Improvement Plans Presented

Vista del Rey Mutual Domestic Water Consumers’ Association

Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors

6 p.m., October 22, 2019

The Lord’s Ranch

M I N U T E S

The meeting was called to order at 6:07 p.m. by President Wade Cornelius. He asked for introductions, beginning with Souder, Miller, and Associates representative Marty Howell. Howell is a senior engineer who has taken on the Vista del Rey Mutual Domestic Water Consumers’ Association’s (VDRMDWCA) improvements project, upon Alfredo Holguin leaving the company.

Members attending introduced themselves next. They included Mary Lucero, Randell Mellor, Martha Trego, Shane Wohlfert, Mark Sechrist; board members David Lucero (treasurer), Rob Campion, Patrick Stafford, Beth Morgan (secretary); and Water System Operator Henry Torres.

Morgan gave a summary of the July meeting’s minutes. She noted that the board had reviewed the engineer’s plans for water system improvements which were 60-70 percent done at that time and discussed the details of it. Morgan said, “Boosters or well? Which is more important if we needed to supply water to High Valley Farms in a crisis?” The board also discussed where Souder-Miller intended to place new distribution lines, how deep they would be, and numerous other details. Campion had given the treasurer’s report on Lucero’s behalf at that meeting, noting that the association was in the hole $2,284. We had also approved the minutes from the April meeting in July. She said she didn’t want to go into a lot of detail about the plans, because Mr. Howell had brought them with him, and the board would get an update from him, now that the plans were some 90 percent complete.

Campion moved to accept the July minutes and Patrick Stafford seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Cornelius thanked Ms. Morgan for the minutes, and also Mr. Howell for having checked up on a few things about improvement plans that had been brought up in the previous meeting. The president said he really appreciated that. He then invited David Lucero to give the treasurer’s report, prior to focusing on the updated engineering plans.

Lucero said he had gone back through the first three quarters of the year. He noted that at the end of March, we had income of $2,110, bringing our cash balance to approximately $5,714. By the end of June, we had brought in $7,125, but we incurred expenses of $9,409. This included a well repair of about $7,002. This put us in the hole, to the tune of $2,284. However, we still had $1,320 in the bank. By the end of the following quarter, the association had brought in a total of $11,050, for the year, but with total expenses for the year at $11,661.52, we had brought our negative income down to only $611.52. We then had $2,993 in the bank. He said he anticipates ending the year with about $3,500 to $4,000. We will have amassed about $4,200, but we have received a utilities bill and an insurance bill of about $1,800 that require payment. Stafford moved to approve the treasurer’s report, and Rob Campion seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.

The president then moved on to the well operator’s report. Henry Torres reported that everything looks good right now, but noted that there have been several lightning storms and the electric company has been working on the power line, both of which have been concerning to him. If a storm were to knock out one leg on the transformers it puts a strain on the pump. He tries to catch it when it comes back on, so that he can ensure that the power supply and the pressure come back up slowly, to avoid destroying part of the system. Stafford questioned whether we have any safety precautions that will shut things down. Torres noted that we only have the lightning arrestor. A monitoring panel was discussed with Howell of Souder, Miller, and Associates, in talking about the planned improvements to the system, but we do not have that yet. Torres noted that the well had been tested for heavy metals—that’s free, he said, and lead and copper [testing] was done. Stafford noted that he had purchased a cabinet, as we cannot store excess equipment in the well house. It has been assembled and needs to be set in concrete. The cabinet was $335, and with the concrete and lumber, it will cost a total of about $400. It measures about 4 x 2 x 7 ft. Stafford also noted that we have a pressure pump that needs to be rebuilt at a cost of about $1,000. He asked whether we should hold off on rebuilding it. He noted that, while we are planning improvements, we’ve yet to obtain funding for building them. Morgan said that we could have funding by June or possibly later, but it could be a year prior to anything happening. Others agreed that we should not delay having the pressure pump rebuilt. Stafford also said that regarding extra parts, he had taken a box of fuses for Bill Rittenhouse to test. Torres noted that Rittenhouse had checked them and many were bad. They kept the ones that were good. We have some backflow check valves to spare, Torres said. These need replacing about once a year. He also indicated that he had been hired by Gadsden Public Schools and will continue to work part-time for Lower Rio Grande. He hopes eventually to wean himself from LRGPWWA and to work closer to home for the school district. He will be a building mechanic for now, but eventually, he wants to work for their wastewater plant at the secondary school in Anthony. He is still available for us.

