The meeting at the Tesuque School gymnasium began promptly at 5:30. Present were board members Lynn Pickard, Annie Laurie Coogan, Cam Duncan, Bruce MacAllister, Richard Renaldo, and Jeanne Boyles. Lynn had proxies for Margo Cutler and Jerry Barron. Also present were community members Jamie Gagan, Bruce Stuart, Bruce Scott, Rachel White, Cathie Sullivan, Jan Wisniewski, Hannah Burnes, Carol Sorenson, Bill Mueller, Claire Libin, Rusty Day, Kristin Day, Orlando Diaz, Ann Dillon, Mike Dillon, Kerry Mitchell, Debbie MacAllister, Kalb, Fire Chief Scott Hicks, and County Commissioner Justin Greene.

The minutes of the previous TVCA meeting had been emailed in advance and as there were no objections, were deemed to have been approved.

Treasurer Jeanne Boyles reported that there are $3,077.96 in the bank account, made up of $2,143.21 earmarked for legal and $934.75 that can be used for the BBQ. This is approximately what the BBQ has cost in the past, and we may need to fund raise a little for this year’s BBQ.

School principal Amy Thomas was not present, but had set up the room for us and opened the doors. She had emailed Lynn and Annie Laurie about the TVCA’s offer of help for distributing food to the school’s families at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. She is polling the families to see who would like to participate. After the meeting she told Annie Laurie that Thanksgiving would likely not work, but Christmas would. The tentative plan would be to distribute food to families that want it, with canned and non-perishable goods gathered by the PTA and turkeys and hams provided by TVCA who would also take part in set up and distribution. Annie Laurie is taking charge of this effort.

Lynn reported on the effort to get a historical maker similar to that of the other Traditional Historic Village in Santa Fe County, Agua Fria. She had earlier reported to the Board, but wanted the community to confirm that the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs’ recent commitment to the standard of “exemplary” or “exceptional” historical value to the state as a whole would likely not apply to Tesuque. Thus, the TVCA will not pursue the historical marker at this time. No one disagreed with this proposal.

Bruce MacAllister reported on his attendance at a Congress of Community Organizations meeting that he attended on behalf of the Tesuque Community Organization. The County designated the TVCA as the CO representing Tesuque. The slide presentation of the COCO meeting was attached to the emailed notice of the TVCA meeting. Much of the meeting was devoted to how to obtain capital outlay funds and the various steps involved. Commissioner Greene said that he would get together with representatives of TVCA (likely Lynn and Bruce) to see whether and how he could help with any capital outlay for projects that might be priorities of TVCA.

Bruce MacAllister also reported on communications he had with Santa Fe County Community Planner Andrew Harnden about the possibility of forming a watershed association for the Tesuque basin along the lines of the Santa Fe Watershed Association (santafewatershed.org) or Upper Pecos Watershed Association (pecoswatershed.org) or perhaps something less ambitious. Andrew wanted to gauge community interest, and Bruce indicated that it would be for the community to initiate and operate the association, although the County would help. When Lynn asked for a show of hands of interest, fourteen people put up their hands, a substantial majority of the people present; when she asked for a commitment to work on this issue, the following people volunteered: Cathie Sullivan, Jamie Gagan, Rusty Day, Bruce Scott, Kerry Mitchell, and Orlando Diaz. It was pointed out that this effort might be aligned with Protect Tesuque’s mission and many of the volunteers are involved with that organization. Bruce agreed to the point person for the TVCA.

Jamie Gagan and Bruce Scott reported on the status of the Bishop’s Lodge Wastewater project. Bishop’s Lodge has put its EPA application to discharge in the Little Tesuque into a status of suspension pending its application for a leach field on its property, the idea being to use the waste water during the eight months between March and October to water the property and use the leach field during the four winter months. That application is still being evaluated by New Mexico Environmental Department [NMED] and Protect Tesuque [“PT”] believes that it is a good solution and will not oppose it as long as PT is satisfied that monitoring and testing is being done in an appropriate manner. People can follow and comment on the NMED application by October 21 by looking up NMNED DP75 Bishop’s Lodge. Commissioner Greene expressed that the County has done its part in approving the digging of the field and also informed us that Bishop’s Lodge is committing many tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to find a solution that is acceptable to them and to the community represented by PT. In light of this, Lynn asked if it would not be possible to remove the signs that are all over Tesuque and even in town that some consider a blight, particularly the signs that refer to poison. Bruce Scott and Jamie Gagan explained that the signs were put up by individuals and the thought is that they keep the issue uppermost in people’s minds. A number of those attending the meeting indicated that they were not persuaded by the stated rationale and, based on input at the meeting, it appears that a significant number of Tesuque residents object to the continued presence of the signs in light of the actions taken by Bishop’s Lodge to accommodate community concerns. Commissioner Greene explained that yard signs should be taken down after 30 days, but the County likely does not enforce this requirement.

