughout the day and a dance in the late afternoon, booths in the middle of Broadway, a sidewalk art contest and invite the 2 universities to compete as well as having age categories, a horseshoe throwing contest, and a rodeo at the rodeo arena.

Went out to look at the park equipment, most of it is installed and should be finished by the end of the week. Ed also told me the pump at the pond has broken. He is looking for parts to repair it because a new one will cost $6000. Went out to look at the Community Garden retaining wall. We will be using recycled tires from the County to create a retaining wall so that dirt does not slide into the tennis court area. Received a call from Gerald Garcia to tell me that he had receive a complaint through the AGs office that we had not followed the correct purchasing procedure when we hired SMITHCO to build the museum. After I and Pat had explained the process he was satisfied that we were ok and asked that I just put it in writing. I have also sent a copy to the Commission. Spent at least 3 hours compiling the information for the State for what we believe is a complaint from KAM Construction. Met with Don Gustin. I asked him to provide a proposal for another smaller direction sign heading into downtown from the existing sign at Wal-Mart. Met with Berna, Helen and Bob to phone conference with the PNP credit card company and out ADG Software Company to smooth out the transition process. When we were at the Capitol, Greg Neal told me that Sam Senn was told he had a brain tumor. On Wednesday night he called to tell me that the surgery had gone well, the tumor was benign and it was fully removed. Met with Filed Representatives Xochitl Torres from Tom Udalls Office, Dara Parker from Jeff Bingamans Office and Mindy Ybarra from Harry Teagues office. I asked them for help on funding the Landfill and sewer plant. Received another complaint to the AGs office from D. Toomey. She seems to be complaining that the City did not comply with the Inspection of Public Records Act. Well find out later what the exact complaint is about. Later, I met with Bob Hupp about the Toomey letter. Bob read the State law that she refers to and it does not require that the City keep a log of computer backups. I told Bob to respond to her with that information, i.e. we do not have a backup log and we are not required to have one and therefore there is nothing for her to inspect. Met with Chris to remind him that the Commission wanted a big City map placed in the Commission Chambers. He said he had just gone yesterday to talk to Eloy again about it and he said he would have it by the end of the month. Met with Greg Neal to discuss the possible deal points on an agreement for HSLD to fund the infrastructure needs of the development with the City as the loan applicant and HSLD as the guarantor. The reason for having the City as the loan applicant would be because the City can get 3% loans. I am sending the City Attorney and the Commission a copy by separate cover.

Received an e-mail regarding the recycling drive The Recycle Drive was a great success. The most participation since we started in August '08. Total recyclers (cars and walk-ins) 167 T. or C. participants 119 Elephant Butte 26 Williamsburg 6 Caballo 4 Los Palomas 4 Monticello 3 Cuchillo 2 Hillsboro 2 Animas Creek 1 We made $125.00 in donations. The press came out and we had porta potties donated by Honey Pot and the Elephant Butte State Park. There were a lot of volunteers, 4 city employees and some middle school students helping with unloading cars, directing traffic, tracking numbers, sorting, smashing, removing rings off plastic bottles (very labor intensive) and handing out information: Jan Thedford, Sandi Gardner, Phil Duncan, Steve Green, Lou McCall, John Morgan, Alyce Hudson, Alison Rashedi, Dee Jay and Gregg Knowlton, Wendy Evanson, Joanie (Teen program organizer), Jane & Steve Darland, The city workers - Leonardo Carrillo, Robert Newsom, Adam and Andy. I don't know the names of the teens but Nicole Gutierrez was with us most of the 4 hours and gave us her best. I apologize if I forgot anyone. Thanks everyone! We couldn't have done it without you. The next recycle drive will be Sat. Feb. 28.


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Re: Friday Memo week of 02/13 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with the Mayor, Jay and Mary to review the agenda.

