Forum | Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association

Report: ES-CA Board Meeting, May 8 – La Farge Gravel & Other Topics

Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin

by ES-CA Communication Committee

May 8, 2012

The monthly ES-CA Board of Directors meeting was held on May 7, 2012. The evening meeting was dominated by extensive discussions about the La Farge gravel mining operations.

Apparently, over some period of time the previous La Farge management made written promises to nearby Placitas communities about ceasing their operations. People living in those communities have therefore assumed that the operations would cease fairly soon. However the current management has said that they were not even aware of the existence of these letters. The present La Farge lease with Mt. Adams Holding Company, who owns the land, is due to expire in 2015.

The ES-CA board approved sending a letter to Mt. Adams asking for direct discussions with them about the community concerns. ES-CA will also send a letter with a personal appeal to Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, who is a major stock holder of Mt. Adams, to use his influence in this matter. In addition, Tony Hull and Tom Ashe will continue direct discussions with the local La Farge management about the various issues.

ES-CA’s Legal Committee will review all documents related to the La Farge lease and operations and will report to the Board on their findings.

The other significant item on the agenda was the presentation of a $1,000 donation from the Anasazi Home Owners Association, presented to the Board by AHOA’s President Dick Ulmer.

Members of the ES-CA Legal Committee continue to attend ESCAFCA’s (Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo and Flood Control Authority) Board of Director’s meetings and monitor their actions, since there are serious concerns about compliance with the ESCAFCA Legislation severing Placitas from ESCAFCA, which ES-CA members were instrumental in getting passed.

The Board briefly discussed the proposed Santa Rosa Development, on the north frontage road, which will be considered during the May 8 Bernalillo Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The present proposal is to place an apartment complex there with over 400 units. All interested ES-CA members are encouraged to attend the P&Z meetings and voice their opinions. Please read more at http://www.es-ca.org/blog/category/land-use/

The Board is awaiting response from Fisher Sand and Gravel regarding their plan to restore the land as required by Sandoval County.

The Board decided to invite all Home Owners Association presidents, plus those representing other resident communities in the ES-CA area, to the regular Board meetings to establish closer relationships and find ways to work together on issues of common interest.

Unfortunately, the ES-CA Membership Committee chair is still vacant. Please contact ES-CA via e-mail at info@es-ca.org if you are interested in volunteering for this or any other committee.

The next ES-CA Board meeting will be on Monday, June 4 2012, 6:30PM at the La Puerta office. All ES-CA members are welcome to attend.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

“Santa Rosa” Apartments – Moved to Town Council

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

At tonight’s (May 8th) Bernalillo Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting, the reconsideration of the approval of the “Santa Rosa” Master Plan, revised to include over 400 apartments, was on the agenda.

Before the item could be taken up, Town Attorney George Perez explained what the P&Z Commission was allowed to do. First, Mr. Perez said that he had consulted as to whether the P&Z Commission could make the final decision to approve or reject the revision of the Master Plan to include the apartments, or if instead the final determination has to be made by the Town Council. He found that it is in fact the Town Council that must ultimately approve or reject the revision, and that the P&Z Commission could only make a recommendation to the Town Council. (This is similar to how rezoning is done in the County, with the P&Z Commission only making recommendations to the County Commission, which has the final say.)

However, in order to legitimately make a recommendation, the P&Z Commission must have a quorum. Now, that Commission has 7 members, and for a quorum it needs 4 members. However, 3 of the present members are new, and weren’t involved in the original approval of the revised Master Plan, so in the April meeting they recused themselves from this agenda item. And at tonight’s meeting Commissioner Joseph Rinaldi was absent. Consequently there were only 3 Commissioners present who could vote, and that does not constitute a quorum. So Mr. Perez said that he had consulted with the applicants (Tierra West) and their attorney (who I believe is Tim Flynn-O’Brien), and they all felt that what the P&Z Commission should do is send this item up to the Town Council without a recommendation.

