Date sent:
Tue, 4 Dec 2001 12:46:37 -0800 (PST)
From:
roger sanders <sanders87529@yahoo.com>
To:
cna@laplaza.org
Subject:
[cna] minutes of december meeting
Minutes of CNA meeting Monday 12/3/01 6.30 p.m. 26 present.
1) Announcements
1) Kit Carson is offering an option whereby
for 2 ½ cents extra per unit you may obtain electricity based on
wind power.
2) Costilla community center has finally
opened.
3) A safety plan for Taos canyon is now available.
Neighborhoods
who might want to use it as a model for their area can obtain the 12 page
document from
Leslie_bahn@hotmail.com
4) “Recycletaos” is a new company, which
will pick up recyclable material from businesses or homes for a small fee.
Brochures are available. Contact
“Recycletaos” at www.recycletaos.com
or 5057764000 or P.O. box 548, Arroyo Seco, NM 87514
2) Taos county planning director. A former
county manager from Mora with considerable planning experience and good
ethics has been offered the job
however he failed to turn
up to the last county commission meeting. Although the recommendation
from the screening committee went to the county commission
a while ago several weeks
went by before the appointment was offered and the candidate may have taken
a job elsewhere.
3) County road P007 from state road 522 in
Arroyo Hondo to the John Dunne bridge is in a very bad state.
In the opinion of local inhabitants
it is the worst road in the county. There is concern that one of the rafting
company busses might well go into the Rio
Hondo. A number of groups
such as the rafting companies, the school board, the bureau of land management
(BLM), the forestry service, the chamber of
commerce, and the New Mexico
department of tourism and economic development, have an interest in improving
the road. A letter of complaint to the county will be
generated by a subcommittee
and discussed at the next meeting. John Dobson will meet with the BLM and
endeavor to enlist their support. Tewa technology
corporation (5058488097)
creates a material composed of recycled plastics combined with asphalt
to make a very durable road surface. There may be grants to
resurface the road with this
material. Another option would be the creation of a road improvement district.
This requires special taxation of the properties adjacent to
the road and has not so far
been favored by the county since it is difficult to administer.
4) Taos town bypass. $1000000
has been appropriated for a bypass study. An RFP went out - 3 firms
applied and were ranked by a select committee of 9
individuals who were 3 from
the town, 3 from the county and 3 from the pueblo. The county
is the lead agency. The deadline for presenting a report is by middle of
next year, which is unrealistic
since an adequate study requires a total year review of traffic problems.
A decision on the selected firm will be made shortly.
5) Taos town is considering a plan to change
rules on development size to allow large developments of more than
80000 sq. ft. The current rules prevent
desirable developments
such as educational facilities in addition to excluding large retail establishments.
The town council will discuss the issue on Monday
Dec 10th at 3pm.
6) Sewage lagoon issue. A hearing scheduled
for December 12 has been postponed and the new date is not yet available.
A no cost sewage disposal facility near
the recycling center is now
open. Permits for open sewage disposal have to be renewed by the end of
December. The sewage lagoons are currently self
monitored by the groups disposing
of sewage. Disposal of grease is the main problem with sewage disposal.
Recycletaos is looking into to taking on the grease
disposal issue.
7) A committee consisting of Cliff
Bain, Erich Kuerschner , Arthur
Yellen, Leslie Bahn, and Erin
Dayl was set up to discuss the CNA program for next year.
Eric and Arthur will act as
convenors. Suggested speakers were the new county planner, John Otis, Donald
Gallegos and Renee Barela-Gutierez, the new
Taos county attorney.
8) All were grateful to Tom Alena for acting
as facilitator for the last few months.
He will be teaching
at UNM on Monday evenings next semester so cannot continue as facilitator.
Erin Dayl agreed to act as facilitator of the next meeting.
9) Agenda items for the next meeting which
will take place on January 14th at 6.30 pm at the Quality Inn. (the second
Monday of the month due to a scheduling
conflict).
a) Consideration of the letter regarding the road from Arroyo
Hondo to the John Dunne bridge
b) Talk by Renee Barila-Gutierez and hopefully Donald Gallegos regarding
subdivision issues.
c) Discussion about development size issues – the big box debate.
d) Potential county commission candidates for the north and town commissioners
where good candidates are currently lacking.
Date sent: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 18:58:14
-0800 (PST)
From:
roger sanders <sanders87529@yahoo.com>
To:
cna@laplaza.org
Subject: [cna] minutes
of november cna meeting
10 in attendance
1) Announcements
a. Cliff Bain stated that Taos town Council would
discuss revised development standards for large retailestablishments such
as Wal-Mart at their meeting on
November 20th. The new proposal
would allow contiguous 30000 feet spaces. Members were encouraged to attend
and oppose this proposal.
b. A new ordinance from Taos town would create a
library board. This is being discussed at the same meeting on November
20th. The library is supported and
controlled by Taos town
although it serves the entire county. The library originated from UNM which
donated the library to the town when the Harwood was spun off.
There was dissatisfaction
with the arbitrary control of the library. Hours have been cut back and
the community segment of the library has been eliminated
without discussion. A library
committee has been meeting and it is hoped that the creation of a library
board will improve access.