Met with D. Rush and Jan to discuss the hospital billing rates for prisoners. D. agreed to give us a 25% discount on all prisoner related health care bills. She said this is close to cost and similar to Medicaid. Met with Ed R. regarding mulch for the park, we decided to use our own mulch after we got a quote from a contractor for $8,000. Ed said he will re-chip the mulch we have to make it similar. Spoke with Russ regarding the ticketing at Austin St. He gave me copies of the citations that were issued. Spoke with Ray regarding the recycling grant that I asked him to write. Except for a Commission Resolution it is ready to be sent out. Met with the Rio Grande Trails committee to discuss alternatives to a trail on the same dirt road as vehicles use on the river. The problem is that the road narrows at the bend and vehicles take the turn very fast so it would put pedestrians in danger. We decided that we will put the trail on Tingley Hill instead of at the bottom of the hill. Theresa sent me the following note: Also the State Engineers office will be sending us two boxes of the "Don't Waste A Drop" brochure that you wanted me to get. They said funding is tight so I couldn't get the 5,000 that we asked for. She will send me a PDF file that I can print off more if we need them. This is regarding a pamphlet on water conservation that I wanted to mail out to all residents. With what they are sending we will make it available at the counter. Attended the Tourism Board meeting. We held an executive session to consider the new contract with Gina. Met with Mary to discuss the response to the AG. We crafted a letter and sent it. A copy was also sent to the Commission and Jay. Met with Linda Thompson to discuss the addition of classroom space at the Gardner Learning Center. I told her I was hoping to get the School classroom, but we there was not anything definite yet. Attended the Spaceport meeting, but had to leave at 10:00 to attend the NMED meeting. Attended a meeting with the County, Auralie Ashley-Marx Chief of the Solid Waste Bureau, NMED and our engineer to review the status of the landfill closure plan. The meeting went on for 4 hours which included a site visit to both landfills. The very good news is that NMED gave us very good marks on our landfill operation and they said they would probably approve a closure permit with a variance on monitoring wells. They said that the way we have closed each cell in the landfill probably means we will save about $300,000 in closure costs! Auralie said she wished every landfill in New Mexico was this well organized and run. I told her I could not take credit for it that the crews have done an excellent job since it was first opened in the late 80s. The also gave

us our permit for the expansion of the recycling Center so that we can ask for a grant to add the community recycling program to the existing property. Spoke with George B. about the Electrical Sub-Contractor for the museum. He said that Luchini wants to go with an overhead service and I told him it should be underground. I told him to set up a meeting with Twister Smith so that we could discuss it. Attended the RPO NMDOT meeting in Las Cruces at the NMDOT offices. It was a good thing I went because those that did not attend did not get their projects on the priority list for the Bailout Funds. EB got $100,000 for beautification as the #1 on the list. We got $800,000 for Loop-I-25 (Broadway, Main, & Date) repaving, and the County got #3 for a bridge project. This is still unchartered territory for NMDOT so we will see how this listing turns out. Held two Personnel Hearings at the County to hear a grievance from two of their employees. Attended the AGs seminar on Open Meetings, etc. Spoke with Randy A. about his desire to get Bailout funds to put a sewer line on Country Club Road. I told him I did not think the project is eligible because it has to be designed and ready to bid.


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Interoffice MemoDate: To: C: From: Re: 02/20/2009 Jay Rubin, City Attorney Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners Jaime Raul Aguilera, City Manager

Friday Memo week of 02/20

Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with Randy A. about his idea to put sewer on Country Club Rd. I told him we did not have a shovel ready project and therefore his idea would not qualify for the Obama money. Spoke with Bill Gomez who said he is working for Congressman Teague. He said Teague would be in town for an hour and would like to meet with the City Commission as well as other governing body representatives. Received a surprise visit from 2 EPA inspectors who were here to review our sewer plant operation. They said they were particularly interested in the laboratory operation. Later they met with Jesus and me to discuss their findings. They said they were very pleased with the way the plant is operated and that the effluent is very clean. On the bad side, they said our laboratory work is sloppy and that it needs to be overhauled completely. They will write it all up and send us a report. After they left I spoke with Jesus and told him to hire a consultant that can come out and get the laboratory back in shape. Later he said he contacted a consultant in Albuquerque and that they would send someone down to review our situation and give us a quote. Met with Jay Hopkins and Russ to discuss the local television station issue. They said the Armory may not work for the location of the computer equipment because it is not a secure area, so they were looking for a better location. We discussed the basement at the Civic Center and Jay said he would go look at it. Later he called and said it would work. I told him we would need to do d a new rental agreement. Received the GRT for this month. It was again lower than expected by $61,000. That means an average drop of $25,000 per month. So the freeze will remain in effect. At this point the shortfall for the end of the year has been reduced to about $300,000. Met with the River Trail Group to discuss the writing of the trail report. Attila presented the first draft of a part of the report and the group worked on an outline on other sections of the report. Met with Commissioner Green regarding the Citys support for a grant that the Arts Council will be applying for. I told him I would be glad to provide a letter of support from the City since the project will benefit the City. The proposal is to ask for $25,000 from the State for the creation of a local Arts Trail brochure and information packet as well as other related publicity for the T or C Arts Trail. Met with Gina regarding the latest numbers showing on the Tourism Web Site. They just went off the charts after the article in the New Mexico magazine. All the hotels in the downtown were full last weekend.