The P&Z Commission took this suggestion, and voted to send the item to the Town Council without recommendation. (I’m wondering why they were allowed to vote on this without a quorum, when they couldn’t vote to issue a specific recommendation without a quorum. Seems a bit “irregular” to me, but then I’m not an attorney.)

So we should expect the item to go before the Town Council at some point. Their meetings are typically on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month, and it would be fairly abrupt to put this on the agenda for the May 14 meeting, though that isn’t impossible. The next Council meeting would probably be May 28. Anyway, we’ll be monitoring this. Stay posted.

Posted in Zoning and Land Use | 7 Comments

County Requesting Citizen Input on Budget

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

Contact Commissioners and/or County Manager before May 17 if you have Comments on County Budget

(Click here for the budget summary.)

Today’s Press Release from Sandoval County:

County Officials Want Your Thoughts on Budget
Sandoval County, NM
May 08, 2012

Sandoval County residents still have time to express their opinions on what should be in the county’s budget for the 2013 fiscal year.

The new fiscal year starts July 1, 2012. The county must submit its budget for review and approval by the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration on June 1, 2012.

The county commission is expected to adopt a budget at its regular meeting on May 17, 2012. Until that time, county residents can contact individual commissioners or the county manager to ask questions or offer suggestion about budget priorities.

The commissioners also will accept citizen input on the budget the May 17 meeting. A preliminary budget summary is located here for citizens to review.

Phone numbers and email addresses for the all commissioners are available on the county’s website.

The county manager, Phil Rios, can be reached at 505-867-7538, or prios@sandovalcountynm.gov.

Posted in Property Taxes | Leave a comment

“Santa Rosa” Apartments on I-25 Frontage Road

Posted on May 6, 2012 by admin

This Tuesday, May 8, the Town of Bernalillo Planning & Zoning Commission will be considering a Master Plan for the “Santa Rosa” parcel of land which includes over 400 apartment units. This parcel, which was annexed to the Town of Bernalillo a few years ago, is on the I-25 frontage road, just south of the La Farge gravel mines. You can read the Signpost article about the April Bernalillo P&Z Meeting, where this application was reconsidered, here:

http://www.sandovalsignpost.com/html/up_front.html#b (second article)

The meeting will be at 6:30 PM on May 8, at the Bernalillo Town Hall. Those who are concerned about this proposed apartment complex right on the west border of the Placitas Area might wish to attend.

One of the major concerns here would be the additional traffic from the estimated 617 housing units, including the over 400 apartments. This on the frontage road, which already has significant traffic from residents in the westernmost Placitas subdivisions, the gravel trucks, and will receive even more traffic once the Petroglyph Trails subdivision is developed.

JoAnn English did some estimates of the additional traffic load, due to this Santa Rosa Master Plan:

According to the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation: for apartments

Average weekday trips=6.72 trips/dwelling unit=4146 tips per day

AM Peak (7-9 am)=0.51 trips/du=315

PM Peak (4-6 pm)=0.62 trips/du=383

This was assuming 617 units.

Posted in Zoning and Land Use | 7 Comments

Finding of No Significant Impact issued for I-25/US 550 Interchange

Posted on May 3, 2012 by admin

A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) has been issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the I-25/US 550 Interchange Reconstruction Project. The Environmental Assessment and Input Synopsis ( a summary of the comments presented at the public hearing, responses to comments, and changes made to the project in response to comments received) are available for review at: http://dot.state.nm.us/ProjectsD3.html#I-25-US550_Reconstruction. Also located on the website are the information packets from the three public meetings.

The project is still scheduled to begin in early 2013. The next phase of the project will be final design and right-of-way acquisition. ES-CA will continue to monitor the progress and keep our members informed on this ES-CA website.

