Submitted by Karen Davisson, Sandia Airpark Estates resident
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Last week’s agenda included a proposed resolution guaranteeing the “vested right” of Sandia Airpark to allow the taxiing of aircraft on their roads.
While in and of itself this resolution is accurate, it is based on the false presumptions that the taxiways within the airpark are public, and that the members of Sandia Airpark Property Owners Association (owners of the roads per attached letter from the Santa Fe Land Use Department) have discussed, voted on, and are petitioning the commission to make our roads public. No such discussion or vote has taken place other than private conversations between Commissioner Powers and some of his neighbors within the airpark.
My understanding of common practice for a municipality to take on a subdivision’s roads is for the people of that community to petition the municipality to do so. Commissioner Powers brought this to the Commission without even a discussion in a HOA meeting and used the proposal of spending leftover 2014 GO bond money that paved the public road coming up to the private airpark as the catalyst for this entire discussion. (As GO bond money cannot be used on private property, Powers is insisting that our private roads have always been public, despite evidence to the contrary.) He effectually disenfranchised the entire HOA membership with this action, and he will be doing so again tonight if you vote to pass this resolution. While an important aspect of any consideration for the town to take over airpark taxiways, this action alone will make his goal a fait accompli, without so much as a discussion or vote from HOA members.
Prior to consideration of any resolution by the Town Commission guaranteeing the right of taxiing aircraft on our private properties, the HOA membership has the right to discuss all issues regarding our taxiways such as:
– the probable lack of timeliness in any type of maintenance which would occur – there are many, many roads in Edgewood that deserve priority over our already paved roads,
– the type of maintenance that would be provided by the town,
– and whether the HOA would have any say in that type of maintenance – asphalt, not chip sealing is the standard for taxiways. See page 6, paragraph 1 of the attached engineering report “Engineering Study of Privately Owned Asphalt Streets” prepared for Sandia Airpark Estates Property Owners Association by Western Technologies, Inc. As a note of interest, Commissioner Powers is the party that recommended that the SAEPOA use Western Technologies for this evaluation, and who at the time made no objection to the term “privately owned”.
First, and foremost, the HOA membership has the vested right to determine by discussion and vote of 2/3’s of the entire membership to petition Edgewood to take on the ownership and maintenance of our roads BEFORE any decision affecting, or identifying, our property rights is decided by the Town Commission. If our right to taxi aircraft is vested, so is our right to own and maintain our private roads.
Additionally, as a resident of the airpark, Commissioner Powers is obligated to recuse himself from any Commission discussions or votes regarding airpark properties or matters, which he has failed to do on several occasions.