Aztec Commission Hears Historical Society Update, Approves Budget, Warns on Power Costs

Laura Harper, president of the San Juan Historical Society, told commissioners she had a new society website and drew attention to a 1947 portrait of her mother, Mary Jo Walters, during an appearance at the Aztec City Commission meeting; she opened her remarks with, "We’ll start with, how about money," prompting laughter in the room. Harper thanked the mayor, commission members and Steven Mirabal of Zia Media for help with the online work.

Sheriff Shane Ferrari brought a countywide archival donation to the meeting: a collection that includes a photo of every San Juan County sheriff from 1887 to 2026. Harper also noted the society’s exhibit items while describing the volunteer archive effort; at one point she said of the Walters photograph, "isn’t she a doll … happens to be my mother."

The commission’s business agenda began with finance items, including a routine water-fund resolution and a mayoral follow-up about previously reduced funding for the Riverview project. Acting Public Works Director Jeric Jaramillo described Riverview as two distinct components: a water line segment and a storm drainage project. No contractor names, cost estimates or schedules were presented in the meeting materials excerpted for the session.

Elected officials moved quickly through budget actions. Commissioners unanimously approved a mid-year budget adjustment, selected an audit firm for fiscal 2026 (the firm name was not disclosed in the available meeting materials), and authorized two funding requests tied to improvements and programming at the Aztec Museum; the packet did not list dollar amounts for those museum requests.

The city’s electric director, identified only as Wheeler in the meeting record, framed the energy discussion with a near-term savings figure and a regional caveat. Wheeler told commissioners current costs will "drop about $288,000 a year, but similar or greater expenses may emerge as details from the Southwest Power Pool become clearer." Department leaders also reported on research resources, community events, public safety concerns and library use as part of regular departmental updates.

City records from an earlier meeting show the historical society has appeared before the commission previously; March 27, 2018 minutes record Andrea Greenacre introducing Patty Tharp as the society’s new president and thanking the commission and staff for "outstanding support in keeping the SJC Historical Society Building in good shape," indicating leadership has changed since that filing.

Meeting documents reviewed for this report did not identify the audit firm selected for fiscal 2026, did not specify the amounts for the two Aztec Museum funding requests, and did not provide a contractor list or timeline for the Riverview water line and storm drainage work. City minutes and the meeting packet list the items discussed; officials have not provided further line‑item detail in the materials available from the session.