[0:18] call this meeting to order.
[0:23] » Early on today, folks, we we had a
situation
[0:27] across the parking lot here at District
Court,
[0:31] a critical situation um where we had to
stand by and and and stay locked up. I
[0:37] just want to recognize
all the people that were involved in
[0:43] taking care of that situation. We had
the sheriff's office. We had AIC Police
[0:48] Department, Farmington Police
Department, Bloomfield Police
[0:52] Department, the FBI, the fire
department, and the EMS.
[0:58] This goes to show how
how different departments come together
[1:04] and act as one to keep our community
safe. I can't express how grateful I am
[1:12] as a citizen, but also as a county
commissioner of how our departments come
[1:18] together and take care of business when
they're they're called upon. I just want
[1:22] to personally thank you and the county
commission wants to thank you for your
[1:26] service and what you do in protecting
our county. Thank you.
[1:33] » Now like this [clears throat] meeting is
called to order. M Terry, would you do
[1:36] the invocation?
[1:41] » All right. If you'll just pray with me.
Heavenly Father, I just thank you for
[1:45] this day that we can come here in
freedom and safety. Dear Lord, thank you
[1:49] for the 250 years that we celebrated as
a nation and everything that has
[1:54] happened during that time and even
before and will happen in the future. I
[1:59] thank you, dear Lord, for all of the
people that responded to this situation
[2:03] that was tense and uh really protected
people from any further harm, even the
[2:09] subject that meant harm to themsel. I
thank you for them because Lord, they're
[2:13] out there and anything could go bad at
the time, but it turned out in favor of
[2:20] of all lives were protected. And dear
Lord, I just also pray for water. We
[2:26] desperately need water.
>> Amen.
[2:28] » We need to um be able to uh continue to
water all of our plants and and just for
[2:35] drinking water. Thank you for the
individuals that are here. I just pray
[2:39] for the commission as we make our
discussions and all the people that are
[2:43] presenting. Lord, just be with us in our
decisions in Jesus name. Amen.
[2:47] » Amen.
>> Amen. Thank you.
[2:49] » J, would you lead us in the pledge?
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[2:54] United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
[3:00] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[3:07] » Okay. [snorts]
to regular meeting. I'd like to
[3:13] entertain a motion the approval of the
agenda.
[3:17] » So move and
>> Mr. Chair might just add that we don't
[3:20] have any changes tonight.
>> Okay. Just we don't have any changes.
[3:23] Okay. Very good. We don't have any
changes the approval. Is there a second?
[3:27] » Second.
>> Okay. All in favor?
[3:29] » I.
>> Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you.
[3:37] » Moving. Moving on to the consent agenda.
We've got nine items on the consent
[3:41] agenda. Item number one is consideration
of regular meeting minutes for June 9th,
[3:47] 2026.
Consider number two, consideration of
[3:51] finance check register for June 2026.
Number three, consider consideration of
[3:57] treasur
register for June 2026. Number four,
[4:02] consideration of FY26 budget adjustment
number 17. Resolution number 26-27-05.
[4:11] Number five, consideration of
contractual changes to ATB Behavioral
[4:16] Health. Number six, consideration of
resolution number 26-27-02,
[4:24] appointing new surplus committee
members. Number seven, consideration of
[4:28] projects for state fire marshall grant
funding. Number eight, ratification of
[4:34] annual 2026 Emergency Management
Performance Grant Program, EMPG,
[4:41] submitted to the state on June 30th,
2026.
[4:47] Number nine, consideration of renewal of
proposal number 24-25-03,
[4:55] fire hose and hydrant testing.
I'd like to entertain a motion to accept
[5:01] Mr. Chair, I would like to make a motion
to approve the nine consent agenda
[5:08] items.
>> Very good. Is there a second?
[5:10] » I'll second.
>> There's a second. All in favor?
[5:14] » I
>> I.
[5:15] » Any opposed?
Motion carried. New business.
[5:21] Under new business. Um item number one,
we have we have six items under new
[5:27] business. The first one is consideration
of resolution number 26-07-01
[5:34] recognizing and honoring Purple Heart
recipients in the designating San Juan
[5:39] County a Purple Heart County. I'd like
to pass this over to Commissioner Gary
[5:44] McDaniel so he can um go ahead and read
the resolution.
[5:49] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. and uh
commission as you know uh
[5:53] [clears throat] last commission meeting
I alluded to this and uh to for it to be
[5:59] on the agenda and here we are. So uh I'm
thankful for that. First of all, welcome
[6:04] everybody. We we sure appreciate you
being here. Um, this resolution number
[6:10] 2627-01
formally recognizes the service and
[6:14] sacrifice of United States military
personnel who have been wounded or
[6:18] killed in combat and are recipients of
the Purple Heart Medal established by
[6:22] General George Washington in 1782. The
Purple Heart is the nation's oldest
[6:28] military decoration still in use and is
awarded to members of the armed forces
[6:32] who have been wounded or killed in
action while serving in the United
[6:35] States. The resolution acknowledges the
profound gratitude and respect of San
[6:41] Juan County residents for the men and
women who have placed themselves in
[6:45] harm's way to defend the freedoms
enjoyed by all Americans. It further
[6:49] recognizes the Purple Heart Trail
Program, a national network of roads,
[6:53] highways, bridges, and communities
established to honor Purple Heart
[6:58] recipients and preserve awareness of
their sacrifices.
[7:03] Approval [clears throat] of this
resolution designates San Juan County as
[7:06] a Purple Heart County and affirms the
county's commitment to honoring Purple
[7:11] Heart recipients and their families. By
joining the Purple Heart Trail Network,
[7:16] Sanan County publicly recognizes the
courage, dedication, and sacrifices of
[7:21] wounded and fallen service members while
demonstrating ongoing support for
[7:26] veterans and military families
throughout the community. And as I
[7:31] understand it, if this passes, San Juan
County will be the first county in the
[7:37] state to be a Purple Heart County. So I
think that's uh uh very very great. Let
[7:45] me go ahead and read this. U San County
resolution number 2627-01
[7:50] recognizing and honoring Purple Heart
recipients and designating Sanan County
[7:54] a Purple Heart County. Whereas General
George Washington established what is
[7:59] now known as the Purple Heart Medal in
1782 during the Revolutionary War. And
[8:05] whereas the Purple Heart Medal is the
oldest United States military decoration
[8:09] in present use. And whereas the Purple
Heart Medal is awarded in the name of
[8:15] the President of the United States to
recognize members of the armed forces
[8:19] who are killed or wounded in action
against an enemy of the United States or
[8:24] are killed or wounded while held as
prisoners of war. And whereas the Purple
[8:28] Heart Trail was established in 1992 as a
symbolic and honorary system of roads,
[8:35] highways, bridges, and other monuments
to give tribute to Purple Heart medal
[8:39] recipients. And whereas residents of San
Juan County have the utmost gratitude
[8:44] and respect for all men and women in the
in the armed forces and have placed
[8:49] themselves in harm's way in selfless
service to the United States. And
[8:54] whereas Sanan County seeks to honor
those men and women who have been killed
[8:58] or wounded while protecting our freedoms
by designating itself a Purple Heart
[9:03] County and by joining the Purple Heart
Trail Network. Now therefore, be it
[9:08] resolved by the board of county
commissioner of San Juan County, New
[9:11] Mexico, that San Juan County is
designated as a Purple Heart County to
[9:16] honor the sacrifice of those armed
forces members wounded or killed in
[9:21] action and service to the United States
of America. Passed, approved, and
[9:25] adopted this 7th day of July, 2026.
Signed by Sam Gonzalez, chair and
[9:32] County Clerk. But anyway, u uh first of
all, Mr. Mr. Chairman, before I go any
[9:38] further in commission, I'd like to uh
make a motion if I could that uh we u uh
[9:46] pass this resolution where uh counting
uh resolution number 2627-01
[9:53] recognizing and honoring Purple Heart
recipients and designating Sanan County
[9:56] of Purple Heart County.
>> That we approve resolution 262701.
[10:01] » Okay.
>> Okay.
[10:01] » That we approve it.
>> Okay,
[10:03] » I'll second that.
>> Okay, there's a second. All in favor?
[10:07] » I.
>> Any opposed? Motion carried.
[10:10] Congratulations. Very good.
>> And and before we go any further, if I
[10:13] could, Mr. Bill Simkins here in the
front row. Bill is with American Legion
[10:18] uh number 93. And Bill has been
instrumental in this. And uh I know he
[10:24] was going to have another uh person here
today, but he couldn't make it from
[10:28] Oklahoma. But uh uh glad Bill is here.
And uh Bill, would you like to say
[10:35] anything uh on behalf of uh what just
occurred?
[10:38] » Well, yes. Uh chairman, uh
commissioners,
[10:42] it's an honor for me to stand here and
accept this from the county. It's, you
[10:47] know, been something that's it happened
uh on Memorial Day, Farmington became a
[10:52] Purple Heart city. It all become of a
because of a a friend of mine that came
[10:58] here on a retreat I did last August.
He's a three-time Purple Heart recipient
[11:02] in one tour.
>> He uh I'll just briefly mention it
[11:07] because we talked about it last last
time.
[11:11] » U he got shot right here in the
forehead, shattered his helmet, broke
[11:14] his neck and skull in the hospital.
Commander says, "We're going to send you
[11:18] home." He says, "No, I'm a combat medic.
I want to take care of my troops." So he
[11:22] stayed and stayed through three injuries
like that.
[11:27] you know, offered to go home stay to
finish off his tour. He's the reason
[11:32] that I do what I do to try to help, you
know, recognize these people that are
[11:37] have given their life or or limbs or
whatever has happened to him for the
[11:42] service. So, I just it's an honor to
receive this for him and the mil
[11:47] military order purple heart.
>> I would like to present you with this
[11:52] frame resolution
present. I've known Bill for many
[11:56] decades and thank you for all you do and
and on behalf of all of us, you know, we
[12:01] really appreciate you and thank you and
your
[12:04] » this presentation
>> you're so we can take
[12:06] » people you work with
[12:17] you
can read
[12:25] Gary, I think you ought to be the one
having this overd.
[12:33] » All right. Right here. Big smiles. One,
two, three. One more. One, two, three.
[12:40] » Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Bill.
[12:53] Yeah, they are here. I don't know where
they might be in the very back.
[12:59] Might have to come up.
[13:04] Okay, moving on to item number two.
Consideration of resolution number
[13:09] 26-27-03,
a proclamation honoring the Pedro Vista
[13:15] High School baseball team. Commissioner
Forner.
[13:19] » Okay. Thank you. All right. So,
whoever's here from Pedra Vista, would
[13:23] you go ahead and come forward? I know
there's I I can see right over here. So,
[13:28] if you don't mind, go ahead and come
forward. Thank you for being here. I
[13:33] know that probably people are different
places playing. So, um, before I read
[13:38] this proclamation and say, I was going
to say, will you introduce yourself and
[13:42] tell me what position you play?
>> Yes, ma'am.
[13:44] » I'm Cody Kugton. I play second base.
>> Thank you.
[13:47] » Yep.
>> You can just stand right over there.
[13:49] Thank you.
>> Basic Courtney. I play center field.
[13:52] » Thank you.
>> I'm Zach Westford and I play right
[13:54] field.
>> Right field. Okay.
[13:56] » Um, Kate Aragon and I'm the catcher.
>> Catcher. All right.
[13:59] » JW Bis and I pitch and I play first.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[14:03] » Andrew Cunningham. I play left field.
>> Left field. All right.
[14:06] » Brady Sandal. I play first base.
>> First base. Okay.
[14:11] » Uh, my name is Ethan Sessen. I'm an
assistant coach.
[14:14] » Thank you for being here.
>> Tyrell Curtis. I'm also an assistant
[14:17] coach.
>> Thank you.
[14:19] » I'm Jeff Corali. I'm the head coach.
>> Thank you, Jeff, for being here. Thank
[14:22] you all each one of you for being here.
So, um, it's my pleasure that I was
[14:27] contacted by Carrie Sandival and, uh,
she let us know what this was all about.
[14:34] And I'm a mom of a softball pitcher from
Pedra Vista who was a state champ for
[14:39] four times herself pitching. So I know
the dedication that goes into this and
[14:44] yours too, coach. Each one of you, I
appreciate it because not it doesn't
[14:48] matter what the weather is. Um you're up
early, you're out late, you're
[14:52] traveling. These are students. They have
to make good grades. They want to
[14:56] graduate because I'm going to guess most
of them want to go on to play college
[14:59] sports. Does is that kind of the goal? I
have uh eight seniors this year. All
[15:04] eight are going to college and seven of
them are going on baseball scholarships.
[15:08] » Oh, wow.
>> That is awesome.
[15:13] [applause]
>> So, so well done.
[15:15] » Yeah. I I appreciate it. I My one
daughter went to Farmington, the other
[15:20] daughter went to PB. So, I love our high
schools and everything that goes into
[15:24] this. So, thank you young men for being
here. I appreciate it. So, at this time,
[15:29] I'm going to read the proclamation that
the county commission has written up and
[15:32] signed. It says, "Whereas the Pedro
Vista High School baseball team won the
[15:38] 2026 New Mexico Activities Association
Class A State Baseball Championship on
[15:45] May 16th, 2026." So, that's barely over.
That's what about six weeks ago. So,
[15:51] it's still fresh and exciting. Whereas
the Pedro Vista Panthers defeated
[15:55] Cleveland High School. Yay. by a score
of 10 to zero. That's big. In the
[16:01] championship game at Lobo Field in
Albuquerque, securing the title in a run
[16:06] rule victory. Wow. A run rule victory.
Okay, I understand that. [laughter]
[16:11] Okay. where whereas the Panthers
advanced through a highly competitive
[16:16] state tournament defeating Los Cruus's
in the quarterfinals, top-seated Rio
[16:21] Rancho in the semifinals in Cleveland
in the [cough and clears throat]
[16:25] championship game. And whereas this
championship marks the fifth state champ
[16:31] baseball championship in the Pedro Vista
High School history, the program's first
[16:37] state since 2014. So that's 12 years.
That's [clears throat] probably when you
[16:42] guys were all in kindergarten about I'm
going to guess.
[16:47] Whereas the student athlete, coaches,
administrators, parents, and supporters
[16:51] of Pedro Vista High School have
demonstrated dedication, perseverance,
[16:55] sportsmanship, and excellent serving as
exemplary representatives of San Juan
[17:00] County. Now there therefore be it
resolved that the board of county
[17:04] commissioners San Juan County, New
Mexico hereby congratulates and
[17:09] recognizes Pedro Vista High School
baseball team coaches and supporters for
[17:13] winning the 2026 NMAA class 5 state
baseball championship for bringing
[17:20] distinction and pride to San County and
be it further resolved that the board of
[17:25] county commissioners hereby proclaims
July 7th today 2026 six as Pedro Vista
[17:32] High School baseball team day in San
Juan County, New Mexico in recognition
[17:37] of the team's outstanding achievement
and fifth state championship passed,
[17:42] approved, and adopted this 7th day of
July 26 signed by Commissioner uh Sam
[17:47] Gonzalez. So, thank you so much.
[applause]
[17:52] » I'd like to approve the resolution.
>> So, moved.
[17:57] » Is there a second to the
>> I'll second.
[17:58] » There's a second. All in favor?
>> I
[18:01] » motion. Any any opposed?
>> Yeah. Motion car. We have a resolution,
[18:06] too. We have
>> Yeah. Let's go. The guys can stand right
[18:10] here and move the podium, too.
>> Get you guys in
[18:23] our
[18:29] Okay.
[18:40] » No hiding.
>> All right. If you can't see me, I can't
[18:43] see you.
[18:47] » Ready? Big smiles. One, two, three. One,
two, three. Very good.
[18:55] Oh, sorry.
[19:05] » There you go.
>> Okay. Thank you guys so much.
[19:11] [applause]
[19:22] » Good job.
[19:32] I think that's pretty neat.
[19:41] » Okay. Item number three, moving right
along. [clears throat]
[19:46] Consideration of resolution 26-27-04
[19:52] recognizing the 25th anniversary of the
consolidation of San Juan County Fire
[19:58] and Rescue.
