The ES-CA Board had its monthly meeting on March 7. Board members attending were Ed Majka (EM); Bob Gorrell (BG); Susan Fullas (SF); Lynn Koch (LK); Jerry Saxton (JS); and Chris Daul (CD). Guests included John McNerney – chair of Political/Legal; Peter Adang; Jacque Moise; Marcia Adang; Roger Deavey; John Coelho; Jim Harve; Mike Neas; Dick Ulmer – Chair of LPT; Jodilynn Ortiz; and Sandoval County Commissioner James Dominguez.
The following reports were presented:
Treasurer’s Report: SF reported that ES-CA had a balance of $19,230.98, with income of $337.75 and expenses of $907.85 over the last month. SF reported that the LPT had a balance of $42,657.38 with income of $1.68 and no expenses over the past month.
Membership: JS reported that late notices have been sent out for overdue dues payments. He noted that ES-CA has 373 contacts, 222 past members and 177 current dues paying members. Discussion ensued about whether to change the definition of a member and the Board agreed to let the current definition of member stand – which is a current dues paying person who has contributed $50.00.
Communication: CD reported that ES-CA had an article published in the March edition of the Signpost.
IT: EM reported that he had met with Kathy Kitts and Chris Miller to discuss making the website easier to update and he is in the process of making updates to Political/Legal: John McNerney reported that he has been working on the pipeline issue and is reviewing the information we have already received from the various pipeline companies and is in the process of updating this information. EM reported that he met with Enterprise to be briefed on the maintenance work that they will be doing on 3/28/16. He noted that Enterprise will be meeting with the SC Fire Department on 3/21 to brief them.
Watchdogs: LK proposed sending an e-mail to the current Watchdog alerting them to the major issues in the hope of getting more of them to attend government meetings.
LPT: Dick Ulmer reported that the County had added Vulcan and Cal Mat as defendants to the lawsuit. Commissioner Dominguez stated that the County was pursuing a way to impose a deadline on closing the Vulcan operations. Dick noted that NMED has selected a site for the air monitoring.
Current Issues discussed were:
BLM/RMP: The RMP may be released any day and a flyer is ready to be sent to all residents notifying them of the RMP and the need to submit comments. BG noted that the Governor has said she will take the full 60 days to review.
KUPR Fundraiser: EM reported that he was at the fundraiser and contributed $600 from ES-CA.
Oil and Gas Drilling: EM reported that he had sent a letter to the County requesting a moratorium on reviewing any new applications until an ordinance is in place. Comm. Dominguez stated that the County Commission will be discussing both a moratorium and an ordinance at a special work session schedule for March 28. BG noted that Thrust Energy claims there may be 800 million barrels of oil in the area around Rio Rancho.
Upcoming events include The Highway Cleanup, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 23, the Annual ES-CA meeting on June 11, the Candidates Forum on September 10, and the Member Appreciation Event on October 16.
John McNerney was appointed to fill the vacant District 4 Director position. This seat has been open since Tony Hull resigned.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 4, 2016, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Placitas Fire Station.