August Meeting Details Improvement Plan 8-29-22, The Lord's Ranch

The president opened the meeting at 6:09 p.m. He requested that introductions take place, as a large number of folks were in attendance. After welcoming everyone back, after a period of having no in-person meetings due to the COVID 19 pandemic, President Wade Cornelius; Secretary Beth Morgan; Treasurer Rob Campion; Randell Mellor, resident; Hayden Randell and Marty Howell of Souder, Miller, and Associates; Jeanette Wohlfert; Bobby and Bridget Spedalieri and Frank Montez, all of A Mountain Construction; Debbie Stafford and Board Member Patrick Stafford; Brian Walker, resident; Morris Williams, resident; and Mark Sechrist, resident, introduced themselves. Shane Wohlfert and Tiffany de Santos and her daughter—all residents of Vista del Rey Estates—also attended, but as they were not sitting at the table, did not sign in nor participate in introductions.

The president noted that Morgan had completed minutes from the board’s last public meeting Aug. 31, 2021, some time back, and that they were available on the association’s Facebook page and website, for anyone who had not read them. They were offered for approval, but Morgan said she thought they may have been approved in the past, during a Zoom meeting or the like, after a period of some four months.

The president moved on to the water report, noting that he hoped Water Operator Henry Torres would show up sometime during the meeting. Thus, he asked Board Member Stafford if he had anything to add. He said the only thing he was aware of that needed to be addressed was the topic of water meters, which he said he assumed would be addressed later in the meeting. At that point, Morgan pointed out that Souder, Miller, and Associates had drawn up a ”funding analysis,”as Hayden Randall called it, with varying types of meters, which attendees could refer to, if they so chose. She suggested the copies could be distributed around the table. Sechrist asked whether residents voted on that topic, to which the president indicated that their input is welcomed prior to a vote, but that the board votes on whether to replace meters.

The treasurer’s report followed, with the president joking that Campion had just moved from airplane to car and came straight to the meeting from the El Paso Airport. Campion noted that our current balance is $24,907.59. “This is the highest it has ever been during my time in the association,” he said, “so, knock on wood—nothing’s broke.” He said the association has $400 to deposit and a couple of accounts that are delinquent, but they’ll get reminders and we will catch up, he said. Someone inquired whether there is a fee for delinquent payments. Campion said he believes there is one specified in the bylaws, but we have not enforced it. He noted that on July 13, the association closed its old account and funds were swept into a new one. Washington Federal, where the association has its checking account, is closing its Telshor branch in October. He noted that the board will need to move the automatic withdrawal for paying El Paso Electric to the new account so that electricity will not be turned off. People can set up their own electronic payments at their bank, and funds will go directly into the Washington Federal account. He encouraged people to set up electronic auto payments, as it helps to prevent checks sitting in a mailbox for pickup until he can get to them. He also noted that he thought everyone who had needed the account number had gotten it, although Randell Mellor asked for it at that time. Campion said he would text it to him. The president then noted that that was perhaps the most we have ever had in the bank at one time. He said that, as he recalled, we had approached $15,000 once, but then, the well broke down and the association’s savings went to fix it.

The president then mentioned that while individuals have had some trouble in the area with mail being stolen from mailboxes, the association suffered another theft late last year. Cornelius had stored some checks for the association at his Las Cruces office. Some one broke the window, used a battering ram to get through the bars on the window, and stole about $20,000 worth of office equipment and some checks from the VDRMDWCA checkbooks he was storing there. Those were reported to the bank, a detective—Oscar Magallanes—with the Las Cruces Police Department has identified the perpetrators, and the case is being prepared to go to court. The detective had been invited to participate in the meeting this evening, as there had been an outcry on the association’s Facebook page when it was learned that the account had been compromised. Funds were immediately returned to our account and one prepetrator was identified within two weeks, Cornelius said. The break-in is the reason the association opened a new account this year and closed out the old one recently. The detective was unable to participate, even via Zoom, thus, the president’s report. He indicated that he had the detective’s contact information, if anyone needed additional information. He asked for further questions or comments about that.