>> Mr. David Vega
[20:02] say
>> Mr. Chairman, Commission, good
[20:06] afternoon. Uh coming off the heels of a
a big weekend where our nation just
[20:10] celebrated 250 years of uh independence.
Uh I'm very proud to be able to come uh
[20:17] to you today as we celebrate uh 25 years
as a consolidated fire department. This
[20:23] year marks a significant milestone for
San County Fire and Rescue as we
[20:27] celebrate 25 years of dedicated service
to the citizens of Sanongan County. Over
[20:33] the past quarter century, our department
has grown tremendously. We began as an
[20:38] allv volunteer fire department that has
evolved into a professional combination
[20:42] fire department, bringing together the
dedication of volunteer and career
[20:47] personnel to provide fire suppression,
emergency medical services, rescue
[20:52] operations, and fire prevention
throughout our county. This anniversary
[20:57] is not just about the department. It's
about the people who built it. I would
[21:01] like to extend my sincere gratitude to
the fire chiefs whose leadership shaped
[21:06] Sanin County Fire and Rescue over the
past 25 years. Fire Chief Larry Markham,
[21:12] Fire Chief Doug Hatfield, Fire Chief
Craig Dhy, and Fire Chief John Mohler.
[21:18] Their vision, commitment, and leadership
laid the foundation for the department
[21:23] we proudly serve today. And I am
honored. I truly am to continue building
[21:29] on the legacy they established in
commission. I believe with us we do have
[21:33] uh fire chief uh Doug Hfield. Chief
Hatfield if you would stand up. And then
[21:39] I believe in the back uh Chief Mohler
and Chief
[21:45] and be recognized. [applause]
[21:51] » [applause]
[21:55] » Uh these two men mean a lot to me. In in
2011,
[22:00] uh Chief Hatfield uh hired me away from
a different fire department uh as a
[22:05] captain. And uh in 2011 uh was not uh
even in my sphere that I'd have the
[22:10] opportunity to uh lead this organization
someday. And uh I'm humbled to to be
[22:16] here in his presence. and uh Chief
Mohler uh hired me as a deputy chief and
[22:21] work directly under him and uh I'm just
very grateful that uh they they are here
[22:25] and able to celebrate uh this
accomplishment. So, thank you. I also
[22:30] want to recognize every past and current
member of San County Fire and Rescue.
[22:34] Whether you served as a volunteer or
career firefighter for a few years years
[22:38] or an entire career, your dedication,
sacrifice, and commitment to serving
[22:42] others have made this department what it
is today.
[22:47] Countless lives and properties have been
protected because you answered the call
[22:52] often at a great personal sacrifice. And
commissioner, if you would allow me to
[22:57] just acknowledge one other person in
this room, and I had the pleasure to
[23:00] walk in with her tonight, and uh that's
Susan Rosenbomb. Susan, I'm going to put
[23:04] you on the spot and ask you to to stand
up. Susan started uh in 1980
[23:12] uh with Samon County and uh for those of
you that are math inclined
[23:19] » uh [laughter]
>> it's a long time ago.
[23:21] » That's a long time ago long time ago.
>> Uh and I just want to recognize Susan.
[23:26] She's been here since day one.
>> And it's what's even more important is
[23:30] uh she is still active uh today and one
of our uh most active volunteer
[23:35] firefighters. uh she's still out there
doing it. So Susan, thank you. And
[23:39] again, we're honored to have you.
[applause]
[23:46] [applause]
As we celebrate this milestone, we also
[23:50] look toward the future. We remain
committed to providing exceptional
[23:53] emergency services, investing in our
personnel, and continuing to earn the
[23:57] trust of the communities we proudly
serve. On behalf of San County, I'd like
[24:02] to thank the San Juan County Commission
for your continued support over the past
[24:06] 25 years. Your commitment has enabled us
to grow, improve, and better serve our
[24:12] citizens. We are honored to serve San
County and we look forward to the next
[24:17] chapter of our history. and commission.
Uh it's my understanding that you have
[24:22] uh honored us with a proclamation
and uh with the chairman's approval. I'd
[24:27] like to read that proclamation if I may.
>> You you certainly may.
[24:32] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. San County
resolution 26-7-04,
[24:36] a proclamation recognizing the 25th
anniversary of the consolidation of San
[24:41] County Fire and Rescue. Whereas in
October 13, 2001, ordinance or excuse
[24:46] me, ordinance 49 authorized the
consolidation of multiple volunteer fire
[24:51] departments into a single countywide
fire organization, establishing what is
[24:56] known today as San County Fire and
Rescue. And whereas this consolidation
[25:01] created a unified fire and rescue agency
dedicated to providing professional,
[25:06] efficient, and coordinated emergency
response services to the residents and
[25:09] visitors of Sanongan County. And whereas
over the past 25 years, San County Fire
[25:15] and Rescue has grown into one of the
region's premier emergency service
[25:19] organizations, responding to fires,
medical emergencies, technical rescues,
[25:24] hazardous materials incidents, wildland
fires, and other emergencies while
[25:28] continually adapting to meet the
demanding J change, excuse me, the
[25:32] demanding and changing needs of the
community.
[25:36] And whereas the success of Sam County
Fire Rescue is built upon the
[25:40] dedication, professionalism, and courage
of its volunteers, firefighters,
[25:44] emergency medical personnel, support
staff, and leadership who serve with
[25:48] distinction and a steadfast commitment
to protecting lives, property, and the
[25:53] environment. And whereas the department
has fostered strong partnerships with
[25:58] local, tribal, state, and federal
agencies as well as neighboring fire
[26:03] departments and community organizations,
strengthening emergency preparedness and
[26:08] response throughout the region. hand.
Whereas beyond emergency response, San
[26:12] County Fire and Rescue has de
demonstrated an enduring commitment to
[26:16] community risk reduction through fire
prevention, public education, emergency
[26:21] preparedness, and outreach programs that
help make San County a safer place to
[26:26] live, work, and visit. And whereas the
board of county commissioners wishes to
[26:32] recognize the lasting contributions of
the men and women who envisioned and
[26:37] implemented consolidation 25 years ago
as well as every member of San County
[26:42] Fire and Rescue whose service has
strengthened the organization and
[26:46] benefited the community. Now, therefore,
be it proclaimed that the board of
[26:51] county commissioners of San County, New
Mexico, hereby recognizes the 25th
[26:56] anniversary of the consolidation of San
County Fire and Rescue, and expresses
[27:01] its sincere appreciation to all past and
present firefighters, emergency
[27:06] responders, volunteers, staff, and
leaders for their unwavering dedication,
[27:11] professionalism, and service. The board
encourages all residents to join in in
[27:15] celebrating this milestone and to
recognize the vital role San County Fire
[27:19] and Rescue has played in protecting our
communities for the past 25 years while
[27:23] looking forward to many more years to
come. Adopted this 7th day of July, 2026
[27:29] by the board of county commissioners of
Sanong County, New Mexico, signed by
[27:33] Chairman Sam Gonzalez.
>> Thank you, sir.
[27:36] » And Mr. Chairman, if I just may add, if
I'd like, if I may have all my staff,
[27:41] past and present, Son County
firefighters that are in the crowd
[27:44] tonight, my administration staff to
please stand up and be recognized. And
[27:48] thank you for your service.
[applause]
[27:56] [applause]
After
[28:03] we entertain the motion and approve this
and and and pass it, would like to go
[28:09] out in the lobby and take a picture with
the firefighters.
[28:12] » Thank you, Mr. Chair.
>> I'd like to entertain a motion to
[28:15] approve proclamation 262704
U recognizing the 25th anniversary of
[28:22] the consolidation of San Juan County
Fire and Rescue.
[28:25] » I'll second it.
>> Motion. Is there a second?
[28:28] » I did. Second. Is there a
>> second? Second.
[28:30] » All in favor?
>> I.
[28:31] » Any opposed?
>> Motion carried.
[28:34] » Thank you, commission.
>> You bet. Let's go take a picture with
[28:36] the staff.
[28:44] » Do you want to bring do it out there?
>> No.
[28:46] » No.
>> Why?
[28:47] » I don't want light behind them.
>> Oh, okay.
[28:53] » So, up here.
>> Yeah.
[28:54] » Gentlemen, ladies, come on.
John, that means you
[29:04] » that means you
[laughter]
[29:12] need a better deal. [laughter]
[29:32] All right, everybody together. We're
going to have to get a second row in the
[29:35] back there. Please scooch together.
Scooch in. Heather, that means you
[29:40] scooch in. Scooch in. Carl, scooch back.
>> Goodness gracious. You guys never listen
[29:46] to me.
[29:49] » You're not on fire.
[laughter] All right, there we go. Big
[29:53] smiles. One, two, three. One, two,
three. One, two, three. Very nice.
[29:57] Thanks.
[30:05] [applause]
[30:14] » Have one. The best mustache. All just
sits in the stands in the back.
[30:18] » Take all the
>> Yeah. statue of glory.
[30:23] » Didn't know I was going to need my
walking shoes today. I guess [snorts]
[30:25] when I saw resolutions or popations, I
should have known.
[30:44] All right,
moving on to item number four.
[30:49] Consideration of memorandum of
understanding with the city of
[30:54] Farmington authorizing ASD-JIP
pilot program, Miss Jennifer Mitchell.
[31:03] » Welcome, Jennifer.
>> How are you,
[31:05] » Mr. Chair and commissioners? Before I do
proceed with the matter on the agenda, I
[31:09] would also like to at this time give you
a brief update on the recent incident
[31:14] that occurred over the weekend at the
ASD facility.
[31:18] As you know, an inmate breached the
fence at the ASD campus and fled on
[31:22] foot. Law enforcement was notified
immediately following the incident and
[31:27] the sheriff's office continues to lead
that investigation. We are cooperating
[31:31] fully and deferring all investigative
matters to them. Second, our internal
[31:36] review identified operational practices
that may have contributed to the
[31:40] incident. We are following up with the
involved staff from an administrative
[31:45] perspective, reviewing policies,
practices, and reinforcing our
[31:49] procedures going forward, and that
process is underway. Finally, we have
[31:54] identified the likely location of the
escape. The examination revealed a
[31:58] security breach in the perimeter, which
has since been rectified. The photos
[32:03] before you show the breach as we found
it and the same location after the
[32:08] corrective work was completed. I'm happy
to answer any questions that you may
[32:13] have now or following my presentation.
>> Any questions from the commission?
[32:20] » Not so far.
>> Okay, I'll go ahead and proceed then.
[32:23] So, I'm here today um along with uh
Farmington City Manager Shauna Reeves,
[32:28] Farmington Police Chief T Steve Hebill
Adair, Christine Carlson, and Estebon
[32:34] Rodriguez representing the GIF program
to introduce a new pilot program that
[32:39] would expand our existing 28-day uh
jailbased DWI treatment program to a new
[32:46] population, and to highlight what I
think is a genuinely unique three-way
[32:50] collaboration between the San Juan
County City of Farmington and
[32:54] Presbyterian Medical Services Toe
Behavioral Health JIP program that makes
[32:58] this possible. So, let me start with the
problem that we're trying to solve. As
[33:03] you are likely aware, the city of
Farmington experiences significant
[33:07] challenges with respect to unhoused and
intoxicated individuals. This issue
[33:12] remains a high priority for residents
and business owners within the
[33:16] community. One effective tool the courts
have to address the addiction and
[33:20] housing insecurity issues is by
utilizing the joint intervention program
[33:24] operated by PMS's Total Behavioral
Health Services. Historically, when the
[33:29] municipal court has sentenced someone
into outpatient treatment, namely JIP,
[33:34] and that person fails to complete it,
there hasn't been a structured secure
[33:39] treatment option to fall back on. That
person uh basically cycles back through
[33:43] the court system and the judge is left
with two choices. either send them back
[33:47] to JIP or place them in jail. As you
know, our alternative sentencing
[33:52] division already operates a 20 proven
28-day jailbased treatment program. Up
[33:58] to now, that program has been limited
exclusively to individuals convicted of
[34:03] DWI. But the inf infrastructure, the
clinical staff, and the treatment model
[34:08] we've built are well suited to serve a
small carefully screened group of in
[34:13] additional individuals, specifically
those non-DWI municipal defendants who
[34:19] weren't able to exceed succeed in a
non-secured treatment environment and
[34:23] need something more structured. This is
where the three-way partnership comes
[34:28] in. To behavioral health services will
continue to run JIP, the JIP program
[34:32] exactly as it does today.
However, this collaboration will add a
[34:37] layer to the process in that when
someone doesn't complete the program,
[34:40] the program's involvement and
documentation of that non-comp
[34:44] completion becomes the catalyst um that
opens up this referral pathway. San Juan
[34:50] County through the alternative
sentencing division retains full
[34:52] discretion over program eligibility,
admission, and space availability just
[34:57] as we do with our DWI population. We're
not changing our clinical model or our
[35:02] screening standards. were simply
extending eligibility in a very limited
[35:06] way to this new population. Individuals
convicted of DWI and sentenced into the
[35:11] program will continue to have priority
for admission. Additionally, the number
[35:16] of non-DWI inmates will be capped at
five at any given time. So, I'm before
[35:22] you today to request that you approve
the memorandum of understanding between
[35:26] the San Juan County and the city of
Farmington that puts this pilot into
[35:30] effect. Under the proposed terms, the
city would compensate the county $3,916
[35:36] per individual who completes the program
or a pr-rated daily rate of one uh
[35:41] $139.86
for those who don't. Um, all of our
[35:46] existing admission criteria remain fully
in effect and unchanged and either party
[35:51] will have the ability to terminate the
agreement for convenience within 30 day
[35:54] with 30 days written notice which gives
us an easy off offramp in case the pilot
[36:00] doesn't perform as we expect it to.
We'll be tracking outcomes carefully
[36:04] throughout the pilot period so that we
have a solid have solid information to
[36:08] use for evaluation of efficacy that will
eventually help inform whether or not
[36:13] the partnership partnership should
continue, expand or end. So with that,
[36:19] we stand for any questions you may have.
>> Is there any questions?
[36:23] » I do.
>> Terry, go ahead. Um I was just curious
[36:26] how many uh judges are involved in uh
referral to this program for this is
[36:33] there one two
>> Mr. Chair u ma madam I mean madame
[36:38] commissioner [laughter]
Mr. Chair, madam commissioner. Um, yes,
[36:43] there is uh from the planning
perspective, there has been one uh the
[36:48] full-time municipal court judge uh
Robert Miller has been involved in the
[36:52] in some of the planning and and you know
laying of the foundation of this um
[36:57] pilot. My understanding is that uh all
of the judges at the municipal court
[37:02] level will be involved. So I believe
there is a of course the full-time judge
[37:05] as well as a part-time judge and an
alternate judge. Okay. So, this option
[37:09] will be a available to all of them.
>> All of them. And they're aware obviously
[37:13] if they're part of the planning as well.
>> Um, yes. Uh, Judge Miller is aware and
[37:20] I'm assuming he has relayed this
information to the rest of the judges.
[37:24] But I will once this memorandum of, uh,
understanding is is formalized, then I
[37:29] will make that uh, opportunity available
to them so that they're familiar with
[37:34] all the processes. And it sounds like
the accommodations are already in place.
[37:39] So, and staffing those type things
already ready to go with this if we
[37:46] agree to this.
>> Madam Chair, Commissioner Forner, yes,
[37:48] the infrastructure is already in place.
We've been doing it for years and um
[37:53] capping the the opportunity or the the
limiting to the five individuals non
[38:00] non-DWI individuals at any given time
will uh easily will easily be able to
[38:06] accommodate that.
>> Okay. Awesome. Thank you.
[38:09] » Mr. Chair, I have a question. Um you
mentioned tracking mechanisms. Have you
[38:13] defined what [clears throat] your
tracking mechanisms will be and what are
[38:16] they?