Posted in I-25/US 550 Interchange | Leave a comment

All Sandoval County Properties to be Re-appraised in 2012

Posted on April 27, 2012 by admin

County Assessors Meeting 4/24/12
Report by Pat Morlan

A group of citizens met with the Sandoval County Assessor Tom Garcia on April 24, 2012 for a briefing on the upcoming reappraisal effort that will analyze current market value of all properties in Sandoval County. Assessor’s office has 30 people working in it and 149,000 properties to assess.
Reappraisal
Reappraisals will start this summer all county employees will have an ID a shirt and a ball cap denoting them. The assessor will ring your doorbell to let you know they are there. They are doing this first to get all their data onto one computer. We have not reappraised homes in only heaven knows when. This reappraisal will not generate huge amounts of money it will only bring us up to date. The appraisers are verifying, square footage, house style, amount of land any new additions. They are not looking at landscaping. They are looking at refrigerated air-vs.-swamp coolers. They will only assess heated areas. The information will not be on the web till 2014. The assessors will leave a card letting you know that they were there. The card should let you know the date and the name of the assessor. You should come in when this is over to check and see if they were accurate.

Information on line
You can now go to the Sandoval County website and go to the Assessors Section the majority of the Assessors information is on line with the exception of your property record card. The property record card (report card) property appraisals details used in determining a property’s value. Eventually all these records will be on the web.

How to access this information
Go to www.sandovalcounty.com then go to assessor’s office click on it. You can look at your property records your tax etc…. This site is very nicely set up and easy to use. All the forms you need are on line and can easily be downloaded. Some forms you can fill out on line then print out.

There will be a tab for Reappraisal Information. You will be able to look at the maps and see where they are working and what they have done. There are tax calculators that can give you an Idea of what taxes you might be paying.

Facts and definitions:
The Sandoval County Assessor’s Office determine the property value of homes, businesses and other taxable properties within the county for ad valorem tax purposes. The office also prepares the tax rolls for the County Treasurer for real property (land and improvements), personal property (business equipment), livestock and mobile homes.
The Assessor’s office lists and maintains the records of all real and business personal property located in Sandoval County. The office mails notices of property valuation, assists taxpayers in claiming exemption and maintains correct property ownership based on documents filed with the County Clerk’s office.
Notices of property valuation: it is the Assessor’s intent to mail a Notice of Value by March 1st of each tax year; however the property tax code requires mailing by April 1st of each year. It is important that property owners review the valuation figures on the Notice of Value, because this is the last step in the review process. The value on the notice is what will be used to calculate the taxes you will pay after your local government agencies and school districts set their budgets and the tax rates are adopted.
County appraisers review the real estate data and add new property to continue updating the values of existing land and buildings. Taxable value on real and property is one third of the total appraised value, minus any allowable exemptions, such as head-of-household or veteran’s exemptions. The net taxable value is then multiplied by the tax rate to determine the actual taxes property owners are billed. Property in New Mexico is classified as residential or non-residential and is taxed at different rates.
The Assessor’s Mapping Department works closely with property owners, title companies, the County Clerk’s Office and other agencies to compile and maintain updated information on properties in the County. Information is available on legal descriptions, acreage and boundary lines on survey plats and other recorded documents. The primary responsibility of the mapping department is to maintain the county’s property inventory by using the latest in technology. (The above information was taken from the assessor’s website.)
Market Value: The Market Value is set by buyers and sellers

Taxable value: is one-third of the total assessed value minus qualifying exemptions such as head of household or veteran. The taxable value is used to calculate the tax you pay to Sandoval County, State government, debt service bonds, school districts, cities in municipal areas and other agencies.

The notice of valuation: informs you of the value of your property for that year. It is mailed in the spring of each year. It is not a tax bill. A tax bill from the Treasurer’s office based on your property’s net taxable value will be mailed by November 1st of each year. It is very important that you review the Notice of Value because that is the valuation amount that is used to ultimately determine the amount of property tax you will pay. Remember that when one person’s taxes get lowered another gets raised.

