Minutes from the Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors 6 p.m., July 26, 2017, The Lord's R

The meeting was called to order by President Wade Cornelius at 6:09 p.m. Secretary Beth Morgan indicated that this was supposed to be our second quarter meeting (erroneously, it should be our third). She noted that Jana Melvin, treasurer, indicated that she would not be at the meeting, therefore, the treasurer’s report was postponed until a later meeting.

Atttending the meeting were the president and secretary; Henry Torres, water operator; board member Rob Campion; Randell Mellor and Skip and Martha Trego, all association members; and Alfredo Holguin, representing Souder, Miller, and Associates. Introductions were dispensed with, as everyone knew those attending.

Minutes from a previous meeting, having been duly posted on the association’s Facebook page, and on its website, were not read, but were approved by the board. The group then proceeded to the water operator’s report. Torres indicated that he had good news, bad news, and really bad news. He thanked Morgan for informing him of a workshop about pumps that he had attended during the day, prior to the meeting. He then noted that the T-joint in front of 230 Vista del Rey (on the southwest corner of the intersection with Santana Road), “blew up” in mid-June. He had replaced it with a telescoping fitting. He said the new fitting had leaked, so he put another one in. It drips a little bit but is better than the previous one. Torres said he had wanted to put in a three-inch “riser” because the lines are not level: there is a high spot at this location. He wanted to put a pressure relief valve in here, but they are quite expensive—about $400. He said he just put in a valve for now.

Then, on July 14, the T- [joint] in the pump house failed. He had no explanation for that, although Bob Melvin said there are no truss blocks, and the pipe is moving over and bending, so it split. Torres wasn’t sure that was it: it was only a year old, and he thought some other fitting would have broken first if that was the case. He didn’t replace the “T,” he said, doing instead a “straight connect.” He also took one pressure pump off-line, leaving us with six. However, he learned in the workshop he attended that representatives of the Rural Water Association (RWA) could provide assistance to small associations. He said he would be contacting them for help.

Morgan then asked Torres what the good news was: turns out it was the CCR, which he had emailed to Morgan, but who had not seen it yet. She agreed to look for it. (This has since been posted to Facebook.) He said “everything looked good.” Torres also noted that he had sent Cornelius two bills, which he had received. Campion asked Torres if he had checked out a leak at 240 Vista del Rey. Torres noted that he had, and it was a it was a meter valve. They get old and need replacing. Torres noted that the leak inside the pump house ruined a wooden shelf, because the water from the leak had sprayed all over it. “I thought the three-phase was going to blow up on me.” At this point, the Tregos came into the meeting, exchanging greetings.

Torres continued his report, noting that the shelf actually collapsed. The leak also burned out the chlorine pump; however, he noted, it was old. He got a chlorine pump online for $180-$190. He was sharing a chlorine pump between our system and High Valley Farms for awhile. He noted he had got the pump the day of the meeting and planned to install it following the day. He wants to replace an 18-ft. section of 4-in. pipe in the pump house. It wouldn’t take long: one does about three-fourths of the work prior to installing it—the tapping of the holes for the tanks and so on. “But there’s not going to be any fittings,” he said. He said there would only be fittings at the end, where the pump hooks up, and he would put some truss blocks at the end of the pump. He was going to wait a bit, because the back-flow or main check valve is supposed to be horizontal, but it’s vertical, and it doesn’t work like that. That needs to be reconfigured. The pipe comes in 20-ft sections, called “sticks.” There is schedule 40 and schedule 80 (which is thicker). He thought the schedule 40 would be adequate. He doesn’t want to change the size, because it gets too complicated. “We’re not engineers,” he said.

Cornelius asked about his own pressure pump. When we had to bleed air out of the pipes recently, he said, he seemed to have ended up with some excess pressure in his pressure pump, causing it to leak water. Torres advised him to call a plumber.

The president asked Torres whether we had paid him for the repair materials he had bought. Torres indicated that, because the repairs were incurred in June, he had yet to submit the costs. Cornelius also indicated that we are still paying him for some work he had done in the past when invoices were not forthcoming right away. Aside from those, however, the president wants to pay Torres for supplies he has had to purchase in a timely manner.

A discussion of maximum and minimum pressure levels ensued. Generally, it was agreed that we have to keep it at a minimum of 30 psi, and a maximum of 60 is desirable, to ensure that people, like Cornelius, whose homes are at a distance from the well, get adequate pressure. Torres will be contacting the RWA for assistance on that question. He had previously been unaware that they provide consultation. Karl Pennock, who was formerly with the Environment Department, is now working with the RCAC, which gave the training Torres had attended.

