Santa Fe River Commission met Feb. 15.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
Members Present:
Member Phil Bove
Member Heidi Klingel
Santa Fe County Commissioner Anna Hansen
Voting Member Patrick Smyth
Voting Member Jacob Lyon
Members Excused:
None
Others Attending:
Zoe Isaacson, River and Watershed Project Administrator
Cassandra Katsiaficas, Clerk
3. ROLL CALL
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Community member Richard Ellenberg commented about seeing the agenda item to form a subcommittee to review the applications for Commission members, stating that the Commission’s members are set by the Governing Body and that he thinks the formation of that subcommittee would be inappropriate.
Staff Liaison Zoë Isaacson replied that it has been standard practice in River Commissions past for the Commission to set a subcommittee to review applications-- this subcommittee goes through all applications and makes a winnowed list of people they think would be appropriate for the commission, then the Mayor reviews the list and appoints the next Commissioner. Creating the winnowed list does not prevent the Mayor from seeing all applicants and superseding those suggestions.
Dr. Jerry Jacobi nodded to confirm that the explanation was correct.
Mr. Ellenberg asked a question about the eligibility of people applying for the Commission and Ms. Isaacson clarified that living in or owning a business in the city of Santa Fe is not required to be able to be on the Commission as anyone in Santa Fe County can apply.
MOTION: Voting Member Lyon moved, seconded by Voting Member Smyth, to approve the as presented.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Bove, Member Klingel, Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen, Voting Member Smyth, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None
Abstain: None
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. Approval of the December 14th River Commission Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Voting Member Lyon moved, seconded by Voting Member Smyth,
to Approve the December 14th River Commission meeting minutes as presented.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Bove, Member Klingel, Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen, Voting Member Smyth, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None
Abstain: None
Amara May introduced new-hire Lorraine Chow (Stewardship & Outreach Coordinator) and shared the upcoming workshops and trainings offered by Watershed Association, including Love your Watershed Day on May 4th, 2024 in DeVargas Park, paired with a week of cleanup events leading up to the event on the 4th.
Ms. Isaacson agreed to promote the event with the help of the City’s communications team.
6. COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER AGENCIES/COMMITTEES
a. Update from the Santa Fe Watershed Association (Amara May, Director of Stewardship and Community Outreach, amara@santafewatershed.org)
7. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. Status Updates from Subcommittees (Zoe Isaacson, Staff Liason, zrisaacson@santafenm.gov. 505-955-6853)
1. Mapping Subcommittee: Member Pat Smyth shared a status update on the application project: in process of revamping the application and doing GIS work to better filter and visualize data about reaches, projected flow and distance of wetted river in downstream direction given an average, dry, or critically dry year. Ms. Isaacson made suggestions for a second level data analysis to determine how often the river water reaches past St. Francis, and more.
2. Two Mile Pond Subcommittee: County Commissioner Anna Hansen and Member Jacob Lyon shared about the complexity of developing possible paths forward to recommend to the City, that there are many questions awaiting more info from the OSE (Office of State Engineers), the need to rework the culvert under Serra Gordo, and more.
Chair Klingel shared an idea for the subcommittee to meet with City Councilor Alma Castro to share information about Two Mile Pond. Chair Klingel noted that the subcommittee is tracking the issues but are currently in a holding pattern due to awaiting more info from OSE and the upcoming data studies.
Ms. Isaacson shared an update on Two Mile Pond (originally scheduled to be item 8 In agenda): Ms. Isaacson shared that River & Watershed Division has submitted a Notice of Intent for the FEMA Hazard Mitigation phased grant to provide funding to address the culvert, including engineering analyses, flood analysis/capacity determination, and culvert replacement design. They may find out in next 8 months if funds are awarded. The City is also working on an update to the 2020 Hazard Mitigation Plan to ensure this project and several others qualify for funding.
Ms. Isaacson shared updates on the Ecologic and Hydrologic Studies: Steve Finch from John Shomaker and Associates (JSAI) installed one of three monitoring stations. The City has secured funding and access approvals for 3 of 6 transects for the Ecological Study, defined the scope of work and are starting the study ASAP, within the next month. All data will be made public, synthesized, analyzed and presented at River Commission meetings which will be opportunities to give input and help refine. Changes can potentially be made after the first year of collecting data once potential gaps in data collection can be identified.
Dr Jacobi noted that the maintenance of the outlet standpipe for Two Mile Pond is one of the biggest factors to the levels of the Pond.
Ms. Isaacson stated that in order to protect the scientific integrity of the studies, the City does not want to make changes during first year of study, and expressed hopes that they can work collaboratively with the TNC, Forest Service, and City Water Department to let the system hang out for a while. Ms. Isaacson said she will advocate for City maintenance of the standpipe.