Met with Gil. I had asked him to find out from Robert Bernal if it was his family that was buried in two grave sites at the landfill. According to rumors, the two people were great grand parents of Robert. NMED asked us to find out more about the graves. Gil said Robert did not know for a fact who they were but did think they were relatives since he said his family used to own the land. Gil said he was referred to more than 8 people in town trying to get to the bottom of the issue. He said no one really knows. He said he was going to go Wednesday to the County to see if they had any records that might shed some light on the issue. Gil got roped into this investigation because at the staff meeting he said he knew Robert. Later, Gil showed me that ownership information at the County. It shows that the land was sold to the City in 1976 by BLM, so it was never in private hands. Met with Congressman Teague, his staff, Commissioners Green and Stagner. We discussed the stimulus package and T or C needs with the Congressman. Met with Twister, Frank Luchini and George Bolling to talk about a possible change order that would save the City $10,000. Unfortunately it would mean removing the fire alarm, security system and the underground electrical feed to the building. Since these are not mandated by code they could be removed but I decided that they were too important and in the scheme of things the wrong place to save money. I thanked Frank and Twister for bringing it to my attention. Met with Chris Holguin, (our local NMDOT representative) to discuss the idea of having NMDOT build a paved area at the airport for training and testing for CDL licenses. He said if we provided the property they would pave it and let us use it also, so I gave him the green light. Met with Helen to figure out where to get funds for Ed R. to purchase a new water pump for the fishing pond. It turns out he has some salary savings so that will complete the $2600 for the new pump. Attended the downtown meeting at the Senior Rec. Center. Nothing new to report. Attended the RPO meeting in EB. It appears that the SCCOG is applying for a grant to buy some new vehicles for the transportation services that they offer. If the grant is approved it could mean the end of the Hot Springs Taxi Service. I told Jay Armijo that they should speak with the owner of the taxi service to see if there is anything the SCCOG can do to not compete for the same customers. Spoke with Richard Saenz regarding a company from Albuquerque that wants to do a design build for the municipal court. We set up a meeting for Friday. Spoke with John from NMFA and Helen over a conference call regarding the Recreation Loan. It turns out that they did not pay attention when I told them to keep the payments at the same level as our GRT revenue. Helen and I told John to recalculate the loan so that the yearly payments are equal to the revenue. He said he would call back Friday.

Spoke with Judge Hawkins and let him know the Court building bid was on the agenda. He asked to meet with me next week and we set up a meeting for Tuesday. Met with Richard Saenz and Dave Mcgee from Britton Construction regarding a proposal to design build the Court building. They said they would send me some information before the Tuesday night meeting. Ray and Leonard will meet today with Joe Lobato from the State Clean and Beautiful program and a lady from Albuquerque Sanitation Department who has volunteered to put on a Recycling Program at the elementary school. This whole plan was Rays idea. The program will be held March 6th at 9 am. The program will feature the Roadrunner Recycling Mascot and a Recycling Bus and a workshop with the kids who will turn trash into art and other usable items like bird feeders out of large coke bottles. We received 2000 water conservation brochures from the State. There are not enough to mail to all of our customers but we will make them available to people at the counter. Interoffice Memo: City Manager PagePAGE 3 of NUMPAGES 3



Re: Friday Memo week of 02/27 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with Mayor Pro-Tem Stagner, Jay and Mary to review the agenda. Spoke with Carlos Padilla regarding a story he is doing on the allegations of fraud. He wanted to know who people would complain to if they alleged fraud. I told him that people should complain to the PD and a copy to me. Met with Ray regarding J&J Towing. We have been after them for a long time to clean their lot, but every time we have taken them to Court, they clean up their mess and then let it get dirty again. This time they did the same thing but I told Ray to get them fined because they promised to put up a fence and they did not do it. The case has been referred to Jay for prosecution. Spoke with Chester Anderson regarding the set up cost for the modular unit. He said he would get back to me. Later he called and asked to come by and talk to me. Chester said he would give me a quote for a turn key job before the Commission meeting. Gil just came by to let me know that Jack Backer passed away this morning. Good news on the airport hanger. I had asked Chris to look into what it would take to finish the building. He was told by the new inspector at CID that he did not want to touch it since he was not familiar with it. He said we should get an engineer to certify that it was complete. Chris got the same engineer that worked for Pippen to come out and he certified it complete so the next step will be to get the final from CID. Helen just reminded me that the Audit is still not finished. I told her to give me a name and number of who to call to get them do their work. I told her that maybe we should re-advertise for an auditor. She agreed. More good news, I just received a letter from the Children, Youth and Family