The president identified three things needing to be tracked: Next summer, replace the check valve. Proceed with having the pressure pump rebuilt, and put a probe into the water tank (and possibly add a gauge).

Lucero wanted to add another item as an addendum to the treasurer’s report before moving on. He said he had gotten the names of the new residents of the Flores’ former house: they are Susan and Terry Holder. They will require a membership certificate. They have already been told about paying the water bill on time, and Lucero said it may have been paid at midnight the day it was due, but it was indeed paid. They also paid an additional $25 transfer fee.

Cornelius then invited Marty Howell to give his 90 percent completion report on the design of improvements of the system. Howell suggested discussing cost first. One item we did not discuss previously is replacing all the meters for the system. They cost $400 each. He has included this in his estimate. In approaching the cost estimate, Howell said that what is not reflected in it is anything that El Paso Electric might hit us with once the new booster station is installed. Before the engineer continued, Campion asked whether there is an alternative to the three-phase electrical system we have been using, as it is difficult to get someone to work on it. The Souder-Miller representative responded that we should not change to single-phase, as “your costs would skyrocket,” both for equipment and operating costs. He noted that Lower Rio Grande (which took over the High Valley Farms water system) has funding to build the 2,000-ft. extension that VDRMDWCA paid to have designed in the current phase of our improvements. This is to allow the water systems to supply water to each other in the event of an emergency. Funding sources favor “regionalization” in water system improvement projects, and state government may eventually require it. The association has funding from the Colonias Infrastructure Board to do the design phase of our improvements, as a 90 percent grant/10 percent loan (and 10 percent match, the match having come from a state finance administration’s Local Government Planning Fund grant, used to conduct a preliminary engineering review). CIB “is a viable option” to support construction, Howell said, but again would require a partial loan/match to grant component. However, we would not have a built-in chunk of money to use as a 10 percent match, so, based on the Souder-Miller cost estimate, the association would have to come up with approximately $65,000. There is the potential we could fold the match into the loan portion. He indicated that it would be likely that they would fund us, as they have done so before and we meet their criteria.

“A more attractive option is capital outlay . . . New Mexico is swimming in money from last year and they will be this year,” he said. Howell said there is a billion dollars in the fund that capital outlay comes from, from oil and gas revenues. “You do have to kiss the ring to get capital outlay money,” Howell said. Each representative and senator gets a little pot that they can do pretty much whatever they want with, he said. It has to go to a government entity and it has to pass the governor’s scrutiny. He said he thinks a water improvement project would pass muster. Lucero suggested that these funds are usually divvied into chunks of less than $100,000. Howell said that was not so this year. It went up to $300,000-500,000 last year, and it will be more this year. He has had people trying to find out what would be a reasonable ask. According to his source from the Council of Governments in Reserve, NM, $300,000 would be a conservative request. He suggested asking for that much this year, and the same the next. There is a two-page form to fill out, and it’s very easy to fill out, stating “I want money,” but that won’t get it for you. You have to have a relationship with the legislators. Legislators sometimes even cooperate on projects between the Senate and the House. Howell said that the legislators will be doing a “choreographed dance” regarding those funds in Santa Fe in a month or two, but to talk to legislators about it now, because there is competition for it.

Lucero said the way the legislators play the game is based on how many votes they get from a given area. He questioned whether they would bother with us for votes from 17 households. Campion commented that they might if he staged a fund-raiser for their re-election campaigns! (Laughter.)

Howell said to pursue Colonias funds AND capital outlay funds and see what happens. However, it is possible that we will get only half of what we need the first year. He said he believes that for the most improvement in the shortest period of time, he would seek money first for the new booster station and electrical system improvements first. Distribution lines can wait. We can ask for $650,000, but if we can’t get it, for around $200,000 we could have new electrical and a new booster skid “and that will probably change your life.”

“So we can do this project piecemeal?” asked Stafford. Howell: “You can do whatever you want.” He and Lucero understood that we had to do all or nothing. The two board members said that they understood this to be a three-phase project, with construction being the final phase. That is USDA’s approach, said Howell, they want to fund everything--but you could not raise your rates high enough to be able to pay them back. Howell noted that Souder, Miller took that approach when the PER was conducted, identifying everything that in a perfect world should be replaced. If we had $50,000 to spend each year, we could spend it that way to complete our project. La Luz has done a project using $250,000 a year.