2. Old Business
a) Sewage pits
Permits for the open sewer
pits located by the airport and in Arroyo Secco are about to come up for
renewal. These open sewer pits are a source of odor, ground
water contamination and
infection. Taos town has recently upgraded their sewage disposal facilities
so it is now much easier for sewage tankers to connect a
standard tanker pipe to
a manhole and dispose of the truck contents. A $15 fee per truck is charged.
It was agreed that the CNA would draft a letter of support
for the two neighborhood
associations, which are fighting to eliminate these eyesores from their
areas. A member is threatening to erect a sign in Taos canyon
which states “Coming to
Taos – they dump their shit on the ground”. Comment on these permits should
reach New Mexico environmental department by November 12th.
An open hearing on the topic
will be requested.
b) WELC report.
A member has been in contact
with the Western Environmental Law center (WELC). Only a few records
remain of the Roger Lehman subdivision issues. Dina
Gonzales, administrator
of the center, has attempted to reach the lawyer who worked on this issue
who is now located in Ukraine so far without success. She
will keep trying. Dina has
given the CNA a list of neighborhood association officers and board members.
The CNA will circulate these individuals and attempt
to update the list.
c) Taos Canyon
Thanks to Leslie Bahn's
efforts the road up Taos Canyon has been much improved. She suggests that
the UNM grant-writing program be contacted so embryo grant
writers can write grants
for neighborhoods as a work-study program. She is presenting material to
Taos county commission on Thursday November 15th and would
like support.
d) Future of CNA
An effort will be made to
contact neighborhoods that do not attend to encourage them to attend the
meeting with Donald Gallegos and at the same time we will try
and update our list of contacts
in other neighborhood and obtain email addresses. Notices have not been
appearing the Taos news. The newspaper editors will be
contacted by a member to
see why notices have not been printed. If a satisfactory explanation
is not given a letter will be written.
e) Next meeting
The next meeting will
take place at 6.30pm at the Quality Inn on Monday December 3rd. It is anticipated
that Donald Gallegos, district attorney for Taos County, will
address the meeting.
[ Correction: this should be Renee Barela-Gutierrez,Taos County Attorney;
and possibly Padilla, new County Planner ]
Date sent:
Tue, 2 Oct 2001 11:21:11 -0700 (PDT)
From:
roger sanders <sanders87529@yahoo.com>
To:
cna@laplaza.org
Subject:
[cna] Re: CNA digest, Vol 1 #187 - 2 msgs
Council of neighborhood associations meeting October 1st 7 in attendance
1) Introductions were given with brief
reports on the Tierra Blanca, Upper Las Colonias, Twin peaks and Hondo
Mesa neighborhoods. Tierra Blanca reported that
model covenants are available for new developments.
Twin peaks is concerned about fire hazard with nearest water source many
miles away. Hondo Mesa is concerned
about the gravel pit situation near the gorge
and is getting poor support from the BLM.
2)Discussion of poor attendance No
announcements of the meeting was inserted in the Taos news, and the
date of this months meeting was not given in the minutes of the previous
meeting. A concerted effort will be made by telephone to get consistent
attenders to attend on November 5th, the next meeting, so a discussion
about the future of the
CNA can be made with sufficient members present
to make a decision.
3) WELC report. A member visited
the Western Environmental Law center(WELC) and was informed that the terms
of the grant that supported legal work for the CNA was very
loose and that the money could be used on other
items at the discretion of WELC. No detailed accounting of the grant is
available due in part to poor accounting but it is the impression of the
administrator that all funds have been used. Nevertheless they would be
prepared to help with the last of the default judgements in favor of subdivision
developers since hat one is alleged to be still changeable.
3) Taos overlook
The funding for the second phase of land acquisition
for the Taos overlook at the horseshoe bend as you approach Taos from the
south is due to be discussed
this week in Washington DC. All are encouraged
to write letters to Senator Domenici and congressman Skein is favor of
this money allocation..
4) Community center grant
funding
A member who has been following the accounting
for the community center grant reported that missing black box that contained
accounts has turned up. While the box
was missing accounts had been reconstructed by
Taos county. The two sets of figures do not match suggesting they are unreliable.
It is notable that all construction and
architecture was handled by the same firms [
correction: this refers to County FY99 audit, vot CC. Boxes discussed where
Housing Authority Boxes, noy CC/WELC boxes]
5) The town of Taos wishes
to raise the size limit for commercial structures to 80000 sq feet
and will discuss this issue next Wednesday.
6) An update on the vacant
Taos County planning director situation was given– 3 applicants were
selected for interview. Taos county refused to
increase
the salary to a competitive level and these applicants have minimal qualifications.
At least one will be interviewed on October 2nd.
7) The next meeting
of the council of neighborhood associations will be on November 5th Monday
at 6.30 p.m. at the Quality Inn.
9 in attendance. Moderator Thom Alema
The meeting started at 6.40 am
After introductions there was a discussion of the small attendance. This was a consequence of the Kit Carson meeting for candidates, which took place at the same time. That meeting was attended by a number of CNA members. A decision was made to take no votes during the meeting since attendance was poor.
