By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton City Commissioners met Tuesday July 22, 2025, for the second regular meeting of July where they handled event and celebration forms along with budget items and agreements.
After the approval of minutes from previous meetings commissioners approved the event forms for the Gate City Music Festival to be held on August 30-31 and the First Baptist Church block party on August 20. They also approved the Billy the Kid Traveling Wake Reenactment to be held on August 9, 2025.
Commissioners then approved the celebration permits for the Colfax Ale Cellars who will provide beverages for the Billy the Kid and Gate City Music Festival along with Left Turn Distillery who will provide beverages for the Gate City Music Festival.
The city received a bid from American Road Maintenance for fog seal application on the streets that were chip sealed last year. The cost of the bid is $92,435 to cover an area of 92,361 square yards.
City Manager Rick Mestas spoke to the commission about a grant agreement between the city and NM Tourism Department for a Clean and Beautiful grant. The grant is $12,105 with a 25% match from the city. The grant will cover waste receptacles in the downtown area.
Commissioners approved an amendment to the IT Envision agreement for computer services for the fire department. The amendment changes the bid for six machines and drops two servers from the first contract to 1195.19 a month.
The city received four bids for the demolition of the Bisconti building. The low bid from Kraken Kreations from Albuquerque was $193.274.44 excluding GRT and will cover the demolition and cleanup of the building and lot at 228 South Second Street. The other three bids ranged from $359,675 to $210,000.
Commissioners approved the reappointment of Jason Bennet, Alexis Dixon and the appointment of Jeremiah Trujillo to the Planning and Zoning commission in order to keep a quorum for meetings.
Resolution 2025-44 presented the end of year financial reports for the city, Raton Water and Raton Public Service. The city continues to see above budget GRT coming in at .56% above budget. The city exceeded $3.5 million in capital expenditures which included various projects from federal and state funding. Those capital expenditures included street improvements, a new sanitation truck, convention center elevator, depot project and Bartlett Mesa acquisition just to name a few.
Michael Anne Antonucci presented the final budget adjustments for FY25 which included adjustments for line item transfers to clear out grants and other line items to balance out the budget going into the next fiscal year.
Resolution 2025-46 confirms the adoption of the 2025-2026, 114th Fiscal Year Budget for the City of Raton. Antonucci noted the city has received approval on the interim budget and is now working from that document. She is going over grants balances to determine what needs to be adjusted. The city was faced with a 20% increase in health insurance premiums which was included in the new budget. The city was hit with the need to replace police department with tough books at a cost over $100,000. The commission approved the $33 million final budget, and the document will be forwarded to DFA for final approval by July 31, 2025.
City Manager Rick Mestas noted in his report that he is hopeful to mark broadband off his to-do list and concentrate more on housing and workforce. He attended the Resound groundbreaking today and is pleased to see that coming to Raton. Public works will be replacing the old batting cages with six new ones purchased with the quality-of-life grant money. The Police department is starting their upgrades for the department. Chief Anthony Burk is taking over the training duties for the city with training on Sexual harassment prevention and workplace bullying and Violence training for city staff.
Jadyn Welch advanced two major airport projects by pushing for resolution of contract and bonding issues, prompting commitment to a start date after a two-month delay; He also facilitated year-end financial closeout to meet critical reporting deadlines, and analyzed survey data to quantify earthwork for erosion mitigation in the main runway safety area in response to FAA compliance requirements
The next City commission meeting is scheduled for August 12, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at Raton City Hall.