You’re in a perfect position and the timing is perfect—when the state has more money than it has had in a long time—to be requesting funding for your project at this time: you have a plan already prepared by an engineer, said Howell. Asked whether we should ask for the entire sum or a part of it, he said it can’t hurt to ask for all of it. If we don’t get it all, we can go back the next year. Or, Colonias likely would give us the $650,000 loan/match, if we felt we could handle the 10 percent loan repayment. Mary Lucero wanted to know whether, if we got Colonias money and some from the legislature, we could use the Capital Outlay money as a match for the loan/match/grant program. Howell indicated that, as both funds come from the same source money, that is not allowed. Regarding whether we could handle the repayment of 10 percent on $650,000, Morgan noted that Karl Pennock had done a rate study for us based on more than $1 million ($1.2 million, the president indicated), which Cornelius said had added $15 per month to our bill per month over the 40-year duration of the loan.

Howell indicated that he would prepare the Capital Outlay request form and the letter of intent to apply for Colonias funding, which is expected to be due in late November or December, with the actual grant being written in January. Colonias loans and grants are decided by late spring, and Capital Outlay projects once the appropriations bill is signed. Money could be in hand by when it is signed; others have to wait until bonds are sold in August or September. The funds, therefore, should be available no later than next fall. In response to the president’s inquiry, Howell indicated that a project such as ours should only take 30 days, but contractors often lag behind, so, he was thinking a 90-day plan being allowed for construction is more realistic. While getting funding lined up is the first order of priority, bidding takes 30-45 days. The president speculated that, potentially, the project could be finished by December of 2020.

Mark Sechrist asked Howell what the $99,000 for professional services goes for on Souder-Miller’s cost estimate. In essence, it pays the engineers for their work during the bidding process, overseeing the contractors’ work and requests for payment (construction administration), and to complete the project with stamped record drawings. Howell reminded us that we have to pass a resolution, in order to use the Colonias money. If we intend to apply for that, and Howell suggested we try for capital outlay AND Colonias money, they have to have the resolution sometime between December and January. (Note: this timing may not mesh well with timing for our annual meeting; there may have to be a special meeting in advance of the annual gathering.) Even if we are awarded money from one or the other or both sources, Howell noted that we do not have to accept it.

The engineer noted that they had submitted plans to their Albuquerque office for review, and then to Doña Ana County and the New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau and the Construction Programs Bureau. They have 30 days to review it, but could take longer.

Howell said he had about 20 pages of plans and asked if we wanted to go page by page. As currently shown, the entirety of the interconnecting line is on one page of the plans, but he said it would be built as two pieces. High Valley Farms/LRGPWWA already has the money to build that and Souder-Miller will bid that as such, and while the plans do not show it going all the way to the intersection of Santana and Vista del Rey, he will adjust it to bring it up to the intersection. Our part of that was only designing the interconnection. President Cornelius noted that since we designed the interconnection, they will build it.

David Lucero mentioned two 40-acre tracts (Melvins’ and a piece that Melvin had sold) and mentioned there was a line going to them. Henry Torres said that the meter is a short way into Melvins’ property, but he and Stafford agreed that the second meter had never been installed. Lucero noted that Melvin had purchased two memberships and therefore has a right to a second connection. Morgan noted that Howell’s predecessor, Alfredo Holguin, had been aware of the situation, and had stated that the engineers were not responsible for anything beyond a private property line, and that the meter really should be at the property line. Lucero was not clear whether the road accessing Melvin’s property was private or a dedicated easement. Melvin reportedly has been under the impression that Bar Circle M Road is the continuation of Bishop Cap Road, for which an easement exists going north from where it joins the east-west segment of Arapaho Road, on the south side of the Vista del Rey subdivision. Lucero’s concern was to what point must we provide distribution lines and what part is the landowner’s responsibility--—whether we have to put a line up Bar Circle M Road to Melvin’s meter, or just to the property line. Howell said he would research the ownership and whether an easement exists to get an answer. Lucero also gave Howell Melvin’s phone number.