1) Leslie Bahn is now working for Taos County under contract and is drafting a safety plan for fire, water contamination, flood, chemical spill etc. Using Taos canyon as a template this safety plan will be available for neighborhood associations. Under new fire regulations forest density will be reduced from 2-300 trees per acre to 40-50 per acre.
2) A grant for continuation of legal services to CNA was written but the foundation money for continuation of this grant has expired. Some money remains from the previous grant. It was agreed that a letter would be written from the CNA to Western environmental law center with a copy to the granting foundation requesting details of how much money was left and what sort of issues could be handled under the terms of the grant.
3) Disappointing attendance at the CNA was discussed and it was suggested that a vision plan for the group should be created facilitated by Thom Alema. He suggested thinking how we would like the CNA to function in 2004. Some comments on desirable objectives were made Work closely with Taos county on land/environmental issues. Taos County looks to CNA for advice. Education of neighborhood associations about grants, planning etc. Communication between neighborhood associations County CNA partnership for reasonable environmental development. Forum to find about neighborhood issues whether shared or conflicted. Forum to develop people to take elected positions. Work closely with business interests to improve the area.
A subcommittee of Linda Moscarella, John Hillyard and Arthur Yellen was created to formulate questions for a CNA meeting on this topic.
Minutes of the CNA meeting held on Monday August 6th, 2001.
Roger sanders sanders87529@yahoo.com
Thu, 9 Aug 2001 08:20:57 -0700 (PDT)
Tom Allena facilitator 16 present
1)Introductions
2) Program organization: The facilitator
requested clarification on how the CNA meeting is run. The following guidelines
were agreed
a)
All can participate but redundancy is noted and questioned by the
facilitator.
b)
The facilitator sets the speaker order – guests are usually given the opportunity
to speak first.
c)
A participant raises his or her hand if they wish to speak.
d)
If there is a hot issue the facilitator checks before a vote on whether
there are any new thoughts on the issue.
e)
There are two voting representatives from each neighborhood. Voting representatives
vote by show of hands.
f)
The facilitator keeps an eye on the clock to make sure that an issue or
the meeting does not overrun the allotted time.
3) Agricultural property tax changes: Gerald
Nichols, chief appraiser and GIS supervisor for Taos
county, spoke on the issue of
agricultural land property taxes. The state property
tax division has asked his office to evaluate the properties that are currently
paying
very low taxes because they are classified agricultural.
Some land classified as agricultural is owned as an investment with the
idea
that it will be developed into a building or
subdivision in the long-run. Mr. Nichols has been asked to
prepare a list of all agricultural
properties in Taos county. There have been complaints
that Taos county is too lax in allowing agricultural classification and
therefore
others pay property taxes that are higher than
they should be. The state is bringing in assessors to see if the agricultural
classification is
appropriate. They use the criteria that the land
should be taxed at the highest and best use that is legally permissible,
financially feasible
and maximally productive. Using these criteria
residential development always wins out. Mr. Nichols foresees that the
agricultural
classification will be lost for 50% of the land
currently classified as agricultural. He thinks that landowners will be
given a year to make
agricultural land genuinely productive. The state
property department have the authority to withhold budgets for the county
if these rules are
not followed; agricultural land that is unproductive
will be reclassified. Speakers pointed out that this is a major threat
to the northern new
Mexico traditional life pattern. Legislators
and Mr. Nichols should be contacted regarding this threat that will financially
ruin many farms
A permanent conservation easement such as exists
for Tony Bensons property will stop a tax reclassification. Mr. Nichols
can be
contacted at the assessors office 7518554 or
at his email
geraldn@taosnet.com.
3) Community center grant update
Bill
Stevens discussed his lengthy and very informative report on the community
centers accounts. He concluded that there are wide
discrepancies between the original goals and
objectives. Taos county has assembled and make available for public
review the records
of this grant. These accounts have been reviewed
by Eric Kuerschner and Bill Stevens. Combined community center /firehouses
are
planned for La Lama and Llano Quemado – this
option makes it easy to get additional funding. Several communities are
spending money on
kitchens for unclear reasons. Ownership of the
centers remains with Taos county which leads to inconvenient and difficult
situations. Copies
of the report can be obtained from Karen kincanna
shannon. Gshannon@starband.net
. Speakers commented that the board of community
centers seems to have had a change of heart and
appears to welcome input. There remains $143000 to spend and a potential
for $300,000
additional moneys. Herbert Valdez is the
best contact to get more money. Eric Kirshner and Bill Stevens have
summaries of the current state
of the accounts. ( And contained in a three ringed
summarry binder on the "Taos Community Centers" kept at Taos County Community
Development - EK).
4) Micah Roseberry, organic farmer, in Cerro spoke regarding spraying by the highway department.
Spraying was started and then stopped after complaints.
Nancy Campbell in Penasco got very ill related to spraying. Spraying has
also taken
place in Talpa and Pot Creek. The chemical used,
Telar, has been taken off the market in other states because it leaches
through the ground
and is toxic to fish and horses. It is dangerous
to use it near irrigation ditches. Spraying with this chemical is a statewide
initiative. State senator
Cisneros has called for public meeting on September
12th .
