Cuatro Villas MDWUA meetings are conducted in accordance with the New Mexico Open Meetings Act. All meetings are open to the public. We encourage and welcome members to attend meetings to become more involved with our local water system.
1. Call to Order
Meeting is Called to Order by
Chairman, Mukhtiar Khalsa at 10:35 A.M.
A quorum (25 members) is present
as there are 30 members in attendance (min. of 10% of membership required)
Board Members present: Frank Lopez, Mukhtiar Khalsa, James Smart and
Nancy Williams. Also present is Shana Vigil, Bookkeeper and Vences Abeyta,
Water Operator. Board Member, Matthew Martinez, is not present.
2. Proof of Notice of Meeting
Notice of the Annual
Meeting was published in the classified section in the 3/9/2017 issue of the
Rio Grande Sun.
3. Approval of Agenda
Motion
to approve agenda made by Loretto Garcia, Seconded by Martha Quintana –
Motion Passes.
4. Reading and Approval of Minutes
Chairman, Mukhtiar Khalsa read the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of
3/19/2016.
Motion to approve the Minutes of the 2016 Annual Meeting
made by Jerry London, Seconded by Felix Quintana – Motion Passes
5. Reports of Officers and Committees
Chairman Mukhtiar
Khalsa reports:
a) Upcoming construction is scheduled for the Spring
and Summer of 2017 and will be funded by a combination of State and County
monies in an amount of approximately $3,000,000.00. Construction will take
place in Cuartelez, Arroyo Seco, La Puebla and possibly some in Sombrillo.
b) Cuatro Villas finds itself in a position whereby not enough new
members are joining the association. Cuatro Villas needs 20 new signups per
year in order to meet its debt burden. Since the anticipated signups are not
coming in the alternative is to raise water rates.
Question: Are
water rates going to come down?
Mukhtiar: Not likely. As
explained above, signups are not coming in as expected and consequently
water rates have to increase in order to meet Cuatro Villas debt burden. Our
State loans are at a 80%/20% ratio or a 90%/10% ratio over a period of 30 to
40 years. $14,000,000.00 has already been spent on infrastructure creating a
debt burden of approximately 1.4 million dollars.
c) Mukhtiar points
out, that with the drop in oil and gas revenues the State presently does not
have money to fund projects like Cuatro Villas. However, an opportunity for
alternative funding has presented itself. Cuatro Villas has received a
letter from John Deal of IX Power Clean Water and from US Senator Pete
Domenici to the effect that they will, on behalf of Cuatro Villas, work to
leverage federal funding for purposes of constructing the treatment plant
for the Santa Clara Tank and additional funding to build out the water
system to full completion. (NOTE: IX Power is technology originally
developed in Los Alamos in relation to purifying water used in fracking.
Now, that technology is being outsourced in the private sector).
Kevin Velasquez of RICO Custom Design addresses the meeting. RICO will seek
to fund and install IX Power technology to filter out the contaminants in
the water from the Santa Clara Tank. Water testing shows that the “Santa
Clara water” has approximately 100 minerals that are above the recommended
levels. However, arsenic and fluoride levels are the most critical and need
to be addressed. RICO Custom Design, using IX Power technology, has been
working with the Pueblos on water issues. Santa Clara recommended Cuatro
Villas as a project site. According to Kevin, Cuatro Villas needs
approximately 10 miles of infrastructure to complete a total build out of
the system. In conjunction with Pete Domenici, the hope is to secure funding
to accomplish total build out in 5 years. Once the Santa Clara Tank water is
available Cuatro Villas could be in a position to gain revenue by selling
water to the City of Espanola.
Santa Clara Pueblo’s interest in the
project is that by supporting Cuatro Villas to build the treatment plant, it
can eventually make use of the water. Furthermore, Cuatro Villas’ use of the
water ultimately shows that the Pueblo is making beneficial use of its water
rights.
Question: With the budget cuts you just
mentioned where is the funding going to come from?
Mukhtiar:
It will be Federal Funding.
Question: Is Cuatro
Villas water safe?
Mukhtiar: Yes, it is safe and
currently meets safe drinking water standards.
Question: Isn’t the
City of Espanola buying water from Hernandez?
Mukhtiar: No, Espanola is
pumping its own water.
Question: Is water service
going to be expanded to Camino La Paz in Cuartelez?
Mukhtiar:
Yes, we are going to be expanding the system in Cuartelez.
Frank
Lopez: I don’t believe that the current build out in Cuartelez
includes going down Camino
La Paz.
Question: Who
is responsible to supply the meters and for maintaining them?
Mukhtiar: Cuatro Villas supplies the meter and is responsible for
maintenance of the meters.
Question: When will
construction begin?
Mukhtiar: The project will go out to
bid now in the Spring and hopefully construction
will be completed by the
end of Summer.
Question: What happens to a
membership when the property is sold?
Mukhtiar: The
membership stays with the property when you sell.
Question:
If a meter is installed but the water is not actually being used what is the
cost?
Mukhtiar: In this instance, you would be subject
to the base rate which at present is $13.00 a
Month.
d) Mukhtiar
reports that the ISO Rating for the area within the Cuatro Villas’ service
area has been lowered to Class 4. This rating puts Cuatro Villas in the top
10% of water systems in the United States with this low of a rating. The
increase in fire protection as evidenced by the Class 4 ISO Rating will
result in lower insurance rates and increased funding to the fire
department.
6. Election of Directors
La
Puebla – Frank Lopez nominates James Smart, Seconded by David Rodriguez.
There are no other nominations – vote and James Smart is elected.
At
Large Position, (La Puebla’s turn) – Martha Quintana nominates Williams
Vigil, Seconded by Jerry London. There are no other nominations – vote and
Williams Vigil is elected.
Treasurer – there are no persons willing
to accept nomination or persons willing to volunteer for the Treasurer
position.
7. Unfinished Business
No items are
presented.
8. New Business
No items are
presented.
9. Adjournment
Martha Quintana makes a
motion to adjourn, Seconded by Jerry London – Motion Passes.
The
meeting is adjourned at 11:31 P.M.