LDMNA Minutes of Special Meeting – December 17, 2001 [ Draft ]

The meeting was called to order by Erin Dayle, VP at 6:50 PM in the absence of Joe Gonzales, pres.
Board members present were Judy Anderson, Laura Deikel, Mary Ann Elder, Dean Archuleta, Erin Dayle,
Greg Jaramillo, and Erich Kuerschner. Members present were Ron and Carol Larimore, Mandy Stapleford,
Jim Sanborn, and Peter Mackaness.

The agenda was discussed, and a vote taken to define committees first. Ron Larimore asked for mission/goals. Linda
Moscarella suggested #1 be water committee, #2 be Land Use - (2 committess already standing).

An update was given on the adjacent lot next to Mandy, where there were rumours re to it being considered for a warehouse
for Pueblo Carpet. It was reported that there is electricity to the site, but that a permit had not been issued. Mandy was
told by Jesus Gonzales from the Taos County Planning Dept that a warehouse was considered to be a permitted use under
the cottage industry designation, but Linda and Erich voiced  disagreement with that interpretation.

Committee signup sheets were circulated

Discussion on the security committee was tabled., w/ Erin offering to be bd contact person

A Membership Committee was established, with Jim Sanborn offering to be contact/coordinator person.
Jim Larimore and Erich K also offerred to help.
Duties are to include:
1. keeping and compliling a membership list.
2. going forward with the mapping effort
3. developing criteria for moderating the email list
4. soliciting membership
5. communicati (fed 1que?)

Planning Committee was established w/ Linda M as contact/coordinator. Erin D and Judy A also volunteered.
1. build vision-----> goal   ?
2. schedule evenets
3. plan program/agenda
4. newsletter

Bylaws Committee Joe and Erin co/ contacts, the entire board to form the committee

1. update bylaws

Water Committee: Peter M, contact/ w Laura, Dean, and Paul
1. coordinate committee work
2. well status, adjudicating
3. aceguias, irrigation
4. state level regulations

Community Center Committee

8:20 moving towards closure

Planning Committee:

set meeting before end of Jan and report

Nominating Committee, Greg chair, and  Mary Ann, vice chair

Land Use, Erich contact w/ Paul, Linda, Mary Ann, Greg,  Ron, and Erin.
 

Jim will make list of committees

Next mtg Monday, Feb 11, 2002, exclusively devoted to discussing ammending the bylaws.
 
 
 
 
 

LDMNA Minutes of Special Meeting – November 19, 2001 [ Draft ]

At 6:47 PM, President Joe Gonzales called the Special Meeting of the LDMNA to order.

In addition to the President Joe Gonzales, and the Secretary Erich Kuerschner, Treasurer
Dean Archuleta, and Board Members Judy Anderson and Edna Pena were present to form a
quorum. Also Paul Sands was present through the presentation of the Community Centers
Report.

Minutes of the Oct 25, 2001 meeting were read and approved. Pres. Joe Gonzales suggested
that the old minutes as approved contain the corrections.

Erich announced that MaryAnn wished to vote on two agenda items, if they are brought to a
vote. The first is to support item VII .G, on the draft agenda authorizing Joe Gonzales,
as LDMNA President, to accept bids under the NM02SPG504 (the HUD community Center’s
Grant), and the second is on item VIIB, to vote for one, rather than, two annual clean up
days.

Pres. Joe G. gave the Treasurer’s Report. The balance was stated as being around $200. Joe
was given a check received in the mail from Cameron Mactavish for $72, which he was asked
to deposit in the account as soon as possible. A motion was motion was made by Erich K,
seconded by Edna P. and carried by voice vote w/ no dissents that newly elected Treasurer,
Dean Archuleta, be added to the signature card at the Bank, and that checks could be drawn
with EITHER one of these two officers signatures. The next Treasurer’s Report is to be
more formal, containing the actual balances and transactions.