For more details on the campaign to stop spraying
contact micahroseberry@hotmail.com
586-0877.
5) The CNA forum on the jail and school bonds will take place on September 5th with the election on September 11th
6) Taos county planner selection committee Both John Hilliard and Joe Torres will sit on the committee to choose a new Taos county planner.
7) Taos county audit records Taos
county fiscal audit update.
A $16000 discrepancy in the 1999 accounts will be disregarded because
the accounts are too difficult to reconstruct. Housing authority
accounts are still not completed. Ernesto Griego who is reconstructing
the accounts has a list of things to do by end of August. A representative
of the CNA is hoping to attend the audit interview at the end of the process.
Taos county is run of the mill – other counties have the same problem.
Accounts for 2000 are better with a lot of qualifications. 2001 accounts
may be unqualified. There is currently no penalty for not producing an
audited report.
8) The issue of the default judgements allowing unapproved subdivisions to become legal because there is no legal representation from Taos County was again discussed. A grant from a local foundation to have a lawyer representing the CNA present when such cases come up will be developed in the next few weeks.
9) The next CNA meeting will be on September 10th because the first Monday of the month is labor day..
10) The meeting
adjourned at 8.7pm
July 9, 2001.Minutes of the CNA meeting held on Monday
On 15 Jul 2001, at 8:33, roger sanders wrote:
18
present Tom Allena facilitating Introductions Announcement
1) Sept 18th Kit Carson election for the two
new positions. -
2) Gross receipts tax election. Bond issues for the School board and a new jail will be voted on. It was pointed out that little is known about the jail bond.10 million dollars has been requested to build a new jail but no budget or site have been disclosed. It was agreed that the CNA will put together a forum regarding the jail and school tax. This discussion will be organized by Cliff Bain assisted by Linda Moscarella and Roger Sanders at a date to be decided depending on the availability of the convention center
3) Mary Lane Leslie, Taos county lawyer has resigned her post.
4) Lorraine Schwartz made a request that letters be circulated and signed in favor of Dark skies for Taos. All letters will be collected by the organization “Dark skies for Taos county” and presented to the county planning committee who will make the final decision on this issue.
5) Redistricting issue. 3 plans for the reorganization of Taos county electoral area have been developed by Research and polling Inc., a company in Albuquerque taking into account the results of the census and the decision to go from 3 to 5 commissioners. The final decision will be made at the end of august. Each commissioner has agreed to hold 3 sessions to discuss the alternative plans with voters. A county wide session will be held at the council chambers at 6 p.m. on July 26th. It was pointed out that the final decision is made by the commissioners and that there is much opportunity for gerrymandering. Once a plan has been agreed this fixes representation for a decade.
6) Subdivision issues. A new Lower Las Colonias subdivision has been approved. The preliminary and final plat hearings were approved simultaneously. Apparently this decision is the result of litigation and relates to an agreement because the initial application was ignored for 6 months.
A subdivision
in De Mesa north was discussed. A 48 slot illegal subdivision
is in place; there are no records at thecounty yet it happened.
A member stated that Judge Peggy
Nelson has issued 4 default judgements allowing existing buildings to be
legal in the last 6 months
because the county does not respond
to planning applications. It was suggested that the new county attorney
replacing Mary Lane Leslie
should have knowledge of planning
and subdivision issues.
7) National guard cell phone tower. At the recent county meeting despite a strong push by Commissioner Gabe Romero the tower was approved.
8) Recommendations from the council of neighborhood associations for a position on the committee choosing the new county Planner. A letter was sent by Dale Morrison to presidents of neighborhood associations and the council of neighborhood associations asking for recommendations for a member of this committee. A member of the CNA spent many hours by telephone getting a consensus on a recommendation. Others felt this was a contravention of usual procedures. Many felt annoyed that the letter was sent out with such short notice (4 days), when there was no urgency and there were no applicants. It was pointed out that no one speaks for the CNA without a face to face meeting. The offer by Dale Morrison of a position on this board may have been a response to a suggestion at a CNA meeting. The moral was drawn that if a suggestion is made we should be prepared to act and have an appointment ready. CNA is a consensus based organization and decisions are made on a face to face basis. The following motion was passed unanimously “It is the policy and practiceof the CNA that any decision has to come out of a noticed meeting".
9) Agenda items for next meeting:
a) Follow up to community center discussion (BillStevens)
b) CNA forum on school and new jail bond.10) The next meeting will be on Monday, August 6th at 6.30 pm.
June 4, 2001.Minutes of the CNA meeting held on Monday
On 18 Jun 2001, at 7:47, roger sanders wrote:
Seventeen people from 5 neighborhoods were present as well as participants from Taos County and a prospective meeting facilitator, Tom Allena, to replace Callie. Dave DiCicco facilitated the meeting.
After some discussion, the agenda was approved and introductions were completed.
