TIMBERON DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting Held November 08, 2008 IN ATTENDANCE: Everett Putney Gwen Adams B.F. Adams Joan Schug Donna Millar Scott Millar Rick Merrick Frank Bullard Shirley Holstrom Mary Tyler Cal Tyler Linda Lea Fran Trendler Peg Bullard Stan Bulsterbaum Karen Martin Jackie Fioretti The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and followed by a prayer. Everett asked if anyone would like the minutes read from the previous meeting? Donna Millar made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted, seconded by Rick Merrick and the minutes were approved. Gwen Adams gave the treasurer’s report. A motion was made by Linda Lea to accept the report pending review, seconded by Scott Millar, and the Treasurer’s report was approved pending review on the state forestry grant balance. Everett Putney asked if there were any bills to be paid. Bills pending totaled $166.67 which included 4.0 hours spent on the web page in October, three property tax bills and an unknown balance for diesel. B.F. Adams made a motion to pay our bills and up to $100.00 for the diesel. Rick Merrick seconded the motion and it was approved to pay our bills. Election for Vice President – B.F. Adams made a motion to withdraw his name from the ballot. He accepted the nomination thinking Rick Merrick was not going to run. Frank Bullard seconded the motion and it passed. B.F. Adams made a motion to accept Rick Merrick as Vice President by acclamation. Donna Millar seconded the motion and it passed. The following are the newly elected officers for 2009: President, Everett Putney; Vice President, Rick Merrick; Treasurer, Gwen Adams; Secretary, Jackie Fioretti. Everett introduced Stan Bulsterbaum who was the original Facilitator for our Community Action Plan. He is willing to answer any questions and be of help as we update the plan. Stan was very informative and gave an overview of the process he went through on the original plan. Events Committee – Rick Merrick advised the October meeting has been rescheduled to December 2nd at 6:00 pm at the TDC office. Sign up prior to leaving today if you are interested in serving on that committee. Only one event will be planned at the December meeting. A fund raising dinner for this spring or summer will be planned later. It was suggested we need a formal group to look into the needs of the community. Frank Bullard advised he has free fire wood, cut to stove size, for anyone in the community who wants it. Community Center Swimming Pool update: Joan Schug gave a presentation on the activities of refurbishing the swimming pool. The State of New Mexico Environmental representative says six lights in the pool are required. The project is at a point where work can not continue until these lights are installed. These lights including an electrician and labor cost about $400.00 each. She is asking The Boosters Club, the Timberon Volunteer Fire Department, the Masonic Lodge and the Timberon Development Council to each donate money for one light and she will over Page 2 also accept donations from private individuals. After discussion, Frank Bullard made a motion for TDC to donate $800.00 for two lights for the community swimming pool. Donna Millar seconded it and the motion passed. Peg Bullard advised the Home Extension Club doesn’t have any money to donate to the cause. TDC Office Computer - B.F. Adams and Scott Millar advised the main computer was fried during the electrical storm in October. The router was damaged and there is an issue with the older computer used for the weather station. The weather station has been down since October 5th. Linda Lea advised there is a possibility she could get a computer donated and she would know in a few days. After discussion, B.F. Adams made a motion that if a computer is not donated, he would like to purchase a new computer for TDC and be reimbursed up to a maximum of $1,000.00. Fran Trendler seconded the motion and it passed. Everett Putney will ask Dell City to put a ground on the telephone line as this is the second time we have had a problem. Web Page Update – Linda Lea gave a report for Judy Underwood, who is sick with the flu. Judy has added a lot to the new Web Page and if you haven’t logged on yet, it can be accessed via www.timberondevelopmentcouncil.org . There was discussion about having cell phone service in Timberon in the event of an evacuation and safety in the forest. After discussion, Rick Merrick made a motion for Judy Underwood and Burt Rubinowitz to explore the possibilities of cell phone service in Timberon and report at a later meeting. Gwen Adams seconded the motion and it passed. Community Action Plan Update – Rick Merrick advised his committee consists of Gwen Adams, Linda Lea, Judy Underwood and Lil Devine. Their first goal is to get the survey going. A draft survey was handed out and Rick asked for feedback by November 17th. His email address is rm@dellcity.com . The committee is looking at completing the survey by March 2009. There was discussion on how to disseminate the survey and Stan Bulsterbaum explained how it was done the first time. Rick advised the Community Action Plan is very important and because of it we were able to get our airstrip updated, our parks thinned and State Forestry assistance to private landowners who thinned their property. Here are the dates: November 18, 2008 – Update survey from feedback. January 10, 2009 – Submit a final copy of the survey to TDC for approval. February 14, 2009 – Timberon Development Council will be meeting at the Lodge to review and discuss the survey. It was recommended to produce a new Community Action Plan and reference the first one with the accomplishments. Rick Merrick advised Ryan Whitaker will be at the Timberon Fire Station on November 10th at 7:00 pm to talk about the proposed prescribed burn. Rick reported that BLM ( Bureau of Land Management) and the U.S. Army have spent half a million dollars to thin 2600 acres in their fire mitigation program. The council applauded them for their efforts. Rick advised the WCPP meets four times a year and he will be attending their meeting next week to see what we need to do to for them to provide evacuation signs in an emergency for Timberon. Everett Putney advised the Timberon Property Owners of El Paso met on October 26th and voted to dissolve their organization and donate their funds to the Timberon Development Council. This will take place in December when their CD matures. Everett reported he talked to Wayne York with State Aviation and he was advised we could do anything we want on the airstrip. There are designated paints to be used and you can use very fine glass chips for reflective lighting. It was mentioned the pilot charts need to be updated as presently it is showing the Page 3 Timberon Airport as closed and owned by TWSD (Timberon Water & Sanitation District). The Timberon Airport is not closed and it is owned by Otero County. There was discussion about the weeds on the airstrip and herbicides to be used for this. There was discussion about funding for the airstrip. Scott Millar, Commander of VFW Post 11999, gave a report on the VFW Scholarship Funds for the Cloudcroft Elementary School. There were 44 children to submit papers for the Voice of Democracy Scholarship and 2 children submitted papers for the Patriot Pens Scholarship. Please call Scott if you would like to help him judge these papers Wednesday and Friday of next week. B.F. Adams announced that Scott has rejoined the National Guards and everyone applauded him for his dedication and service. Linda Lea gave us an update for a fundraising cookbook. Morris Co. will charge $11.00 for a 200 recipe book and $10.00 for a 300 recipe book. We would require one person to format the book, one person to deliver the book to the printer and three people to sell the books, Jackie Fioretti advised she sent forms to sell Butter Braid Breads for the Holidays. There are five flavors and they are delicious. For every bread sold TDC will make $4.50. B.F. Adams made a motion to sell the breads as a fundraiser. Peg Bullard second the motion and it passed. After the meeting the following dates were negotiated. All orders are to be turned in to Jackie on Monday, December 1st for a December 17th delivery. If you are interested in purchasing please call Gwen Adams, Fran Trendler or Peg Bullard. Scott Millar made a motion to adjourn and Gwen Adams seconded it. The motion passed. These meetings are held the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at the Timberon Development Council Office, 1841 Sacramento Drive. They are open meetings and everyone is invited. Due to the busy holiday schedule, the December meeting is cancelled and we will meet on January 10, 2009. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Respectfully submitted, Jackie Fioretti, Secretary