Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control District members continue organization

The newest governing body in Valencia County is slowly moving forward.

Members of the Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control District Board of Directors had to take their oath of office again before the March 27 meeting began due to an error in the oath and on the certificates of office.

When Valencia County Clerk Mike Milam created the certificates and administered the oath on March 13, he forgot the word “control.”

During the March 27 meeting, the board pushed off its selection of a chairperson and vice chairperson due to the absence of member Mike Montoya. They had delayed the selection at the March 13 meeting in an effort to get to know each other better before selecting leadership positions.

Board member Teresa de Cherif said she was willing to continue to act as chairwoman temporarily in order to make sure meeting agendas and notifications were done in accordance with the state’s Open Meetings Act.

The board will take up those questions, as well as consideration of their OMA Resolution outlining time and place of regular board meetings at its next scheduled meeting, 6 p.m., Thursday, April 24, at the Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area educational center, 2424 N.M. 47, north of Belen.

During last week’s Valencia Soil and Water Conservation Board of Supervisors meeting, of which de Cherif is the chairwoman, the soil and water board unanimously approved providing temporary meeting space to the new VC Arroyo Flood Control District Board of Directors, after learning the flood district could no longer meet in Valencia County government offices.

The VCAFCD board approved the formation of three standing committees in order to help spread the workload of standing up the district. De Cherif suggested three committees — finance, governance and outreach and education — with no more than two board members on each in addition to other subject matter experts as needed.

“There is a lot of work to be done in less than nine months,” de Cherif noted.

The five non-partisan board members were appointed by a district court judge, and will only serve until the end of the calendar year. All five positions will be on the November 2025 ballot; the appointed board members can run for the positions they currently hold.

After some discussion parsing the language, the board also approved inviting members of interested agencies to be nonvoting board affiliates to help provide input on the VCAFCD’s mission and direction.

Initially suggested as “associate memberships” by de Cherif, the board settled on the “board affiliate” language to avoid any confusion about whether those interested in participating would have any kind of authority.

The other board members agreed with that concern, with de Cherif emphasizing any additional participants would be there only to represent their organization, contribute to discussions and would have absolutely no voting authority.

“They don’t have voting rights but can offer expertise. It’s important in years like this, when we have no money, to have good public outreach and get input from the tribes and other agencies, like the (Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.),” de Cherif said. “It would be good to have representatives from entities at these meetings, on this journey with us, to provide input on how the decisions we make could effect their constituents.”

In other action, the board delegated the consideration of a partnership with New Mexico Tech communication and grant writing professors and students to help the district apply for competitive grants to the yet-to-be formed finance committee for further development.

“Should we decide to pursue a grant opportunity, they will be happy to have students write the grant application,” de Cherif said. “We would need to provide input and direction. They do very well in getting grants. If someone could write two grants for free, that would be a huge help.”

She said the NMT grant writing class takes place in the fall semester.

A date and place for the district’s first public outreach session was also delegated to the new public outreach and education committee.