Please note: This is an unofficial summary provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to represent the official board meeting minutes.
Full House This Time!
All five Board members were present for the April 14th meeting. Chairman Otis Price, Vice Chair Caleb Flora, Treasurer Joshua McCurdy, Director JJ Duckett, and Director Derenda Robb. A quorum was achieved thankfully, because there was a lot of ground to cover.
Agenda Changed Two Resolutions Tabled
Before getting into the meeting proper, the Board made a change to the agenda. Two resolutions that had been on the New Business agenda Resolution No. 2025/2026-003 and Resolution No. 2025/2026-004 were pulled and tabled to a future meeting. These are the resolutions related to grant applications for the replacement of Tank 3 and the Water Bladder up at the springs. Otis explained that some information needed to move forward is still missing, but that the District does intend to apply for both grants. The Board approved the amended agenda unanimously.
Manager’s Report
GM Wendy Case presented her monthly report. The District produced just under 6 million gallons last month, but only about 1.075 million gallons were sold, putting the water loss rate at 82%. The crew repaired more than 40 leaks during the month, which tells you something about where a lot of that water is going.
On the financial side, delinquent balances continue to be a concern. Outstanding F&S bills total $1,065,000, delinquent Standby bills are at $670,370, and delinquent Water bills sit at $81,334. Collecting on those past-due accounts remains an ongoing challenge for the District.
The QuickBooks conversion, required by the Department of Finance and Administration, is almost done. On the billing software front, Wendy is still working on getting a refund for the UB Max software, which is on its way out. The District demoed a replacement product that looks promising, it is compatible with the meter reader unit in use by the field crew, communicates better with field staff and residents, and handles customers with multiple properties more efficiently. Pricing is forthcoming.
The generator projects at the tanks are nearly complete, just waiting on the electrical plug. And good news on the staffing front, Water Operator Shields has started working toward his Level 2 certification.
A couple of items came up during the Manager’s Report. Director Robb asked about the Emergency Fund which is very low at this time. Wendy confirmed that 5% of incoming Standby fees will be directed into it, and that they’ll get that process rolling once the QuickBooks/DFA transition wraps up.
Director Duckett asked about the community pool. Pool Manager Cathie from the TDC let the Board know that they hadn’t hired lifeguards yet because of a rumor that TWSD wasn’t going to open the pool this year. There was some discussion about where the rumor originated, but Wendy confirmed that no decision to close the pool has been made. There was also some discussion about a reported hole under the pool. The Board added a pool status follow-up to the Action Items list.
Director Duckett also asked whether the newly hired part-time grader operator is an employee or a contract worker. Wendy confirmed he’s a contract worker, and the Board added a review of that contract to the Action Items list as well.
Treasurer’s Report
Josh read the current bank balances: F&S at $63,175.92; Operations at $68,333.23; USDA Construction Loan Pass Through at $845.95; Debt Service at $993.46; Short Term Asset Replacement at $167,472.43; Water Restricted Reserves at $155.92; and Water Standby at $134,324.75.
Water Advisory Committee Report
Arden Schug presented the Water Advisory Committee’s report, and it was a thorough one. Here are the highlights:
The Committee recommends purchasing a poly tank as a temporary replacement for the tank currently on loan from the Timberon Volunteer Fire Department. The permanent 10,000-gallon metal tank is about a year out and will cost approximately $13,100 delivered.
Fire Chief McWilliams has asked for more water for fire suppression, the recommendation being to connect the fire hydrant to a 6-inch line. There’s also a suggestion to reconnect the T-Box well line to the Golf Course well and route it via a 6-inch line to the treatment plant.
The Tank 3 SCADA system needs repair, and there are areas of town not covered by flow meters. Cost for a flow meter is about $35,000. A dedicated line from the treatment plant to Tank 2 is considered a necessity, and additional instrumentation is needed throughout the system, including a Dixon device to address pressure hammering and a rotary graph to track pressure over time (about $750 each).
HDPE (High-density polyethylene) pipe on Hoover Street is recommended to handle the pressure needed to serve the area near the back gate. The pressure needed to push the water up is at the limit for the current pipe. HDPE will handle more pressure. And perhaps most urgently, the springs are not in service right now. Getting that back online will require a filter system overseen by a Level 4 operator, and Arden emphasized that the District needs a dedicated water system manager.