>> Mr. Chair, um Commissioner Laneir. So we
[38:20] we have not defined exactly what
parameters we're going to be looking at,
[38:25] but certainly we will be looking at
success rates, recidivism rates, um uh
[38:30] completion rates to start with, of
course, um things like that. And we
[38:33] already have uh database structure in
place where we can um you know, easily
[38:39] track all of that information.
>> Okay.
[38:42] » Any other questions from the commission?
No.
[38:45] » Okay. Then I'd like to entertain a
motion to approve
[38:50] I'll move that we approve
>> with the city of Farmington authorizing
[38:54] ASD and GIP pilot program.
>> I move that we approve theou with the
[38:58] city of Farmington authorizing ASD JIF
pilot program.
[39:02] » I'll second.
>> There's a second. All in favor?
[39:05] » I.
>> I.
[39:06] » Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[39:11] » All right. Good job.
[39:15] It's new.
>> Item [clears throat] number five,
[39:18] consideration of the amended and
restated joint powers agreement with the
[39:22] Navajo Nation to operate and maintain
solid waste transfer stations. Mr.
[39:27] Stark.
>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair and
[39:29] commissioners. Um, as you might recall,
this this item was previously before you
[39:33] at the March 3rd uh commission meeting.
We thought we had uh the agreement
[39:39] wrapped up, the third amendment, and
ready to go for approval by the Navajo
[39:43] Nation. Uh we were informed by uh the
Navajo Nation DOJ uh and really the
[39:49] primary change here uh is that they
can't continue doing JPA that that go on
[39:55] in perpetuity. They need to have an end
date and their end date is every 5
[39:59] years. And so that's the primary change
is the term uh on this joint powers
[40:04] agreement. Um so it has a has a
five-year a cap on it. And of course
[40:08] we'll go through you know when that
point in time comes uh renewal
[40:12] appropriately uh for the JPA. So um just
as background uh you know in 1994 San
[40:19] County and the Navajo Nation entered
into this JPA for the operation and
[40:23] maintenance of solid waste uh compacting
and transfer stations on the Navajo
[40:27] Nation at Shiprock uh upper Fruitland
and Sand Springs. Um the original
[40:32] agreement was was ultimately amended in
2016 and 2022 and so this is of course
[40:37] the third amendment. Um the Navajo
Nation did uh reach out. We've been
[40:43] working with Navajo Nation Council
Michelle Garcia and Charlene Jeff who's
[40:48] the Navajo Nation senior projects and
programs specialist for the division of
[40:53] community development. Uh and they made
that that one major change. Um, but then
[40:58] also the just to make sure you're aware,
the financial arrangements under the
[41:02] agreement have not changed at all. So,
the Navajo Nation will continue to pay
[41:06] all operating and maintenance expenses
of the stations. Uh, of course, San
[41:11] County will continue to operate the
stations. Uh, each Navajo Nation fiscal
[41:15] year. They're on the federal fiscal
year, so their federal their fiscal year
[41:18] starts on October 1st. the NAVO Nation
will deposit with the county an amount
[41:23] estimated to cover the nation's total
obligations uh for the upcoming fiscal
[41:28] year. Uh over the course of the year,
each quarter, the county will credit
[41:31] against the deposit any revenues
received through user fees at the
[41:35] stations. Uh if a deficit occurs between
the amount on the deposit and the actual
[41:39] expense, the county will build the
Navajo Nation uh for that amount on a
[41:43] quarterly basis. If any of the deposited
funds remain at the end of the Navajo
[41:47] Nation fiscal year, uh that amount will
be credited um against what I'm sorry,
[41:52] against what they owe. It does not
appropriate funds for a given year. The
[41:55] Navajo Nation will alert the county to
this fact as soon as possible before
[41:59] funds are exhausted and the county may
terminate the agreement upon uh exhaust
[42:05] exhaustion of remaining funds. Uh you
may recall we haven't done that yet. uh
[42:09] they are in a deficit situation, but uh
we've been working with our great
[42:13] partners. We we've been working together
since 1994.
[42:17] And so the agreement is that the JPA, if
approved by you all, um will be approved
[42:23] by the Navajo Nation. It ultimately has
to be approved as well uh by the
[42:27] Department of Finance and Administration
for the state of New Mexico. So and when
[42:32] that happens uh then they will make good
on their past due balance and then also
[42:36] provide us uh funding for the next
fiscal year starting October 1st. So
[42:41] that is this reconsideration
of this u third amendment before you
[42:47] this this evening.
>> Well, thank you.
[42:50] » Uh is [clears throat] there any
questions for Mr. Stark?
[42:54] » No.
>> What's the balance that they owe us by
[42:57] the way?
>> Um pretty close to half million dollars.
[43:00] No.
>> So that that's accumulated over the
[43:03] course of a year. Um, you know, we
notified them uh over a year ago about
[43:08] the outstanding balance and uh and
ultimately, you know, kept extending
[43:14] credit in essence in good faith that we
want to continue the partnership. It
[43:18] wasn't something we wanted to to just,
you know, arbitrarily terminate. So, um,
[43:24] you know, to date, they've been good
partners and we want to continue that
[43:27] partnership. We think it's a valuable
service that San Juan County provides
[43:30] and and they've indicated they don't
have the internal capacity to provide
[43:35] the service. So if we don't uh they
would be left without a service.
[43:40] » Well, let's hope they pay up. That's for
sure.
[43:42] » Mr. Chair,
>> yes.
[43:43] » Um Mr. start. Uh you met with um their
division directors and are they
[43:54] saying in the future that they're
working on uh
[44:00] a a place, you know, where the tribe
will take care of its own waste
[44:05] management? Did they kind of bring that
up or it wasn't discussed?
[44:12] » M Mr. chair and commissioner toini um
indirectly it was discussed they do
[44:18] operate a facility in Arizona as I
understand and so uh they do have one
[44:23] facility that they currently operate and
then I believe contract services um with
[44:27] other entities like us to provide
services across across the nation but it
[44:33] was not mentioned that they would be
looking to do that here in San County
[44:40] » Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion
then, if I could. We uh approve the
[44:47] amended and restated joint powers
agreement with the Navajo Nation to
[44:50] operate and maintain solid waste
transfer stations as stated herein by
[44:55] Mr. Stark.
>> I'll I'll take that. But we have another
[44:59] question from Commissioner for Sorry. Go
ahead.
[45:02] » So, um Mr. Stark, just so I understand
it, so right now half a million is what
[45:08] we're due. Is that correct? And what's
the time period for that?
[45:11] » That's been over a year and 13 months, I
think. Kim, does that sound right?
[45:16] » So, over a year. And um it says if the
Navajo Nation does not appropriate funds
[45:22] for a given year, the Navajo Nation will
alert the county to this fact before
[45:27] this funds are exhausted. And they've
alerted us of that fact.
[45:32] » Well, Madam Mr. Chair, Madam or
>> Go ahead, Commissioner. [laughter] Miss
[45:38] Mitchell got me started on that.
>> I think she called me madam chair.
[45:43] [laughter]
[45:47] » Um
yeah, they so part of the dilemma with
[45:52] uh and I think this new format of
agreement plus having you know a a
[45:56] different management group in place is
it was always a dilemma for them to
[46:01] reappropriate funding for the next
fiscal year. Uh and part of it was it
[46:04] was a perpetual JPA that I think they
oftentimes forgot about internally uh
[46:10] until we would notify them that their
past due that their previous
[46:13] contribution their funds had been
exhausted and and then we would you know
[46:17] oftentimes that would happen uh outside
of the start of their fiscal year. And
[46:23] so that would be problematic for them in
terms of getting funding re you know
[46:26] reappropriated during the middle of a
fiscal year. And so, uh, this
[46:30] arrangement is much better, uh, because
it's going to be prefiscical year start,
[46:34] October 1st, and they're going to make
make good on the outstanding balance,
[46:40] um, and then also preund the next year's
worth of activity. So, um, is it
[46:46] possible that we could end up in this
place again? It is, but I think we've
[46:49] got a better structure in place now. And
and then also there's uh certainly an
[46:54] out with the the termination after 5
years and actually an out if we so chose
[47:00] county commission so chose uh if there
were funds not appropriated.
[47:04] » So it's an it's an annual payment that
they make not not five years.
[47:08] » Uh Mr. Chair, that's correct. So they
would make an upfront annual payment. Um
[47:12] and our hope would be that that's going
to happen advance or right at the same
[47:15] time of the start of their fiscal year.
>> Very good. Um, so this this should this
[47:19] should clean up, like I said, current
and then going forward. And then we'll
[47:23] just have to make certain that they're
appropriating accordingly uh for for
[47:27] future years to come.
>> And is there a grace period and then any
[47:31] type of fees attached to that paid?
Yeah. If it's not paid or
[47:37] » uh Mr. Chair and Commissioner For, we do
not have any penalties and interest that
[47:41] acrew on this. So it it's it's solely
the outstanding balance. Uh so we have
[47:46] been carrying that now for 13 months.
>> That's a long time.
[47:49] » It is a long time. No question about it.
>> And how how is the staff and how is the
[47:54] operations paid for in the event that
for that funding hasn't been given to
[47:59] the county to operate?
>> So uh Mr. Chair, Commissioner Forner, we
[48:04] we have a fund balance within the solid
waste fund that would allow us to carry
[48:07] that balance and we've been doing so.
We've had been in constant
[48:11] communication. So that
>> um proactively by county staff, myself,
[48:16] Miss Martin,
>> uh I I bet we're in communication over
[48:20] the last 13 months, every month.
>> Uh unfortunately, we weren't seeing the
[48:24] the the ball moving forward and finally
we got to a place where I think we've
[48:28] got the right people involved and so I
don't think we're going to have this
[48:31] problem in the future. Um although, you
know, uh management does change,
[48:35] elections will change management. So I
hope
[48:38] » for the candidates. Yeah, I hope I hope
that this is uh certainly something I as
[48:42] you know, we try to meet quarterly
>> um with Navajo Nation officials on a
[48:47] variety of topics, right? Um but this
will certainly be front and center going
[48:51] forward because we need to make sure
that everybody has full awareness of how
[48:55] important this is because the last thing
we would want
[48:57] » is for citizens um on the Navajo Nation
in Sanin County to be out be without
[49:03] proper trash service,
>> right?
[49:04] » And that wouldn't be good for anybody.
also to strap the county at a position
[49:08] of operational funds for that.
>> Correct. Correct.
[49:12] » So, we want to be fiscally wise in how
we're using our money, too. So, I
[49:18] appreciate that those that information.
So,
[49:20] » just I'm just wondering if we couldn't
create some incentive by tacking on
[49:28] interest on that
for the county. I mean, uh, we've given
[49:33] them plenty of time.
>> Mhm.
[49:34] » And this might nudge them a little bit
to be prompter on their payments.
[49:38] » Mr. Chair, is that something you you're
suggesting we do for the for the future
[49:44] moving forward? Because we didn't have
that provision for the current balance
[49:47] that's been accumulated.
>> Yeah. And it will come into play if they
[49:50] if they pay up.
>> Certainly, we could certainly add that
[49:53] provision to the agreement. And if you'd
like to make a motion accordingly, we
[49:56] can we can add that accordingly.
>> Yes. Do you want to amend the motion to
[50:00] include that provision?
>> Gary.
[50:03] » Gary would you want to amend that
motion?
[50:05] » Yeah, I'll amend that motion to uh I
guess it was to add interest. Is that
[50:10] right? Okay. Same motion, but we'll add
that to it.
[50:14] » And we can discuss at what percentage,
but um I I think it'd be a good thing uh
[50:20] just just to motivate them to to make a
payment. Is there a second to that
[50:23] motion?
>> I'll second.
[50:25] » All in favor?
>> I. Any opposition?
[50:29] Okay. Motion carried. Thank you, sir.
>> Thank you.
[50:32] » Thank you.
>> Item number six, consideration of
[50:36] fulfillment and release of ordinance
121, discommissioning requirements for
[50:43] public service company of New Mexico.
Mr. Mike Stark.
[50:47] » Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair and
commissioners. And I do want to note we
[50:51] have representatives of uh PNM with us
tonight. uh I think in person as well as
[50:56] as online and then we also have Andrew
Schoff who is uh San Juan County's uh
[51:02] engineer um relative to this project and
I'll I'll share more with you. Uh so for
[51:08] background uh the county commission uh
approved ordinance number 121 in in
[51:13] November of 2021. A couple of of
commissioners here were part of this
[51:17] this uh passage of this ordinance and it
it was an ordinance requiring the
[51:21] demolition and remediation of coal fired
electricity generation facilities uh
[51:26] upon retirement. And it laid out um
requirements that the county commission
[51:30] put in place uh relative to how
decommissioning should work and and how
[51:35] it should be completed uh overseen and
then ultimately a release that's
[51:40] provided. And that's what uh happy to
announce that we're bringing to you
[51:44] tonight. Um and I've got uh I'm going to
turn over some time to Mr. Shaw here uh
[51:50] our engineer that assisted us with this.
But but in essence, we um
[51:56] uh you know, PNM has has demonstrated
fulfillment of the obligations
[51:59] established under ordinance 121 by
removing above ground generating station
[52:04] infrastructure, addressing associated
environmental uh safety concerns, and
[52:08] restoring the site to a prevailing grade
consistent uh with the approved
[52:12] demolition and remediation plan that was
actually brought forth um to the
[52:16] commission previously. uh consistent
consistent with section three of
[52:20] ordinance 121, Sanin County retained um
a qualified independent engineering firm
[52:25] to evaluate the demolition and
remediation plan and to assist uh the
[52:29] county in determining compliance with
ordinance requirements. Uh following a
[52:33] review of P&M's completed uh
documentation uh site conditions and
[52:38] demolition activities, uh the county's
independent engineering consultant has
[52:42] concluded uh that San Juan generating
station has been properly decommissioned
[52:46] uh and demolished in accordance with the
approved plan and the requirements of
[52:49] ordinance 121. So with that, I'd like to
turn it over to Mr. Schoff. Um he has
[52:55] provided you his letter. Um, in addition
within our packet, your packet is the
[53:01] complete Burns and McDonald
decommissioning completion report
[53:04] provided by by PNM and we have some
associated pictures we can uh share with
[53:08] you all as well. So, with that, I'll if
I could, Mr. Chair, turn over to Mr.
[53:12] Shaw.
>> You bet. Mr. Shaw, you're on.
[53:16] » All right. Thank you. Uh, Mr.
[clears throat] Stark and uh
[53:20] commissioners, the work that was done by
PNM uh is inconsistent and uh supports
[53:27] what the ordinance was requesting uh
from the county for the utility to do.
[53:34] Uh just to highlight several of the
things that was completed during the
[53:38] activity. Uh there was a speestous that
was removed from the facility. There was
[53:43] uh the elimination of you know like the
uh chimneys which required notification
[53:48] of outside agencies. Uh there was some
underground storage tank removal and
[53:53] above ground storage tanks that were
removed and a lot of those things were
[53:57] also governed by uh other uh agencies
permit requirements. So, uh that the uh
[54:05] New Mexico Environmental Department has
some governing uh efforts over that and
[54:11] that they have reached uh all of the
demolition and uh closure requirements
[54:17] from uh those different permitted uh
storage tanks and activities. uh from a
[54:24] uh a couple of things that I do want to
just kind of highlight uh that were like
[54:29] direct impacts to San Juan County. Uh
that there was uh while there was a
[54:35] large amount of steel uh they typically
refer to it as ferris and non ferrris
[54:40] materials. So ferrris materials or the
structural steel that's removed from the
[54:45] facility. uh and the non-ferris metals.
Uh most of that was all shipped off off
[54:51] uh and outside of San Juan County, but
from a construction and demolition
[54:55] debris. Uh there was a large volume of
it that was uh disposed of in the San
[55:01] Juan County landfill uh that uh totaled
about 16,000 tons uh and uh which was
[55:08] almost 700 truckloads of material over
the several years of decommissioning
[55:14] work, which is very common. Uh that's a
very standard amount of material that
[55:19] would be uh but just want to make sure
that the commissioners understand kind
[55:23] of the impact of the uh waste facility
that you guys have and are uh managing
[55:29] for the the county. Um and that uh what
they've talked about is the uh all of
[55:35] the material being properly handled and
disposed of uh at the landfill or other
[55:41] disposal sites that they've coordinated
uh through all of the standard um
[55:46] disposal requirements uh that are laid
out in all of the regulations. Um, and
[55:53] want to just reemphasize the uh good
work that the demolition company uh that
[55:59] was hired by PNM has done and has
brought the site to uh the condition uh
[56:07] to reinstate it in kind of as close to
the general rolling um topography that
[56:15] the site was at or uh is uh located in.