Next on the agenda was the contract for engineering services to perform a Preliminary Engineering Report with Souder, Miller, and Associates, for which Alfredo Holguin came as the company’s representative. The original contract had been reviewed by the Environment Department’s Stephen Deal, who had requested certain changes, including the addition of a hydro-geological survey and a water quality study. Morgan read a letter to Deal from Souder, Miller, and Associates. (Copy of letter and a contract will be placed into the minutes.)* They put $1,000 in the contract for that, and the ED questioned why the cost was so high. In the letter, Souder, Miller, and Asso. explains that is because the $1,000 allows sampling of the existing well for various potential contaminants, to allow characterization of the acquifer for potential treatment alternatives as part of the PER, which is more in depth than a typical water analysis. Next, the NMED had requested definition of the service area, for which SMA provided a figure identifying it. SMA was also asked to include a “No Action” alternative, in addition to those previously listed in the proposed contract. Other concerns included:

• NMED and NMFA were not interested in seeing the report at 60 percent completion, but only at 95

• A request that costs for the entire amount of work to be done, regardless of the alternative selected, be included in cost estimates

• A request that SMA remove any references to monthly billing, since this is an NMFA Planning Grant, to be paid in a lump sum when the work is completed

• The cost of any obvious alternatives not included in the report—as identified by the NMED Construction Programs Bureau —will be added at no cost

• SMA, once the comments were received and noted, was to pass along the Notice to Proceed document to the water association.

The company indicated that they had reviewed the comments and responded to them, either by altering the document, or simply by noting that they were aware of it and agreed to do as NMED had requested.

The business before the board was simply to sign the report, to move toward getting the study started. Once NMED has given the association the green light, the board musty also must execute a Notice to Proceed. Holguin noted that typically, water sampling of the sort that we do routinely, costs about $300. The SMA Representative said that the testing they would do is in more in depth. We can expect a draft report within about 90 days of the Notice to Proceed. After that, the report goes to NMED for comment and then, they have time to respond to any comments, a process which could take another month or two. The total price tag is $43,705, the majority of the NMFA’s up to $50,000 grant.

Holguin and Cornelius noted that Mary Finney at NMFA, had indicated that, if necessary, we could get a month’s extension. Holguin indicated that he would be asking various board members, and the water operator, for information on the system, including items such as drawings and financial information to history.

Cornelius signed the contract, with Morgan attesting. She noted that she understood Stephen Deal would have to see it before we could issue the Notice to Proceed. Someone asked whether Holguin had discovered whether Santana Road was a dedicated county road. His understanding was that it is dedicated to the north side of Arapaho Road. Beyond that, it is not, although the county is notorious for contradicting itself. A discussion ensued regarding how the road had gotten paved in the first place, and a gentleman at the south end of Santana Road was given credit for it. Another developer, Philippos Philipou, had planned to develop a tract between Vista del Rey and High Valley Farms, which had resulted in paving of Santana Road to Arapaho, and Arapaho to Bishop Cap Road. However, that subdivision was never approved.

A discussion of whether another meeting was needed to sign the notice to proceed took place. Morgan argued for it, as the board needed to get the treasurer’s report, and in general, such items need to be approved in a “duly advertised” public meeting, she said. The secretary suggested that it could be a short meeting at her home in the week following the meeting in which the contract was being signed. That suggestion being agreed upon, the meeting was set for 6 p.m. Aug. 2. She noted the treasurer would be invited to give the quarterly report at that meeting.

Morgan also apologized to Alfredo for the board’s tardiness in finding his original email to the president, which had sat in his spam folder for a couple of weeks. For that reason, she had asked that Holguin copy all correspondence to the president to the remainder of the board. Holguin said that he anticipated hearing from Stephen Deal right away, possibly, the next day. Holguin asked about whether Bob Melvin was receiving emails. Cornelius indicated that Melvin does not do email. Calling him or visiting him is more effective, he said. Holguin indicated that he would call Mr. Melvin, if he needed to make connection with him. The engineering company representative also indicated he would try to meet with Torres at the well house after the meeting Aug. 2, to interview him about the system. Morgan advised him to watch out for rattlesnakes.

The board then proceeded to old business, the first topic of which was back payments to Torres, from a time when submission of his invoices was delayed. Cornelius noted we had made five or six of them, and then we paid another five or six. He had submitted a couple this week for equipment for the well house, which Cornelius noted we could probably pay promptly, once we’ve heard the treasurer’s report. Torres was agreeable to that, indicating that he has yet to submit his invoice for July, which may be significant.

Upon completing the discussion of Torres’ invoices, the president turned to the open forum portion of the meeting. He said it was the time for the “airing of grievances.” He had one, which he noted had nothing to do with the water association, but with the son of the resident at the corner of Vista del Rey and Santana, who has almost hit him in his car several times. There were no further comments on this on the recording.

*Note: Attach copy of letter to Deal and copy of Contract with Souder Miller.