Minutes of the Special Meeting, 7:00 pm, April 29, 2015

The Vista del Rey Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association

Minutes of the Special Meeting

7 p.m., April 29, 2015

At 54 Santana Road, Vado, NM 88072

This special meeting was called to order by Wade Cornelius at 7:05 p.m. Attending were Patrick Stafford, Debbie Stafford, Jana Melvin, Wade Cornelius, Kenneth Henrie, Mark Sechrist, and Beth Morgan. There were no guests.

Minutes from the meeting March 30 were read and approved. Jana presented the treasurer’s report, noting that our bank balance at the last meeting was $6,188.32. Since that meeting, we have collected income of $1,425. We also received an electric bill for $386 to be paid, but no other expenses.

Patrick said that he had set up an online account with the Secretary of State, so that we can file and pay for our annual corporate report electronically. He stated that we had been delinquent in paying the reporting fee during 2011, 2012, and 2013, but he thought not for 2014. He said that he had taken care of the years in arrears, and paid a $10 penalty. He reported that he had also bought three brass check valves for the well.

At this point, Kenneth Henrie noted that we do not appear on the State Auditor’s list of water associations in New Mexico. He noted that while we don’t want to bring notice of ourselves to the auditor, he said that we need to review our documents and make any necessary changes.

Patrick also noted that he had organized a workday at the well, and the team had cleaned brush from the area, located property markers, and installed the check valves needed on the well. He also reported that member Grover Heard was soliciting bids for scrap metal in the form of an old water tank on the well property, as well as for an extra tank belonging to the High Valley Farms water association.

While member Rob Campion had prepared a power point presentation on the status of the well, since he was not present, we discussed matters needing attention at the well, including a cover for the wellhead, a barrier for the ladder to the tank, and others. Patrick noted that the chain-link fencing donated by member Wilson had been moved to the well property. It is 5-ft. fencing, and with the addition of razor wire, it will meet the height requirements for a fence to provide a barrier to public access to the well. We will need to buy additional posts, brackets, and razor wire. Patrick also noted that we are out of Clorox for the well but that our well operator had been instructed to take care of that.

We then briefly discussed our liability insurance policy for officers, which has been in effect since 2009. It may need to be renewed in October. Beth Morgan made a motion seconded by Jana to have Kenneth Henrie review the insurance policy prior to renewal. The motion passed.

The wellhead cover needs to be custom fabricated, Patrick reported, and may require that a new concrete footing be poured. He suggested getting an estimate from members David and James Lucero for an insulated wellhead cover, a barrier to the ladder access, and insulation for the overflow pipe, which may require a cherry picker to install. He made a motion to do so, Morgan seconded it, and it passed.

Patrick then reported that we had been out of compliance with the EPA, regarding bacteria in the water, about five years ago. We were supposed to have notified members of the problem and correct it. While we did correct it, he said that we had never reported it to the members, so he took care of that after the fact, via a letter to the EPA and to consumers. While the method was somewhat unorthodox, he said that the EPA had accepted it. He stressed that knowing more about what is in our water, however, is important. More than 40 ppm of various types of bacteria requires action.

He noted that our water well operator samples our water every month, and that we are supposed to submit annual samples in August, a fact that it was agreed needs to be one of many reporting, fee-paying, and other events to be entered into a master calendar to help us keep track of all that needs to be done to stay in compliance. He also noted that we must take meter readings monthly, and that we are to report these in January and July. He learned that the State Engineer had not been receiving these. He obtained the readings and submitted them. Recently, we had overpaid by $578, but because of discrepancies in how the meter has been read by different people, we may actually have owed that much. He said that we pay three cents for every thousand gallons; there is a formula for determining how much is used. At this point, it is unclear whether we still owe something for 2014, or if what we do owe can be taken out of the $578 overage.

He also noted that we must report our “change of agent” and officers to the Secretary of State upon an election. It was decided that Jana and Wade will sign that document and send it in with a check for $10.

We discussed which maps were needed for the application for a grant to conduct an engineer’s assessment of our system. One map identifies the various properties within Vista del Rey subdivision; another shows the location of our water lines. Jana noted that she had more maps at home and would examine them to see if what she had could supplement what Patrick presented.

It was noted that while we report our water usage to the State Engineer’s office, we pay the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. We have a registration certificate that identifies the water association as a non-profit, however, we have yet to locate the original papers granting us non-profit status. We discussed whether we had to prove non-profit status for the grant application.