[56:24] » [clears throat]
>> So the site is pretty much completely
[56:27] cleared up.
Uh all of the structures above ground
[56:32] are uh all removed. There still are uh
concrete foundations that exist uh out
[56:37] there. And if you look at the report
that was provided by PN, you can kind of
[56:42] see there's the the different areas and
they've they brought [clears throat] in
[56:46] fill in the area or kind of leveled it
out so you don't see like big giant uh
[56:52] foundations jutting up out of the ground
that it's kind of the uh general rolling
[56:57] landscape uh that exists out there.
>> Good deal.
[57:02] » Mr. Chair, um if I could have Mr.
committee pull up. We've got pictures
[57:06] that we could share that were in the
report.
[57:09] Um, so this will give you an idea of of
what that site looks like now post
[57:14] decommissioning.
>> I think there's a handful of pictures
[57:18] here.
>> Yeah. Towards the end of their report,
[57:22] so you can
[57:28] » and Mr. Chair, I might add that um
myself, Mr. Svedra, Miss Sitta, you
[57:33] know, as well as P&M representatives met
on site about a month and a half ago and
[57:38] and did a tour complete tour stem to
Stern of of of the activities that have
[57:43] taken place uh since decommissioning.
and they've done a commendable job and
[57:48] uh [clears throat] and you know not just
with decommissioning but also managing
[57:52] uh future storm water uh making sure
they have retention ponds on site so
[57:56] that you don't have you know wash outs
or areas that get you know
[58:00] » Yeah,
>> you know
[58:03] it sure has changed the view.
>> Definitely.
[58:06] » Yeah, definitely.
>> Right.
[58:08] » Like I mentioned we do have P&M um
representatives here. I didn't know if
[58:12] you'd want them to come up or not, but
they're certainly here if you needed to.
[58:15] » Yeah. If any representatives from PNM
would like to step up and say a few
[58:19] words, would would be glad to listen to
you and introduce yourselves and let us
[58:24] know who you are.
[58:30] » Good afternoon. Uh Derek Bailey, project
manager for demolition decommissioning.
[58:35] » Uh good evening. Uh Mr. Chair,
commissioners. Uh, I'm Wes Gray, vice
[58:40] president of operations in engineering
for P&M.
[58:43] » All right.
>> Good deal. Any any questions for these
[58:46] individuals?
>> No.
[58:48] » But we just thank you for being here and
and you know, do you have anything for
[58:52] us to tell us other than how the
project's been going or or fill us in?
[58:57] » Uh, it's it's a bittersweet time for
P&M. Uh the plants have operated here in
[59:02] San Juan County for a considerable
amount of time and we we've
[59:05] [clears throat] been a partner here for
for all those years. It it's tough for
[59:09] any utility to choose to decommission a
plant and tear it down. But uh you know
[59:16] time time moves on and technology moves
on and and you know we accept that with
[59:21] the energy transition that's going on in
the state of New Mexico. Uh we're happy
[59:25] that uh the county is satisfied with the
work we did that uh we're returning that
[59:30] site back to the way it once was. Um
unfortunately at this point we we don't
[59:36] have a long-term plan for it. We've had
a couple of soft inquiries about
[59:40] utilizing that site for some renewable
generation facilities, but nothing
[59:44] concrete. But from us at P&M, we're
committed to working with our
[59:48] stakeholders, our community partners,
the county to try to find a viable
[59:52] long-term solution for it. But at this
point, we don't. But, uh, you know, it
[59:55] it's a a little bit bittersweet, but I
think the the project went very well.
[59:59] The team worked very cohesively with the
county staff and the the consulting
[1:00:04] engineers to make sure that we met all
the requirements and that the county is
[1:00:07] fully satisfied with the work we have
done.
[1:00:10] » Well, very good. Thank you.
[1:00:16] » I guess it above ground it's easier to
clean. Correct. rather than the storage
[1:00:22] that's underground. Is that being taken
care of too? Like is that fuel of
[1:00:29] something? Is that
>> Yes, ma'am. We removed the underground
[1:00:35] storage tank. So, all that has been
remediated as well.
[1:00:38] » Okay. Thank you.
just the big concrete structures are
[1:00:43] still in in place, but they are uh flush
with the the rest of the ground, the
[1:00:49] back field to where but it looks good.
>> All right. Any other questions?
[1:00:55] » Well, thank you. Thank you for coming
up, but thank you for
[1:01:00] » and Mr. Mr. Chair, um so ultimately what
this item needs is an action item.
[1:01:05] » Yeah. And so it would it would be that
you all would accept uh that PNM has
[1:01:10] made satisfactory completed the
requirements of ordinance 121 and and
[1:01:15] with that action then we could issue
them formal notification via letter uh
[1:01:20] that we're required to do by way of the
ordinance. No.
[1:01:23] » Well, I'd like to entertain a motion
then consideration of the fulfillment
[1:01:27] and release of ordinance 121 uh
decommissioning requirements for Public
[1:01:33] Service Company of New Mexico.
>> I move that we accept and approve the
[1:01:38] fulfillment and release of ordinance 121
decommissioning requirements for uh
[1:01:43] Public Service Company of New Mexico
Union.
[1:01:46] » Is there a second?
>> I'll second.
[1:01:49] » Second.
All in favor? I
[1:01:52] » I
>> Is there any opposed? Motion carried.
[1:01:56] [clears throat and cough]
It's carried. Motion passed. Okay.
[1:02:01] Moving on to the report from our county
manager.
[1:02:05] » Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Commissioners, a brief update. I know we
[1:02:08] have some some uh department heads that
like to to update you on some items. Um
[1:02:15] grants and awards is what I'm focused on
tonight. So, we have continued, as you
[1:02:20] know, to do very well in the grants
department and uh we recently received
[1:02:26] uh from the New Mexico Environment
Department a VW uh settlement award of
[1:02:31] 244,481
that will replace um the heavy hall
[1:02:35] truck within our uh solid waste
department. This is the third such award
[1:02:39] that we've received through uh through
the VW settlement fund. And so, we're
[1:02:44] we're appreciative of that. It's going
to replace a 2007 unit and uh it's going
[1:02:49] to be paid for through the grant. So, um
it's always nice to have those dollars
[1:02:53] coming in from elsewhere to fund
activities and capital replacement here.
[1:02:57] We also received uh been a few years,
but Commissioner uh Toaden notified us a
[1:03:02] few years ago the Clean and Beautiful
grant. Remember that one?
[1:03:05] » He said the county needs to apply for
that. And we've been applying for it
[1:03:07] every year and we we won that grant
again for $8,000 that will help us
[1:03:12] offset uh transfer station fees. you
know, we do a spring um um waiver of
[1:03:17] fees at the transfer stations and then a
fall that's actually provided. I can't
[1:03:21] remember if it's if the spring is is
through through the contract we have
[1:03:25] with Waste Management or if if it's this
this grant, but either way, it's funding
[1:03:29] uh one of those one of those uh cleanup
free dumpster days um on a weekend that
[1:03:35] we we do twice a year. So, nice to have
that. Um, we also found out, we're going
[1:03:41] to formally recognize him when we
actually get the award. Uh, but the
[1:03:45] finance department uh was the recipient
of the GFOA, Governmental Finance
[1:03:49] Officers Association Triple Crown Award.
>> And so that's uh for three different u
[1:03:56] programs that that uh we submit on and
and win the triple crown. out of 90,000
[1:04:04] roughly 90,000 governmental units across
the United States, uh we're only one of
[1:04:08] 441 to have received the Triple Crown
award. So, I just wanted to make you
[1:04:13] aware of that. And like I said, we'll
once we get the hardware, we'll we'll
[1:04:17] get to formally recognize them at the
July uh 28th meeting. And then uh we
[1:04:23] also received notice uh a week and a
half ago that we are a national
[1:04:27] association of counties significant
achievement award winner again
[1:04:32] » for two different achievement awards.
And I don't know if Mr. Meyers is here
[1:04:37] from the treasur's office. He was
instrumental in putting those together.
[1:04:40] But one is for our workforce feedback
system using employee insight to improve
[1:04:46] uh county operations. Uh and the other
award was for the GIS enabled delinquent
[1:04:51] property tax uh collection program. So
out of the award winners uh for NAO in
[1:04:57] the state of New Mexico, there were only
12. And so we represent two of those uh
[1:05:01] 12 awards. And you know, we've got a
wall right there of all of our
[1:05:05] significant achievement uh award wins to
date. And so we'll be happy to hang two
[1:05:10] more on the wall
>> uh here very soon. So,
[1:05:14] » and that'll be presented to us in in a
couple of weeks also.
[1:05:18] » Yes, Mr. Chair, Commissioner Forer. Yes,
July 28th. In fact, Mr. Myers is heading
[1:05:21] down to um to New Orleans for the summer
conference to pick up those awards. So,
[1:05:28] uh that's here in a couple weeks.
>> Okay, that's good.
[1:05:30] » That concludes my report tonight.
>> Well, thank you,
[1:05:34] » Mr. Chair. Yes, ma'am. before um I know
we're going to get the hardware about
[1:05:39] the finance department, but I just had
to say publicly how much I appreciate
[1:05:43] them in light of a lot of things that go
on in our state. Um we have been uh we
[1:05:50] look pretty good, I must say, because of
the finance department and I know we'll
[1:05:54] be discussing it more later, but I just
wanted to publicly say thank you.
[1:06:00] » Thank you.
>> Good deal.
[1:06:03] Any [clears throat] other comments from
the commission? Okay.
[1:06:08] Uh reports from our elected officials
and our department heads. Who do we have
[1:06:14] up today?
[1:06:20] » All right. Apologize. [laughter]
>> Mr. Chair, commission.
[1:06:24] » I also like to invite Jennifer Johnson
forward. Um [clears throat] wanted to
[1:06:28] give you an update on how the year with
Jen has been. So, [laughter] I have I
[1:06:33] often refer to her as our contract
comedian. Um, which she is exceptionally
[1:06:38] funny and we do have like a Lucy and
Ethel dynamic that goes on in the
[1:06:41] office.
>> Um, but [laughter] she uh she's our
[1:06:44] success mentor. So, we have a strong
partnership with 100% San Juan, which is
[1:06:49] a grassroots organization that aligns,
amplifies, and advocates. Um, they're
[1:06:53] not a 501c3. They go through a fiscal
sponsor. So, every penny goes to a
[1:06:58] cause. They have certainly amplified
what we do and one of those ways in
[1:07:02] which they have is contracting out
Jennifer Johnson. So wanted to give you
[1:07:07] kind of a 30,000 foot view both of how
it's been um maybe where it's going but
[1:07:12] also what barriers she has observed
which coexists with the barriers that
[1:07:17] the rest of us are observing as well and
they're not new to you. You will you
[1:07:21] will recognize them. So, um, she has
served a total of 486 clients this year,
[1:07:28] most of which have been, uh, what we
would call high needs. Now, I mean, most
[1:07:31] people that walk through our door are
high needs. Um, initially that was
[1:07:36] really the focus was following these
more high needs clients. We've adapted
[1:07:40] that to accommodate the volume that
comes into the navigation center. So,
[1:07:44] what she is doing is sort of functioning
in a in a a bit of a triage way. uh
[1:07:49] Tuesday through Thursday, she's with us
and those are walk-in days. So, Jen will
[1:07:54] take these individuals, she'll assess
what's going on. If it's a fix that we
[1:07:58] can do right then and there, she will do
that. Um if somebody needs to come back,
[1:08:02] they're going to come back to me or one
of the peer navigators or Bianca for
[1:08:06] that follow-up work. Um so, that's a lot
of people, right? Um and a couple of
[1:08:14] barrier or a few barriers that have come
up. Uh transportation issues through
[1:08:19] 100%. We also received a grant for uh
Greyhound bus tickets with which came in
[1:08:23] very handy. We would have um re-entry
services from the jail approach us and
[1:08:28] say so and so is put in jail here but
they actually are from here. Can you
[1:08:33] help us get them back to there? Uh and
we've been able to do that which is
[1:08:38] lovely. Um, but transportation is a huge
barrier for our community. Um, obviously
[1:08:43] we're not a very walkable community. Um,
so that is a problem. Lack of phones or
[1:08:47] internet access. You guys might be aware
that most restaurants and sort of these
[1:08:52] more entry-level positions, you can't
walk in anymore and say, "I would like
[1:08:56] to be a dishwasher." Used to be they'd
say, "Cool, put on an apron and like get
[1:09:00] back and wash dishes." Right? But now
they're like, "Yeah, so you go to Indeed
[1:09:04] and you look us up and you turn in this
application online, right?" Well, that
[1:09:08] is a barrier for folks that do not have
access to computers, phones, internet,
[1:09:12] etc. So, we do have a computer station.
She has helped numerous people apply for
[1:09:17] jobs through that mechanism. Um, long
wait times and just multiple service
[1:09:23] processes that are going on. If you have
five needs, you need to speak to five
[1:09:26] different people, but you're not even
quite sure who the first one is nor how
[1:09:29] to get there and who to talk to. Helping
with that affordable housing, we know
[1:09:33] thankfully a county is working on
affordable housing plan. One interesting
[1:09:36] component that you might not think of is
that often there are application fees,
[1:09:40] right? So, say we have the ability to
help with move in expenses, but you have
[1:09:45] to have a lease to get that assistance,
but you can't get a lease until you're
[1:09:49] accepted, but you can't get accepted
till you put in an application fee,
[1:09:52] right? Um, other housing barriers
include certain criminal charges are
[1:09:56] prohibited from housing, and that's a a
big big deal that's going on out there.
[1:10:00] Um, and just again the the vital
documents revolving door to our vital
[1:10:05] documents and uh Medicaid has some new
requirements um for 80 hours of work,
[1:10:11] volunteer or school. And so what we're
trying to do right now is to get that
[1:10:15] word out to folks that need to hear that
and help connect them to volunteer work
[1:10:20] or school or work work um working
through that. So those are the barriers.
[1:10:26] This is the broad overview. I wanted to
allow a re reintroduce Jennifer. She's
[1:10:31] hard to forget, but here she is again.
Uh, and also give her a chance to share.
[1:10:36] There's a story today that happened. Um,
so I would like to give her the shot to
[1:10:41] tell you that. So,
>> well, thank you, Megan.
[1:10:43] » Well, good afternoon. Thank you for
having me. Sorry this is a bit
[1:10:46] spontaneous. I didn't expect to have the
time to be here, but I had a story I
[1:10:49] shared with Megan and she goes, "Could
you come to the commission meeting with
[1:10:52] me? I think they might love this." And
I'd also just like to take a minute to
[1:10:55] thank you for what you're doing. I I'm
going to try not to cry because I do
[1:10:58] that a lot. Um, Jennifer, Jill,
Christine, what an incredible thing
[1:11:02] that's going on over there. Uh, P&M, the
contribution that you've made to our
[1:11:07] community in so many ways will be long
missed. Uh, so I had a walk-in day
[1:11:13] today, which was fairly calm, and I had
a gentleman come in who, um, it often
[1:11:19] starts with one small problem, and then
you you kind of see the the avalanche
[1:11:22] underneath, right? So, he just wanted to
replace his ID. Um and the beautiful
[1:11:26] thing about it was the attitude that he
had towards the services he's
[1:11:30] experienced in San Juan County. So he
was referred um just being released from
[1:11:35] jail in uh on Saturday in fact. And so
he came to the first walk-in day cuz
[1:11:39] that was the earliest time that he could
be seen. He wanted to replace his New
[1:11:43] Mexico ID. He had the expired one. He
still had his bracelet on which is gold
[1:11:47] if anybody knows that is a government ID
basically. So uh he still had that which
[1:11:52] was great. and he had his Medicaid card
which was from about 6 years ago. Wasn't
[1:11:55] sure if it was still active or not. And
so he said, "If I could just replace my
[1:11:59] ID and I have my SNAP card, but my SNAP
benefits were cancelled while I was in
[1:12:02] jail. If I could get that back, I am so
motivated." And this was one of the most
[1:12:07] inspiring people I've met yet. So
motivated. I I want to work. I want to
[1:12:11] work anywhere. I want to get housing.