“I think the only concern that I had about that was the fact that we weren’t told back in December and the way that we were told, I think could have been done a lot more professional,” said Jeanette Wohlfert.

When the compromise was announced, it was done to allow members to switch auto payments from the old account to the new. (The board has been operating under a policy of not holding in-person meetings, and sometimes, not even Zoom meetings, but doing only what has seemed absolutely necessary because of the Covid-19 pandemic.) Shortly thereafter, the president was accused of embezzling $4,000 by his soon-to-be ex-wife and others who participated in the discussion; there was a lot of back and forth, and hard feelings about the accusations and the “failure” to notify members earlier. “All of us, considering we’re all equally invested in this association, uh, I don’t want to get into all the stuff that happened back and forth on Facebook, but I think had we gotten that account, that telling of it, and all the facts in December, that nothing would have gotten as far down[hill] as it did on Facebook.” She suggested that if the board had been more “honest” and “transparent” and had told members what had happened earlier, it would “go a long way to all the members having the trust of the board is acting in everyone’s best interests.”

Secretary Morgan then responded that “A lot of these things have taken place over a period of time. Therefore, we did not have all of that to tell you until just recently.”

Cornelius noted that he had spoken to the detective the previous week and had been informed that the case was moving forward. Wohlfert again noted that having been told the full story earlier could have prevented people jumping to conclusions and the discussion getting out of hand on Facebook. Campion noted that the point was taken and an opportunity for improvement.

The president next raised the topic of water meters. During the construction recently, there had been some confusion as to whether A Mountain was installing all new water meters or not. The installation of new meters had been discussed during planning for the system’s improvements, and at one time, their installation had been a line-item in a budget estimate. Cornelius asked Stafford to inform those present of the considerations. Stafford said he did not believe that there is a requirement that water systems have individual meters at each property, but we must keep track of how much water the system pulls out of the ground. This is accomplished via a meter at the wellhead, which must be reported to the state. He said at this point, we’re still charging a flat fee. One benefit of having meters at each residence that are read is that we can compare what these meters say is our output and compare that with what the meter at the well says. This would help to determine whether we have leaks that we don’t know about. If a particular individual has a leak, it would help to identify where that is, Howell said.

When Campion asked Howell whether there might be some concerns among state agencies what percentage of our water users are metered, he indicated that there may be some funding sources that want individual users to be metered. That could become a scoring criteria. At present, it is not a major concern, but it might become bigger in the future, Howell said. To date, he added, the association has not had trouble getting funding. It could become more important in the future.

Ms. Wohlfert asked whether we would be asking Torres to read meters, and whether he is an employee, considering the new labor laws in New Mexico requiring paid time off, Worker’s Compensation, and so on. Morgan stated that Henry Torres is a contractor. Generally speaking, contractors are responsible for their own insurance and similar matters.

Stafford said when we renegotiated with Torres, board members asked him to set a fee that he was comfortable with for what he does for the association. The association wasn’t having anyone reading meters at that time, so they may not have actually discussed whether reading meters would be included in Torres’ fees. The board would need to speak with him about that, Stafford said.

Campion said, “but, there’s no debate that we need meters, right?” No, there is still debate, Stafford replied. (It should be noted that currently, each property has a meter. The association simply does not charge based on actual usage at this time.) Wohlfert said that unless people have some reason for wanting meters the only reason to install them would be to make it easier to tell when the system or an individual has a leak—which she said is usually discernible from the puddle that appears.

Howell noted that some possible negative fallout from reading meters would be that there are just a few people who use high amounts of water, for example, the rancher is probably using lots more than anyone else. That’s information that the association doesn’t have right now. Since everyone now pays a flat fee, that could cause some hard feelings.