Paul Sands gave the Community Center Committee Report. He reported that the AS-V NA met on
Oct 24,2001 and presented information in the form of several handouts, outlining the bank
balances, expenditures, and the monthly fees received from the Charter School under the
sub-lease arrangement between the Charter Schools and the two Neighborhood Associations
-Arroyo Seco-Valdez and Lower des Montes.  Under the HUD Grant, AS-V and DM were to
receive $50K, of which $25K has been paid to the Taos Municipal Schools, either as payment
for the lease, or to be held in escrow for Capital Improvements , an unresolved issue.
The remaining $25K needs to be spent by December 31, 2001, or be in danger of being
withdrawn and reallocated to another NA deemed more likely to expend the funds by HUD’s
June 30, 2002 deadline. Three bids for the classroom re-roof and gutters have been
received as required under the Taos County Procurement Code, w/ a fourth expected. The
committee was given various “wish lists” with priorities and associated costs, for various
improvements required to meet NM standards, and others that were deemed desirable. The
Committee is also empowered to review invoices for expenditures stated to be made by the
charter school at the AS campus, and determine whether they meet the criteria for “in
lieu” payments as specified in the sublease between the NAS and the Charter School. The
Oct lease payment of ~$3.4K has been received after being withheld for 3 weeks, after a
meeting of the NAS , Robert Gonzales, TMS superintendent, and Albert Ortega, Assistant TMS
superintendent on Nov. 1, 2001. At that meeting Father Brennan made clear that he
considered payments need to be current before considering any renegotiation, and that AS-V
had authorized him to initiate a lawsuit to enforce the lease agreement, if necessary.

Erich K made a motion, seconded by Paul Sands that the President of LDMNA, including, but
not limited to Joe G., has standing authorization to sign for any contracts on behalf of
LDMNA for HUD Community Center Grant (NM 02SPG504) contracts. The motion passed by voice
vote, with no dissents.

Erich K. reported on the status of the acequia representative. Lee Varoz considers himself
to be the acequia representative, but is unable to attend any meetings. Chilton Anderson
was suggested as a replacement, but he also is unable to attend meetings. The third
suggestion, (?) is in Baja Calif, and also unavailable. Herbert Martinez of the Cuchilla
Ditch also is not interested in attending. Erich was unable to gather any information on
the process of the acequias for selecting their representative, and Chilton Anderson
believes that it is highly likely that no formal process was ever established. The sense
of the board was to postpone further discussion of this issue. Judy Anderson offered to
have the Revalse Ditch Association raise this issue at their next meeting.

It as unanimously agreed to have the last 5 members of the nominating committee be the new
members of the nominating committee that the board is mandated to establish. Greg
Jaramillo was appointed by President Joe Gonzales as the chair, w/ MaryAnn Elder the Vice
Chair. The other members are Linda Moscarella, Paul Sands, and Cameron Mactavish.

In regards to continuing with the establishment of committees and the appointment of
members, President Joe Gonzales suggested that the board have its next meeting devoted
solely to a working session on this topic, and that the entire board meet as “a committee
of the whole”. This seemed to have universal support, and it was agreed to proceed in this
manner. All the present board members expressed both an interest, and special skills, in
assembling a member data base and developing a computer generated mailing list labels.
Edna P. might be able to contribute the Domestic Water Board list,  Judy A. the Revalse
Ditch member list (as well as being able to assist in mapping Gerald Nichols Excel List of
1000 potential members into a mailing label list.) Dean Archuletta was also interested in
helping.

The security committee was specifically raised, as this issue seemed to be of immediate
concern to Members  George and Margaret Reading, and Bill Monlux. Erin D. had reported at
the last meeting that Eddie Martinez, from the sheriff’s dept had expressed a willingness
to address the NA if invited. It was decided to postpone the NA getting formally involved
with this issue until Jan/Feb, but that perhaps one could call these members and inform
them of the interest of a neighbor w/ the sheriffs dept, willing to help.

When Pres Joe G. asked if there were other pressing items on the agenda, Judy A. expressed
her preference for a single cleanup day, and suggested that we co-ordinate that w/ other
local groups also involved w/ cleanup. This seemed to reflect consensus.  She also
expressed her desire to have the NA work on updating district maps.  The importance of
Water issues, both shallow wells, and The Domestic Water Board expanding, were also
raised.

It was agreed that the next meeting (of the “committee as a whole”) is to be on Monday,
December 17, 2001 at 6:30 at the Arroyo del Norte Elementary School, and Joe G. asked that
it be publicly advertised as such.