Erich K / Addition: Arthur Yellen
motion to exclude Dale Morrison, Taos Co Manager from CNA Meetings was unanimously declined.Bill Stevens presented his report describing the history and status of the HUD grant for community centers. A more detailed report and analysis is underway. One example of the report content is the Arroyo Seco community center. The community center was originally built in the 1930's as part of the WPA. It has served the community since. The HUD money has been used to make improvements. The charter school is using the facility currently and the remaining money has been "allocated" for a kitchen improvement, which was not a priority for the neighborhood association. The community has felt it lacked input into the decision making process for many reasons, primarily because all communication came through the Democratic precinct chairs and went no further, but also including a lack of communication with the county, a lack of notification of upcoming meetings and a lack of a way to interact with the decision makers. This situation is improving with the changes in Democratic leadership and greater insistence by neighborhood associations of their right to be included.. Stories of results of the HUD grant in each of the communities are embedded in the report.
Examination of these projects stimulated extensive discussion of the approach in the future for such projects and grants as well as the role and mission of the CNA. Many suggestions were generated including the use of a CNA web-site, email communication, more extensive interaction with the county, development of a county website for distribution of agendas, budget priorities and communication with the county residents. Another suggestion was to use the Taos Canyon land use/zoning proposal for incorporation into the county land use regulations as a stimulus for greater involvement by the NAs that were not present at the meeting. Yet another is to use the transition to five commissioners and the "redistricting" required as a topic to stimulate discussion and attendance.
The Research and Polling company is under contract to the county to generate districting proposals and will conduct public meetings to describe the proposals and obtain public input. The schedule for these meetings is not set but will be announced soon, according to the county manager. One person commented that many folks do not have a PC, email or access to the web so paper copies of important information need to be mailed to them. Another suggestion is to reconvene the "task force" architecture that was created during the peak of the community based planning effort in the 1995-1999 time frame. Another suggestion was to write a letter of invitation to the entire neighborhood association list to rejoin CNA and rekindle the energy needed to implement community based planning.
A proposal to bring the following items to the next meeting was met with many favorable comments: Vision statements, Plans and Objectives for each NA; Historical documents that can be useful to regain perspective; new ideas for information to be included in a packet of documents that could be mailed to each NA; thoughts about using the public library as a repository for CNA information.
Finally, the prospective meeting facilitator introduced himself and described his experience with other venues. After discussion he agreed to do facilitation for 6 months and then re-negotiate. He plans to contact several of the CNA members to further discuss the organization and its future.
The willingness of the Quality Inn to provide meeting space was discussed and options will be explored to express CNA's appreciation for this "donation".
The date for the next meeting was changed from the first Monday schedule for July only since the first Monday precedes the fourth of July holiday period.
The meeting will be held on July 9, 2001 at 6:30pm.
May 7, 2001.Minutes of the CNA meeting held on Monday
May minutes
The meeting started at 6.45 p.m 30 in attendance including Mike Trujillo, community development director, and Robert Dale Morrison, county manager.
1) The meeting started with presentations to Callie Williams by Cliff Bains and Eric Kuerschner. Cliff presented her with a certificate memorializing her 5years of service as facilitator for the CNA. There was universal acclaim for her abilities to keep the meeting focussed and for her many helpful suggestions,
2) Taos County audit for 1998-1999 and 1999-200.
Mr. Morrison reported that there are minimal records from half of 1999. Mel Martinez, an accountant from Las Vegas was initially contacted to prepare the records for audit but he had a stroke and never completed the work. They are being reconstructed and
organized by an accountant in Portales, Lloyd Harrison, who will have the records together by June 30th. It appears there are no records of $16000.2) members of the New Mexico department of financial administration have already spent 4 months working on trying to put these records straight. Records from the following year which are in reasonably good shape cannot be audited until a closing cash balance derived from 98-99 is available. Mr. Harrison is due to report on how successful his efforts have been on Friday May 25th.
Considerable discussion ensued on CNA representation when Mr. Harrison submits his report to the county. Mr. Morrison was agreeable to a CNA representative being present. Initially he suggested a CPA. Subsequently he said he would be agreeable to an
informed member of the CNA being present provided members of the Taos county commission approved. Various members of the CNA stated that proceedings should be in public and that there was no need for permission. Others said that the public had a right to
see all records but discussions over sensitive issues might be in confidence. By a unanimous vote Eric Kuerschner was appointed to work with the commission on this issue.3) Community center grant There was a lengthy discussion on the $900000 community center grant for which the records were
lost. A meeting held last Friday, May 4th at the Taos County Commission was termed the last Carlos Meira “song and dance show”. A CD or floppy disc or the accounts of this grant is available from the county. There is also PowerPoint floppy disc of Carlos Meira's
presentation. Much of the grant money went to Penasco. Mr. Morrison stated that Penasco was able to get additional grants on top of the money from HUD. Two communities reported problems with the grant. Many hours of discussion with Tres Piedras did not yield a community center. The grant administrators insisted that Tres Piedras purchase land for the community center, which local residents could not afford. A mobile home suitable for the community center was purchased but was left in Alamosa while grant
negotiations continued and became severely water damaged. It was subsequently placed in Amalia and later Talpa but was rejected by both communities. Taos Canyon applied for a grant but the letter was never acknowledged and no grant was given., There appears to be a discrepancy between the grant reports and what actually happened. Members of the CNA will prepare a
“white paper” reviewing the grant using records from the county, HUD and the community centers as sources.3) Two new subdivisions are being promoted in Llano Quemado close to the golf course.
