Ms. Renee Lucero, Town Clerk, called roll and a quorum was present.  

Those present were:      
Mayor, Daniel R. Barrone      
Mayor Pro Tem, Frederick A. Peralta
Councilmember, Andrew T. Gonzales           
Councilmember, George “Fritz” Hahn
Councilmember, Judith Y. Cantu       

Also present were:      
Town Manager, Richard Bellis
Town Attorney, Jacob Caldwell
Town Clerk, Renee Lucero

·Brigid Meier stated the Friends of Taos County Economic Development Corporation (TCEDC) are working to raise awareness of TCEDC's services to the community. She requested that the second week in November be designated the “First Annual TCEDC Week in Taos”. Mayor Barrone stated TCEDC is a great organization and asked Ms. Meyers to coordinate with the Town Manager on this initiative.

·Joseph Quintana, a member of the Taos Fiesta Council, thanked the Mayor and Council for supporting the Fiestas de Taos this past weekend.  He stated the Fiestas are about family, dancing, music and giving thanks for generations to come.

·Eugene A. Sanchez, stated he lives on Trujillo Lane and has observed the street cleaner cleaning Paseo del Pueblo Sur five days a week and his street has not been cleaned in months.  He requested that a schedule be set so that all Town streets are cleaned. 

·Stephens Hall discussed, at length, the Town Code with regard to floodplain management regulations.

The following citizens spoke against the expansion of Taos Regional Airport and requested that the Town schedule a public forum to hear input from citizens that will be affected by the expansion. 

· Marily Hoff
· Hope Buchler
· Jeanne Green
· Andres Vargas
· Rick Brown
· Louise Hummingbird
· Seth Brown (also provided a letter from Fred Fair)
· Annette Norvelle
· Elen Archuleta

Jeanne Green requested that Council place an item on the next agenda to delay the bid process.

Mr. Caldwell stated the Council has the option to delay bidding of the project; however, it is their decision.  He suggested having a public forum to inform citizens of the timeline of the bid process.  Councilmember Peralta stated he does not support delaying the bid process.  Councilmember Gonzales agreed. 

Councilmember Hahn asked for clarification as to why an item cannot be added to the Regular agenda. Mr. Caldwell stated the agenda for the Regular Meeting does not need to be determined today.  He further stated the Mayor sets the agenda and can add that item if there is enough support from the Council. Mayor Barrone stated he will consider adding the item to the agenda. Councilmember Peralta stated he will vote to remove the item if it is placed on the agenda.  Councilmember Gonzales stated he will vote to remove the item as well.

Mr. Caldwell stated the Council has indicated that there is a desire to hold a public forum; however, the project is set to proceed as planned. 

Mr. Bellis clarified that there was an item was on the July 8th agenda to set a date for a public forum; however, he received an email from Elen Archuleta requesting that the item be removed from the agenda.  He recommended not delaying the project and moving forward.  Mayor Barrone directed Mr. Bellis to schedule the forum. 

Discussion ensued regarding the purpose of holding a public forum.  Mayor Barrone stated the forum will be held to inform citizens on how the project will move forward. Mr. Bellis indicated staff has no problem providing an educational forum of the process.

Elizabeth McGwire with Smart, Inc. stated she has been contracted with Northern Regional Housing Authority to manage the housing authorities located within the Town of Taos; therefore, a cooperative agreement with the Town of Taos is needed.    

Councilmember Peralta expressed concern that the agreement seems to indicate the Town still owns the houses.  Ms. McGwire stated she understands that the housing authority was deeded over to Taos County and she has all the deeds and recordings supporting that action; however, the form was created in 1969 and is required by Housing and Urban Development and the language cannot be changed.  Mr. Caldwell stated the force of the agreement is that the Town will abide by state constitutional provisions regarding property taxes and providing services to the housing units. 

Mayor Barrone recommended the following individuals to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission:

1. Jan Debay (term expires 12-31-16) (resident)
2. James Pollard (term expires 12-31-16) (resident)
3. Dennis Garcia (term expires 12-31-15) (resident)
4. Doug Patterson, AIA (term expires 12-31-15) (at-large)
5. Justin Lea, J.D. (term expires 6-30-16) (resident)
6. Billy Romero (term expires 6-30-15) (resident)
7. Eddie Lucero (term expires 6-30-15) (resident)

Councilmember Cantu stated she was hoping that the Mayor would consider appointing Ken Manning, in lieu if Mr. Patterson, as was discussed at a prior meeting. Mayor Barrone stated he felt there needed to be some consistency on the commission due to projects that need to be moved forward.

Councilmember Gonzales asked why Pavel Lukes was not appointed.  Mayor Barrone stated when he presented the list with Mr. Lukes' name at the Special Meeting on July 14th, Councilmember Peralta’s motion was not seconded.

Councilmember Gonzales stated he would like to have Mr. Lukes reevaluated as he has so much experience and has served for many years.  He further stated Mr. Lukes was always present at meetings.

Councilmember Hahn made a motion to approve. The motion died for lack of second.

Mayor Barrone stated Governor Susana Martinez was in Taos yesterday promoting the New Mexico True Campaign and shared commercials that will be aired promoting New Mexico.  He stated it was a great opportunity to meet with her and her staff. 

Furthermore, Mayor Barrone stated there was also a meeting last night regarding the Taos Farmer's Market.  He received a lot of input from citizens who are both for and against the Farmers Market being held in the Plaza. 

Councilmember Gonzales made a motion to go into Executive Session.  Councilmember Peralta seconded the motion. The motion was Passed.  Those voting AYE were: Councilmembers: Cantu, Gonzales, Hahn and Peralta.

At 7:08 p.m., Councilmember Peralta made a motion to come out of Executive Session. Councilmember Gonzales seconded the motion. The motion was Passed.  Those voting AYE were: Councilmembers: Cantu, Gonzales, Hahn and Peralta. 

Mr. Caldwell stated discussion in the Executive Session was limited to the items as they were called for and no action was taken. Councilmember Gonzales made a motion to accept Mr. Caldwell's report.  Councilmember Cantu seconded the motion. The motion was Passed.  Those voting AYE were: Councilmembers: Cantu, Gonzales, Hahn and Peralta.

Mayor Barrone made a recommendation to proceed with offering Susan Baker the Town Attorney position giving the Mayor and Town Manager authority to negotiate the contract within the parameters of the budget and negotiate up to one month severance pay.

Councilmember Gonzales made a motion to accept Mayor Barrone's recommendation.  Councilmember Cantu seconded the motion. The motion was Passed.  Those voting AYE were: Councilmembers: Cantu, Gonzales, Hahn and Peralta.

Councilmember Gonzales made a motion to accept the Employee Compensation Plan.  Councilmember Peralta seconded the motion. The motion was Passed.  Those voting AYE were: Councilmembers: Cantu, Gonzales, Hahn and Peralta.

Mr. Bellis stated this is a compromised plan to adjust the compensation of employees for a cost of living with an additional twenty-five cents per hour for all employees exclusive of police (who have their own plan) or any employee that is temporary, part-time or on probation.  This increase will go into effect beginning Saturday, July 19, 2014 and will affect 118 employees.  Furthermore, Mr. Bellis stated 71 employees will receive additional compensation of between one cent and fifty cents based on how far an employee is from their current pay grade to their correct pay grade, and based on their years of service in that position and title.

Mr. Bellis explained the total cost of the package will be $130,889.87 and stated he will continue to evaluate employees' pay and will attempt to do more.  He also indicated a performance based evaluation system will be worked on for the coming year.

A motion was made by Councilmember Gonzales and seconded by Councilmember Peralta to adjourn the meeting.  The motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.