Department that the grant we requested for Domestic Abuse was funded for $58,899 which is 100% of their request. The funds will be used to make improvements to the Dom. Abuse Offices (Armory). The matching funds will be in-kind from Domestic Abuse and the funds we already provide to them yearly. More good news, I just received the EPA permit for the Wastewater Treatment Plant that will expire in 2014. This is what allows the plant to put treated water into the Rio Grande. Which means that they approved of the plant and how it is operated. Spoke with Commissioner Renfro regarding Ray Loper Park. I asked her who Ray Loper was and why the park was named after him. She explained that the Ray Loper was a Commissioner many years ago and that the name was used by staff but was never officially named after him. The reason I was asking was that the Rotary Club was thinking to propose that it be named after Jack Baker. Later at the Rotary meeting, they decided to plant a tree and install a plaque instead. Commissioner Renfro also told me that she had been advised that a young boy had been hurt at the Ralph Edwards Park in a broken piece of play equipment. I told her I would go investigate. It turns out it was some of the older but still good equipment that might have been the culprit. I call Ed and asked him to send someone to put some rubber and duct tape on the piece. I went back an hour later to check and it was already done. I called Commissioner Renfro and gave her the update. She also mentioned that the Fast Stop in Williamsburg had been asking to get a cardboard bin so that they might use it to recycle the cardboard. Apparently, we had not been very cooperative about the issue. I called Leonard and he said he would take care if it. Met with Mr. and Mrs. Jacka. They wanted to impress upon me and the Commission how much their daughter and other young men and women use the City Rodeo arena. They wanted me to know that they hope the City continues to support the youth rodeo. Met with Helen to discuss the NMFA loan proposal to reduce the loan amount in order to reduce the payment. The payment is in line now with our revenues, but Helen had some more questions and I asked her to call NMFA. Later Helen said her questions were answered so I called NMFA and told them to go ahead and rewrite the paperwork. Worked on my Evaluation Report to the Commission which is due in March. Worked with Helen to figure out how much more money we needed to come up with to complete our contractual obligation with Gina. As it turns out, we took $2113.07 from SCEDO and we will only have to come up with another $1800 by the end of the year instead of the whole $6500 that we thought it would be. Received a call from Mark Giardetti (the Movie Theatre owner). He said he wanted me and the Commission to know that he supports the location of the Spaceport at the old Fire Station, he also hoped the Main Street program would

do well and that he knew the Motorplex would be good for our economy. He said maybe one day a bigger theatre would come to town and that would be ok with him too, as long as the city prospers. Spoke with Helen about the Lodgers Tax issue that Commissioner Green brought up last night. She said the wording had to be changed in the City Clerks Office application. I checked with Ellen and she said she had already taken care of the change at the last Board meeting. We will now require that the city name be spelled out completely instead of being abbreviated. Held the Department Head Staff Meeting. Issues discussed were: preparing for auctioning of useless city property, getting performance evaluations done, the budget, safety issues, preparing for the carnival for Fiesta, Armory Cleanup, and the Court Building. Departments reported the following: Ed is out of chemical weed control and no funds to buy more, dogs in parks I asked Mary to research what the law was-later she told me that the law allows dogs in parks as long as they are on a leash, the fishing pond pump will arrive in 3 weeks, OReileys Auto Parts will pour their concrete slab this week, Smith Co and Joe Torres are partnering to build a subdivision in the Mims area, Bernas new employee just started work, Russ reported that the golf course had been burglarized, I told the staff to be more careful due to recent break-ins, the Library circulation is up 10% and Internet use is up 18%, Jimmy Robbins reported that he goes to the library every day at lunch and that he wanted me to know that the library staff does a great job and the staff is very helpful to clients. Pat said that the city should investigate the use restrictions on the land next to the library because it may be that it can only be used for recreational purposes. I asked Chris to research this issue. I attended a phone conference with Congressman Teague regarding Federal appropriations. I then later filled out a form to ask him to create an earmark for us. Fat chance but it does not hurt to try. I also sent one to Udall. Worked on employee evaluations whenever I had a free moment. It turns out I directly supervise 14 people. The normal span of control is supposed to be 5. Met with tom Burris. The school is eligible for LGRF funding from NMDOT and I told him we would write the grant proposal for him to repave New School Rd. Don prepared the cost estimate and I sent Tom all the paperwork 2 weeks ago. Today he called and asked about the status. It turns out he did not get our hand delivered packet. So I met with him today and we reconstructed the packet. The grant application is due on 3/15/09. Spoke with Commissioner Green who brought to my attention the minutes of the Golf Board seemed to be incorrect as to the amount of money collected through the $1.00 fee. Later I had Kerin check and the numbers were wrong. I will call Howie and let him know.