4) New facilitator
Discussion on a new facilitator was deferred. Dave de Cicco will facilitate at the next meeting on June 4th. Linda Moscarella volunteered to send out minutes to those who do not have email. Roger Sanders will continue to act as secretary.
5) Agenda items for June:
a) How to set up a process for developing reports on controversial areas such as the community center grant.
b) Illegal subdivision activity
c) New facilitator
d) Report of the committee that will put together a grant application for a legal replacement for the Western environmental law center.
6) The meeting was adjourned at 8.30p..April 7, 2001.Minutes of the CNA meeting held on Monday
Council of Neighborhood associations April 2nd meeting
(Revised minutes after corrections by 2 attendees)
Callie Williams Facilitator
Introductions 6:10. 50 in attendance including Mr. Morrison, Taos County manager.
1) Elspeth Atencio made a presentation on behalf of Taos Soil and Water Conservation district. Her group is developing an accurate groundwater map of Taos County starting with the Upper and Lower Colonias, Arroyo Secco, Des Montes areas. This map is being developed as a public service tool for regional water planning. The development of this map will require a door to door survey. The individual performing the survey will stand on the well site with a GPS unit so the precise location of the well is known. She would like to obtain a list of physical addresses with names for each neighborhood. Permission to provide her with the membership list of CNA associations and neighborhood association officers was granted although provision of the actual membership list of each neighborhood association will the responsibility of the neighborhood.
2) Jeff CondreyLocal government division director from New Mexico Department of finance and administration (DFA) (telephone number 5058278053) gave a brief review of the activities of his service. He was accompanied by two members of his department (Darlene Mares and Sarah Roybal-ek). Much of the activity of his department is involved with capital outlay projects, law enforcement programs etc but about 25% of the activity is related to local government oversight. There are 8 budget analysts involved with local government issues for 250 areas. They certify the budgets and accounts of all the local authorities such as Taos County that have taxing ability. The DFA requires that local governments maintain a minimum account balance so that money is available for three months county expenses and for one month road construction and maintenance.
Budget analysts also make sure that restricted funds are being used appropriately and that transfers between funds occurs in an appropriate fashion. The secretary of the department has authority to suspend elected officials but that is their only sanction. 2
years ago he came close to invoking the sanctions for the first time when minimum account balances in Taos County fell below the allowed levels.Questions were asked about missing accounts related to the lodger’s tax for the last year and for Taos county in 1998 and 1999. There is currently no penalty for inefficiency. Mr. Condrey stated that willful neglect and abuse of regulations would induce sanctions but it is not clear whether the missing accounts are a result of deliberate fraud or of incompetence. Mr. Condrey would like the legislature to devise a penalty for delayed account statements. The state auditor, an elected official, has ultimate authority to investigate the missing accounts. He is currently refusing to do so based on inadequate resources. A member of Mr. Condrey's team stated that developing audited accounts for 98-99 and 99-2000 would require two steps. The components of the
accounts are difficult to put together because three different accounting systems were used simultaneously (there is now only one). Once the accounts had been reconstructed then the accounts would have to be audited. Contracts have been placed to put together
and audit accounts for 98-99 but no contracts have been given for the 99-2000 accounts, which are also nonexistent.Issues related to the funding of the Grand jury investigating Taos County were discussed. It is unclear whether the legislature has authorized additional funding to the State Attorney General Patricia Madrid. Those being investigated lobbied against such funding.
The issue of double taxation related to property tax appeals was raised. A member of Mr. Condrey's staff stated that property tax appeals take an appealed property off the list of estimated tax returns created on January 1st changing the overall rate slightly
upwards although tax has to be paid on the appealed property.3) A $900000 grant for community center development was written by former democratic precinct chairman Skitt Trujillo. The grant was awarded by Federal government department housing and urban development (HUD) and has been administered through
the Taos county office of community development under advisement from the “Taos community centers organisation”. This “committee” selects grant recipients. The committee was created by Mr. Trujillo and was labeled by one speaker as consisting of
“cronies of Skit Trujillo” and consisted of previous precinct chairs from the time when Skitt Tujillo was Taos County democratic precinct chairman. Neighborhood association representatives at the CNA stated that their local “representative” was not
representative of the community . No standardised application process for communities to apply for funds was established. Records of the community center grant administration and accounts were requested by Western environmental law center but the original documents were lost or stolen before the law center could collect them. Mr. Morrison stated that he thinks the records can be recreated. Problems with the administration of the grant were discussed. The Arroyo Hondo and Secco schools were closed when the new elementary school in Arroyo Secco was built and the old buildings were converted to community centers. A lease was arranged. Apparently $25000 was used from the HUD grant to pay for final improvements to the new Arroyo Secco school and this
money has not been returned to the grant. Community centers reported that before money could be obtained from the HUD grant agreements to use their community center for SST training (Survive, Strive, Thrive ) a $5,000,000 grant administered by Horaco Trujillo and Carlos Miera was required. Several community centers refused to agree to this. Cliff Bain would be grateful if neighborhoods that received grants would inform him of their experiences. Mr. Morrison commented that communities needed to set
up a group with legal standing before they could receive money from the grant. Cliff Bain devised the appended letter about the
record problems related to the grant.“Dear Mr. Morrison:
Re community centers grant On March 19,2001 we were disturbed to hear from you about the “disappearance of original records” pertaining to the $900,000 Taos county community center grant funded by housing and urban development. We find it hard to believe that no duplicate records exist either in hard copy or on computer files.