Howell next showed the board the booster station plans and a new line running along the access road to the well. He noted that there is a section of line extending north from the Sechrist/Morgan property up Santana Road that was drawn into the plans erroneously. Wohlfert speculated that it may be approximately equal to the length of the line the property owner may have to install from where meters should be placed to the Melvin property—at the west end of Vista del Rey and to the second lot for which Melvin had purchased a membership, which was confirmed by Howell. The booster station, Howell said, has two pumps and a variable-frequency drive, so you don’t need all those tanks. “It will spool up and maintain pressure up and down electronically, instead of with a tank.” He described the tie-in to existing pipe, but as we are replacing the pipe (eventually), the design may have to be adjusted. Using two-inch pipe inside the pump house won’t have much effect in terms of friction, because it isn’t going very far, thus, saving the association money. This goes into six-inch pipe, which is what the main lines will be. Engineers can tell a pump manufacturer they have a system that needs to be run at a certain amount of pressure and these many gallons per minute, for these many people; then three or four give them options, and they pick one based on price and trust (Snyder [SP] appears to be the company he favors vs. TP Pump of Albuquerque.)

Regarding the two-inch pipe that will be used inside the well house, Torres noted that another system (Valle) was having problems with its two-inch piping, but Howell said that was because they were trying to get fire [protection-level] flows (200-gal. per minute) out of a pump that only produces 120 gallons per minute.

Howell noted that the pumps he plans to install don’t come on and go off—they run at very low speeds, so pressure pumps are not required. The booster station’s “got two pumps and a variable frequency drive … so it’ll spool up and maintain pressure up and down electronically instead of with a tank,” Howell said. The skids that he is considering have two pumps, so that if one goes out, the other will still operate. Lucero asked whether this system is expandable, to which the engineer responded that his company had put in a “fluff factor.” It is set up so that we could supply ourselves and High Valley in an emergency—but it won’t work if everyone is taking long showers. That would run our tank dry in about a half day. High Valley would have to severely curtail its water use in the event that our interconnection must be used in an emergency. Lucero wanted to know if the system is expandable. Howell said that you could pull the skid out and put in a bigger booster station. Lucero reiterated that we have 242 acre feet of water rights, which Howell reminded us are water rights on paper only. Beneficial use of those water rights must be taking place before they can be considered actual water rights.

The primary limiting factor, Campion noted, would be the well itself, the size of the pump, and so on.

Howell also stated that Karen Nichols of Lower Rio Grande Public Water Works Authority was working with attorney Josh Smith on the application to designate Vista del Rey the supplemental well for High Valley Farms, and vice versa, with the State Engineer’s Office.

After more discussion about what to do about Bob Melvin’s water meter, line, and whether or not there was a utility easement, Howell explained what the drawings revealed, including culverts and air-release valves. Sechrist was asked where his line extends from the water meter on his property. He was not certain whether it goes west to Santana Road, or to the south to the main line on the south side of Vista del Rey outside Wohlfert’s fence. It appears that it extends south from the road to the intersection with Vista del Rey. Lucero said that when the lines are being built, correcting the angle of the culvert that channels water from the east side of Santana to the west and to allow it to push the water down the arroyo, instead of having it dig a hole and sit there is highly desirable. Howell said we could work with the contractor when construction is under way to do so. The engineer noted that when one messes with drainage, there are usually unseen consequences. Stafford said he thought there was a culvert that went under the road from the north side of Vista del Rey to the spot outside Wohlfert’s property, but as there is not one, it may be needed. Wohlfert joked that although there is no culvert, he is digging a moat. Drainage has become entrenched outside his fence on Santana Road. Stafford said he hoped not to have any water running across the road from north to south.

On the east side of Santana on Vista del Rey Road, the water line was put on the south side of the road to avoid the power line. On this end of Vista del Rey, there are no culverts under which the line must go. The main line is five feet north of the south right of way. The existing water line is almost on top of the right of way. (For a couple of minutes, several people spoke among themselves, whispering, as they observed what the engineer was discussing on the plans.) The plans for the eastern end of Vista del Rey’s water line is less complicated because there are no culverts. There will be a flush hydrant at the end (as there will be at the west end).

Regarding the interconnection, Howell said it will begin at the intersection of Arapaho and Santana roads. LRGPWWA has to get a permit from the county for this work. It will be about 7 feet off the west edge of the easement on the west side of Santana. It will be fairly deep, Howell said, estimating about 10 feet. Regarding the interconnection, he said there will not be a backflow; there will be a two-way meter and an isolation valve. Prior to any water sharing, the provider water system will have to read the meter before and after water flows. It appears that it will be at the corner of Santana and Vista del Rey, on the southwest corner. He indicated that there are details about how the pipes will go into the ground. The pipes have a lot of pressure on them, so it is important that any bends be braced.