I've been at the bottom. I don't want to
[1:12:14] be there anymore and I'm ready to do it.
And I was like, "Oh my gosh, you're so
[1:12:17] cool. I can't wait to [laughter] help
you." Um, and so we started on his ID,
[1:12:21] which luckily we have the the paperwork
and the funding to be able to send him
[1:12:25] to the MVD without um having to pay for
it. We can verify that he's homeless, he
[1:12:30] has no income, he's a resident. We had
that all in favor. We didn't have any
[1:12:34] current bus passes, and again,
transportation an issue. So, um, on foot
[1:12:39] from the navigation center to the DMV is
is a long ways. Um, so luckily, I had
[1:12:43] the flexibility to be able to take him
there. And as we went there, we talked
[1:12:47] about his SNAP benefits and we tried to
call um several numbers that was a long
[1:12:51] wait, but we got a hold of Echko. They
said, "We can get you here at 3:15 if
[1:12:54] you can be here. We will get your SNAP
benefits back up and running." And so in
[1:12:58] the short drive from the navigation
center to um the MVD, he shared with me
[1:13:03] that he not only had an exceptional
experience with Mr. Web and actually the
[1:13:08] whole program there, that he wrote him a
letter that he had hoped would be shared
[1:13:11] with you all. I I can't give you any
details on the Hippopy, but you might
[1:13:15] have already heard his story. Um, and so
he said it was incredible. I love that
[1:13:20] they sent me straight here because all I
needed was that small win to make me
[1:13:24] keep getting those wins. He goes, I knew
if I didn't talk to somebody today who
[1:13:28] made me think I could do this, I wasn't
going to make it. And that was not me.
[1:13:32] This was the opportunity that you guys
gave me along with 100% and the grant
[1:13:37] from the Encor Fund to be there for him.
and we both [laughter] cried on the way
[1:13:42] to the DMV, if you can imagine. Uh that
he said, "I can't wait to be a CPSW. I
[1:13:49] can't wait to help other people. I can't
wait to tell them about my experiences."
[1:13:53] And uh the other little thing that I
think he might have mentioned in his
[1:13:56] letter was um a bicycle. Cuz I told him,
I said, "I understand that we are so
[1:14:00] grateful to have the transportation
system that we have. Um, but I've had a
[1:14:04] client who, for example, got a job food
prepping at a restaurant on the east
[1:14:08] side by Lowe's, 7 am to noon. So, the
bus didn't leave early enough from PATH
[1:14:13] to get him there on time. Then, he got a
second job at a McDonald's, but only
[1:14:17] working the graveyard shift from 8:00 to
midnight. So, the bus is shut down. He
[1:14:20] can't get there. So, he's trying to get
from um essentially Lowe's to PATH back
[1:14:26] and forth twice in a day. And he said,
"All I need is a bicycle." And so I got
[1:14:32] 100% because we had an anonymous fund
for homeless support for $112. We got
[1:14:36] him a new Huffy bike from Walmart. Um,
which is a small thing, but that changed
[1:14:40] that person's story. And I told him,
"What do you think if I could get you a
[1:14:45] bike?" And then we cried again. He was
like, [laughter] "If I could get a
[1:14:48] bike," he goes, "I'm going to make you
[clears throat] so proud of me."
[1:14:52] » And so I just wanted you guys to know
the navigation center does incredible
[1:14:56] things. There are a lot of beautiful
things going on in this community, but I
[1:15:00] think that they are overlooked for the
sense of belonging that we give to
[1:15:05] people that come in and just giving them
that sense of hope because it's never a
[1:15:10] closed door. If it's something that they
can't provide, they still sit with you,
[1:15:14] talk to you about it, figure out who can
help you, and if no one can help you,
[1:15:18] then we figure out how we fix that. So,
thank you
[1:15:23] [applause]
Any
[1:15:27] questions?
>> Any questions?
[1:15:30] » I have something.
>> Go ahead.
[1:15:32] » Okay. [laughter]
>> I didn't have a question. Terry does.
[1:15:36] » Jen, you always tell a great story and
cry and I love it. You always have great
[1:15:41] stories and you know,
>> well, that's that's that passion,
[1:15:44] enthusiasm, and I appreciate that. And
Megan, thank you for having her come and
[1:15:49] tell. And so, you know, there's this
thing called Tik Tok and YouTube and
[1:15:53] that
>> tell me an Ethel thing. [laughter]
[1:15:58] » You guessed it right. I am Ethel. Yes.
Okay.
[1:16:01] » Yeah. Well, and we need comedic relief
sometimes cuz you guys deal with tough
[1:16:06] things and it's okay to laugh and make
other people laugh and I appreciate the
[1:16:11] way you guys tell stories because um you
know ultimately at the end of the day
[1:16:16] you guys are doing it. we have the
opportunity to to support you in this
[1:16:21] and I hope that we always have that
opportunity to support you cuz that's
[1:16:24] big work and for somebody to say that he
has hope
[1:16:28] » that is big from a bicycle you know I
mean
[1:16:33] » yeah so thank you for sharing that
>> yeah absolutely I feel like I have to
[1:16:37] tell you a joke [laughter]
[1:16:42] » it's not a good one but it's the most
recent one I heard so do you know what
[1:16:45] the difference is between New York and
Minnesota. Why they're polar opposites?
[1:16:50] Because New York has the big apple and
Minnesota is where the mini apple is.
[1:16:58] » That's good. That's kidfriendly.
>> Any other questions? [laughter]
[1:17:04] » The stage now. Okay.
>> Thank you for making the difference.
[1:17:17] » [laughter]
[1:17:21] » other department heads.
[1:17:26] » There comes Mr. Nick
>> road information bridges.
[1:17:32] That's good.
>> Uh good afternoon, Mr. Chair,
[1:17:36] commissioners. Um Mr. Starcast I give
you a report. U we'll share So I'll
[1:17:39] share two projects that are going on
right now. Um yesterday, today's
[1:17:44] Tuesday, uh we started uh the full depth
reclamation work uh for the second phase
[1:17:49] of the road 7900 project. Um that should
take about 6 weeks. Uh so we do have
[1:17:55] single enclosures in place during the
day out there right now. Folks that that
[1:17:58] may use that road will indeed um
encounter construction and asking them
[1:18:03] certainly to obey any signage and
direction we have in place from our our
[1:18:07] crews on the ground. Uh second project
um starting actually next Monday that
[1:18:12] you awarded I think it was on the
consent agenda last month is the
[1:18:16] rehabilitation project on the APS bridge
is what it's known. Uh it's that bridge
[1:18:20] that crosses the Sanan River uh between
Upper Futland and uh and Futland outside
[1:18:26] of Kirtland. Uh that project will be
continuing through October this year.
[1:18:30] It's uh structural concrete repairs, a
bridge coating project and replacement
[1:18:35] of the the supporting uh bridge bearing
plates. Um certainly keep you updated as
[1:18:40] that project progresses, but starts
Monday. So, a lot going on.
[1:18:44] » Awesome.
>> Well, good. Thanks. Thank you.
[1:18:46] » I I don't have anything. I just have a
comment is that I feel kind of like a
[1:18:50] salmon on a salmon ladder with all the
construction, not in the county, but in
[1:18:55] the city. I'm get I'm trying to go here,
but I'm going all the way over here. But
[1:18:59] I feel like um you know and it's just
you got to do stuff now, right? But
[1:19:04] » I I just realized that today I'm getting
further away from where I'm going
[1:19:08] [laughter]
>> to get there.
[1:19:11] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[1:19:12] » It's like 550.
>> I have a little bit of a report and a
[1:19:16] little bit of a request. So a few weeks
ago we had the um New Mexico County
[1:19:21] summer conference down in Gallup. Um
there were several of us from the county
[1:19:24] that were able to attend that. Um, it
was great few days of networking and
[1:19:29] learning and visiting a county that I
honestly had never spent much time in.
[1:19:34] Um, Gallup has a lot to offer. It's kind
of a neat place. Um, but as I was
[1:19:39] driving in, um, one of the first things
I noticed was their fuel prices, and I
[1:19:43] know fuel prices was on everybody's
minds. Um, at that point it was 355 a
[1:19:49] gallon at Walmart.
Um,
[1:19:53] we're a community that just as Jim was
saying, we do have public
[1:19:57] transportation, but it's not convenient
for everybody. So, everybody has to use
[1:20:02] their cars, get their kids to school, go
to work, whatever. Um, so I've had
[1:20:06] several PE people reach out to me and I
am now asking the county staff to um
[1:20:14] open an investigation into our fuel
prices in Sanong County.
[1:20:19] » [applause]
>> um
[1:20:23] that will be going through the attorney
general and um we just want some answers
[1:20:28] as to why our prices are higher. Um we
need a better understanding as to what
[1:20:33] the issue is issues are whether it be um
supply or transportation because that's
[1:20:38] kind of the typical answer I seem to
get. Um competitions, taxes or other
[1:20:44] reasons. Um, you all deserve
transparency and I'm hoping that as a
[1:20:49] county we're able to provide that.
>> Well, very good. That's a great
[1:20:54] suggestion for sure.
>> Okay.
[1:20:56] » Yeah. Is there any other [snorts]
department heads that need to give us an
[1:21:01] update?
>> Mr. Chair, um,
[1:21:05] » Mr. start. I don't know if you've
already done it, but uh Farmington
[1:21:10] Police Department lost an officer in a
tragic. If if we haven't sent um
[1:21:17] condolences, could you please do that?
>> Mr. Chair and Commissioner Toni, we'd be
[1:21:22] we'd happy to do so on behalf of the
commission.
[1:21:25] » Okay.
Okay.
[1:21:29] Guess there's not any more [snorts]
um
[1:21:35] comments
and input from the general public.
[1:21:39] Comments are accepted in person.
>> How do we do that? Do I just say
[1:21:46] » okay let me read this and then we can
come up. Comments are accepted in person
[1:21:51] limited to three minutes on the subjects
the commission has not previously
[1:21:56] discussed or formal action has not been
taken. No formal action will be taken at
[1:22:02] this meeting that relates to the
comments or inputs from the general
[1:22:06] public.
If you have a comment or an input, come
[1:22:11] on up.
[1:22:17] Hello you all.
>> Well, hello there.
[1:22:19] » I don't come real often, you must admit.
No,
[1:22:23] » but I'm here to tonight to ask you to
rethink something.
[1:22:29] » Introduce yourself, please.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Dr. Carol Claw. I'm a
[1:22:34] retired educator and an alalfa hay
farmer.
[1:22:37] » Okay. I live on the West Hammond.
And when I was 18 years old, my husband
[1:22:44] was 19, we got married and came to
Farmington
[1:22:48] and we fell in love with it. Then we
went all over. You know how the gas
[1:22:52] company does. And when we had a chance
to come back, said, "Let's go to San
[1:22:56] Juan County." And we did. And we bought
a 100 acres on the West Hammond. It had
[1:23:02] never been planted. And we didn't know
how to farm. You remember Christy Donna
[1:23:06] Thorp? Yes,
>> she taught us how to farm and Harold
[1:23:10] built her a chicken coupe. [laughter]
We had a 5-year-old, 7year-old,
[1:23:15] 9year-old little daughter. One of the
middle daughters back there with me now
[1:23:20] on that West Hammond, it was a dirt
road. There were literally 12 families.
[1:23:27] The reason I know that my husband and
four men started the water company for
[1:23:33] drinking water.
Barbara Kipper is here. There are now
[1:23:39] 3,500.
That road
[1:23:44] paved by the San Juan County Commission.
Thank you. Is a two-lane highway.
[1:23:51] The road coming from Albuquerque to
Farmington is four divided. Farmington,
[1:23:58] Bloomfield to Farmington, four divided.
the huge trucks come down that road. Now
[1:24:06] I'm a retired educator and my daughter
Dr. Kimberly Meiselle was superintendent
[1:24:11] in Bloomfield. She said, "Mom, that's
really dangerous because we have kids
[1:24:18] standing out there morning and evening
being picked up or let off from the
[1:24:23] buses. The bridge has been built twice.
I don't know how much a oil tanker
[1:24:31] weighs filled up, but I'm assuming it's
pretty much and there's enough for two
[1:24:37] or three to be on that bridge.
I would like to ask you all to rethink
[1:24:45] perhaps that road isn't appropriate for
huge trucks.
[1:24:52] Now I don't know what it would take to
do that but I do know that there are
[1:24:57] areas where there is high population in
cities that trucks are not allowed to
[1:25:03] go.
So my request tonight
[1:25:09] after I thank manager Mike Stark,
I really do thank you Mike and at the
[1:25:16] state fair he gives me a hug because he
is working the booth for San Juan County
[1:25:24] and I am down there as a commissioner.
So, I really appreciate and he always
[1:25:30] calls me back and he helps me solve my
problems. If the county can't do it, he
[1:25:35] tells me how to get it done. So, I want
to thank all of you for what you do. I
[1:25:41] appreciate it. I love this community. I
love this county.
[1:25:45] And I'm appealing to you
to rethink that road being open. Oh, by
[1:25:53] the way, it's so straight.
It's a racetrack
[1:26:00] and I have to remind myself not to do it
too.
[1:26:04] But please just consider that and what
you're looking at doing in the future.
[1:26:10] And as a high school principal, I used
to tell my teachers,
[1:26:15] don't tell me why you can't, tell me how
you can.
[1:26:21] All right? So, think of it that way.
Thank you.
[1:26:23] » Thank you, Cheryl.
>> [applause]
[1:26:31] » allow myself to introduce myself. My
name is Steve Wl. I reside at 48 Road
[1:26:35] 5250 on the West Ham. Thank you for uh
allowing us to come and speak here today
[1:26:42] of a serious concern of course of what
Miss Chlor has already alluded to with a
[1:26:46] show of hands. How many uh West Hammond
residents do we have here today?
[1:26:50] Wonderful.
I'm the one I'll take full
[1:26:53] responsibility. I'm the one that
spearheaded this effort because I see a
[1:26:57] safety related concern on the West
Hammond. Since the construction of the
[1:27:01] bill of of the um of the bridge itself
that was completed in May of 2022,
[1:27:07] that bridge was actually constructed to
allow that of heavier weight trucks to
[1:27:12] enter as well as to exit, I guess you
could say, over the bridge and continue
[1:27:16] on to 550.
As you well know, all of us search for
[1:27:21] that of the closest parking spot at
Walmart.
[1:27:26] The same thing here in that of
psychology applies. People think that
[1:27:31] they can take that shortcut and
eliminate time. I talked to the state
[1:27:35] police officer. I said, "How much time
does really we can actually save?" And
[1:27:39] he says, "Probably about 4 minutes."
Ladies and gentlemen, these heavy trucks
[1:27:43] coming up and down our road have now
become that of a serious problem.
[1:27:47] I asked the state police officer, I
said, 'What is it going to take to
[1:27:50] correct the problem? He said, ' Probably
a serious accident and then the review
[1:27:55] of what the problem is. I'm here to
provide that of a solution.
[1:28:00] We just restrict that of heavy over the
low over the road tractor trailer rigs
[1:28:06] coming through our West Hammond rural
road, which is a double yellow line,
[1:28:12] very narrow with no shoulder. Case in
point, I was actually making a left-hand
[1:28:16] turn to go into my road 5250. To make a
left-hand turn, we had traffic going
[1:28:21] obviously going eastbound, so I had to
stop. Behind me was a tractor trailer
[1:28:25] rig. With that person's impatience, I
guess you could say, in order to make
[1:28:28] the final delivery point, decide to pass
me on the right hand side, completely
[1:28:32] around me. There's no shoulder there.
