La Cienega Valley Association

Protecting and preserving our acequia culture and agricultural traditions…

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LCVA News – August 15, 2014

The Event at Santa Fe Competition Times

Times for the dressage and show jumping competitions on Saturday are 8:00 a.m. for dressage and 10-10:30 a.m. for show jumping and there are still are opportunities to be part of the experience. If you would like to volunteer please contact Deb Normann at 317-696-2256 or you can simply show up. Volunteers for the dressage should be at The Downs by 7:15 and for show jumping 9:45. Just check in at the blue volunteer office located in the trade fair area next to the track.

If you are free today and you want to get a taste of what to expect on Saturday there will be practice rounds at 9 a.m. for show jumping and dressage at 11 a.m. The Event includes a range of competitors from beginning classes to intermediate where riders will be navigating their horses over four foot fences in the show jumping competition.

Legislative Funding Requests

The LCVA Board after meeting with Representatives Stephanie Garcia Richard and Jim Trujillo will be submitting legislative outlay requests for the following. The representatives explained that Senator Griego was unable to attend the meeting due to his sister-in-law’s illness but will be kept in the loop of our requests

Wastewater feasibility study ($150,000): This was strongly supported by both Representatives as a safety/health issue that our community needs to address.

Comprehensive Water Monitoring Plan ($50,000): This will allow our community to document changes to the aquifer providing scientific information that can be utilized to support the need for remedies to prevent any further depletion.

Park and Trail Master Planning ($100,000): Our communities have no formal trails or parks. This will be a community driven process to identify appropriate locations for park and trails with associated costs.

With the advice and counsel from our representatives, all road projects will be addressed directly with the County and they offered to participate in an effort to emphasize our community needs. The LCVA Board and members of the community agreed to prioritize the two arroyo crossings on Los Pinos in Upper La Cienega which are in need of bridges. The Paseo Rael and Calle Debra bridges in La Cieneguilla will remain as important community infrastructure that needs to be addressed.

The proposed park and future community center on County leased State Land Office land near El Rancho de las Golondrinas will be included in the 2016 state wide bond. Representative Garcia Richard noted that there was some opposition to the proposed location of the community center. The LCVA is aware of this concern and has informally discussed nearby alternative sites.

One of the most important Community requests which is to fund the implementation of the La Cienega Watershed conditions is delayed. There are a number of complications to the implementation with the biggest being the cost of residents connecting to the County system. The LCVA with the assistance of our legislative representatives will continue to explore possible funding sources to cover this cost but it cannot be a capital outlay request. One option is to have residents agree to create a County Improvement District that would allow residents to pay for the hook ups over time.

LCVA News – September 1, 2014