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Re: Friday Memo week of 03/06 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Went out to do a City inspection. I came back with a list of addresses for code enforcement to follow up on. Later Ray told me some he had already given them notice, others are perpetual problems and we would send them another notice and only one was new to him. Received a call from Merry Jo to tell me that the Soil and Conservation Office has bid out the Salt Cedar removal on City property north of the Veterans Home from the area below Broadway to the river. The work will begin in 2 to 3 weeks. Worked on the new JPA for the SJOA for their new building. This will be presented to the Commission on 3/10/09. Also worked on an agreement with their architect which will also be on the same agenda. Later spoke with Pattie who said she preferred that the property and improvements be owned by the City so I changed the JPA accordingly. Spoke with Chris to bring him up to date on problems with NMDOT. NMDOT and I have been at odds over a pair of Yuccas near the entrance of the new

OReileys store. Maria Hinojos from DOT wants to move the driveway about 5 feet and thereby remove the Yuccas. I keep saying I want to save the Yuccas and DOT should have the contractor move the nose of the median island instead. Later I spoke with Maria again and she was insistent that the driveway be moved. She said if I want to save the Yuccas she would have to do more studies and it would delay the contractor. That was her way of saying she is not going to do it, and she would blame the City for delays to the contractor, so I told her I did not want to delay the work and at least tell the contractor to try and relocate the Yuccas, she said she would. I really dont think they will survive. She is the same person who caused some of the delay at the Wal-Mart freeway work. Met with Jay Hopkins to discuss a new lease for the Art Council and their Public Access Channel. Apparently the Armory does not have reliable electric power and so they decided to find another location instead of spending the money to upgrade the electrical at the Armory. He said the basement at the Civic Center is perfect due to security and the coolness of the basement. The item is on the agenda for 3/10/09. Met with Gil regarding a problem with a local contractor who said the Electric Department refused to connect the new service at the just finished home he just built. Gil explained that the reason the Electric Department had not hooked up the electrical service was that they were waiting for the State Inspector to say it was ok. I called the contractor and told him that and he said the Sate inspector told him a week and a half ago that it was ok and that he would send us the notice the next day. I told the contractor we still did not have the notice. Later I checked with Berna again and she said she had just received the notice and the Electric Crew scheduled the connection for the next day in the morning. I called the contractor and left him a message to that effect. Berna also told me that it is not uncommon for the State Inspector to take as much as 3 and 4 weeks to send us a notice after he has inspected the property. It is also not uncommon for the local contractors to get mad at the City because the State contractor promises a quick notice to us but it does not happen that way. Met with Howie to clear up a purchase order problem. He had a purchase order for $26,000 to pave the golf cart paths at the golf course, but we received a bill from Bartoo for $42,000. He explained that the Golf Board had decided to increase the work after he had turned in the PO. I checked with Helen and she told me that there was enough money to cover the $42.000 in the golf course budget. I then spoke with Pat and she told me she would fix the problem as long as there was enough money in their budget. I told Howie that fortunately it was not a problem but I warned him to make sure that in the future he did not overspend the value of a Purchase Order. Received the following e-mail from Howie regarding the burglary at the golf course: Good Morning, For your records about the Robbery Jan 25th. Police Report 090244 Around $7000, Cash Register, Computer (2) Monitors (2) 18 Golf Clubs, Bag, Range Meter,Balls, Gloves, Shoes, Flash Drives, plus Misc Items.

Attended the Public Art Board meeting. Attended the P and Z Commission meeting. Met with Patti Lester and we went out to the proposed site of the new Senior Center. I explained to her that the Soil and Conservation Office was about to come into the area and remove all the trees (Salt Cedar and Mesquite). The area she and the architect are interested in is close to Broadway. This item is on the agenda for 3/10/09. Received and e-mail from NMFAs attorney giving us the new loan ordinance and publication information. This item is on the 3/10/09 agenda. Attended the SCEDO meeting, they went through a visioning process with Ann Filosa leading the group. There is a complete story in the Sentinel. Spoke with Greg DAmour regarding the status of the Loan and improvements. He said the Rec. Board had questions that I answered. Spoke with Leonard about a new piece of equipment that he needs to monitor the landfill operation. The equipment monitors the methane given off by the landfill. The current equipment was purchased in 1995 and has been used ever since, but somewhere along the line it stopped working and nobody knew it until Leonard asked about it. It is only about $1400, so I told him to go ahead and order it. Met with Norm and Jimmy to discuss the air conditioners for the senior center and the civic center. They recommended that before we replace them that we get an architect to design the correct size of units. I agreed and told them to call the architect that we have on retainer to get a quote for the design. Just received the good news from Chris that the State Inspector signed off on the Hanger at the Airport.