At 8:30pm, Edna P moved, and Dean A. seconded, that the meeting be adjourned, and by
unanimousconsent it was.
 
 

LDMNA Minutes - October 22, 2001
 

The special board meeting of the LDMNA at the Arroyos del Norte Elementary School
Library was called to order by Joe Gonzales  @ ~6:40 PM. In attendance were six board
members Joe Gonzales, Erin Dayl, Greg Jaramillo, Dean Archuleta, Mary Ann Elders, Erich
Kuerschner, and  three members Paul Sands, Linda Moscarella, and Angelina Archuleta.

The minutes were read. Linda M. pointed out that Judy Anderson was, in fact, elected at
the 2000 annual meeting, and is a holdover board member, and not the acequia
representative. With this change, the minutes were approved.  Newly elected board member
Cameron Mactavish’s resignation email of 9-28-01 was reviewed, as well as his follow up
email on Oct 14 confirming the resignation was final. A motion was made, seconded, and
passed to accept Cameron’s resignation.

It was agreed that Erich would follow up with the Lee Varos, Herbert Martinez, and Chilton
Anderson to clarify whom the acequias wish to designate as their LDMNA board
representative  and request that they clarify for us how this is to done so it can be
recorded in our minutes and not remain an annual issue. Lee Varoz seemed to be the last
rep that was designated by the LDMNA.

A discussion was held re the role of the board, and the fact that all members, and not
just the board, vote on all motions. It was also discussed that members may vote for
agenda items by proxy, and thus in essence the informal practice of a spouse voting
“filling in” for an absent board member was believed to be within the bylaws as long as
action was limited to voting for agenda items, and not for making motions or meeting
quorum requirements. It was also discussed that the rules for changing bylaws are spelled
out in both LDMNA bylaws, and by Parliamentary procedure and should be strictly followed.

Joe gave the treasurer’s report, that only 1 check had been written last year to pay the
PRC filing, and that Paul Sands still needed to be reimbursed for personal funds advanced
for the clean-up day expenses. The bank balance was approximately $200, w/o the $72
received at the Sept 25, 2001 annual meeting.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that Erich and Linda continue as the CNA
reps, and that Erin be the alternate voting representative to CNA.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that a board meeting be scheduled for
6:30PM on Monday, November 19, 2001 to be held at the Arroyos del Norte ES library.
The motion to fix meetings on “the” “___”   _____day of the month was not seconded.
Discussion seemed to indicate that there was strong support for the concept of a regular
day , but no clear proposal was made.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that Erich be asked to document the
procedures for procuring the use of the Arroyos del Norte ES facilities, and archive those
on the web page and/or as attachments to future minutes for reference.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that the agenda be modified to postpone
items 6 and 7 until the end of new business as they had low priority and there was likely
not enough time to address them at this meeting.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed after discussion to form a committee to
address the issues of  obtaining the following information in regards to the Arroyo Seco-
Des Montes-Valdez Community Center
   1. What parties believe they have an interest in the Arroyo Seco-Des Montes-
             Valdez Community Center. ( CC)
        2. What the position of each of those entities re the costs and benefits accruing
        to the LDMNA interest (if  any) is estimated to be.
Interested parties include, but may not be limited to, the CC, the CC advisory board, the
Taos Municipal Schools, and Taos County, as well as LDMNA.  (I struggled w/ getting this
simple, but right, so please help me out here to get this right.

 Joe Gonzales was voted to chair that committee, and it was agreed that Paul Sands and
Greg Jaramillo, would also serve on that committee. Erich offered to make copies of the
“Community Center Grant Agreement and Sublease (Arroyo Seco-Valdez-Des Montes) that was
signed by Billy Archuleta as LDMNA president, and Dale Morrison, county attorney. The
committee stated that they would meet with Dale Morrison from the county and whomever was
appropriate from the Arroyo Seco-Valdez NA to determine the facts and their position on
the interests LDMNA has in the ASCC.

Nominations were made, seconded and passed that Joe Gonzales serve as President,
Erin Dayl
as Vice President, Dean Archuleta as Treasurer, and Erich Kuerschner as secretary.

