Commentary on the Swickard's Less than Sweet Smell of Sewage column

Commentary by Tom Austin, resident of  Dona Ana County - Michael Swickard had it spot on. (his colunm here) He started the article like this; Here’s an easy question, “ Will everyone who wants to live next door to a sewage treatment plant, raise your hand?” How many of those voting on the P&Z would raise their hand? Would they be voting for approval of this plant if it were in their backyard? We all know the answer to that question. Most of us are all familiar with the proverbial saying, not in my backyard or NIMBY. When we hear that phrase, we usually think of something as in our region or relatively close proximity. But in this case it is literally in our backyard, as in right out our back door. In the case of my neighbor, Joe and Annie Franco, it is about 50’ from their backdoor to the proposed sewage plant property line. Joe and Annie have owned that property for years. They have invested their lives and resources on their property. They built their house, planted a pecan orchard, and perhaps, like many of us, have at times struggled to keep the payments current on the property. All these years, like us when asked where we live, they would reply in the north valley by the river. If this plant is built, now our response will forever be, by the Hope Rd sewer plant! Who among those reading this letter would like to live there? Our property values will plummet. And since this plant will require heavy truck traffic, lights on all night, noise from the constant drone of the motors and the odors that will inevitably emanate from the plant, our quality of life will be destroyed. Who among you would not stand with us if this were your backyard?

Dona Ana Mutual is trying to sell this as a “regional cooperative effort.” Every time I hear them say that concerning this project, I wait in earnest to see how long their noses are going to grow! We knew nothing about this project until we came home one day to find survey markers on our neighbors land. When we inquired as to the purpose of the survey, we were told Dona Ana Mutual was buying the land about 500’ away to build a sewer plant! This plant was never part of a cooperative effort with any other residents of the county. This project has been kept as quiet and as illusive by Dona Ana Mutual as they could and still try to be compliant with notification standards. They learned from their previous experiences when they attempted to build this project within their service area by their constituent’s houses. The people within their service area had voting power on their board, and the residents within their service area were able to stop those sites before they ever got this far. Their constituents said, not in our backyard, and they stopped it. They have chosen this site within Leasburg Domestic Mutual and told our constituents we could come to their Board Meetings when this site was on the agenda but we would not be allowed to vote and could only talk once the meeting was over. At a recent County Commissioners meeting I asked the Commissioners how many of them were involved in the selection of this site. No one raised his or her hand. So not even the County Commissioners, our representatives knew anything about the Hope Rd site until we became active in trying to stop the project. This site has never been part of a “cooperative effort.” Dona Ana Water were the only ones at the table when this site was selected, even though this project will affect all the residents of Dona Ana County. The people within the Leasburg service area will not, nor can we, for economic reasons, hook up to this project. Therefore, we are being asked to bear all the cost of the project, both in plummeting property values and the destruction in the quality of life we have become accustomed to and for which we purchased our property, and receive none of the benefits. If anyone should have been in the decision making process for this site, it should have been the residents of Leasburg.

The irony of this is that it doesn’t have to be in anyone’s backyard nor should it be. In a recent article in the Sun News, Mariano Martinez, general Manager for Dona Ana Water, said this was about protecting the ground water. If that were so, Dona Ana water would have taken the offer from the city of Las Cruces, signed by the Mayor, stating that the city would take their sewage. Problem solved, right? Wrong! Imagine our surprise when the city received a reply from Dona Ana mutual refusing the offer. The fact is Dona Ana Water wants to be in the big pipe sewer business, period. If they were truly concerned about ground water contamination, they would have taken the offer.

We have thousands of acres of open vacant desert on the east mesa. We have the Hill transfer station there and much closer to Dona Ana than we are. One of the sites that were previously under consideration was in the general area of the dump, across the railroad tracks and east of the valley. But the constituents of Dona Ana felt this site was to close to their neighborhoods, so they stopped it. Which they had the power to do and had the obligation to do. In that case it was their property values and quality of life in jeopardy, so they fought and won! That is why I am asking everyone who stood in opposition to those previous sites, to stand with us in opposition to this site. The stakes are the same. And if a sewage force main is built 12 miles up the valley along Valley Drive, high-density development will follow. Is this what we want as a county? Even if you live in the city, a Sunday drive up the valley floor among the open fields and pecan orchards is much more pleasant than stopping every mile or two at stop lights. The north valley is developed. It is rural residential farmland, and we as county constituents should work together to preserve it. High-density development should take place on the mesas out of the valley floor.

All of us, who live in the Leasburg area and the North Valley, pay a price for living out here. It is a long commute to town, but we are willing to pay it for the quality of life we enjoy in this rural farm setting. None of us would have bought this property and built our homes here had we known that a sewer plant was going to be built next door.  This will be an industrial sewer plant among our houses. We have already built our houses and can’t move. As stated earlier, there will be odors, noise, and lights on all night, and increased heavy truck traffic in our neighborhood. And, there will always be the imminent threat for sewage leaks and spills from this plant. Even now our property values have been diminished. If we attempt to sell our land, we are obligated by law to disclose to the buyer all known facts that materially affect the value of the property being sold. When we disclose the fact that the land next door has been purchased for the construction of a sewer plant, the buyers disappear! Already, we are materially affected and cannot sell our homes or land if we need to.

We are told by those that want this plant here that communities need sewage treatment. That’s a fact. We all know this to be true. We also need milk, but we can’t allow a dairy to be built by Sonoma Ranch or Picacho Hills! We need canned goods, but we can’t allow a canning factory in downtown Las Cruces! Its called Planning and Zoning for a reason. You don’t put industrial sewage plants among people’s houses! The fact is that this plant should never be allowed in anyone’s backyard nor does it need to be. And we as a community should stand together and see to it that P&Z does what they were appointed to do and that is to “Conserve the value of buildings and land” as stated in the county comprehensive plan. We all need to be aware of the fact that if it can happen to us, it can happen to you too.

This will be before the P&Z commission this Thursday, June 28^th, at 9:00 AM. All of us in the North Valley are asking for everyone’s support and asking that you stand with us in this fight to preserve the rural setting in this part of our county. Remember what I asked before? If you were Joe and Annie, and this were your property that you had spent most of your life building and paying for so you could have just a small piece if America to retire on, would you be opposed to this? I know the answer, so I’ll see you at the meeting!

Tom Austin

Citizen of Dona Ana County