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Re: Friday Memo week of 03/13 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Meeting with Mayor, Mary and Jay to review the agenda. Meeting with Millie from the community garden, she wanted to talk about a list of things that were of interest to the garden folks. She wanted to know if we could lay down some surface that would make it easier for seniors to walk on when they come to visit and walk around the garden. I told her I did not think it

was a good idea to have seniors walking in and around the garden. I said I would rather do something where they could sit and watch. She agreed. She also asked if they could put a greenhouse at the garden and I said yes as long as it was not permanent. A man came in to complain about trash in neighbors yard. He only spoke Spanish and said no one would listen to him. He said he went to Bobby Sanders and she told him that the Code enforcement did not see a problem with the neighbors yard. I told him I would go out and look at it myself. When I went out to look at the neighbors property I realized the man was exaggerating. There was a small pile, maybe 4 inches high and 2 feet around Meeting with Dan regarding New Mexico Airlines request that he got last Friday. He reported that they sent him a questionnaire that they need us to fill out before they can begin service in T or C. We met to talk about this surprising development. The last I had heard from them was over 6 months ago, now all of a sudden they say they want to begin service in June. I asked Dan to do some research with FAA and NMAV to see what we were agreeing to if we filled out the questionnaire. Later he called and said he was told it was ok for us to fill it out since it did not obligate us to anything. I also asked him to set up a meeting with the airline next week to start working on an airport use agreement. Met with Ron Fenn regarding the Court Building that he is opposed to. For 45 minutes he complained and said he would defeat this issue no matter what. He also made an interesting comment about petitions, he said now that I know what Im doing I can get any petition the minimum of signatures. Attended the Tourism Board. They are about to launch a City Banner program similar to what was done a year and a half ago, except that this time the Tourism Board will operate it with the help of the City. They also had a guest speaker, Sharon Shultz the CEO for the New Mexico Tourism Association (TANM). She gave the Board a report that included information on State Funding. Reviewed the request for funding from outside agencies in preparation for the budget. There are several agencies that are requesting more money that what they got last year. I have put all the information on a chart with a rating system to hopefully make it a little clearer as to who is requesting what. Spoke with Leonard about trash routes. He told me he is revising some of the routes to make them more efficient and reduce the amount of time spent on routes on Sunday. He has also reduced the number of containers due to lack of use. I told him that before he enacts the route changes he needs to place a notice in the newspapers. Later he sent me a copy of what he wants to send to the papers and I am currently revising it. Met with Ray about the Cozy RV Park regarding electricity rates. I told him I received a complaint from a tenant that they were charging more that the city electrical

rate. I told Ray to go out and let them know that they can not do that. Later he reported that the owner said they were not aware of the city ordinance and said they would stop doing it immediately. Received a letter from SMITHCO to George Bolling regarding a notice to the Department of Labor. SMITHCO is complaining that George has not sent the proper paperwork to the DOL. I checked with Pat and she said George has done his job so it must be a problem at the DOL. I asked her to follow up. Finished the first version of the JPA and sent it to Chad for review. Met with Captain Mullins and Kelly (VOCA grant contractor) to discuss the process for getting the VOCA grant on the agenda for the next Commission meeting. Met with D. Rush, Becky Rodriguez and Ed Williams to discuss the medical exams that the hospital provides for the City. I had asked Becky to set up a meeting with D. to discuss the exams and the drug testing fees. It turns out the agreement with the hospital has expired but D. said she would continue to honor the existing fee. We also talked about making the medical exam more meaningful for us. D. said she would get with her medical staff and make some suggestions as to how to change the report we get. Attended the Golf Course Board meeting. They discussed the upcoming budget and said they are not asking for any increases this year. Met with Alan Briley about animal control. He said that residents were told that animal control would only pick up animals if they were already captured. I told him that is true for cats but not for dogs. I told him the EB residents must be confused about the information, but that I would speak to the animal control officers to make sure they are not spreading the wrong information. Met with Russ about the VOCA grant project. I told him we would be better off if the VOCA grant was handled by Nola and the DWI program. He agreed and said he would talk to Nola and see if she was willing to take it over. VOCA provides counseling for Victims Of Criminal Activity. I also told him to remind the animal control officers about our commitment to EB. Attended the Staff meeting with the department heads; I reported the actions by the Commission. The fish pond pump has arrived and should be installed next week when some other minor parts arrive. Ed. Also reported that there are 2 Mexican bulls in the rodeo arena that were placed there by the Border Patrol because they did not have proper documentation (this is not a joke). Met with Gina and Linda (owner of the Happy Belly Deli) to go over the application for the New Mexico Main Street program. They showed me a list of business owners that had committed to over $5,000 in donations. The application is due Friday. There was a glitch regarding a resolution that the group had to get from the Commission. They did not know about it until it was too late, so I wrote a letter asking the Main St. Program to allow us to submit the resolution after the next meeting of the Commission.

