The Truth or Consequences City Commission declared a waterline disaster at the Nov. 15 meeting and has remained mum since sounding that alarm.
It modified the disaster declaration on Dec. 14 after the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s assessment team said to do so after looking over the claimed damage. A pump, electrical panel and other damage that occurred the week of Nov. 7, 2023 at the Cook Street Station were added.
I submitted two Inspection-of-Public-Records-Act requests for the results of the NMDHSEM’s assessment of the damage, first on Jan. 1 and then on Jan. 8. I was told both times that “no such documents exist.”
I then submitted an IPRA to NMDHSEM and after waiting more than two weeks received a letter written by the department’s Recovery and Mitigation Bureau Chief Jeremy Klass on Dec. 29. Evidently the letter was only recently sent, however, because it was “electronically signed” on Jan. 24.
It looks like my IPRA to NMDHSEM spurred the sending of the letter to the city, which was directed to City Manager Angela Gonzales.
The letter points out that the city failed to qualify for any relief funds for four reasons. The city should have researched NMDHSEM guidelines before declaring a disaster.
First, the city didn’t meet the “threshold” requirements, which was a minimum of a mere $51,000 in damage, because the documents the city submitted were for damage that occurred in 2022. NMDHSEM requires that a disaster be declared within 15 days of an event that caused the damage and it will consider damage that occurred up to 30 days prior to the precipitating event.
Second, the city had to show the damage was because of a precipitating event, not because it had neglected to maintain the waterlines and equipment. The city’s maintenance records were deemed inadequate. The letter states that upkeep of the infrastructure is “a crucial requirement for program eligibility.”
Third, the city has received federal funding to repair waterlines and equipment and for electrical upgrades at the Cook Street Station and NMDHSEM does not duplicate such funds in a disaster.
Fourth, the city waited “several months” before reporting the broken water lines it was trying to be reimbursed for, and 72 hours is the expected reporting window.
Without adequate maintenance records, it looks like the city will have a very hard time proving it’s eligible for disaster or emergency funds in the future.
The city commission, at the Nov. 15 and Dec. 14 meetings, made it sound as if the disaster declaration would help the city in seeking funds in the upcoming legislative session. Senate Bill 95 and House Bill 148 ask for $20 million and $16 million respectively for water system repairs. The bills, despite the different monetary amounts, are for the same projects, according to the bill documents available online. Instead of helping, it looks like the NMDHSEM assessment makes the city look negligent, bad at keeping records, bad at looking up and following guidelines and bad at communicating with state-level officials.