What would happen if a pedestrian or
[1:28:37] someone riding a bicycle? How about
there was a school bus?
[1:28:42] There's no shoulder, ladies and
gentlemen. Now, we have the wonderful
[1:28:45] Dollar General store. The wonderful
Dollar General store. Along with that,
[1:28:50] we have three major mailboxes along that
pathway on that south side of the road.
[1:28:55] Now, we have obnoxction, you would say,
of egress and degress of traffic coming
[1:29:00] in and out of that of Dollar General
store. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm telling
[1:29:05] you what, I'd hate to see a school bus.
I'd hate to see any fatality or injury,
[1:29:10] including myself. My wife and I we every
time we I guess you could say drive the
[1:29:15] gauntlet the West Hammond and the influx
of that of tractor trailer rigs has
[1:29:20] become a major major safety concern. I
did the research here ladies and
[1:29:24] gentlemen. We do have a state statute is
chapter 66 motor vehicle 66-7-415
[1:29:31] when the state transportation commission
or local authorities may restrict the
[1:29:35] right of the usage of streets and
highways.
[1:29:38] I would suggest your legal counsel
review this and we're talking about
[1:29:42] let's don't wait till tomorrow. Let's
get it done. We do appreciate the large
[1:29:47] marquee sign that says to please slow
down. We appreciate that, but it's not
[1:29:50] going to remedy the problem. Now, I'm
not out to that of the fact of limiting
[1:29:55] or saying that of anyone who has a
business of tractor trailer business of
[1:29:59] semis. No, I'm not out to do that. I'm
looking out for the safety the safety of
[1:30:06] our constituents and our residents who
live in rural America, rural New Mexico
[1:30:11] on the West Hammond. Let's take action
now. Let's put up a sign on both ends.
[1:30:18] It is not a thorough way. It's not I7.
It's not an extension of I50, 550 or
[1:30:23] anything else. It's a two-lane highway,
ladies and gentlemen. Let's not let a
[1:30:28] fatality or that of someone become
seriously injured on that road. And then
[1:30:31] we finally decided, let's take action.
My 3 minutes is up. I do have a copy of
[1:30:35] that state statute. I'm going to go and
leave that for your legal counselor to
[1:30:38] review. I suggest in collaboration with
your local authorities along with that
[1:30:42] state police, whatever the case might
be, and and your sheriff's department,
[1:30:46] we take action now. Please, I beg of
you. Okay? All right. Thank you for your
[1:30:53] time, consideration. I've gone over the
three minutes. Thank you.
[1:30:56] » You was 10 minutes.
>> Thank you.
[1:31:01] » [applause]
[1:31:11] » Hey, Mr. Chairman County Commissioners.
I'm Barbara Kipper. I live out in the
[1:31:17] West Hammond area. I've been there for
20 years now. And uh I've watched the
[1:31:22] traffic continually to increase. And
ever since that bridge that everybody's
[1:31:27] talked about was uh uh given more
strength and the trucks now go through
[1:31:33] there. Um I've watched that traffic with
the trucks just increase every year. Uh
[1:31:40] I recently found myself sitting at the
uh stop sign at 550 and 5500
[1:31:47] waiting for an opportunity to get on and
merge on to 550. waiting for all the
[1:31:53] trucks, the Walmart, the Target, the
Core Mark, just constantly coming and
[1:31:59] turning coming down that hill and
turning on the 5500. And as people said,
[1:32:06] yeah, they're saving two, three, four
minutes by not going into Bloomfield.
[1:32:12] Um
why? What about the destruction that
[1:32:16] those heavy trucks are going to do to
the road that the county is maintaining,
[1:32:23] not the state as 55550
is maintained by the state. So, um
[1:32:30] the mailboxes that are all along the
rural road, they sit very very close to
[1:32:37] that road. And when those big trucks are
coming by and you're standing beside
[1:32:42] your mailbox, you can feel the pressure
from these trucks,
[1:32:47] it's dangerous.
And I really ask that the county take
[1:32:55] and evaluate what is happening on that
road, how it has changed, what are the
[1:33:01] safety concerns to the people there to
recognize that it is a rural community.
[1:33:09] There's tractors. There's people going
slow for valid reasons and they're
[1:33:16] feeling the pressure from these trucks
that are going 60 miles an hour and
[1:33:20] they're right there on your tail end.
They want you to go faster.
[1:33:26] Uh
ask you to evaluate what are our
[1:33:29] options. How can we improve the process,
improve the highway there
[1:33:35] before something seriously does happen?
Thank you for your time and your
[1:33:40] consideration.
>> Thank you.
[1:33:43] [applause]
[1:33:52] » Good evening, commission. Just like to
say that I appreciate the ability for
[1:33:58] citizens to come on board their
>> gentle your name, please.
[1:34:02] » I'm sorry. David Harrison Bloomfield.
>> David Harrison. Um, I appreciate being
[1:34:07] able to be heard and and seen by you
folks and we appreciate what you guys
[1:34:11] do. I know it's pretty tough job. Um,
those uh who have spoken are pretty
[1:34:17] tough acts to follow and I'm not going
to really elaborate, but I'm also a
[1:34:21] citizen. I mean a a a resident off of
5500. Um, the traffic is is pretty bad
[1:34:28] and uh lots of trucks etc. One thing
I've noticed, um, I'm recently retired,
[1:34:33] but when I was working the oil field,
uh, I was up on Nappy just above there,
[1:34:38] and I noticed when they started the
major construction of the intersection
[1:34:43] in Bloomfield with 550 and 64, U, and
that was kind of a mess over there. I
[1:34:49] noticed a pretty sudden change in the
traffic across, uh, 7100 up there. not
[1:34:57] 7100. Um, but anyway, across the cut
across, it goes all the way to uh the
[1:35:02] Bista Highway. And come to find out to
talking through to some of the truckers,
[1:35:07] it was actually Google that was routing
them
[1:35:10] » across that way.
>> And so, you know, I try to look up stuff
[1:35:15] and as most of us probably know, Google
is like there's no contacting anybody
[1:35:22] there that you can do anything with. But
anyway, so looking at that, it it made
[1:35:26] sense and then I noticed slowly the
traffic started increasing on 5500 while
[1:35:32] they were still working on that
intersection in Bloomfield. So I don't
[1:35:35] know if there was uh something that
Google had changed in their program that
[1:35:41] would automatically just send people,
you know, cut them across the top of the
[1:35:45] bluffs or down 5,500. But there was
definitely a change and I'm thinking
[1:35:49] that since we have a lot of uh people
who are not from here that are passing
[1:35:53] through that are driving trucks and
stuff like that that that's probably
[1:35:57] where that came from. Having said that,
um I also spoke to someone um I don't
[1:36:04] remember who it was, but basically what
I was told was it being it's a county
[1:36:09] road that comes off of a state highway.
I think I was asking about signage or
[1:36:14] something that we could put up, you
know, to kind of try to divert traffic
[1:36:17] back through Bloomfield. Uh, and
basically they told me that it's kind of
[1:36:22] hard for state and county to collaborate
on something like that to get a sign or
[1:36:27] signs put up to kind of make that
happen. So, you guys are the experts at
[1:36:33] that. I don't know how uh that could be
done, but that was one of the things
[1:36:37] that I was told and stuff. But anyway,
uh not going to take up a bunch more of
[1:36:41] your time. Um but that it is a concern.
Like Mrs. Cler said, it's it's really
[1:36:46] dangerous. I've got kids and all kinds
of stuff. I know you guys know what's
[1:36:50] going on, but uh just wanted to
reiterate that it's a it's a pretty good
[1:36:54] problem and you know, the sheriff's
department does everything they can to
[1:36:58] do what they you know what they do. And
we appreciate them a lot. They're pretty
[1:37:02] uh visual out there and we do see state
police also. So, thumbs up to them.
[1:37:08] Thank you all for your time. I
appreciate it.
[1:37:10] » Thank you, David.
[applause]
[1:37:23] Commissioners, uh, my name is Alyssa.
[1:37:34] I am a resident of San Juan County. I
have been for almost all my life and
[1:37:39] it's not that much. I am a steward of
the land by birth being a da woman which
[1:37:46] has brought me to you today. Um more
importantly I am also a community
[1:37:51] member. I like to say everywhere my foot
touches is my community. So, I'm very
[1:37:56] concerned when there's um outside
entities who are trying to come in to
[1:38:03] desecrate our water, desecrate our land,
and by doing so with a data center. That
[1:38:10] is my largest concern at the moment. On
the reservation, of course, we are
[1:38:14] surrounded by rivers at this point. We
have the utmost beautiful land. I think
[1:38:19] the rivers are one of the resources that
we have. Other states do not. Other
[1:38:25] parts of New Mexico do not. I have been
following data centers since the
[1:38:30] beginning of this year, possibly back to
December of 2025.
[1:38:36] I've just been watching at this point,
and have just started to make myself
[1:38:41] heard by means of drafting resolutions
for my local chapter, which is the
[1:38:45] Shiprock chapter. I am also working with
well just trying to get myself heard
[1:38:52] with leadership and giving information
about data centers. Some of those are
[1:38:58] the amounts of water that are used.
There's a lot of talk about new tech to
[1:39:03] where they are closed loop systems.
However, resources are actually being
[1:39:09] utilized. Be it water. Uh there are
promises of jobs and anything that's
[1:39:15] built from the get-go always is
lucrative in jobs, but over the course
[1:39:19] of time those uh amounts of jobs are
decreased. With data centers
[1:39:24] specifically, the employment that
happens after they're built is a very
[1:39:30] skeleton crew. You just have someone
there either cleaning or making sure
[1:39:34] that everything's cooled down. Given the
location of where we are at, my biggest
[1:39:39] concern is the water usage. We do have
farmers, ranchers that are still
[1:39:44] utilizing their lifeways. We do have
indigenous cultures living downstream
[1:39:49] from us to be considered. And
ultimately, we have future generations
[1:39:53] that are depending on us to protect the
resources within our community. So my
[1:39:59] ask for you today is to please consider
our future generations when making
[1:40:03] decisions if approached by data centers
that want to set up within the county um
[1:40:09] and more importantly within our area. Uh
the amount of water that is used, the
[1:40:14] amount of frequencies that the sound
makes could potentially make people
[1:40:19] aggressive
um or affect the animals where they're
[1:40:23] grinding their teeth from the
frequencies that are bothering them. So,
[1:40:27] I thank you for the opportunity to talk.
I thank you for the opportunity to serve
[1:40:32] you. And I look forward to watching my
leadership do good for our community.
[1:40:37] » Thank you for your time. [applause]
[1:40:47] » Good late afternoon, chairman and
commissioners. My name is Linda Corwin.
[1:40:51] I live in Bloomfield. I'm also going to
be talking about the data centers.
[1:40:57] Uh we are aware that there are people I
would say snooping around
[1:41:02] uh looking for a suitable place for a
data center in Sanin County. And because
[1:41:08] other counties and the state legislature
and even the United States government
[1:41:13] are moving to ban or put moratoriums on
data centers, the pressure is going to
[1:41:19] be increased on you.
Many outlandish promises will be made to
[1:41:25] you like we could get water out of the
air or we have a new system to make
[1:41:31] electricity.
But please remember what Enchant Energy
[1:41:36] did to our area. How much of our money
was spent and lost.
[1:41:43] These data center companies are rushing
too fast. Please slow down and ask some
[1:41:51] questions.
One, ask them, "Do you have a fullcale
[1:41:56] working model of whatever machines
they're pushing?
[1:42:01] How much noise will be produced 247?
How much light pollution will be
[1:42:07] produced 247?
How much air pollution will they produce
[1:42:13] 24/7?
How much land are they asking for?
[1:42:19] Each acre equals habitat destruction for
our endangered pong horns and other
[1:42:26] wildlife.
So, I am all for solar energy, but we've
[1:42:31] already lost over a thousand acres of
habitat
[1:42:35] from uh for our wild creatures who need
that land to survive. So, please say no
[1:42:43] to these greedy companies. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:42:54] » Good evening. I'm Sean Schlafley and um
I have a concern about the data centers,
[1:42:59] too. Um I guess there's a proposal right
now. They're in the uh early stages of
[1:43:06] selling off some school land, I guess,
over across the Llata. Um uh that's very
[1:43:13] precious. Um I think we're short. Um
that's a short-term decision, not a
[1:43:19] long-term, you know, short-term. Yeah.
You know, the money looks great. uh you
[1:43:24] know and since New Mexico is considering
banning AI centers right now or putting
[1:43:30] a moratorum on them because they want to
study water resources, electrical rates,
[1:43:36] etc. They're already planning to do one
over across from the the platada. Um, I
[1:43:44] think that is a very poor decision and
anybody that makes that decision, they
[1:43:50] can have that in their backyard cuz
there's a lot of people that are going
[1:43:53] to live next to that school and they're
going to be affected.
[1:43:58] And you know, if you're making these
decisions, think about your own backyard
[1:44:02] because if you want to put it in your
own backyard, you know, think, think,
[1:44:06] think. Thank you. [applause]
[1:44:15] Hello, commissioners. [clears throat] My
name is Rebecca Davis. Um, I live in
[1:44:20] Bloomfield. I'm an elementary school
teacher in Farmington. Um, I want to
[1:44:24] start by thanking you guys for your
time, um, this service that you guys do.
[1:44:28] We may not agree on what I'm about to
speak on, but I do appreciate the time
[1:44:32] and effort you guys all put into this.
Um, I'm coming to you today on behalf of
[1:44:37] myself, but I know there are many more
in the room in our county uh that care
[1:44:41] what I am here about today. Um, so I'm
here to talk about the concern um
[1:44:46] surrounding data centers um coming to
San Juan County. I was first made aware
[1:44:50] of the um situation thanks to a
Farmington schoolboard meeting in May uh
[1:44:56] where the realtor and state legislator
spoke about uh several data center
[1:45:00] developers that are com um confirmed to
be looking in the area. Um he was not
[1:45:04] openly asking FMS to sell their land to
that data center. I've listened to it
[1:45:09] many times. He did not ask them
directly, but it was enough to concern
[1:45:14] myself and others uh that care about our
environment here and our um livelihood.
[1:45:20] Um so thankfully it seems as though FMS
is not going to be selling that land.
[1:45:24] It's not been on the agendas um and
following meetings. Um but that's why
[1:45:30] I'm here today. Um I actually would like
to know how many if you could raise your
[1:45:34] hand if you are here about data centers
and your concern against them. So, this
[1:45:39] was with a week's notice of trying to
get uh concerned people together.
[1:45:43] There's a lot of people concerned about
this. Um, and we know that it's not on
[1:45:47] your agendas yet. We haven't heard
anything official. Um, I think the
[1:45:51] concern is what's happening that we
don't know about. What's happening
[1:45:54] behind non-disclosure agreements. Um,
and so that's the concern. Um, data
[1:46:01] centers are not good for our land, our
people, our animals, our spirits. I
[1:46:07] thought it was interesting that you guys
started today with a a Christian prayer.
[1:46:11] Um, with it being a government entity,
but because it seemed as though maybe
[1:46:15] all are spiritual people, we could
equate data centers to a devil. Um, a
[1:46:19] data center is a devil that will come
with false promises, will come with
[1:46:24] false promises of jobs, an economic
boom. But in reality, what will we see
[1:46:28] is a hike in electric prices,
short-lived jobs that will fade out
[1:46:33] after uh development, and massive
amounts of pollution in our air, land,
[1:46:37] and water. Now, whether or not y'all as
a commission and county choose to
[1:46:41] believe these things are true, um you
are held to represent the people who
[1:46:46] elected you. You are held to do what the
people want and is what is best for our
[1:46:50] well-being. And a data center is not
that. I ask that you please consider
[1:46:54] adopting a moratorum on data centers um
in the area or even an ordinance to ban
[1:46:59] them would be better. I know my journey
doesn't stop here uh to fight data
[1:47:04] centers, but I do hope that this will be
the start of San Juan County um putting
[1:47:07] the well-being of its people over
profit. Thank you
[1:47:12] [applause]
[1:47:19] » commissioners. Good evening. My name is
Candy Blasting Game and I live in Aztec.