How do we determine our market?
We look at the Market areas that have homes that are similar to your homes quality of design components and factor in your homes amount of depreciation. Every sale in the neighborhood gives us price per square foot. Then all the homes in the neighborhood are assessed by the sale homes cost per square foot. If no home is similar in your neighborhood they will look at homes from all over the county. This is what is called the good market.

Arm’s length is the Foreclosures this is a weighted market. We do this every two years. Our values should not change for the next two years.

Assessed value is public knowledge but not the sale price of the home. You cannot use assessed value as evidence because of the 3% tax increase if you live in your house longer your assessment might be less than your neighbors. We want to bring everyone up to equal and then cap the tax increases.

Other information:
If you give your land to a family member there is no tax lighting.

“Marshal Swift” gives the current value of homes anywhere in the world. You can go on line to this company and check your home out.

Posted in Property Taxes | 4 Comments

Placitas Letters of Map Revisions (LOMR’s)

Posted on March 18, 2012 by admin

Many of you have seen and wondered about the legal notices in the Albuquerque Journal regarding changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) floodplain mapping in certain Placitas areas. While the use of taxpayer monies for flood control being used for this activity has been questioned, the purpose of this article is not to debate the merits of such expenditures, but to explain briefly what is going on.

One of the first activities that was undertaken by the Eastern Sandoval County Flood Control Authority (ESCAFCA) was to better identify floodplain limits along several arroyos in Placitas using updated surveys and analyses. The purpose was to either remove properties from the floodplains and eliminate the need for mandatory flood insurance or to reduce current flood insurance rates. Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM’s) produced by FEMA show properties that are subject to a 1% annual chance (100-year storm) or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

Once the analysis for an area has been reviewed by FEMA, a public comment period of 90 days is required. The revised maps were made available for review at the Sandoval County Floodplain Administrator’s Office (155 Idalia Road, Suite D, Bernalillo) and at the Placitas Community Library. Property owners affected by the changes were notified by mail. The comment period for the first revised floodplain maps expired in January and FEMA has issued the LOMR’s.

This process has taken over two years to complete. The revised maps may be viewed by following this link: https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/3fkokEsL5uDSqp, and using the password escafca.

Rev. Panel 1909 of 2225 includes portions of Placitas Trails, Anasazi Meadows, Anasazi Trails, and Sky Mountain. Be warned-this is a very large file and will take a few minutes to download.

Rev. Panel 1917 of 2225 includes portions of Desert Mountain and Placitas West.

Rev. Panel 1950 of 2225 includes areas in Anasazi Trails and Tierra Madre.

A second set of maps are currently available for review at the Sandoval County Floodplain Administrator’s office and the Placitas Library until April 27, 2012. These maps affect areas in Cedar Creek, Tres Amigos and The Overlook. The maps can also be viewed at https://www.rampp-team.com/lomrs.htm#regionVI.

The actual number of residences taken out of the floodplains through this effort has not been quantified by ESCAFCA. The number of structures (including outbuildings, barns, sheds, etc.) that have been taken out range from 290 to 400, depending on who you talk to. The total amount expended to date for the Placitas LOMR’s is $193,360.18. An additional $175,046.65 has been spent on the Las Huertas Arroyo LOMR and Prudent Line Study.

Posted in ESCAFCA - Flood Control Authority, Zoning and Land Use | Tagged ESCAFCA, FEMA, floodplain maps | Leave a comment

Latest Fisher Property Photo 2-26-2012

Posted on February 28, 2012 by admin

Here is the latest photo of the Fisher property, as of 2-26-12. The County’s notice of violation had given Fisher until this date to remove the equipment and the mined material. As this photo shows, much of that still remains on the site.