Rachel White, who coordinates the Firewise program, reminded us that our statements of money spent or hours worked in mitigating fire danger on our properties is due in the fall. She will send out an email reminder. She also said that the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition is interested in demonstrating how to protect property from fire. She asked for a show of hands of who would be interested in attending such a demonstration, and nine people were interested. In light of that show of interest, she will proceed to set up and announce such a demonstration.

Jerry Barron reported to Lynn that the clean-up project has been going well. Although the number of people participating in the every-first-Sunday-of-the-month clean-up effort has gone down from 24-25 to around 12, the amount of roadside trash being picked up has increased. The next effort will be October 6 at 10 am, meeting at the Tesuque Village Market. November and December will be cancelled due to Jerry’s travel plans, and we will pick up the effort again, weather permitting, in the spring. Commissioner Greene informed us that Nav Khalsa, who was Jerry’s contact person at the County, was no longer with the County, but that he would ensure that Jerry could continue working with the County on this very worthwhile project.

Cam Duncan and Richard Renaldo confirmed that the BBQ would be held on October 12 from 3-6 at the Tesuque Fire Station and that volunteers were still needed. Carol Sorenson and Bruce Stuart added their names to the list that we already put together at an earlier meeting. Bishop’s Lodge, El NIdo, and Tesuque Village Market will continue to sponsor and help with the BBQ. In particular, Bishop’s Lodge has been most helpful in donating a large grill, providing cooks, and sometimes providing food. Scott Hicks expressed appreciation to TVCA for having this BBQ which helps him recruit volunteers to help the Fire Department. Chief Hicks indicated that recent recruitment efforts have gone better than expected.

Regarding other items, Lynn announced that Tesuque had raised $22,334 as of last Friday for the Food Depot’s Neighbor to Neighbor Fund Drive, an increase of 10% over last year. The Food Depot’s celebration of all the neighborhoods will be on October 18 from 5:30 to 7:30 at their building on Siler Road. Lynn will be out of town, but other community members are invited.

Several people commented on our great website, and everyone agreed that big thanks go to Jerry Barron for putting it together and maintaining it, as well as coordinating the “First Sunday” trash pick-ups.

Commissioner Greene announced that the Santa Fe National Forest has announced four prescribed burns that may impact our valley. Specific information about them is on his Facebook page “Justin Greene for Santa Fe County Commissioner,” which is where he posts time-sensitive information that might be of interest to his constituents. An informational meeting about these burns will be held on September 25 at the Forest Service Building near the corner of NM 14 and 599.

Commissioner Greene also spoke about water and sewer issues. In particular, when the Aamodt pipes start being laid in Tesuque, there is an issue of what diameter of pipe to use, 4” or 6”. If people do not sign up for the water, smaller pipes that do not accommodate fire hydrants might be used. Also if the larger pipes are not used by a significant number of households daily, the water gets stale and needs to be flushed, which is an expense for the County. Based on the discussion, it appears that constituents are concerned about finding the proper balance between managing costs and enhancing fire safety in the community on the one hand, and increased development in the area on the other.

In similar fashion, Commissioner Greene also told us again about the $250,000 that he requested to look into a regional sewer system that might mitigate the potential damage and expense caused by individuals’ failing systems. Lynn offered to write a letter of support on behalf of TVCA for such a regional system, but others pointed out that there would need to be accountability and there might be downsides for both a more robust water system as well as a more robust sewer system, particularly encouraging growth. Lynn asked Justin if he could draft such a letter that could then be circulated to the board for decision about what type of position TVCA should take, if any. Based on comments by various board members it appears that, similar to the Aamodt issue and the Bishop’s Lodge issue, different members of the community may have different views and therefore the TVCA may best serve as a source of information, rather than an advocate for a particular position.

The annual community meeting and election of officers will be held in December. Lynn asked that all present consider becoming active in the organization and perhaps serving on the board. At least one board member whose term expires this year expressed that he no longer wished to be on the board. Another has not attended as much as he would have liked. The members whose terms are up this year are Cam Duncan, Jerry Barron, Jake Clemens, Bruce MacAllister, and Annie Laurie Coogan.

Because the agenda included many important updates and discussion items, the meeting ran beyond the preferred 60 minutes and was adjourned at 6:50 PM