City Council hosts Scout Troop, votes on write-offs

RIO RANCHO — The Rio Rancho City Council Governing Body met on Thursday, Feb. 27, and they were joined by some special guests.

Scout Troop #417 and Scout Troop #1010 were in attendance as a result of earning their “Communications Merit Badges,” according to Scoutmaster Jason Woolard. The troop led the council in the Pledge of Allegiance and posed for photos before the meeting got going.

Mayor Gregg Hull was out for the evening, so the meeting was run by Deputy Mayor Jeremy Lenentine.

“Mayor Hull is the president-elect of the Municipal League, and they are meeting in Santa Fe this afternoon and are late,” Lenentine said.

Jeff Lopez, a policy advisor and field representative for the office of U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, addressed the council, delivering a statement form Lujan in support of local governments and offering assistance to the council and public with any confusion there may be around current federal policy.

“This is a very uncertain time for federal funding,” said Lopez. “We are here to do what we can for the people of New Mexico.”

With no immediate questions to field, the council moved on to approving the consent calendar, which passed unanimously. This session’s consent calendar included, “R18, Resolution Authorizing Disposal (Transfer to Handler) of Police Department Property (K-9).” That’s just a fancy way of saying a K-9 cop retired and the council got a chance to acknowledge the hero dog for all his service.

“We get to do a retirement for a K-9,” said Lenentine. “Thank you to police dog, Nigel, for his years of service.”

Nigel is retiring after four years and will be moving in with his partner, Officer Hickerson. Both were in attendance.

City Manager Matt Geisel then took the podium for the public hearing of R22, which deals with the Impact Fee Capital Improvement Plan (IFCIP), and O4, an ordinance rezoning a portion of Rio Rancho Estates for retail commercial use.

Both R22 and O4 passed this initial stage 6-0.

Geisel also gave the council a second reading of O3, which handles public right of way policy and hasn’t been updated since 2010. This was a hot-button issue at the last council meeting and within the community as complaints have come in about recent infrastructure construction in Rio Rancho. This ordinance was voted on and passed 6-0.

“This one was certainly a long time coming,” commented Lenentine.

At last, O5 came up for a second reading. This has to do with applying lodger’s tax to short-term rental properties.

After a brief explanation from Deputy City Manager Peter Wells concerning the definition of a lodger’s tax and what it’s used for (a request made by Lenentine for the benefit of the Scouts in attendance), O5 was voted on and passed 6-0.

The council then moved on to discussion and deliberation, where they addressed D16, awarding a contract to US Digital Designs to upgrade Rio Rancho Fire and Rescue equipment, to the G2 Fire Alert System.

“The new system will help eliminate possible redundancy or confusion,” Fire Chief James DeFillippo told the council.

It passed on a 6-0 vote.

The council also heard discussion and deliberation for R23, an administrative resolution aimed to “write-off and remove uncollectible ambulance, utilities, parks and recreation, alarm, and library accounts from the city’s accounts receivable.”

The amount looking to be written off was roughly $429,000 and included old ambulances, library accounts, alarm systems and other items for which fees could not be collected.

“This is an annual process, and we undertake it so we can more accurately reflect our accounts receivable in the financial statements at the end of the year,” said Carole Jaramillo with the city’s financial services department. “This is more a bookkeeping cleanup than anything.”

Councilor Bob Tyler was the first member to speak on this resolution.

“This is one thing that I despise the most out of what it is we have to do,” said Tyler, addressing Jaramillo and the council. “I know it is something you have to do to clean up books and it’s not your fault and and not the fault of many who work in city government, but it’s just the fault of people who are irresponsible and don’t take action to pay their debts.”

Councilor Karissa Culbreath spoke next, saying, “I know this is everyone’s least favorite part, but this does help us maintain our strong financial standing when we do our audits.”

R23 passed with a reluctant 6-0.

The next meeting of the Rio Rancho City Council Governing Body is 6 p.m. March 13.