Minutes from the Oct. 21, 2018 Meeting

President Wade Cornelius opened the meeting at 2:05 p.m., explaining that, as there had been some confusion over the time of the meeting—the notices on Facebook and the Vista del Rey Mutual Domestic Water Consumers’ Association website said 2 p.m., but the agenda distributed to mailboxes said 6 p.m.—the board would table all business except voting on whether to proceed with the grant application to the Colonias Infrastructure Board. New business and reports, etc., were to be saved for a future date. Attending the meeting were all of the board members: Cornelius, secretary Beth Morgan, treasurer David Lucero, Robert Campion, and Patrick Stafford. Also present were Mark Sechrist, Mary Lucero, Shane Wohlfert, and Claire Baumgartner.

Cornelius continued that everyone should be aware that the board has been discussing whether to proceed with the Colonias Infrastructure Fund grant, and that he had paperwork requiring signatures that must be provided in order to proceed. The first of these was on the resolution stating that the water association board is accepting the grant funds offered. The president noted the board and members have talked at length about what the grant funds would mean to the association and asked whether anyone had additional comments at that time. David Lucero, treasurer, noted that he had a question. He wanted to know if the actions to be taken stated in the original grant application were set in stone, or if there was a possibility of tackling other options with the money anticipated.

Board Member Patrick Stafford said that he had talked with the association’s engineer, Alfredo Holguin of Souder, Miller, and Associates, about that possibility. Holguin had stated that while it was not impossible that the association might be allowed to change some of the actions presented in the grant application, it was unlikely. Morgan stated that she had also discussed the matter with Holguin and was told the same thing.

She said that, while other potential improvements had been identified in the company’s preliminary engineering review that could be undertaken at some future date, it was her understanding that to undertake anything other than what was specified in the grant application could be pursued in the future, but it would have to be done with additional funding.

Morgan noted that there are several places where insertion of the number of the resolution (14) was called for in the grant documents. She asked the president to insert that number wherever blanks occurred for it. Cornelius noted there are places for six signatures. Morgan identified the first place she found that a signature was needed, and where the association’s seal was also needed. She also stated that a roll-call vote was necessary to accept the resolution. She and the president worked to identify where signatures and seals were needed while others attending visited. She noted that the resolution needed to be read, prior to the roll-call vote. The president read it, specifying that the grant is for $87,240, of which 10 percent is a no-interest loan to be paid back over 20 years by the association. Rob Campion moved to adopt the resolution “as read by Wade Cornelius.” It was seconded by Patrick Stafford. All members voted yes, except the president, who only votes to break ties.

He noted that the motion to adopt the resolution passed. He pointed out that identifying who voted and whether it was a positive or negative vote was also required. Morgan agreed that he should write those in.

Morgan noted that the association is required to publish a summary of the resolution in the newspaper, as specified on the Sutin, Thayer, and Brown timetable. While she and Cornelius were reviewing the documents, a question arose as to the cost of a recent repair, done by Fuller. The president stated that the cost was about $7,500: about $2,500 for labor, and about $4,500 to $5,000 for the pump and motor.

The secretary and president continued working on the documents. A buzzing noise indicated that Cornelius’ phone was ringing. He said he did not know why his mother-in-law was calling. The pair continued shuffling, affixing the seal, and inserting names and dates where necessary. The president vowed to go through the documents again to ensure that all blanks were filled in. The pair noted that the “exhibits” did not require their attention. Cornelius wanted to be certain he did not have to “do it over.” Member Claire Baumgartner arrived during this time. The recorder picked up her conversation with Mary Lucero.

Morgan inquired whether we had to sign Exhibit E. The president had not been instructed to do so in his copy of the resolution, so he declined. The president noted he would contact Rita Jennings at Sutin, Thayer and Brown, representing the Colonias Infrastructure Board, to ensure that we had done everything right. Morgan asked Cornelius if he wanted to take charge of publishing the summary of the resolution in the newspaper. Morgan also noted that there is a right-of-way agreement that needs to be dealt with.

The president noted that the board would not discuss its entire agenda, since an error on the written agenda distributed to mailboxes differed from that on the website and Facebook, and potentially some neighbors who may have wanted to attend were not able to. Cornelius asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. David Lucero asked whether the board should first schedule its next meeting and whether it must meet quarterly. Morgan explained that the previous year, it was necessary to meet in January, in order to approve the budget report for the final quarter. However, that was determined to be unconstitutional, so mutual domestics no longer have to do that. (What was not stated is that the board has made it a practice for several years now to meet quarterly, as this is the minimum number of times per year the New Mexico Environment Department recommends that the boards of mutual domestics meet. Additionally, association bylaws state that the association’s annual membership meeting will take place in January each year.)

Mary Lucero mentioned that the Vista del Rey Estates Homeowners Association has scheduled its meeting at 2 p.m. Jan. 19. At one time, members of the two groups had discussed sharing a meeting date, with one group meeting before or after the other. The president is teaching classes in the evening, and he noted that he will no longer be available on Wednesdays, but that the water association board could meet either the 9thor 16thof January. He said classes generally start again after the Christmas holiday the fourth week in January. Morgan tentatively set the meeting for the 16th(a Wednesday), until the president’s schedule is better known. The secretary also apologized to those present about the confusion over the time of the meeting. She noted that she reuses previous agendas, so that she does not have to retype everything, and may have failed to change to the time on the original document. David Lucero mentioned that he might have to be away during the upcoming legislative session, whereupon someone questioned his planned date of retirement. Rob Campion made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Lucero. The president adjourned the meeting at 2:42 p.m.