As fiscal year ends, grant projects move foward in Magdalena

By Tamara Lombardi

The Village of Magdalena has moved forward on some large projects, including repairs at the senior center and library, and moving the Benjamin Well project forward.

Other projects include purchasing new tasers for village marshals, fencing at village hall, securing funding for emergency generators, participating in the South Central Council of Governments (SCCOG), and getting some credit card purchases moved to the 2025 budget to be processed out, completing work to close out the fiscal year.

The village has been working on getting its 2025 fiscal year budget approved and the paperwork finished up—which was finalized at a special meeting held July 29 with the council and financial advisor Micheal Steininger present. The deadline for submission is July 31, Steininger said.

After approving budget adjustments and the final quarter financial report, the council also voted to apply for 2025 water trust board funding.

Earlier in the month, the council voted to participate in the SCCOG which is a regional planning body consisting of elected public officials who come from local governments who plan for the needs of their communities.

The village approved two contracts sent by the New Mexico Economic Development district for the senior center.

They also approved applying for a rural infrastructure loan to repair lines from the Benjamin Well project which would also help to cover ongoing repairs, Mayor Richard Rumpf said. He said the application “starts off as a loan” and then it “turns into a grant.”

The village also approved state grant funding that included $85,000 for improvements to the deck at the library; $40,000 for heating and cooling systems at the senior center; and $200,000 to go towards purchasing emergency generators for the senior center, marshal’s office, village hall and the fire station.

The village later voted to approve SCCOG grant money from the Legislature for paying for audits, emergency repairs and Steininger’s services.

The village voted to finish up work on the senior center’s heating and cooling units, using the grant funds to pay for it. They also approved installation of a fence on the east side of village hall to store police vehicles, village vehicles and other equipment.

The trustees also approved the promotion of Robert Aguilar to Joint Utility Manager for the village, which came with a raise in pay and becomes effective July 31.

The village tabled a 5-year contract to purchase three tasers. Randall Van Vleck, one of Magdalena’s attorneys, said this type of purchase is “normally paid cash at the time of the contract, not stretched out over months.”

Van Vleck added that they are typically single payments and said he was uncomfortable with the village entering the contract, particularly because the marshal has a budget to cover costs like this.

Van Vleck said if there is no underlying state contract, the village would not be meeting legal bid requirements under the procurement code.

Captain Brian Waterman said the department can “piggyback off of an existing contract to alleviate any liability so that the department can get their tasers updated.” Van Vleck said as long as they are using a state contract, even one for someone else, then they are good to go.

The council voted to table the item for the next agenda.

In other business, Steininger said that there were three months’ worth of credit card charges of approximately $28,500 by village employees, processing of which has been postponed into the next fiscal year.

Steininger offered the village council three solutions: He said they could leave it alone and let general funds absorb the entire amount; they could hold up year-end processing until all the purchases are reconciled by the village and charged out to their departments; or they could recode all outstanding purchases into a prepaid expense account and process them in the new fiscal year.

The council voted unanimously for the last option.

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