Posted in Zoning and Land Use | 4 Comments

Forest Lane and Freeform Way Paving proceeds despite Residents Concerns by Warren Seehuus

Posted on February 21, 2012 by admin

On October 7th of last year, a resident of Forest Lane engaged in a conversation with a gentleman working along the road, asking him what he was doing. The man replied that he was doing surveying work, to support the engineering for the paving of Forest and Freeform!

Since then, numerous concerned citizens of the area have been in contact with the County to find out what is going on.

So what IS going on?

The County has determined that, due to the “continuous issues with having to grade this road”, that it would better serve the county to pave it. When queried last October, when we first became aware of this, the County Manager, Mr. Rios stated: “The funding for this road is in place and will pave (sic) what is currently maintained by the County”.

The scope of the project has, apparently, never changed: The paving of Forest Lane from Placitas West Rd. to its intersection with Freeform Road, then paving all of Freeform Road to the north. Various iterations of this were floated, with the scope of the project finalized as: Paving of Forest from the junction of Placitas West to Freeform, and the paving of ALL of Freeform, down to the turn-around on the north end of the road. There would be no pavement west of Freeform on Forest. Erosion control would be achieved by using a new type of grading: Instead of crowning the road, the surface would have a slight “v” shape, funneling the runoff into the middle of the road, which would then be diverted at intervals into existing run off areas, which would be “improved” with rocks etc. to provide some erosion control. Driveways and other roads (public and private) intersecting Forest and Freeform would, as needed, be paved for approximately 5 ft. to allow access to the new pavement. Note that this is per conversations with County Staff, the actual project will be presented to the residents of Placitas in the public meeting below.

The County Manager has consistently stated, since we found out about this last October, that this is a financial decision: The County has been spending too much money on blading the road, (including, apparently, Freeform!) and he has decided that the County’s money is best spent on paving, not maintaining. As of late last week, the County was still pulling together the maintenance logs for these two roads, and the Financial Analysis was scheduled to be performed.

Numerous calls by local residents to the County Manager’s office has not swayed the County’s determination to pave these roads. The only rationale given is that it has “cost to much” to maintain these roads due to the number of requests for maintenance. Note that as of Friday the 17th, NO Financial Analysis, and NO Analysis of Alternatives had been performed! (Per a telecon with the County Manager on 2/17). Additionally, I am not aware that a Staff Recommendation was ever solicited from the Road Department. The financial analysis will be provided at the Public Meeting!

Additionally, numerous residents of the area have been in contact with Mr. Olando Lucero, our County Commissioner, to see if there would be any opportunity to impact the scope of this project, as many residents feel the expenditure of County funds would be better spent on other related transportation projects. Mr. Lucero has been receptive to our input, but to date nothing has swayed the determination of the County to have these two roads paved. It appears to some of us affected that the County has made up its mind that the paving will take place, despite the numerous calls and emails from concerned Citizens.

Please attend a Public Meeting currently scheduled for Monday, 27 February at 6:30 PM. It will be held at the Transportation Center at the Hwy 550 Railrunner station. The County will present the proposed Scope and Schedule for the Project. Please note that County Manager has stated to me that this meeting is NOT SOLICITING PUBLIC INPUT, and that HE WILL GRANT THE AUTHORIZATION TO PROCEED with the project to be completed within approximately 2 weeks! Please come and get your opinion into the record with either your concerns or support of this proposed paving project. It is important that our public officials consider our opinions before expending our tax dollars or proceeding with “improvements” that might actually negatively affect us. So even if you have no opinion on the paving, please attend the meeting and support our desire for a public vetting of this proposed public project.

Please contact Commissioner Lucero at 934-3392 and Mr. Rios, County Manager at 867-7538 and ask that this project be stopped until the Taxpayer’s voice can be heard.

If you know of other paving or other public projects under consideration in Placitas that you have concerns, please let me know: Warren Seehuus at 417-2960, or you can leave your comment as a reply to this ES-CA Forum article.

Posted in Road Maintenance | Tagged County | Leave a comment