We are requesting that your staff search the files in your possession and those in the possession of Taos county treasurer. We specifically require copies of the grant proposal to HUD, the budget sheets appended to the original proposal, the financial records for dispersal of funds and copies of all quarterly, semiannual or annual report of progress sent to HUD. It is extremely important that Taos county develops a trusting relationship concerning collaborative grants responsible recipient of future grants, Please respond
to us as soon as possible with a date, time, and place that we may pick the requested copies and review them with you.Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely
Council of Neighborhood associations”
The CNA voted by 16 votes to none with three abstentions to support the above letter.
4) This issue of subdivision costs was raised and Mr. Morrison restated that for "constitutional reasons," he would have to require a standard fee of $25 for each subdivision unit appeal. (see previous correspondence from Western Environmental law center)
5) The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.
6) The next meeting will be at 6.30pm on May 7th at the Quality Inn. Roger Sanders secretary
--- cna-admin@laplaza.org wrote:
>>
> 1. Dem. County Election Results from 4/7/01
> (telket)
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 10:12:38 -0700 (PDT)
> From: telket <telket@yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: telket@yahoo.com
> To: lcwmpa-members@laplaza.org, cna@laplaza.org
> Subject: [cna] Dem. County Election Results from
> 4/7/01
>
> Here are the results from Sat.'s Dem. County
> Elections:
> County Chair: Helen Lopez
> County Vice-Chair: Dave DiCicco
> County Central Committee:
> Trudy Valerio Healy
> Rena Rosequist
> Alfredo Domingues
> Tony Trujillo
> Andres Vargas
>
> Hope everyone's name is spelled correctly. :)
> Elizabeth
>
March 5th, 2001.Minutes of the CNA meeting held on Monday
Council of Neighborhood associations March meeting
Callie Williams Facilitator Introductions 6.30 12 in attendance.
1. Introductions 6.40p.m
2. Agenda approved
3. A forestry contractor described federal forestry grants available to neighborhoods to diminish the danger of forest fires. These grants may be used to decrease fuel hazard around homes and to clean out and thin brush around homes on forest borders. Apparently large grants have been given to Red River and to Angel Fire but none have been given in the Taos neighborhood
despite the obvious hazard of forest fires particularly in the Taos canyon and Taos ski valley areas. Two page Grant applications are said to be relatively simple. Details of the grants can be found at the web site www.fs.fed.us/r4/sfa/grant /sfa/grants.html. Additional grants and information can be obtained from Walter Dunn 505-842-3425. There is a local national forest information center in Taos.4. Funding is no longer available to support the Western environmental association legal work for the CNA. An alternative source of funding for council of neighborhood association legal work has been identified. A committee was set up to develop a proposal to send to the funding source so that legal resources would be available to the council for land use problems and subdivision oversight.
5. Continuing problems were reported regarding the subdivision appeals process. Following the letter sent from the Western environmental law center regarding the $25 per house fee being charged by the county Mrs. Leslie, lawyer to the Taos county commission, now requires a filing with the court to be considered a “paper” before she will wave the fee. Follow-up to the letter sent by Western environmental law center will be discussed at the next CNA meeting.
6. Callie Williams announced that she would be resigning from the community wellness center in June and travelling over the summer. She is prepared to facilitate some meetings after the summer. All present acknowledged the tremendous contribution of Callie over the past 5 years. Efforts to find alternative facilitator’s e will be discussed at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.
Agenda for next meeting
1) Update on neighborhood bill Dave De Ciccio
2) Report from committee to develop proposal to apply for funding for legal work.
3) Talk by John Otis regarding Alliance for the development of Taos 20/20 vision plan.
4) Update on hiring of new county manager and planning officer.
5. Update on the subdivision appeals process from western environmental law center.
February 5th, 2001 Minutes of the CNA meeting
Here are the minutes from the CNA meeting on Monday, February 5, 2001 from Gary Ferguson
Twelve people attended the meeting, representing 10 neighborhood associations.
WELC responded to the letter from CNA with appreciation and re-assurance that WELC is supportive but not as active as in the past due to funding limitations.
A mailing list was distributed and discussed. There are many corrections needed, some of which were done in real time during the CNA meeting.
A motion was made and passed 9 for, 0 against to lend CNA's "considerable influence" and endorsements to the HB 464, the planning consistency bill for county planning and land use.
The HB 77 bill was discussed and recommendations made to contact the committee members deliberating the bill and ask that it not be passed since the belief is that it will compromise the current sub-division laws.
HB 241 was also discussed and thought to be a helpful bill that will reduce the "frivolous" lawsuits.
