Stray Hearts contract, jail health, Forest Service and more on county menu

Every two weeks, Taos County commissioners meet to discuss and vote on county business, policies and projects. Citizens are invited to speak at the beginning of meetings, which take place at 105 Albright St. Videos of the meetings are streamed live and posted on taos22.com. Here’s a rundown of some of the items discussed at the Dec. 20 meeting. Commissioner Mark Gallegos was absent.

Stray Hearts contract, future

The local nonprofit animal shelter has another six-month contract with Taos County. While shelter and county officials said the extension is a sign of progress, the final language means Stray Hearts will be getting $2,000 less a month in taxpayer money.

The previous contract was set at $14,000 a month. This is the second of three potential contract extensions. The contract can be canceled with or without reason and with a 30-day notice.

Stray Hearts went through yet another shake-up in August when Harvey Yocum, who was then the shelter’s director, resigned following a “pretty ugly” series of disagreements with the nonprofit’s board, the county and the town of Taos.

Stray Hearts has had several shake-ups in its leadership over the years. Those shake-ups have often led to tensions — and various six-month and month-to-month contracts with the county administration.

Taos County Manager Leandro Cordova told the commission the two governments have been “working really closely” with Stray Hearts, adding that the nonprofit animal shelter has “come a long way” from the issues this summer, when both town and county managements floated the idea of opening their own animal shelter.

Yet even with warming relationships, several issues remain on the table. One is the current business model of the nonprofit, which Diane Padoven, interim director of Stray Hearts, called unsustainable.

The other lingering issue is the scope and availability of free or low-cost spaying and neutering services in Taos County. The county sheriff has led the charge in renting a mobile spay-neuter van and vet several times a year. At least two nonprofits, not including Stray Hearts, have done the same.

Commissioner Tom Blankenhorn said spay-neuter was still the commission’s priority. “We want a very reasonable, close-to-cost price that we can rely upon so we can find additional funds,” he said. Stray Hearts officials said they hope to have spay-neuter services available at the shelter in the spring, but couldn’t be “any more definitive than that.”

Jail health services

If someone lands in the Taos County Adult Detention Center, pretrial services are an essential link in the process to get a quick and fair trail. But because of the growing lack of mental and behavioral health care options in New Mexico, those services have often proven elusive and inadequate.

To help bridge the gap, county commissioners gave the go-ahead for the county to hire a “health care advocate specialist” that will act as a coordinator and liaison between the county-run jail, district and magistrate courts and various health care providers and other programs.

When Correctional Health Partners, the contractor for health care services in the jail, could not provide adequate mental and behavioral health services for inmates, the contract worth about $500,000 was scaled back and some of that work was shifted in house. Tammy Jaramillo, indigent fund coordinator, said the new advocate is “essential.”

Whoever is eventually hired for the role, they won’t be driving inmates to and from services throughout Northern New Mexico, which has perilously been discussed at county meetings. “We will have to work on that,” Jaramillo said. Cordova said those driving duties could be folded into the regional bus service or the senior center, with the advocate coordinating transportation.

Magistrate Judge Jeff Shannon told the commission that the sooner an inmate can get pretrial services, the sooner they can see a judge. The advocate, he suggested, would ensure people aren’t “lost in the system” between magistrate and district court.

Forest Service dispatch

The United States Forest Service (USFS) has until March to move into the county-owned dispatch center without paying rent.

The county approved a contract with the USFS in February so the federal agency could relocate its aging dispatch center. James Duran, supervisor for Carson National Forest, told The Taos News at the time that the move comes down to safety. The current USFS dispatch center has outdated equipment that would be expensive to replace, he said. With the county’s state-of-the-art facility, which became operational in December 2014, the move makes for “more efficient government” all around, he said.

The USFS had originally planned to move in soon after the fire season ended. According to county management, the agency is planning to be in the space by January, though it now has the leeway to delay that move until March 31.

The county will get $30,000 a year from the lease ($19.80 per square foot, plus a fee to use space on the radio tower).

Commissioner Candyce O’Donnell expressed concerns that the USFS could be paying rent later rather than sooner, all while county voters consider whether or not to approve a tax that would fund the county’s 911 dispatch center (the same office).

Waste Management

Commissioners approved an updated amendment to the county’s contract with Waste Management. The agreement, approved last year, now includes discounted rates for senior citizens and people with disabilities. Senior citizens older than 60 will have $3 knocked off their monthly rate. Forms to verify a disabled and/or senior citizen status will be sent out with bills, and new rates go into effect Jan. 1. The contract is good through 2019. The county’s legal department called the changes in the contract “big victories.” The changes more closely reflect discounts in the county’s own solid waste billing.

Lawyer pay

During the transition between Bob Malone, former Taos County attorney, and current attorney Susan Baker, the county used the legal services of Robles, Rael and Anaya on a contract basis. The original contract was set at about $35,000, but commissioners upped the contract to $59,500. Baker said the contractor is continuing to work on several projects and has stepped in when there was a conflict of interest in the legal office. The contract will provide for work through the end of the fiscal year.

Volunteer fire department buildings

The Río Fernando Volunteer Fire Department (RFVFD) will be getting a new building in the new year. Commissioners approved a $55,000 contract to purchase a 4,000-square-foot steel building. The current RFVFD building, county management said, will be moved to the old armory, remodeled and used for office space (the fleet department is housed at the old armory).

In addition to being the lowest bid, Olympia Steel Building, based in Pennsylvania, was also the contractor used for the San Cristobal Volunteer Fire Department building. County staff said this will create uniformity in volunteer fire department buildings, thus possibly making maintenance easier and cheaper.