DOÑA ANA COUNTY COMMISSION

JANUARY 25, 2006

 Commissioners Butler, Curry, Evans, and Saldaña-Caviness were physically present and Commissioner McCamley by phone.

 After approving a consent agenda of 6 items the Commission considered a resolution proposed by Commissioner McCamley regarding county wilderness protection, National Conservation Areas, and the use of proceeds from sale of BLM within the county.  Commissioner Curry wanted to table this resolution because of Senator Domenici's fear that it might kill a bill he has before Congress concerning distribution of funds from the sale of BLM lands.  After discussion there was consensus that this resolution represented an expression of our desires to our Senator, not an effort to derail his bill.  The resolution was approved unanimously.

 Commissioner McCamley had to attend another meeting so the following actions were taken by the remaining 4 commissioners.

 A resolution in support of the New Mexico Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy Act proposed for the 2006 NM legislature was approved.

 Approval was given to award contracts to Zia Engineering for design of the Las Palmeras Improvement Project and design of the Shrode Road Extensioin Project.

 A resolution in support of Memorial Medical Center's sole community hospital provider fund commitment request for FY 06-07 was approved.  John Myers made a public request for better accountability from the hospitals for these funds.  Commissioners have made similar requests in the past but have chosen not to deny the requests because most of the money comes from outside the county.

 A similar resolution in support of Mountain View Regional Medical Center's request for Fy 06-07 was approved.  While having more than one 'sole provider' in a community might sound illogical to some, county staff say the source of these funds understands the situation and is happy to provide the funds.

Charlie Welch

Southern NM Common Cause