I just received a call from Mr. Martinez from the DAs office. He said he was investigating the allegations of fraud by the city regarding the municipal court building. In conclusion he said he was going to call him back and tell him that there was evidence of fraud and that the DA was not going to pursue the issue. Met with Sam Senn about the airport. He is doing extremely well and you could not guess he just had brain surgery. He and I talked about the same thing that Greg and I spoke on the phone about earlier this week, when I told Greg that FAA will approve a land trade based on value for value instead of acre for acre. I told him I would not recommend an agreement with the Commission that was based on acre for acre because I knew FAA would not approve it. I told him that if he wants to test the waters on the acre for acre exchange then we should send a letter to FAA first before we go to the Commission. He agreed to do that.


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Interoffice MemoDate: To: C: 03/20/2009 Jay Rubin, City Attorney Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners

From:

Jaime Raul Aguilera, City Manager

Re: Friday Memo week of 03/20 Jay, this memo will serve to inform you on my activities for the week. If you see anything that raises a red flag related to litigation or potential litigation please let me know as soon as possible. Met with Richard Saenz regarding the contractor he had put me in contact with regarding the court building. They had already sent me an e-mail saying that they could not beat the price we got from Anderson. He said that they told him the best they could do was a metal building for $300,000. Met with Becky. She and several other employees are involved in the fundraiser for cancer in the Relay for Life. She outlined two fundraisers they would like to do with City employees, one is called kiss the donkey (ass) and the other is get skunked. I told her it was ok as long as they did not spend a lot of work time on it. Spoke with Greg Neal about the airport land exchange. He insists that we should ask FAA if they would accept a land for land trade and that he will draft a letter to that effect for both our signatures. I told him there was no harm in trying but that I was sure FAA would say no and it would eat up several months in getting an answer from them. Called Janice Ripley back. She had left a message that she was having trouble with the Utility Dept. before I called her spoke with Berna and she explained that Ripley was a chronic late payer and that she was about to have her utilities disconnected again. The lady said she did not get her mail for 3 months and that is why she is late. I asked why she did not go to city hall and check on her bill, she said she did not think about it. She said she just wanted more time so she could get her check at the end of the month. I said by that time you will have another bill to pay. I told her I would call her back Tuesday and let her know. I met with Berna again and she told me that I had already given the lady a third chance several months ago after she failed to make a payment on her payment plan. I called Mrs. Ripley and told her that I would not give her another extension. Met with Gina to review her coordination of the Spaceport Launch Project. She explained that there will be over a hundred youngsters coming to town to shoot off rockets at the Spaceport. There will be a lunch after the shoot. She will report later on the exact dates and timing. Met with Ray, he told me that J&J towing only has 1 more day to comply with the latest court order and that he has not done a thing. Maybe this time Jay can get the guy fined. Later Ray told me the guy had complied. We will have to see if he goes back to his old habits. On another issue I told Ray to remove a truck that was left on the corner of Date and Riverside in the old gas station. He said he had already contacted the trucks owner and the owner told him it would be removed Tuesday. Later I went by there and it was gone.