Randall Mellor asked whether the association has a certain number of gallons of water that we are allowed to use per year. He was actually referring to our declared acre feet. Patrick agreed that—on paper—we declared intent to use 238 acre feet of water per year (in fact, it is 242. Morgen eventually mistates it as 252). However, we can only realistically claim the water we have “proved up” on, that is, the maximum amount of water we have put to “beneficial use”per year. Stafford noted that over the past three years, the meter at the well head has been malfunctioning and probably wasn’t recording everything the system uses. However, it has been replaced recently. He said that he and Torres estimated that the system would use around 5 acre feet this year. [Stafford later corrected himself, noting that the actual use would probably be more like 12.8 acre feet.] The amount of water being pumped, Stafford said, is not the issue. “We pay for the electricity, obviously,” he said, "wear and tear.” He said individuals’ meters that he looked at are functioning, whether accurately or not, and that we probably did not record as much as we used.

The issues have always been inside the well, Stafford said. The motor and the pump, which cost about $20,000 to pull and replace. The work the association is having done does not touch the pump and motor. He suggested that the association replace meters “when we’re feeling really flush” and not as a part of this project.

Stafford said that Henry had priced individual meters at $4,000-$5,000 for 17 meters. Morgan had independently asked Souder-Miller for estimates for different types of meters, and their estimates went up to $23,000.

Brian Walker wanted to know how the board had arrived at the position of even considering individual meters. Stafford said it was because it does give us more information. Morgan then said it came up because A Mountain didn’t know whether they were supposed to put in meters or not. Wohlfert said that it is common for colonias, townships, and the like to be metered, but it may be because they are receiving funding from different sources.

Morris Williams, resident at the former Lucero property, then spoke up, as he had heard someone else had been upset at hearing that meters might be installed. He noted that he is “the one building the lake,” and wanted some clarification on that, as well as to offer folks a chance to ask him questions about his project. He said that he wasn’t aware of these meetings, although he said his neighbor Morgan had probably told him about them. However, they did put in a fire hydrant near his property. He asked whether individuals would be billed by usage or if the meters would only be used to check for leaks. He wanted to know how being billed for usage would be accomplished for folks who have horses and swimming pools.

Campion said the water fee is sustainable, in answer to a question. He said, on behalf of himself, flat fees are great, accounting is simple. However, he did note in response to Williams’ inquiry that, when it is time to fill Williams’ lake, it will take a lot of water, require a lot of electricity, and a lot of time to fill it. “We’re not going to be able to fill your lake for $100,” Campion said. A discussion of proving up on some of the so-far-unused water rights ensued, in which Williams speculated that he would be helping there. Stafford suggested that it would not make much difference in our overall use of the water rights. He said he felt that the association has little need to prove up on more than we’re using.

Howell said that the lawsuit with Texas for water that New Mexico owes it will probably be decided soon. Texas claims all the water that is pumped between Elephant Butte and Texas belongs to them. Howell says the theory is that water that we pump would eventually make it to the river. They do not make a differentiation between groundwater and surface water. It’s all tied together, says Howell. He noted that all folks who are pumping will have to pay something to make up for water that Texas isn’t getting. He also said it will be expensive. Texas is doing the same thing in the watershed for the Pecos River, near Roswell. Larger systems must have a water conservation plan and must meter to ascertain what they are using. Howell noted that this association would not have to do that, because it is small.

Morgan said she is not necessarily for or against metering/charging on the basis of usage. Campion countered by asking whether it would be cheaper in install new meters now. Howell said that he is uncertain how Stephen Deal, of the New Mexico Environment Department’s Construction Programs Bureau is allocating our grant funds. The Colonias Infrastructure money of approximately $700,000 is contingent upon a 90 percent grant, 10 percent loan and a 10 percent match (he acknowledged that that doesn’t add up to 100 but 110 percent). As our association didn’t have the matching funds, it is in essence a 20 percent loan/80 percent grant. He said to use the Colonias money for the base scope, and to change things in, he’d consider using the Capital Outlay money (of approximately $323,000). Stafford inquired asked whether we were being required to use all of the Colonias money prior to using any of the Capital Outlay funds. To which Howell replied, “I didn’t say that,” adding that A Mountain’s contract was on the Colonias money. Asked whether Hayden Randall knew how Deal was allocating the funds, he also indicated that he did not know.