[1:47:24] And I'll start with something a little
bit unusual.
[1:47:27] I'm not here about a project because as
I understand it, there isn't one on the
[1:47:32] table. And that's exactly why I'm here.
I would like San Juan County to
[1:47:37] proactively stand up an exploratory
committee on data centers now before any
[1:47:42] developer ever walks through the door.
[applause]
[1:47:45] Oh, y'all aren't going to like me too
much in a minute, so hold on. Here's my
[1:47:50] reasoning. A committee isn't how we slow
this down. A moratorium is a horrible
[1:47:54] idea. It's how we make sure that if
something gets built, San Juan County
[1:48:00] actually wins instead of just hosting
someone else's win. Because the benefits
[1:48:06] of these projects are negotiated,
not automatic.
[1:48:10] Look at Los Lunis. They came prepared
and they locked in a payment in lie of
[1:48:15] taxes revenue and a state grant
dedicated to water infrastructure.
[1:48:21] Elsewhere, the same industry has built
and gifted entire water treatment plants
[1:48:26] to the towns that hosted them. And
that's what a ready county captures.
[1:48:32] Now, on the other hand, Donana County
approved a multi-billion dollar project
[1:48:37] in about a month. Nobody was prepared,
and the fight over water and emissions
[1:48:42] has not stopped since.
When you're unprepared, you get
[1:48:46] stampeded into a rushed yes or a rushed
no, and you leave the real benefits on
[1:48:52] the table.
I'll be honest about where I stand.
[1:48:57] I think this county can host a data
center reliably. And I think if we can
[1:49:02] host a data center reliably, we should
consider it in light of the benefits it
[1:49:07] may offer. I would rather help shape one
on our terms than miss it or agree to
[1:49:14] terms that fail to capture full benefit
or fail to negate full harm.
[1:49:19] I also know that I am prone to
confirmation bias and so is everyone in
[1:49:24] this room on both sides. I've heard a
lot of information, a lot of
[1:49:29] misinformation.
I'm not going to claim to be an expert
[1:49:33] on data centers, but I can say that some
of the things I've heard even in this
[1:49:37] room tonight are facious.
A public balanced committee is how we
[1:49:43] protect each other from our own
certainty.
[1:49:47] And this isn't data centers as villain
or savior. It's a partnership. And a
[1:49:52] partnership is impossible when
everyone's already dug in. Here's what
[1:49:57] it looks like. A major tech company is
already funding leak detection across
[1:50:02] Farmington's water lines, a project the
city expects to save hundreds of
[1:50:07] millions of gallons a year. That
happened because someone was at that
[1:50:11] table. So my ask is specific.
Form the committee now. Make it
[1:50:18] genuinely balanced. Utility engineers
and hydraologists, not just advocates
[1:50:24] and not just opponents,
plus any residents nearest that site.
[1:50:30] Publish everything. Be transparent
and set our standards in advance. water,
[1:50:38] rateayer protection, closure bonding,
real permanent jobs, environmental
[1:50:44] impact.
Let's get ahead of this in the open so
[1:50:48] we can decide with a purpose. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:50:59] » My name is Steve Rogers. I'm a resident
at uh County Road 5251. I've been there
[1:51:05] 42 years. I would like to address the
5500 issue from another perspective. I'm
[1:51:11] a professional truck driver. I haul fuel
in San Juan County. [cough] The
[1:51:17] unprofessional actions that I have seen
on 5,500 by countless companies, both
[1:51:23] local and out of state, display that
their professionalism is lacking
[1:51:30] and they're dangerous. They come off of
the hill from Nappy down to Sanan to to
[1:51:37] turn off there on 5500. Your brakes are
hot if you're a loaded truck. You can't
[1:51:42] stop from 65 miles an hour down to a
complete stop and then turn and have
[1:51:48] brakes that will instantly respond to
you while you're traveling. I've seen
[1:51:52] these guys pass me. I could name
companies that do this. FedEx being one
[1:51:58] of them. M&R Trucking another one. uh
some of the other local companies and
[1:52:04] these drivers are displaying
unprofessionalism. They're passing on a
[1:52:08] double yellow line. There's 400 ft
according to Google Earth Maps
[1:52:14] difference in the route on 5500 and
going into Bloomfield turning left and
[1:52:19] going on a highway that has three lanes
so that you can move around and avoid
[1:52:25] slow vehicles or you can stay in a slow
lane. But it it's a very dangerous
[1:52:31] situation that we have out there.
Somebody's going to get killed out
[1:52:34] there. I'll guarantee you that. I will
give kudos to the Sanin County Sheriff's
[1:52:40] Department. They are out there. They are
trying to slow vehicles down and they're
[1:52:44] issuing tickets. They've put out a a
sign that says, "Are in a hurry? Don't
[1:52:49] don't break the speed limit." That's a
good thing. That's a great idea. Uh the
[1:52:54] mailboxes are dangerous. I go to get out
and get my mail. I open the door and
[1:53:00] it's about 8 in from the pavement where
those trucks are going by and cars at 70
[1:53:06] and 80 miles an hour. That happens every
week. And uh I just kind of want to add
[1:53:13] my comments to it from the truck
driver's perspective. It's better to go
[1:53:17] on into Bloomfield and turn and use uh
64. And it will always be better because
[1:53:24] that highway was designed for a volume
of traffic and it's a [clears throat]
[1:53:27] great idea. Needed to be done when it
was done. 5500
[1:53:32] is a danger.
I love living out there. I don't want to
[1:53:36] move. I don't want my wife and I were
almost retired. Not quite.
[1:53:42] But we would like to see it stay a safe
place. And I agree with Carol Clure. It
[1:53:47] was a great place to move when 42 years
ago we were there. Thank you guys for
[1:53:53] your time. Appreciate it. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:54:00] » My name is Candy Lynn Christensen Le
Moine. I live in Farmington. I'm here to
[1:54:07] speak about AI data centers. I
appreciate each and every one of you for
[1:54:12] serving San Juan County. I was the
volunteer coordinator, the mayor's
[1:54:20] the mayor's volunteer partners
coordinator for the city of Farmington.
[1:54:26] Um, I worked for the city of Farmington
for 26 years. I loved my job and I love
[1:54:34] my community. I have one daughter, four
grandchildren, and five greatg
[1:54:40] grandandchildren. Three of my
granddaughters live here and three of my
[1:54:44] greatg grandand do grandchildren live
here. I want to see them have a future.
[1:54:51] Water has a heartbeat and we're losing
it. We are If you travel to Durango and
[1:54:58] go over Wook Creek Pass, the trees are
screaming. I can hear them screaming
[1:55:05] because they're dying and they bring us
water.
[1:55:09] So, I don't know what we're going to do
about this climate situation, but it is
[1:55:14] getting bad. And AI data centers. I want
you to do a full
[1:55:22] cost benefit analysis
to include the environment to include
[1:55:29] future generations and what we do here.
We have lived here a long time. My
[1:55:35] grandfather was born near the confluence
in a log cabin 1901. Don H. Homer Steel.
[1:55:44] My grand greatgrandparents came in here
at the behest of President Snow
[1:55:51] with that Mormon migration. So, um I'm
very appreciative of my community. I
[1:55:58] hope I can help serve on any commission
that you you uh you elect to do and I
[1:56:06] appreciate your service. Just please
Aaron Brochovich is even on the case
[1:56:12] with this. Just Aaron Brochovich data
centers. All you got to do is give that.
[1:56:19] Thank you for your time. Thank you for
your service.
[1:56:23] [applause]
[1:56:33] Thank you commissioners for your time.
My name is Judith Johnson. I live in
[1:56:37] Farmington, New Mexico. I'm a retired
school district uh teacher from
[1:56:41] Farmington school districts.
>> [snorts]
[1:56:44] » Um
though I have followed the news
[1:56:48] concerning data centers over the last
years, I have recently begun to educate
[1:56:52] myself on the impact of data centers and
what they could the impact could be in
[1:56:57] San Juan County, both positive and
negative.
[1:57:02] I have learned enough to know that the
decision to proceed with data centers
[1:57:06] will require rigorous review.
Nationally, we are in a climate where
[1:57:11] investors and developers exert extreme
pressure on government entities to act
[1:57:16] quickly. However, due diligence should
be our first priority.
[1:57:22] I have include I have emailed you um the
written comments that I'm making today
[1:57:27] with links to um citations for the
comments that I'm going to make. So, at
[1:57:33] your review um please feel free to look
at that. It's in your email. Donna Ana
[1:57:39] County and the project Jupiter
developers are embroiled in lawsuits
[1:57:43] over the lack of transparency and
incomplete permitting applications after
[1:57:47] their rush through approval of the
project. Much of the original proposals
[1:57:52] concerning securing energy and water
resources have already shifted and
[1:57:56] changed.
Quoting state representative Michaela
[1:58:00] Kandana
um who attended the meeting where the
[1:58:03] county voted to approve an industrial
bond. She said, "I like so many of my
[1:58:08] constituents that I represent were
surprised to see that our county
[1:58:12] commission here in Dona Anna was taking
a high $165 billion industrial revenue
[1:58:19] bond vote on a proposal that we knew
less than a month about." And again,
[1:58:24] there are citations in your email.
In Sakuro, New Mexico,
[1:58:30] a letter of intent was signed by the
Green Data Center Corporation, James
[1:58:34] Bach, as the CEO. He represented his
company as having developed several data
[1:58:39] centers to bring cutting edge technology
to address water scarcity. His website
[1:58:44] states that he is actively building data
centers in New Mexico, which he is not.
[1:58:49] um his tech cutting edge technology was
to address water scarcity by um the
[1:58:55] ability to secure water from the
atmosphere. A letter intent was signed
[1:59:00] with his corporation and again the
citations are available to you. The
[1:59:04] impact of technologies that are being
developed and deployed at record speed
[1:59:08] can only be fully understood in time.
Just last week, it was reported by the
[1:59:12] Cheyenne, Wyoming Board of Public
Utilities that they would no longer
[1:59:15] accept the wastewater for secondary use
from the Meadow Data Center in Cheyenne.
[1:59:20] The center uses a closed loop
technology, but there is contamination
[1:59:23] that has been found. Again, citations
that data center development is has an
[1:59:29] inherent pressure and a rush
in order to provide economic
[1:59:34] development. But I would like you to
take these considerations and I guess at
[1:59:39] this point I hope that you read my email
for more information and considerations
[1:59:43] I'd like you to take. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:59:52] » Good evening commissioners. My name is
Kyla Johnson. I'm a retired educator.
[1:59:58] I'm also a veteran and I've been in um
this area for 40 plus years now and um
[2:00:07] I'd like to speak um against data
centers. I am going to try not to get
[2:00:14] emotional because I don't think emotion
um persuades people sometimes. Yes. But
[2:00:22] I've been, you know, I came into this
kind of feeling emotional about a lot of
[2:00:27] things um over the last year or so. But
then I said, "Come on, you're a retired
[2:00:34] librarian. Look at the facts." So, I've
been looking at facts. And I thank my
[2:00:39] colleague Judy who I'm not related to
even though we have the same last name.
[2:00:44] But I've been trying to look at facts
and things like that and saying, "Show
[2:00:48] me the facts. Show me the facts."
because there is so much misinformation
[2:00:52] out there.
And um one of the things I was reading
[2:00:56] this weekend from the Wall Street
Journal, which is one of the most
[2:01:00] conservative newspapers around that I
subscribe to, and they were talking
[2:01:06] about the hidden cost of the water usage
because before you even get to the water
[2:01:12] that the actual data centers use, they
were talking about there is the frontend
[2:01:20] [clears throat] water usage that is
being used to power the electricity that
[2:01:25] goes to the data center to power the
data centers. So from where they're
[2:01:31] getting their electricity to run them,
there is that hidden cost of water that
[2:01:37] powers the electricity that runs the
data centers. And they were saying that
[2:01:42] that's not included in their cost
proposals that they give to the
[2:01:47] communities. And it's up to 30 times
more than the usage of water that the
[2:01:53] data center actually uses in itself.
There's up to 30 times more. And this is
[2:02:00] from uh the Wall Street Journal I think
is a pretty reliable source. And that
[2:02:06] article came out this weekend. And and
then I was reading today
[2:02:12] um in source, New Mexico about the water
agreement that we all are a part of the
[2:02:19] upper basement, upper basin of the
Colorado River compact, which we all
[2:02:25] know [laughter]
San Juan River water usage and um we all
[2:02:33] know how what a hot topic water
agreements are in this area in the lower
[2:02:41] basin of the Colorado and it's still
ongoing and there is the three tribal
[2:02:49] entities
that um are about to exert their use and
[2:02:54] they're waiting for the federal
government to agree that for the usage
[2:02:58] as they put forth to um take their fair
use of the um upper basin
[2:03:07] in the lower basement and how that's
going to work and that of course is
[2:03:11] going to affect us here because that
hasn't been properly
[2:03:16] um exercised their rights to that which
is going to affect in turn the San Juan
[2:03:24] use and their rights there and that
hasn't been exercised before and it's
[2:03:31] just been kind of glossed over and so um
we have a shortage of water we all agree
[2:03:36] we have been in a drought and anybody
who walks B park as I do on a fairly
[2:03:41] daily basis can see that you can walk
across it right now and um the Animus
[2:03:48] River we have a water shortage um I
don't think we should be doing anything
[2:03:52] that is going to
use more water right now that's just
[2:04:00] speaking in a factual manner and I don't
think we are going to get any more water
[2:04:06] anytime soon for whatever reason. Um,
you know, we don't have to get into the
[2:04:12] politics of it. We just don't have
water. So, that's all there is to it.
[2:04:18] Thank you,
[applause]
[2:04:25] [applause]
>> Captain Chair. Commissioners, thank you
[2:04:28] for giving us the opportunity to voice
our concerns. We are um members of the
[2:04:35] West Hammond community.
>> What is your name?
[2:04:38] » I apologize. Dorothy North is my name.
Um I don't know
[2:04:44] where people or who are
sets
[2:04:50] the speed limits on residential areas um
up until after you pass the bridge is 35
[2:04:58] m an hour. from there to 550 is 50 miles
an hour. Maybe if they were lower the
[2:05:06] speed limit, these trucks would not be
coming through there. Um we our deer
[2:05:12] population is being wiped out. The
school buses during the school year,
[2:05:18] I've seen it too many times where
there's going to be a bad accident out
[2:05:23] there. Um, we have on
both ends of the road, we have signs
[2:05:28] that say engine brakes prohibited in the
residential area.
[2:05:34] One of our neighbors is a truck driver
and he refuses to to go by that law for
[2:05:43] a half a mile coming out either side. He
uses that Jake break either any time of
[2:05:50] day or night. We have reported it before
and we were told that the DOT has to be
[2:05:56] there to witness it. I don't know what
else to do. It's a nuisance and I know
[2:06:03] that he has a job to do as well, but he
doesn't need to wake up the whole
[2:06:08] neighborhood.
It's posted. I don't know who can
[2:06:12] enforce that. Um,
I appreciate you listening to our
[2:06:18] concerns.
used to be a really nice neighborhood,
[2:06:22] but right now it isn't. There's so much
traffic you have to wait some time to
[2:06:28] get out of your off your county road to
the highway. I appreciate your time and
[2:06:34] thank you for listening to us.
[2:06:38] [applause]
[2:06:44] Good evening y everyone. Hello. Um my
name is Tissa Bernali.
[2:06:59] and I am of the Da tribe. Um, my name is
Tissa. My clans are Mountain Cove. My
[2:07:06] father is Kanani uh, Towering House.
Both my paternal maternal grandfathers
[2:07:11] are Salt Clan. And I'm a mother. I'm not
a grandmother yet. And I'm a mother of
[2:07:16] five children. I'm also a social worker.