To Stafford’s question regarding whether there is maintenance involved in the air-release valves, Howell noted that, yes, they must be opened occasionally to do their job, and that if they are never opened, they will cease to function.

The engineer noted that he had photographed the interior of the well house to show the contractors what was present and what needed to be done as photographs are more accurate than having someone draw what’s there. He noted there are electrical plans, which are not his bailiwick. Stafford asked what type of safety devices are planned for the system. He could not say for certain, but Morgan noted that in the previous meeting in which Howell was present, the board had discussed the need for a monitoring panel, which will shut the system down if there is an electrical problem. The board favors that.

Torres wanted to know whether there would be meters, and if so, what kind. There are manual, touch and radio meters. We could keep what we have, or go to a newer model. Howell said he thought they had planned for the use of radio meters in their calculations. As it stands, the association charges a flat fee. Torres indicated that that is fine for now, but things will probably change in the future. Lucero said he liked things the way they are. Both Torres and Howell indicated that, in spite of the fact that we are a Tier II company (making less than $15,000/year), not requiring an audit, and as it was determined to be unconstitutional, we are no longer required to submit a budget, we may, in the future, be required to have a capital outlay program, metered water use and charge for actual use, and so on.

Howell said he will inform the electrician of the need for the installation of a monitoring panel. He indicated that he needs to take a closer look at erosion control and restoration after construction, he wanted to check with the manufacturer and learn something about the durability of their system’s check valves; he will eliminate the erroneous extension of Santana Road’s new line too far north; he will find the two services on the western end of Vista del Rey and put them on the plans; he’ll find out if there is a utility easement for those as well—and talk to Bob Melvin, as Cornelius suggested; change the outlet line as it exits the booster station as the existing one is in the way; he’s going to look at adding a tank “like we had in Valle;” and then, he asked if Torres would move Melvin’s meter or whether he should put it in the project. Torres indicated that he didn’t mind doing it, but Howell then decided to put it in the project. Finally, Howell noted that he will put something in to prevent the booster station losing a leg in its three-phase electrical system. Cornelius expressed his appreciation of Howell’s thoroughness, to which the engineer quipped that he wondered what grade his daughter would get in Cornelius’ speech class.

The engineer reiterated that he had talked about funding “and I showed you the plans: I think that was all I was supposed to do.” Morgan reminded him that he had promised to inform us when we were to produce a letter of intent to apply for Colonias funding and other prerequisites to applying to that body. He confirmed that and said he would have someone figure out what our loan payment would be, if we got $65,000 from Colonias, as theirs is a 0 percent interest loan spread over 40 years. “It’s a pretty screamin’ deal,” Howell said. Mark Sechrist inquired whether the plans were available as a PDF. Howell said it would be no problem to produce one and that he would send it to the president and secretary. Cornelius also vowed to make the PDF available on Dropbox (an earlier version of the plans is already available there).

Lucero raised the specter of whether the system could find itself in the same situation as a water system in southeastern New Mexico that he knew about because he was acquainted with a board member. He said the association had been carrying that loan for four or five years, when the state forced them to seek a commercial loan. Morgan noted that Josh Smith, the board’s attorney, had suggested that that probably happened because their financial situation had changed. He noted at that time that it would be unlikely for VDRMDWCA to encounter the same problem, because our membership is small enough that our income is unlikely to dramatically increase. Lucero noted that the association in question had pursued that loan specifically because it was so low interest.

Howell said he had never seen anything like that happen, but admitted that he is not a lawyer. Patrick said, “ah, that’s Texas. This is New Mexico. There’s a world of difference.” (Actually, it is New Mexico; it lies within the part of our state called “Little Texas.”) Rob Campion moved to adjourn. However, Stafford noted that the board needed to talk about contacting our New Mexico representatives prior to adjournment. Campion had volunteered to try to work with Doreen Gallegos, our state representative for this area, to attempt to persuade her that we need capital outlay funds for this project—which would not have to be paid back. Campion replied that we could set a date to do it at his house, have some wine, make donations to her re-election campaign, and make our case simultaneously. Those present agreed wholeheartedly. Morgan asked for a second on the motion to adjourn, which was given by Stafford.The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 p.m.