Jeanette Wohlfert said she wondered if it would be a good idea to prepare things so that hookups were ready to install new meters if that is what we eventually decide to do, while we have a contractor on site, rather than having to mobilize them again down the road. Stafford indicated that we would probably just opt to hook up existing meters, in that case, and change the meters out when the time came. All meters are in the right of way, except for those of two water users, the Sechrist-Morgan household, and the former Melvin property, as Bob Melvin lived in both places and that is where he put them. Morgan said she fully expected that she and her husband would pay for any work needed to moved their meter to the road, but it remains unclear whether anyone has spoken to the Hatleys, the new residents of the most recent Melvin home, regarding moving the meters.

The foreman for A Mountain said he had hooked up an angle valve for the Hatley property, but that is all that has been done regarding service at that property. Stafford inquired whether anyone had spoken to the Hatleys about their meter situation. Morgan said that she could not be sure. She said that she and her husband were willint to pay for moving their own meter, which Melvin had placed about 100 feet into the property. The contractor has already put in the new line to the right of way. Melvin had put two meters on his property, one to serve a tract of land to the west of the place he sold to the Hatleys. Rumors indicate that property also has been sold. However, no request for water has been made. Whether or not Melvin disclosed to the Hatleys that the meter might have to be moved when he sold the property is unknown.

Wohlfert said she thought it would be good to have a “general membership meeting” so that folks could know what the discussion is regarding the pros and cons of having new meters installed. Stafford noted that that was what the current meeting was for, and while the association had a good turnout at this time, historically “it has been pulling teeth” to get people to attend. He also said he didn’t know that we could get another meeting together in 10 days, prior to A Mountain’s deadline for completion.

There are several points to be aware of regarding meters. One is that the ones currently in place are about 40 years old and many are thought to be inaccurate. Water usage is charged at a flat rate currently, and may stay that way, whether new meters are installed immediately or not. The area water is known to be corrosive, thus, the old type of meters may not be favored. Howell said the ultrasonic meters (these being the ones that can be read from the truck) have no moving parts and may, thus, last longer.

Walker noted that he had heard several”pros” for replacing the meters, but no “cons.” He wanted to know what those might be. President Cornelius indicated that it would be that your neighbors would have means of knowing your water usage. Howell also stated earlier that some folks might not favor a rate increase based on usage.

The cost of various types of meters was discussed. Souder, Miller’s figures were considerably different: the cheap version is about $300 for parts only. Henry has estimated the cost at about $5,000-6,000 to replace all the meters in the system. It would be about twice that much for the ultrasonic meters. “It just measures the water as it goes through,” Howell said.

Walker wanted to know how the rates would change if we were required to increase rates based on usage. Morgan said that the way it’s usually done is that we all pay the same rate, up to a certain number of gallons per month, and that water usage over that amount is charged at a different, probably lower rate. Walker then commented that the only difference, then, is knowing how much more your neighbors use than you do. Whether we put new meters in now or not will not affect people’s ability to turn off water to the house or whatever they may need to do, Stafford said, “the old meters will be there,” adding that we could do it five years from now.

Then, it was speculated that it could cost as much as $69,000-$70,000, which may be including labor/construction cost. Campion asked Howell to clarify that we had a total of about $1.1 million. Howell said he thought all costs so far had paid from the Colonias money, so he believes we have about $40,000. Howell also said that we can be more flexible with the Capital Outlay money. Campion and Howell noted that if we don’t use it, we’ll have to give it back. Stafford questioned whether we would have to use all of the Colonias money, because at one time, we had thought we would not have to and could keep the amount of the loan we have to pay back to a minimum. While we may have been under that impression, based on things Howell has said in the past, at this meeting, he said that the CIB could not require us to spend all of their money, and if we wanted to use all of the capital outlay money, we could.

For this reason, Morgan said that she thought it might be necessary to raise rates again to pay back the loan. Campion said we want to keep as the amount of the loan down to the minimum, but we want to spend all of the capital outlay money. Howell suggested that it appears to be negotiable.