The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing the future of CNA. The attendance of late has been down sharply from the same period a year ago, WELC support has disappeared from the meetings and several folks at the last meeting thought it is time to re-assess the future of CNA. The meeting facilitator garnered the following input from those present:
* Some thought that the low attendance was due to the lack of a burning issue, while others recalled the robust interest and attendance when the NA's were deriving their visions and plans. Others noted that the NA meetings are not well attended either with some exceptions.
*One suggestion was to get at least one NA to approach the Taos County Commission(TCC) to ask for modification of the land use regulations to include the local neighborhood sub zone regulations.
*Another noted the rare opportunity to lobby the TCC for an effective planning department and, perhaps, offer to
work with the county to do planning work. Another person noted that the accomplishments of the CNA have not been publicized and if they were, the current NA's that are faced with controversial developments might engage with CNA and pull everyone together.*One NA is conducting a detailed survey of residents and land owners to determine the direction of future regulations and perhaps zoning efforts. Some thought that the last TCC put the CNA efforts and NAs in a awkward position and took some of the "wind out of the sails".
*One person noted that the CNA seems to focus on very broad topics and issues, while the NA's focus on very local and specific topics so the overlap is low and therefore interest is waning. They further noted that the CNA needs credibility to succeed in the future and must deal with the split that has developed between several of the NAs.
*Another suggested that CNA engage Ted Martinez to rejuvenate the CNA.
*Another suggested that if HB 464 passes, then the future of CNA can be pegged to that leglislation.
* Others were afraid that if CNA disbands, it will never re-engage and an important forum for progress will be lost. Burnout maybe a factor due to the tenure of several members.
* Others suggested that CNA re-visit the power line studies, find another lawyer like D. Gomez to help, discuss the important jobs that are going to be filled in county government in the near future, that we reach out to the NAs that are not attending and invite them to return, get involved in the infrastructure development of the county (like telecom, internet, bandwidth, etc), study the 2000 census information/data to get ready for the redistricting of the county when the TCC goes from 3 to 5 members and try to get some CNA coverage in the local newspapers.
The next meeting is March 5th at 6:30pm at the Quality Inn.
The agenda will include further discussion of the CNA future and possibly, the following items... new county manager, planning directors, HB 464, CNA website update, use of the internet to communicate to the NAs, NA column in the monthly Horsefly newspaper, etc.
By the way, if a NA wants to have NA news published in the Horsefly, email the news to horsefly@newmex.com .
January 8th, 2001 Minutes of the CNA meeting
Council of Neighborhood associations January meeting January 8th by Roger Sanders
Callie Williams Facilitator Introductions 6.30
13 in attendance representing 11 neighborhoods.1. Introductions 6.30p.m
2. Agenda approved
3. Organization of the meeting. Since Western Environmental caw center (WELC) is no longer able to act as organizing secretary members of the group offered to help. Roger Sanders said he would take minutes and in his absence Gary Ferguson will act as backup secretary. Parker Haynes will send notice of meetings to the Taos news and KTAO. Dave DiCiccio will book the room at the Quality Inn.
4. Letter of thanks to WELC Bill Stevens drafted a letter of thanks to the WELC thanking them for all the help they have given. The
letter itemized their many contributions particularly in making sure that subdivision development was performed in a community responsive and legal fashion. All those attending signed the letter.5. Continuing business Subdivisions appeals process There has been no response to the letter sent by Lynn Sferrazza lawyer at WELC, regarding illegal fees for appeals about subdivisions charged to members of the public. A member of the group stated that WELC would finish work on current cases.
6. New business
Northern Pueblo regional planning meeting. A representative from Taos Canyon stated that she attended a meeting of the Northern Pueblo regional planning meeting. This group is concerned with road planning. She made a case for an improvement in the quality of the road through Taos canyon. Approval was given and funding is available to upgrade the road. Details of how to apply for road improvements from this group were given.
7. A candidate for school board wished to address the meeting. The group would not wish to endorse any candidate so attendance at such a discussion would be on a voluntary basis after the meeting ended.
8. Council of neighborhood associations The declining attendance at the meeting was discussed. At the next meeting there will be a discussion of the purpose of the council and of how to improve attendance.
9. Taos county commission Issues concerning Taos county commission were discussed. The post of county manager is vacant and
possible candidates were discussed. Complaints were made about the 1$ fee currently charged for documents which is, according to the attorney general, too high a fee. There was general satisfaction about the improved conduct of the meeting with the new
chairwoman of the commission Rebecca Perez and new member Gabe Romero. It was hoped that there would be an improvement in the way subdivisions were considered. A member of the group stated that in their view subdivision applications were not being considered in a fair way. Legal rules were disregarded and approval seemed to hinge on whom you knew and were friendly with.
“Subdividers feet should all be held to the same fire at the same distance “. It was alleged that decisions are currently made in discussions between top administrators and county commissioners. Future meetings of the Taos county commission will from February on be on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays. Itis hoped in the future that the package with the agenda for the meeting will be available to the public in advance.10. Well depth data
There was a discussion about well depth data. There are many faults running through the Taos area so aquifers may be at different levels. Well data gives information about the aquifer depth and continuity and is of help is showing whether the aquifer is being
depleted. Surveys have been performed in Upper Los Colonias, San Christobal and Talpa but are needed in other areas.11. The meeting adjourned at 8pm