The Water Advisory Committee meets every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the small conference room. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Old Business
The Board approved the minutes of the March 10th Regular Meeting without discussion.
New Business
Community member Bill Eakes came prepared with some ideas worth knowing about. On the revenue side, he suggested exploring a Gross Receipts Tax on property sales and short-term rentals like Airbnbs, which he estimated could bring in $40,000 to $50,000 a year. He also recommended the District look into joining the New Mexico Municipal League at $1,000 a year, membership could take some pressure off the GM, reduce insurance costs, help with grants, and give the District a voice at the state level. On enforcement, he pushed for stronger legal consequences for water theft, and recommended that the District pursue liens on the roughly $1.8 million in past-due accounts. Otis noted that the District already places liens on delinquent metered water and standby accounts, and that they’re working on a solution for the F&S delinquencies.
PRC Complaint — Harding/Shockley Matter. This one has been in the works for a while. To settle a complaint filed with the Public Regulation Commission, the District needed to take several corrective actions, including admitting a violation of Rule 21, paying a $100 penalty, crediting the complainant $0.47, and revising several of its water rules. The Board reviewed the revised rules: Rule 2, Rule 5, and Rule 21 (which have already been reviewed by PRC staff attorneys with no objections). The Board voted unanimously to adopt Advice Notice Number 22. The revised rules will be filed with the PRC on April 15th. When a community member asked what this whole thing has cost the District, Otis said the bills are still coming in, but the total is expected to land somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000. Ouch.
Action List. Director Duckett proposed bringing back the Action List, which is a running tracking tool to make sure nothing falls through the cracks between meetings. Only Board members can add items, and the Secretary will keep it current and send it out with the draft agenda. The Board voted unanimously to resume using it, and two items were placed on it at this meeting – a follow-up on the status of the pool, and reviewing the grader operator contract.
Due Date Calendar. Director Duckett also recommended that each Board member receive a copy of the schedule calendar that GM Case maintains, which tracks important deadlines for the District. Wendy agreed, and the Board approved it unanimously.
Level 4 Operator Reports. Going forward, the Level 4 Water Operator will be required to submit a written report for each Board meeting covering filtration, wells, distribution, violations, and other system matters. Approved unanimously.
Meeting Frequency. There was a proposal to increase the frequency of official Board meetings for the next three months. After some discussion, the consensus was that it wasn’t necessary since Special Meetings can be called anytime with 72 hours’ notice. The Board did acknowledge that keeping the community better informed is important, and floated the idea of informal town hall style gatherings as long as a quorum of the Board isn’t present, which would trigger Open Meetings Act requirements. The proposal to increase official meeting frequency was voted down unanimously.
Public Comment
A community member asked how many meetings the District holds per month. One Regular Meeting, with Special Meetings as needed.
Another community member asked whether the PRC has ruled on the legality of the F&S fee. Short answer – the F&S fee isn’t under the PRC’s jurisdiction. The lawsuit over those fees has been dragging on for years, and the District’s attorney is pushing for a final hearing. Once that happens, the District expects to have more leverage to collect. The fees that have built up over the past 13 years can be substantial for property owners that have refused to pay the annual fee of $30.00 per lot.
The pool came up again during public comment, with questions about whether the District has the money to open it this year. The pool cost $42,000 to operate last year and is budgeted at $30,000 for this year. No decision was made at this meeting, it remains an open question.
Directors’ Remarks
Otis confirmed that the retired Otero County road grader operator is on board part-time. If your road needs grading, contact the office. There’s a form available.
On the grants front, Otis gave a pretty encouraging update. The District is now in compliance with USDA requirements thanks to HB-493. A $120,000 application for Solid Waste Improvement has been submitted. Letters have gone out to Senator Heinrich and Representative Vasquez requesting Congressionally Directed Spending funds. And based on the Bohanan/Huston engineering report, the District has applied for grants totaling $2,800,000 and $24,150,000. Once the most recent audit is approved, the District can also apply for previously awarded funds.
The meeting adjourned at 6:45 PM.