I've been a professional in the four
[2:07:21] corners area primarily for the last 15
years doing a lot of what was just
[2:07:26] discussed earlier working in the
community. I'm also an activist. I'm a
[2:07:31] member of the American Indian Movement D
women and I do a lot of advocacy in my
[2:07:37] community grassroots. I'm not paid for
doing that. So I I want to say thank you
[2:07:41] for having me speak to Shinat or Natani
the leaders up here about the data
[2:07:47] centers. I'm here on that platform today
specifically to talk to you about the
[2:07:52] importance of our water. Our
[2:07:58] means water is lifeon
means the same thing. As a da woman this
[2:08:04] is my territory here before
colonization. This is where my people
[2:08:10] lived in this area of Aztec Farmington,
so-called Bloomfield. As a little girl,
[2:08:16] my mom told me, "Take care of that
water. Take care of the land." Those
[2:08:21] were things that were instilled in me as
a young woman. And I have lived the
[2:08:26] history. I am 52 years old of resource
colonialism. And I have seen the
[2:08:32] destruction these corporate companies
come into our communities and what they
[2:08:36] do to our people, our land, our
four-legged, our wing ones, and our
[2:08:41] botany. So, I'm here I'm not going to
give you statistics or facts. I'm
[2:08:47] educated. I can email that to you if you
want me to. I'm here to talk about the
[2:08:52] significance of our water. That water is
a living entity. We are taught to pray
[2:08:57] to it every day. We do offerings. I was
here when the gold king mine spill
[2:09:02] happened and I remember how it impacted
our farmers down in Shiprock where they
[2:09:08] couldn't plant their heirlooms, their
seeds for two or three years because
[2:09:13] that water was tainted. We are living in
a time where we we don't have water. We
[2:09:18] have prophecies from our indigenous
elders that say when these resources it
[2:09:23] is not a resource are used we won't have
anymore. So, I am here to speak for the
[2:09:29] water, the land, and these data centers
that are coming into our communities.
[2:09:34] [snorts] You know, I I um I just came
from a a um conference over at Sanan
[2:09:40] College,
a plant teaching on the importance of
[2:09:45] these plants that grow on our mother
earth, Nihham Sun, and how special they
[2:09:50] are to us, and they give us life. So I
implore you to understand from the heart
[2:09:56] that these the water is not for sale. It
has never been. And these corporate
[2:10:02] entities that come in here see it as
profit to us. It is our life. It
[2:10:09] sustains us in our ceremonies and what
we do. So I'll stop there, but thank you
[2:10:14] for listening to me. My time is up.
Yeah. [applause]
[2:10:24] » [applause]
>> Hello, my name is Trip Gomez. I live in
[2:10:26] Aztec and I first and foremost want to
thank everybody who's come up and spoke
[2:10:30] before me and those who are lined up to
speak after me to do their civic
[2:10:33] participation and I also want to thank
the council members for uh listening to
[2:10:38] uh all of us and our worries and
plights. When it comes to data centers,
[2:10:42] I think it's a giant nuanced
conversation. Uh what Candi said is
[2:10:46] true. There is an algorithm right now
that's helping save Farmington gallons
[2:10:49] of water per year. And so it is a very
big uh idea that government moves like
[2:10:58] an iceberg intentionally to make sure
things are done right the first time.
[2:11:01] And I'm just hoping to implore all the
fellow citizens here and in county
[2:11:05] abroad to uh do the due diligence that
is needed to make sure that if we are to
[2:11:10] have something of this industry come in
that it is legitimately to the benefit
[2:11:15] of our community. Uh a lot of
stipulation right now a lot of the
[2:11:19] reason that the data centers are booming
in construction is because there is
[2:11:23] language in the big beautiful bill that
offers a rebate for those when they are
[2:11:26] in full uh full effect. There is a lot
of speculation as to why that language
[2:11:31] is in there that I'm not going to uh go
down on today. But I do want to say that
[2:11:35] we as a community can come together in
all the various aspects that are needed
[2:11:41] to make sure that what happens here in
our land benefits us to the be best of
[2:11:46] our abilities. But that is an active
communication that is a big discussion.
[2:11:51] Uh it's a large table that many people
have to come to in good faith to to have
[2:11:55] that discussion about. I believe that
the people who spoke today are very
[2:11:59] passionate about the understandings that
we want uh our future generations, our
[2:12:04] livelihoods to be maintained and thought
about throughout, you know, uh through a
[2:12:08] long course of action instead of short
order. And so when uh big companies come
[2:12:14] into town offering us big dollar signs
for the short-term uh effects, I just
[2:12:19] think that it behooves the council uh
the commissioners here as well as in the
[2:12:23] cities and on the state level to really
fully consider the impacts throughout
[2:12:28] and uh not just look at the big flashy
ticket items that are being proposed.
[2:12:33] Um, of course, this means that we have
uh hopefully a lot of uh people
[2:12:38] participating in this conversation
together to make sure that uh Sanongan
[2:12:42] County's future is as bright as it
possibly can be. Thank you for your time
[2:12:45] and have a great day.
[applause]
[2:12:54] » Good evening. Uh
my name is Jody Moore. I live in the uh
[2:13:00] fentanyl and meth corridor of
Farmington, New Mexico. This area is
[2:13:04] also called district 1 or the Animus
corridor of Farmington. Um I'm here
[2:13:10] today to invite all of you guys and all
the people here in the audience. The
[2:13:15] city of Farmington is holding a hosting
a community listening and action session
[2:13:20] on July 30th at 5:30m.
Um at this meeting we are going to I'll
[2:13:26] just read what they wrote in their uh
page here that I'd like to give to Joe.
[2:13:31] Um we know our local businesses
businesses and residents are dealing
[2:13:36] with serious daily challenges regarding
uh public intoxic intoxication, street
[2:13:43] inebriation, drug activity and vandalism
and safety issues that come with them.
[2:13:49] Um we need everybody on board. Uh we
have a serious fentanyl and med problem
[2:13:54] I believe in in the four corners, not
just San Juan uh county. Uh Monizuma
[2:13:59] County Sheriff Nen's been dealing with
it. Monaceel uh recently busted somebody
[2:14:04] with like 78 lbs of meth. My neighbor
was busted with over six pounds of
[2:14:08] fentanyl and meth. I believe she was let
out in two days. Um it's been a
[2:14:13] nightmare. Um for the last 5 years, her
boyfriend later got charged with like 12
[2:14:18] felony charges and and was let off in a
couple days. Um, we've got the incoming
[2:14:24] sheriff, Ken Christensen, is is on board
with all of this. Uh, he met, we've had
[2:14:28] meetings down at Pancake Alley to try to
address the the problems. But, uh, the
[2:14:33] city's solution has been to lock the
public restrooms. That's also been the
[2:14:37] Speedway gas station solutions, lock up
their public restrooms. So, we we have,
[2:14:42] uh, street folks um, using and not just
street folks, customers at the speedway
[2:14:46] using the ConX box for a restroom. So,
imagine how terrible that is on on our
[2:14:52] tourism that you go to the speedway down
on Broadway. And not only are people
[2:14:56] being killed, but you also have uh piles
of, you know, how do you say it nicely?
[2:15:01] Um, you understand human waste. There we
go. I'll be nice. Uh, human human waste
[2:15:06] on the street. So, we want to get those
restrooms open. We would also like uh
[2:15:10] drinking water dispensers for everybody
to use. We need those at the library and
[2:15:16] every city park. So, thank you for your
time. I also love the timing. It seems
[2:15:22] like in Farmington, uh although we have
3 minutes, it seems like they're kind of
[2:15:25] sick of us after about 30 seconds. So, I
appreciate the fact that you guys are
[2:15:30] awesome. Keep doing the great work and
and come to come to the meeting. We need
[2:15:34] you. Thank you.
[applause]
[2:15:43] » Hello. My name is Megan Sheay. I'm a
resident of Farmington, New Mexico. I'm
[2:15:48] here speaking about the data centers and
I want to admit that I'm actually here
[2:15:52] to thank you for your prayer when you
open the meeting because I I came in
[2:15:55] here with a heavy heart. Reading the
news, you get really concerned, but to
[2:15:59] be reminded that our community really
understands the importance of water to
[2:16:03] support us really booied my spirit and I
appreciate that.
[2:16:08] Um,
saying the prow reminded me I've got a
[2:16:11] little one at home. He recently asked me
for a new toy and I said, "You don't
[2:16:14] take care of your toys. I'm not going to
get you a new toy." And he said, "I'll
[2:16:18] take care of this one." Like, I wouldn't
be a good mom if I gave into that every
[2:16:21] time. And so, I just really appreciate
what the public has said about opening
[2:16:25] exploratory committees, considering
memorandums, everything like that. My
[2:16:29] concern with these data centers is they
need a lot of water and we don't have a
[2:16:34] lot of water. So, why do they want to
come here? and I have a fear that they
[2:16:38] have the economic and legal might to
take our water. And so I really
[2:16:42] appreciated the comments that the public
had to work on that. Thank you so much
[2:16:45] for your time.
[applause]
[2:16:55] » Good evening, commissioners. My name is
Yael Oliva. I'm a mental health
[2:16:59] therapist here in Farmington.
Um, I'd like to talk about a couple of
[2:17:04] issues that everyone has talked about
tonight, but I would like to add my
[2:17:08] voice.
I saw serious looks on your guys' faces,
[2:17:13] and I hope that if
you haven't been thinking about these
[2:17:17] data centers that it's going to be a
focus for you.
[2:17:23] I don't know what the right answer is.
I'm not that smart. I don't understand
[2:17:27] all the technology.
I don't understand what's possible.
[2:17:33] I also believe that AI is here to stay.
Let's just be real. Everybody's using
[2:17:40] it. It's used for good reasons and bad
reasons.
[2:17:44] Please, please, please don't destroy our
community and our land in the process.
[2:17:50] Please be transparent. include the
community
[2:17:55] and allow us to go forward in a way that
is the least damaging and the most
[2:18:01] beneficial possible. You guys are
entrusted with the future
[2:18:08] and I just am begging that you include
us and you do your due diligence on this
[2:18:16] matter.
I can't say anything better than anyone
[2:18:19] else here has already said tonight
except just to ask you guys that
[2:18:25] I also just want to say my office is on
West Apache. I'm very familiar with a
[2:18:31] lot of the problems with unsheltered
folks and what's going on in the
[2:18:36] community and I also support this
initiative to please get water fountains
[2:18:41] and restrooms. They're human beings.
At the very end of the day, they are
[2:18:47] human beings and there but for the grace
of God go any of us
[2:18:52] and I would really like to see us
support them in this way. Thank you
[2:18:58] [applause]
[2:19:05] Stephen Shelby under Farmington New
Mexico. Uh thank you all for letting us
[2:19:11] speak. Um, one thing I did want to touch
base on just right quick is, uh, when
[2:19:16] we're talking to council at Farmington,
they're up here and and I have to look
[2:19:21] up at them like I'm having to to address
a king or to address someone, um, that's
[2:19:27] higher or above me. Um, thank you guys
for being on my level, being on our
[2:19:32] level. um that instantly gives a person
a less intimidating uh aura to come up
[2:19:37] with uh to to speak with you guys
because it's hard for a lot of these
[2:19:41] people to come up to to speak. You can
tell. Um I want to commend everybody
[2:19:45] that's came in and speak. I know some of
y'all have a hard time with that. So,
[2:19:48] thank you for doing that. Um y'all, I I
we've got a lot of information regarding
[2:19:53] the data centers um that's coming in. Um
Farmington resident San County my whole
[2:19:59] life. my my family which is the Shelby
family is one of the first families to
[2:20:03] settle uh in Farmington, New Mexico or
to come into San Juan County. Um so we
[2:20:08] got a lot of lot of blood and skin in
the game. A lot of years here I I love
[2:20:12] this place. It it is absolutely
unbelievable and special. Um, if you go
[2:20:18] take time and and you go set into the
desert and you go dry camping for a
[2:20:22] couple days and you listen to the
coyotes howl and uh you listen to the
[2:20:26] wind through the trees and and you put
your feet in the dirt, you you will
[2:20:30] truly understand how how important this
land is to a lot of us. Um, just some
[2:20:35] background guys, oil and gas industry.
Uh, I I raised a family on oil and gas.
[2:20:41] I understand closed loop, what closed
loop means. um did a lot of work with
[2:20:46] BLM guys fixing a lot of wells that were
doing a lot of damage to our water
[2:20:50] system. Um so we know that things happen
sometimes even though we're trying to to
[2:20:55] do good and and bring our economy up.
There's going to be things that get by
[2:20:59] and that did get by for many many years
um that I'm sure we're still working on.
[2:21:05] But I was a part of that process of
fixing those those issues as well. So,
[2:21:09] I'm fully versed on on the oil field
closed loop systems and everything else
[2:21:13] they want to say about data centers. Um,
to to get to a different point, guys,
[2:21:17] anytime the federal government tells us
that we need to do something or that
[2:21:22] they're going to put a law in order to
do something, uh, executive orders,
[2:21:27] which are against the law as we know,
that raises a red flag for me. So, I'm
[2:21:31] going to cut it come at these in a
different perspective. Not that I
[2:21:34] disagree with everyone's perspective. Um
because I do agree with y'all's
[2:21:38] perspective on things. Um why are they
pushing us to build data centers? Why is
[2:21:43] the federal government pushing to build
data centers? What that does when he
[2:21:48] pushes to build them on federal
property? That puts a real push on our
[2:21:53] counties and our local government to
maybe perhaps push data centers in
[2:21:58] before the federal government does. you
guys, we don't need any any more uh
[2:22:04] surveillance or anything else proposed
by the government. Now, I know they say
[2:22:08] this is for data reasons and and the
data gathering. Okay, that's fine. We
[2:22:13] have data centers. We we have ways of
gathering data. We've been doing it for
[2:22:18] years. Why do we have to to keep going
and upgrading data? How much data do we
[2:22:25] need to operate as a society, you guys?
Um, honestly, we don't need AI to
[2:22:32] operate as a society. We have the tools
as human beings to operate as a society.
[2:22:37] Um, so I will ask you all moving
forward, please consider what I'm saying
[2:22:41] and everybody else. Um, as we move
forward, I will raise a petition to ban
[2:22:46] uh data centers in the county. Um, so
that's coming too. Uh, but again, you
[2:22:52] all, I love my county. I love my people.
Uh this place is special. We know it's
[2:22:59] special. Um as as the the young lady had
said, um guys, there's a lot of culture
[2:23:06] here and we can't forget about that
culture. Uh it's a mix of cultures. We
[2:23:11] have Mexicans, we have whites, we have
da, we have everybody. Everyone's here,
[2:23:16] guys. We have to learn to get together.
I love your stones.
[2:23:20] Um we can do this if we work together.
Please be transparent with us, guys.
[2:23:25] That's all I'm asking uh moving forward.
Transparency. Thank you for what you're
[2:23:29] doing and uh I look forward for more uh
dialogue with you going forward.
[2:23:34] » Thank you.
[applause]
[2:23:43] » Is there anyone else?
Okay, moving forward to the rest of our
[2:23:47] meetings.
[2:23:52] I' I'd like to hear from you, Sandra. Go
into close session.
[2:23:56] » Uh motion to go into close session. I
move that we go into closed executive
[2:24:00] session pursuant to sections 10-15-1H7
and 8 to discuss the possible
[2:24:06] acquisition of real property for the
Pinion Hills extension project and to
[2:24:11] discuss matters pertaining to litigation
related to the movement of Sunray
[2:24:14] Western Gaming Racino license to Clovis,
New Mexico.
[2:24:19] » Right.
>> Second.
[2:24:20] » Second. All in favor?
>> I.
[2:24:23] » Any opposed? into close session.
[3:01:55] Ready.
[3:02:02] Let's come in out of out of close
session.
[3:02:04] » Yep. I move that we go out of close
session and go back into open session.
[3:02:07] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[3:02:11] » I.
>> All oppose. Any oppose?
[3:02:13] » No.
>> All right. We have returned from closed
[3:02:16] session. The matters discussed in the
closed session were limited to those
[3:02:18] specified in the motion for closure. All
right.
[3:02:23] Meeting's adjourned.