The August 23rd City Council meeting commenced with determination of quorum, an invocation, and the pledge of allegiance.
The first item of business was the new requests for city facilities. The City Council approved the Artesia Public Schools and the Artesia Chamber of Commerce request for road closure of Richardson Ave. between 10th Street and 13th Street for the 2022 Career Fair on September 28th. It is contingent upon proof of insurance.
Next was the approval of the consent agenda which included two positions in the City that were offered for hire.
Following the consent agenda members of the public stood before the council during the three- minute period for hearing visitors and encouraged the council to review a policy at the Aquatic center that requires children under four feet tall to wear life jackets. They all suggested a swimming test as an alternative. Former mayor Ray Miller offered public input on the splash pad and suggested alternative use of the splash pad. Councilor Rodriguez shared his choice would be spending $5000-$7000 to open the splash pad next season.
The committee reports followed with a brief fire station discussion following a report from Councilor Moreau. Planning committee met recently and denied a request to put paper signs on posts on main street. City Clerk Summer Valverde stated the Caryle Goss of the Senior Center has received $50,000 grant and that Museum Supervisor Michael Rebman had requested maintenance of the Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center.
Public safety reports followed with Police Chief Kirk Roberts sharing the department had recently given Jared Deason the Artesia Police Department’s Certificate of Citizen Recognition, for his help in the detection and apprehension of an offender who committed an armed robbery at the Allsup’s convenience store on June 24th. Fire Chief Kevin Hope reported July was a record month for the number of calls and it looks like August may be even higher. Council members questioned Chief Hope of the fire departments fast water rescue certification, which he affirmed.
Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair reported an agreement is in the works between the City of Champions, Inc. and the City of Artesia and the Greater Artesia Foundation regarding the soccer complex at Jaycee Park. He expressed a need to add a nearby dog park to keep dogs off the soccer field.
Linda Stevens gave an update on Artesia Clean and Beautiful. Stevens reported 50 cents from every New Mexico license plate sale is used to fund New Mexico Clean and Beautiful, which has counterpart Clean and Beautiful organizations in other states. She reported annual activities take place such as the Eddy County Recycled Art Show, a fundraiser golf scramble in March, the Adopt a Tree program in April, hiring local teens each summer, supervision of individuals completing community service hours, and a document shredding project.
Stevens also reported the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carlsbad field office is partnering with Eddy County and the cities of Artesia and Carlsbad to host Better Together, an expansion of the National Public Lands Day into a week of trash cleanup on public lands in Eddy County that will take place September 17-24. This is a competition between Carlsbad and Artesia to see which community can collect more trash on public lands. The winning municipality will receive the Golden Tire award.
The ratification of grant agreement of the State of New Mexico Tourism Department and the City of Artesia for Artesia Clean & Beautiful grant program was approved.
Artesia Mayor John Henry reported he had attended a meeting with BLM and had toured the new cannabis dispensary in Artesia and called it a first-class facility and encouraged more people to tour it. The city council meeting was then adjourned.