Spoke with Mrs. Polk regarding her utility bill. She said we did not read her bill correctly 2 months ago and then last month it was read correctly and now she is being charged for 2 months and she cant pay that much at once. I told her we could spread out her payments over 3 months and she said it was ok. I told Berna to put it in writing and she said she would. Ron Fenn had asked for a meeting on Tuesday afternoon and Theresa had scheduled it subject to him calling and telling us who else he had invited to the meeting. In the mean time I had asked Jay if I should refuse to meet with him since Ron had said he was going to sue us. Jay said it would be appropriate to not meet with him. I planned to tell him that I would not meet with him when he called to confirm the meeting but he never did. He showed up to the meeting and I told him the meeting was off because he had threatened litigation. He said that Jan Porter Carrejo was the person he invited to the meeting. I went ahead and met with him and Jan only because I did not want to be rude to her. It turns out he invited her under the misimpression that it was I that wanted to meet with her to talk about the court building. He then proposed to both of us that we should buy the TRESCO building and use it jointly. I told him I was not opposed to a joint use of a building but that the TRESCO building did not have parking. He said he was sure that Family Dollar would not mind leasing us parking. The whole conversation just turned ludicrous after that and both Jan and I told him thanks, but no thanks and told him the meeting was over. Met with Mary and Ed R. at different times to talk about the use of Ralph Edwards Park by the Farmers Market. They have in the past driven their vehicles onto the grass and broken sprinklers. Earlier in the day I had met with Bill Schiller the new manager for the Farmers Market and I had told him no more driving on the grass this year. Mary told me that the Farmers Market charges vendors for their spot in the park. That means they are making money for free use of a city facility. So I decided to recommend to the Commission that we should charge for the use of the Park if the user is going to make money on city property. Celeste Rich charged a donation a few weeks ago when she had her Valentines Day Wedding at the park. Our park crew spent a lot of time and money preparing the park for her because I thought it was a free event. I didnt find out until after that she asked for donations. Worked on the minutes for the Public Art Board since I was selected to take the minutes in Ms. Lowes absence. Started meeting with staff to do their evaluations. Met with George Bolling. He said he went to New Orleans and took some pictures of a military museum that is partially complete and partially under construction. He said he wanted to show the pictures to the Veterans Board. I told him I would ask Merry Jo to put him on the next agenda. Spoke with the BLM about our request for a road easement west of the airport. They said they needed more information and gave me a list. I will forward the list to

Sam Senn for follow up. Later, Greg called and said he had set up a meeting with BLM for next Wednesday and could I attend in Las Cruces. I told him I would. Ray told me that the Court had several youngsters that needed to do community service. I told him to do another cleanup campaign on Date and Broadway. Later I went out to drive the streets to make sure what sections I was talking about. I met with Ray and Don and told them to set the cleanup for spring break when the kids are out of school. Ray told me the new ruling from the judge is that the parents have to accompany the kids so we will have twice as many people to do the cleanup. Eusabie Gherman came to see me about getting a one day extension on his red tag notice. He gave me along story, and in the end I told him it was ok, that I would tell Berna to wait until Thursday. The next day he came in to say thanks and that he had paid his bill. The funny part is that he is new in town and I met him 3 weeks ago when I pulled him out of the sand on the other side of the river while I was fishing. He had gotten stuck the day before and spent the night in his truck. Met with the staff of the Administrative Services Department to go over their budget. I told them what I have told every other department; 1)dont expect any raises or cost of living increases this year, and 2) the budget will be the same as last year so dont plan any new expenditures. Got the GRT report today and it went up by $38,500 from what we projected. This means the average loss per month this year has dropped to $17,500. If this average does not change by the end of the year we are looking at a $200,000 shortfall; this is a lot better that the prediction of a $600,000 shortfall at the beginning of the year. Also Helen reported that the City received an extra $100,000 from the State distribution for small cities. This together with the savings we have made in the budget, we will be able to make up this shortfall without cuts. Met with Gil, Tony McRobert, Jay Armijo and the engineer from WH Pacific to review the Williamsburg circuit design issues. Responded to an e-mail from Greg Neal regarding a proposal to have HSLD build the water and sewer infrastructure. The idea we have talked about is that the City would apply for a loan and/or grant to build the water and sewer system up to the HSLD property. The loan would be paid by fees HSLD will be obligated to pay. HSLD would receive credit for the fees. In any case they would guarantee to make loan payments if there were not enough fees. They would build and pay for their own internal infrastructure. However the document he sent me to review was not very good and left out some of the key issues, like the fact that they will guarantee the loan payment. I sent it back with my comments. Later, we spoke and I told him it would be better if we first agreed to some bullet points and then wrote an agreement around them. He agreed.

Wrote the resolution to consider fees for commercial users of the City Parks. Met with the 95 Years in Hot Water committee to discus the event and the progress of the committee. Went to see Merry Jo because she offered to give the City a brochure rack and I wanted to see it before I agreed to take it. The rack was home made and not very nice looking so I told her no thanks. Met with Gina regarding her trip to Santa Fe to make a presentation to the Main St. Qualifying Committee. She said Linda will make a full report to the Commission on Tuesday. Spoke with Russ about problems with the repeater on Tank Hill. Apparently every now and then it just stops working and they have to go up there and turn it off and on and it resets and starts working again. I told him to stop messing with it and get the company out of Albuq. to repair it. Met with a citizen who said he had a power washer and wanted to volunteer to remove gruffer. I told him it was a good idea and I would have Ray call him later to put a program together. Worked on the budget and conducted evaluati