TIMBERON DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting Held January 13, 2007 IN ATTENDANCE: Everett E. Putney Howard Neighbor Gwen Adams Bergy Bergstrom Bill Gideon Elsie Gideon Sarah Medeiros Judy Holcomb Medeiros Arden Schug Brian Long Kerwin Dewberry B.F. Adams Fran Trendler Rick Merrick Jeremy McMahon Rosemary Holcomb Ford Stacy Pugmire Charles Bain Jackie Fioretti The meeting was called to order by President Putney approximately 10:00 a.m.. He asked if anyone would like the minutes to the previous meeting be read. Charles Bain made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted. Gwen Adams seconded the motion and the minutes were approved. Gwen Adams gave the Treasurer’s report. B.F. Adams made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report and Rick Merrick seconded the motion. The Treasurer’s report was approved. Gwen read the January bills for a total of $1,316.00 which included business insurance, water standby fees, and building rent for six months. Rick Merrick made a motion to pay our bills and Charlie Bain seconded the motion which passed. BLM JAMBOREE GRANT TDC TOTALS GRANT/CD M.MARKET Beg. Bal. 11-30-06 $2,044.41 $18,173.45 -$4,603.20 $15,614.66 $30,733.23 $11,077.00 Deposits December $0.00 $0.00 $16,749.73 $16,749.73 $79.57 $6.02 Checks December $0.00 $436.12 $12,449.65 $12,885.77 $0.00 $11,083.02 Ending Bal. 12.31-06 $2,044.41 $17,737.33 -$303.12 $19,478.62 $30,812.80 $0.00 Audit Committee – Mary Jane Davis and Charles Bain volunteered to audit the books and give their report at the February meeting. US Forest Service, Sacramento Ranger District guests: Everett welcomed and introduced Kerwin Dewberry, Deputy District Ranger. Kerwin introduced Brian Long, Recreation Specialist and Patrick Blue, Law Enforcement. Kerwin advised Johnny Wilson, who has been working on the trail development system has retired and Nancy Taylor who worked on the pre-analysis program gathering information will be leaving in October. Some of their projects have included working on the tressels at High Rolls and Cloudcroft. The Mexican Canyon Tressel restoration will start next year. The travel management team is looking at the forest travel system as a whole including motorized vehicle travel. They are analyzing the data gathered last year from the community surveys which were taken and will assist the communities with the trail recommendations. Brian Long with the Travel Management Team said he is gathering the data which includes 200 miles of trails and over 100 miles of roads. The deadline to develop the map is 2008. There will be public meetings for public comments. The Forest Service left a map of the existing trails with us to make recommendations. Our report should include why we recommend, taking into account sensitive water sheds and hazardous species. We should also be mindful of the funding areas as we are barely maintaining the existing. Studies show most people in the forest are doing wildlife and Page 2 scenic viewing instead of camping out. There will be policy changes with the new map and the map can be updated every year. Will there be any new trails? This will be looked at and how it will increase our economic development. This project is one of the Forest Service top priorities. The region as well as the agency has decided to shuffle funds to create an opportunity. They haven’t received any additional government funding for the project. Everett asked for a committee to look at the existing trails and make recommendations. Jeremy McMahon and B.F. Adams volunteered and will look at the map and make recommendations. The Travel Management Information e-mail address is www.fs.fed.us/r3/lincoln. The Mary Glover Park tree thinning has been completed a couple of months. It looks very good and the piles of chips will be used for the walking paths. The county has given us four picnic tables and four benches that will be placed around the monument in the park. These will be placed in the spring. The current park thinning is Shallow Creek which is about 27 acres and it is three fourths finished. We haven’t discussed placing tables in this park yet. The third park to be thinned will be the Tres Marias Park. The equipment for the weather station is in Timberon. The fencing around the weather station has been given to the lowest bidder who is out of Ruidoso at a cost of $1,500. This will be located on the tie down area near the southeast side Rick Merrick gave a report on the pending brochure. Money from REDDT (Rural Economic Development Through Tourism) is on hold. After a discussion on our priorities it was agreed to delay the brochure. B.F. Adams made a motion to delay the brochure and release the $500.00 with REDTT for someone else in Otero County to use. Fran Trendler second the motion and it passed. Rick advised instead of a two day Frontier Days the first week end in August we should concentrate on several small events during the summer. Those mentioned were the Aspencade, a hike for the military, and a Blue Grass Festival. There will be more on this later. The cutting and clearing along the airstrip is complete and the county is still planning to double chip and seal the runway. Due to the weather, the schedule has been delayed. Fire Chief, Arden Schug advised the slash pits will be burned if we continue to get snow. He also advised Marty Moore, Otero County Administrator is looking at Sixteen Springs or Timberon for a bio mass project. Everett introduced Rosemary Holcomb Ford from the Holcomb Ranch. Rosemary advised they have been working to renovate the ranch from May to October. She grew up in the area and is very interested in being a good neighbor. She said they were working to get the cows off the golf course and said someone from the ranch would be attending our meetings. Everett thanked her for coming. Page 3 Everett said he hoped when the new TWSD Board is elected in March someone will look into the water rights and secure them. After the election, he hopes the community can come back together and continue to do good for the community. He advised he and Jackie have a conflict in February and the meeting will be chaired by Vice President, Bill Gideon. Fran Trendler will record the minutes. Charlie Bain advised the Boy Scouts are looking for another location. They need ten acres to do motor cross and looking at an outfitters camp. A motion was made by Fran Trendler and seconded by B. F. Adams to adjourn. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned approximately 11:35 a.m. The next meeting will be Saturday, February 10th at 10:00 a.m. in the Timberon Community Center. These are public meetings and everyone is invited to attend. Respectfully submitted, Jackie Fioretti, Secretary