Minutes, Aug. 2, 2018

Vista del Rey Mutual Domestic Water Consumers’ Association

Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Board of Directors

6 p.m., Aug. 2, 2018

The Lord’s Ranch

The president dispensed with introductions at this special meeting, because those present knew each other. In addition to President Wade Cornelius, Secretary Beth Morgan was present, as were board members David Lucero (treasurer), Rob Campion, and Patrick Stafford. Mark Sechrist, Sabrina Lucero, Grover Heard, and Shane Wohlfert also attended.

Cornelius noted that we had called this special meeting solely for the purpose of voting whether we would continue with the [CIB] grant application. He invited Morgan to brief attendees on what had occurred at the previous meeting, as the minutes were not yet completed for the 4 hour-long meeting.

She stated that we had invited Josh Smith, our attorney for the Colonias Infrastructure board grant, to join us at our July 26 meeting, as well as Alfredo Holguin, from Souder, Miller, and Associates. Smith is an expert on water rights, so he spoke about what the association can do with its 242-acre-feet of water rights. He said that they are only “declared” water rights, and the 18 or so that the association has put to beneficial use are the only ones that are worth anything. One cannot lease water rights in order to establish beneficial use, and that declared water rights are not worth anything. He did state that having a 40-year plan allows water associations to continue to develop a group’s declared water rights, but that at the end of the 40 years, those water rights not put to beneficial use can be taken away. The only water rights the association could lease are the 18 acre-feet already put to beneficial use.

He talked about residents using water for pecan orchards or raising chickens. If the individual then wants to sell pecans or eggs, they could do so, and it would not be considered a commercial endeavor.

The board also went over the engineering study (PER) that had been done by Souder, Miller, and Associates (SMA), and Alfredo Holguin of that company explained that the reason we had chosen the alternative that they had was because they had recently rehabilitated the well, and because interconnecting with High Valley Farms for emergency purposes was cheaper than building a second well.

Cornelius said that through the grant, the board is seeking funding only for the design phase of the project already undertaken, via the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER). [It may not have been said in so many words at the July meeting, but the purpose of the PER was to determine the status of our system and to prioritize what improvements were most needed.] He noted that High Valley Farms, via the Lower Rio Grande Public Water Works Authority, has agreed to pay for the construction of interconnecting with HVF, while VDRMDWCA pays for the design. Two other items included in the project are design of new lines and an improved booster station.

Morgan added that the attorney and Holguin aided board members in making clear that a 90 percent grant-10 percent loan is a very good deal, because 90 percent of the cost of designing the project is “free money.” The association will have a commitment of only $8,700 (approximately) that it will have 20 years to pay off at 0 percent interest.

Cornelius noted that the board was only there to vote on proceeding with the request for funding for the design phase. David Lucero said that he has a question before the vote. He and others said they understand that there existed a “cafeteria plan” in which the board could choose those items that it wants to build. He favors the installation of an additional water tank. Morgan said that as she understood it, having been in the presence of the Colonias Infrastructure Board, that we can only design the items that we originally told them we were asking funding to design. Lucero and Stafford both understood that we could modify our plan after we had secured the funding.

Morgan noted that the board might be able to drop something out of the current project, or it could choose any of several items mentioned in the PER at some point in the future as other projects. Stafford wanted to know what the Aug. 10 date we had mentioned was for. Morgan explained that the deadline for Readiness to Proceed items was Sept. 10. [Alfredo Holguin had stated in the previous meeting that, if the association were going to ask for an extension, it would have to be requested by Aug. 10.]Randy Mellor said he understood that we might be able to get an extension of the deadline to pay for those three things the board had planned to design.

The secretary noted that she had been the one sitting in the “hotseat” when Oscar Butler of the Colonias Infrastructure Board had accused the board of “not liking poor people.” Lucero said those are “just words.” Morgan reiterated that because she had physically been in the presence of the CIB twice, it was her understanding that one could only continue to seek funding for what the board had already told them it planned to do with the money. While Lucero was interested in a new tank for holding water for fire protection, Morgan restated that it was her understanding was that the board could not change what it was asking for in the original request for the grant. However, there are many things—a new tank, a new well, etc.—that the association might be able to build in the future. At this time, the association is only doing the three things Morgan had specified.

Lucero had originally made a motion that the association proceed with the design phase, but that when we proceed past that, we reconvene and talk about the construction phase at that time. He ended up rewording it to state that we proceed with the design phase. This motion was seconded by Rob Campion. It passed unanimously.

The last item on the agenda was open forum. No one had anything to add, so the meeting was adjourned to the sound of furniture being moved back where it belonged in the Lord’s Ranch sanctuary.