Erich made a motion, seconded by Erin that Jim Sanborn’s offer to:
1. set up an email list for the LDMNA board and for LDMNA members
2. set up a calendar for posting LDMNA events, and
3. a members data base be started and that Erich would work with Jim on that.

Linda M. offered to contribute an old data base and members list that Troy had compiled.
She also gave Erich a tube of maps.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that Linda also develops a list of committees for
the board to consider for the next meeting.

Linda M gave each board officer a key to the HC box 24209, although Erin advised that the
number for that HCR may no longer be correct.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that the VP be the person designated to pick up
the mail and deal w/ it appropriately.

As time was approaching 8:30, a motion to adjourn was not seconded so that Erin could
share her priorities so that the board might be prepared to address them at the next
meeting. These were: 1. Role in ?       2. schedule clean-up days bi-annually rather than
annually 3.( reg bus ) ? 4. re-appraisal of agricultural properties 5. water well issues
6. Security issues (Eddie Martinez from the sheriffs Dept has offered to address the LDMNA
whenever asked 7. Redistricting 8. Organization and greater lead time for agendas

Erin also offered to prepare a policy guide for committees.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that Erin prepare that committee guide, and
that she utilize her priorities as a basis for developing an agenda for the Nov 19 meeting
that would be posted on the board email list in time for other board members to
contemplate and offer changes.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that the procedure for noticing meetings be
made part of the record. Paul advised that the policy has been to: 1. put 1 or more
notices in the Taos News. This needs to be done by noon, Monday, the week before a
meeting, or in this case by Nov. 12.  2. Requests for radio announcements are made
___days   in advance to KTAO and KKIT.  All three requests are made by Fax. It was agreed
that this was  both sufficient and appropriate notice.

Joe Gonzales requested that the CC committee (Paul and Greg) and Erich stay for a few
minutes after the meeting to agree on a procedural plan for gathering information.

At 8:45pm a motion was made, seconded, and passed that the meeting be adjourned.

PS.  Erich’s notes:

If folks feel it necessary to document who made, and seconded the motions, feel free to
add this to the minutes.

Ditto, for the places left essentially blank, eg #1 and #3 in Erin’s priorities that
should be filled in. Andthere may have been as many as 15, the remainder
being on the back of an agenda page?.
 
 
 
 

LOWER DESMONTES
NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 25, 2001
 
The 2001 annual meeting was called to order at the Arroyos del Norte School shortly after 7PM.President Paul Sands welcomed the 30 neighbors who attended.Attendees were asked to find their names on a data base provided by the Taos County Assessor’s office, or sign in on a separate sheet.A hat was on the table for donations.$72.00 was collected during the evening to help fund neighborhood association activities.A brief history of the Neighborhood Association was presented by Carmeron Mactavish and Linda Moscarella.

 
Elections of new members to the board was next on the agenda.Paul explained that board terms are staggered and that this year, four new members must be elected, three to fill vacated seats (previously occupied by Paul Sands, Linda Moscarella, and Joe Gonzales) and one to fill a vacancy left from last year’s annual meeting.He presented the slate put together by the nominating committee which consisted of Erin Dayle, Joe Gonzales, Erich Kuerschner and Cameron Mactavish.Holdover board members are Mary Ann Elder, Dean Archuleta, Greg and Tracie Jaramillo (one board member).Two additional board members will be nominated by the local acequia board and by the Lower Des Montes Domestic Water Association bringing the full board membership to nine.Nominations from the floor were invited.There being none,Ralph Bendel moved that the slate be accepted by voice vote.Bill Hyde seconded.The new slate was elected unanimously.
Paul presented his annual report, noting the successful road cleanup effort held August 25 and presentations of importance to the neighborhood of ongoing State reevaluations of agricultural exemptions and the mapping of existing water wells.(Paul add more)
Bill Monlux requested that the issue of recent robberies be discussed.Marjorie Reading reported her recent experiences and it was noted that a Pensky truck had been seen in the neighborhood on several days when robberies occurred.As a result of this discussion, the new board was charged with forming a safety and security committee, to look into ways to deal with this problem.
The meeting adjourned to continue sampling the delicious desserts provided by the participants and continue discussions started during the evening.