By Mary Alice Murphy

After the end of about an hour's worth of public input toward the beginning of the Grant County Commission regular session on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, commissioners worked on the agenda.

The expenditure reports, which were gone over in detail at the work session, were approved. For details, please visit http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/41545-grant-county-commission-addresses-short-agenda-with-long-meeting-010918 

Heidi Ogas of the High Desert Humane Society presented the annual report. "We have an agreement with the county to provide animal control. I have statistics from last year. We took in 446 dogs and 324 cats. Impound fees totaled $2,589.38 and we took in $5,063.15 in licenses and permits. Animal control responded to 690 calls. We have had issues with the county truck. It was down 84 days last year. We have also had a little bit of difficulty with the new ordinance, when it came to citations, but we're working on it."

"Overall, thanks to the Our Paws thrift shop, we have provided 795 spay and neuter services," Ogas continued. "We hoped to see more returns to owner. We always see more dogs going back to their owners with fewer cats. We are hoping within six years to have a new adoption center. We have continuously decreased our number of intakes, except for 2017. The fall kitten season has not stopped. I'm assuming it's the weather. Animal control calls have gone up, but with fewer intakes. An animal call may be a welfare check or it may be recommendations or citations. It could be animal complaints. We have a 55 percent euthanasia rate over all. In adoptable dogs, the rate is less than 16 percent and in adoptable cats, less than 2 percent. During the impound time, we determine whether an animal is unadoptable. Once they are deemed adoptable, it is rare for euthanasia unless the animal becomes ill. Most no-kill facilities restrict their intake and do not take everything. The Humane Society of the US has five steps to becoming a no-kill shelter. PETA now is not in favor of no-kill shelters."

Assessor Raul Turrieta gave a value tracking generating tax revenue presentation. Value tracking, he said, is a process to record net new value and to provide services to citizens.

Net new is additional values on residential and non-residential property, minus the value removed from tax rolls. Additional value can come from property not valued in prior years, from property improvements, from new living space or new carports. "We are going from a two-year cycle to a one-year cycle."

Valuation maintenance relies on supply and demand. Value may go up or down. Examples of valuation maintenance include deferred maintenance that is not necessarily net new.

Yield control puts limitations on the annual increases in property taxes.

In summary, Turrieta said, increases in net new values increase property tax revenue, but result in lower property tax rates.

Commissioner Gabriel Ramos asked if a home business counts as net new.

Turrieta said home businesses only consider personal property.

Commissioner Harry Browne asked: "If I make an improvement and your office doesn't notice it, but finds it years later, that's not net new, right?"

Turrieta said: "If we find a new barn or new garage that is not on the tax rolls, it becomes net new. If new windows are put in, it's value maintenance."

Commissioner Brett Kasten asked about negative net new. "What is the process of informing your office?"

"This is the rendition period," Turrieta said. "You have to file for a permit to demolish something."

Treasurer Steve Armendariz said: "Most of the time, when something is demolished, if the value is still there, we send them to fix the valuation."

"It is the responsibility of the property owner to notify us," Turrieta said. "This is a self-rendering state."

Commissioners have been notified of their committee assignments. Kasten asked for an audit committee, which should have two commissioners made up of the chairman and another commissioner. "I urge Commissioner Browne to be part of the committee, plus the manager, treasurer and director of finance." Committee assignments were approved.

Commissioners approved allowing the County Manager Charlene Webb to enter an agreement for professional legal services with Drinker Biddle and Reath LLP.

The letter to Santa Clara Mayor Richard Bauch considering the exploration of a partnership with the village of Santa Clara regarding ownership of Fort Bayard was approved.

Billings said he supports the preservation of Fort Bayard, but does not support mission creep. "We need up front something before we dip our toe in the water. I appreciate the work on the business plan, which is a good one. I'm in favor of a tenant or tenants, but I don't want to put anything on the back of Grant County taxpayers."

Commissioner Alicia Edwards said the commission would have to rely on exploration to deal with such issues.

Two consent agendas were approved. The first was for the annual elections of officers for the following volunteer fire and rescue departments: Cliff/Gila, Fort Bayard, Lower Mimbres, Pinos Altos, Santa Rita, Sapillo, Tyrone, Upper Mimbres and Whiskey Creek. The second addressed the annual service reports and EMS Fund Act local funding program applications for fiscal year 2018 for Gila Regional Medical Center, Gila Valley, Pinos Altos, Tyrone White Signal District 1, Tyrone Flying A and Wind Canyon District 2, Tyrone Hachita District 3 and Whiskey Creek.

On the comments on the Gila Forest Plan revision, draft wilderness inventory, Kasten offered an amendment to the current letter.

"I agree we can be more concise and less divisive," Kasten said. "The reason for our comments is that the Forest Service, in the past, has treated us in a cavalier manner. After the Dear Mr. Mendonca part, I move we strike everything from there to the end. We will supplant it with a simple comment."

The letter as approved reads:
"The Grant County Commission urges the Gila National Forest Administration to be diligent in the wilderness recommendation process that is part of the ongoing Forest Planning process, including, but not limited to: cultural features, historical features, timber logging, livestock grazing, private water rights, fuel wood gathering, bicycling recreation, camping sites, private mineral rights, ability to fight wildfires, and watershed restoration.

"The Grant County Commission understands that this is currently the inventory stage of the process and there will be an opportunity to comment on the specific nature of adding to the inventory of wilderness acreage within the Gila National Forest."

Ramos thanked everyone for their comments. "I also thank the commissioners for bringing their comments. We discussed the first letter in the Southwest County Commissioners Alliance. My whole thing is we want to keep the forest as a multi-use forest. Right now, I work as a guide in the wilderness. Some areas we can't get into because of fallen trees, and we can't even get permission to use a chain saw to clear them. If you can't tell the difference between the forest and the wilderness, that's great. We love our forest. That's why we live here. We want to make sure everyone can enjoy it from those who are disabled to hikers. I don't want to fight. We can agree to disagree. The one who put together the document has a Ph.D. I like some of this. I didn't like the comments about people who wrote the documents. We listen and respect your opinions. We expect respect, too."

Browne said everyone wants respect. "I felt abused with the first letter, the way you felt abuse in the travel management plan. The source of my feeling was that we've been aware of this since September. To get the letter on Tuesday, it just didn't feel like it was in good faith. It not only deprived the public of a chance to come up with comments but us also. It's the only way we, too, can contribute to one another's documents.

Edwards commended Kasten for coming up with the verbiage "I could get behind."

Ramos said he had received the documents only on Jan. 6 and did it as quickly as he could.

Billings noted there will be further comment periods.

A short final article will follow to finish the meeting reports.