The president verified with Howell that to replace all of the existing meters with the Buick version of the meters would cost $17,000.

The discussion shifted to the road, and which parts of it would be improved, if we were to have A Mountain proceed with that. Various scenarios were mentioned: improve Santana Road from the mailboxes at Arapaho Road to Vista del Rey, consider a lesser treatment for Vista del Rey, and the fact that the road was to be restored to what it was prior to construction. Wohlfert said that in her opinion, chip seal was a decent alternative. A Mountain’s representative said that it will require some maintenance about every two years. With maintenance, it could last for 15 years or so. This could cost around $100,000, but realistically, some work must be done to get a realistic estimate. This is if you put down a good “two-inch mat” on it.

When Cornelius inquired if we had only the 10 days until A Mountain’s completion date to decide about the road, Howell indicated we could “just put ‘em on hold; take a time-out.” Could we put them on hold for the meter installation, as well? Would that save us some money? Cornelius asked. “Some,” Howell said. He indicated that other things in which we had expressed an interest were new well controls, and he suggested that we could have them sheathe our building or something, but probably not completely rebuild it. Stafford noted that the tin roof is rusting, but we could probably coat the roof with foam.

The president then asked if the costs for the meters could be made more clear, as well as those for the road. We’re talking about these things because they are relevant, he reiterated. At this time, Bridget Spedalieri estimated $200,000 for the roadwork—but, Stafford said, Santana Road “is our problem.” The president recommended getting estimates firmed up on the meters and then the road and try to meet again in late October. Campion said we need to figure out what is left in each funding source to determine what we have left to spend, with which the president agreed.

Cornelius then addressed the need for elections. He noted that the association normally has elections in January. He then asked the number of years per term. Morgan noted that when current officers were elected, the association was not in a normal situation—no elections nor any meetings had been held for several years, thus, those present had decided to vary term length so that they would not be replaced all at the same time. And Cornelius pointed out, as Howell once stated, “because COVID,” things that normally would have been done as a matter of course have been delayed. Which terms were to be shorter or longer for the first pass, Morgan said, is likely in the minutes from that 2015 meeting. Campion said he felt that we were missing a board member, which is true. When former treasurer David Lucero quit, we tried to get two individuals, first Susie Holder, then Terry Holder to serve on the board. They were not able, due to illness in the family. So, at that time, Campion became treasurer, and the board seat was left vacant. Cornelius noted that we needed to look up the term-limits for the next meeting.

In open forum, Wohlfert brought up the possibility of hiring a backup water operator, or having someone who is a member of the association get the training to become a certified water operator, in case Henry (Torres) decides he no longer wants to serve. She noted she was acquainted with someone retiring from the City of Las Cruces. He had given six months notice, and no one had responded during that time. She noted that someone who is a member would be more invested. Morris Williams said he would be willing to take the training, which Wohlfert noted is, in essence, free.

Upon looking in his computer, Campion noted that we are supposed to have a five-member board, and board member terms are supposed to be four years each, but we do need to determine whose terms were to be shorter or longer, in 2015. Morgan also noted that we need to make an amendment to the bylaws, as, when she came on board, the position of secretary-treasurer was split into two positions, the workload for both positions being unreasonably heavy. Campion noted, also, that an amendment of the bylaws can be accomplished by a two-thirds vote by members present at a meeting.

Morgan said she was not aware what kind of job Sydney Morgan had done. He had served as secretary-treasurer, as is specified in the bylaws. Stafford said he had probably made more of the position than it was. Morgan suggested that the matter should be on the agenda for the next meeting. Brian Walker agreed with someone else’s previous comment that it is important to have people on the board with historical knowledge of what has been done, so wanted to know if people could serve more than one term. Campion noted that there is no cap.

After asking if there were any other concerns, President Cornelius adjourned the meeting at 7:39 p.m.

Correction:

p. 4: Stafford said after the meeting actual usage would be around 12.8 acre feet of water, not 5