The limits on how much we can pay an individual before we have to provide them with a form 1099 from the IRS was discussed. We must pay more than $600 annually to an individual for that to be required. Thus, we don’t pay Patrick (who drags the road with an I-beam from time to time) enough to require providing him a 1099, but we do have to give one to our water operator and the individual who has been grading the road.

Matters relating to the planned grant proposal for an engineering study: We set regular meeting times as the third Wednesday of the month, typically quarterly.

Meetings will be at 6 p.m. at the Lord’s Ranch. Setting meeting times of the association was one of the items needing to be decided for the passage of the Open Meetings resolution, a grant requirement. The resolution stipulates also stipulates meeting notice of 10 days for regular meetings, 3 for special meetings, and 24-hours for emergency meetings. Patrick made a motion to pass the Open Meetings resolution with meeting time, location, and meeting notice as stated above. Jana seconded it and the motion passed.

It was noted that the Secretary of State does not have a copy of our Articles of Incorporation. Patrick said that the advantage of having them filed is that they could not be erroneously altered if they are on file. We discussed the articles with Kenneth Henrie and the board members present but could not do a thorough review in the time allotted that evening. It was decided that we would review Kenneth’s comments about them and do a more thorough review of them at a later meeting.

Noting that we do have a copy of our water operator’s license led to a further discussion of lack of Clorox for our system. Patrick noted that he had asked the operator, Raymond Morales, to remedy the matter and three days later, it had not been taken care of. He also believes that we may have been erroneously charged for the mailing of at least two water samples that were not ours at the time ours was submitted. When asked about it, Morales was not forthcoming, Patrick said. We have to sample monthly and annually. Patrick suggested that we approach Henry Torres, water operator for High Valley Farms and resident of that subdivision, about providing the basic services of chlorinating and monthly and yearly sampling.

The Pabon family, which has moved out of their house on Vista del Rey, was in arrears on property taxes and a $1,000 assessment of our water association. Whether we charge the new owners the assessment or just a membership and transfer fee of $25 was discussed. In order to collect the $1,000 from the Pabons, it was noted that we should have put a lien on the property. Since we did not do that, it was decided that we had to forfeit the money. While the property was not in good standing, as the assessment was still owed, a $500 fee would normally be charged to allow water use for the residence. Patrick made a motion to waive the delinquent fee of the residence, and the $500 fee, and allow the new owners to transfer the service into their names for $25. Jana seconded the motion, and it passed.

Jana noted that we are insured by Burke Insurance Group. The question arose of whether our liability policy would cover the bonding of officers. Patrick said he did not think so. It was agreed that we would research this.

The creation of a budget for submission with the grant proposal was discussed. The Articles/Bylaws state that we should maintain 50 percent of our budget in reserve for contingencies. Kenneth Henrie questioned whether this amount is reasonable. How the budget should be created was discussed, possibly using our past five years income and operating expenses. Jana proposed to come up with a draft of a budget for our grant proposal.

As we have been unable to find the papers for our non-profit status, whether the 501 (c) 12 designation for mutual domestic water associations that is available by default plus $400 to be paid to the Taxation and Revenue Department would be adequate. Beth agreed to check with Olga Morales of the Rural Communities Assistance Corporation to find out whether 501 (c) 12 status is adequate or if we will have to come up with copies of our 501 (c) 3 papers, and how we do that.

In addition to the maps for the grant proposal, Morgan noted that she had obtained a census tract number for the location of the water association’s grant proposal.

That bank cards still need to be signed by new officers was discussed, however, our past president has already moved. Whether that is a problem was discussed. Jana noted that she would check into the matter.

Giving our outgoing president, Michael Schmickle, an honorarium to express appreciation for his years of service was discussed, as well as one for Patrick and Jana. Patrick made a motion to obtain a Visa gift card for $300 for Schmickle, but as Patrick and Jana recused themselves from voting on one for themselves, and protested that it was not necessary, honoraria for them was tabled, as without their votes, we did not have a quorum of the board to vote on it. Wade seconded the motion for the $300 gift card for Schmickle, and the motion passed.

Whether we can put a new name on our Facebook page was brought up. Kenneth Henrie questioned whether there are any security issues attached to the Facebook page and any potential website we might create, which was also discussed. Wade noted that the only materials that will be available on the website will be what we consider public. A motion was made to have Mary Lucero proceed with the creation of a website. Patrick seconded the motion and it passed.

The next meeting was set for the third Wednesday in May, the 27th, at 6 p.m., at the Lord’s Ranch. The meeting adjourned at approximately 10 p.m.