Dr Jacobi commented that in January of 2013 it was determined that OSE said a Water Right is not required for a natural riparian system. Two Mile Pond is a natural riparian system/wetland. “This was already determined, so why was the restoration channel taken out?”
Ms. Isaacson stated that these are questions for the OSE. The City did not take out the diversion to the restoration channel, the OSE sent a cease and desist. The OSE has come to River Commission meetings before, and as the staff liaison Ms. Isaacson has heard the Commissioners desire to have a direct line of communication with the OSE, and will advocate to have a meeting set up to have discussions on these issues.
Ms. Isaacson also noted that the River & Watershed Division is working on a press release and announcement covering everything just discussed, which should be sent out to the public next week.
8. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS
a. Formation of the River Commission Applicant Recommendation Subcommittee (Zoe Isaacson, Staff Liaison, zrisaacson@santafenm.gov. 505-955-6853)
Ms. Isaacson then presented an analysis of the applicants: 34 applicants total; 17 from district 1, 6 from district 2, 0 from district 3, 2 from district 4, the rest from Santa Fe County.
Ms. Isaacson did a lot of leg work to try to get a representative from each district. “We have a good across-the-board demographic; I’m hoping that plays out to have a new member from every district that applied.”
A subcommittee of three members to review all applications and create a refined list of recommended applicants to present to the Mayor.
Chair Heidi Klingel asked all Members if they had desire to be on the subcommittee and Commissioner Anna Hansen and Member Pat Smyth volunteered.
MOTION: Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen moved, seconded by Voting Member Lyon, to Motion to create a subcommittee consisting of Chair Klingel, County Commissioner Hansen and Commissioner Smyth to review River Commission applicants and provide recommendations to the Mayor.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Bove, Member Klingel, Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen, Voting Member Smyth, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None
Abstain: None
b. River Commission’s Continued Stewardship of the Santa Fe River Reach at Saint Francis (Heidi Klingel, River Commission Chair, heidiklingel@hotmail.com)
Heidi Klingel, Chair asked of the committee what the Commission wants to do regarding the Commission’s stewardship of the river reach they have adopted from Louis Montaño Park along West Alameda down to the bridge at St. Francis over the river. Their general suggestion is to do 6 clean-ups per year, however the Commission has not been able to do so. Chair Klingel suggested tabling this project until more Members join the Commission. Amara from Watershed Association noted that even 2 clean-ups per year would be helpful.
Commissioner Hansen suggested that the Sierra Club, who adopted a nearby reach, might be beneficial to reach out to for help cleaning up the reach. Other suggestions: Clean-ups could be posted on NextDoor, there could be a subcommittee that picks a day, organizes, does outreach and makes it happen.
Ms. Isaacson suggested that the Commission could come up with a calendar of predetermined dates so the City can help, for example: City Parks Rangers could go ahead of time and secure the area.
A community member noted that most citizens of Santa Fe don’t even know that there is a River Commission and suggested that clean-ups be used as an opportunity to have more community involvement.
Member Pat Smyth noted that on Love your Watershed say this past spring, the Watershed Association had a team cleaning the river while events were going on, and suggested that it would be a good idea to do something in conjunction with this year’s event.
Chair Klingel suggested someone step up to spearhead the effort around upcoming Love Your Watershed Day May 4th, and the idea is tabled until next meeting on April 18th.
9. MATTERS FROM STAFF
a. Two Mile Pond Update (Zoe Isaacson, Staff Liason, zrisaacson@santafenm.gov, 505-955-6853)
To facilitate ease of understanding in conversation, this item was discussed during the Subcommittee sharing time.
10. MATTERS FROM THE PUBLIC
Community member, Lisa Farrand, asked about public accessibility to the river section from St. Francis to Camino Alire, noting the good water flow but steep and densely vegetated area to walk down.
Ms. Isaacson stated that there are access points to the river nearby that are less steep, and that the City’s Parks and Open Space Division would not be able to increase management or maintenance due to staffing shortages and the policy of not putting trails in Open Space, as the City already maintains the river trail.
11. MATTERS FROM THE COMMISSION
Commissioner Hansen asked about the previously scheduled election for Vice Chair of the Commission. Chair Klingel noted that this has been tabled until there are new commissioners present. Ms. Isaacson stated that if Commissioners desire, it can be added to the agenda for the next meeting on April 18 at 6pm, which will also be about the annual approval of the Hydrograph, monitoring results if there is data to present, and welcoming any new members who are present.
12. NEXT MEETING: April 18 2024
13. ADJOURN
https://santafe.primegov.com/public/portal
