Talavera Community Association

Photo from KVIA TV

Many Talavera residents were awoken about 2:30 AM this morning by a loud explosion and subsequent fire. According to news reports this morning, the explosion occured at 4852 Deadwood Camp Ct., in the Miners Ridge neighborhood. According to the Dona Ana Conty assesor’s records, the house is listed under the name of Paul and Kimberlee Hering. The news reports indicate that the house was unoccupied and for sale. News reports also indicate that several adjacent homes suffered damage as a result of the explosion. At this time, no cause has been determined.

I found the best local news coverage so far is at the KFOX TV web site as the have photos available. Other media outlets with stories are: The El Paso Times, KTSM Channel 9, and KVIA TV.

The Talavera Community Association had mixed results on the October 15 meetings. At the 9 AM County Commission Meeting, the County Commission voted 4-1 to approve our petition to request that FEMA withdraw the Fillmore/Tellbrook Arroyo flood plain study, and have it redone. In general the commissioners were impressed with the work done by the Noahs Ark Group Study(NAGS), led by Mike Park and John Smith. They commended the community activism and the community’s willingness to donate our own money for this study. The lone dissenting vote was cast by commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler. Mr Butler’s reason for dissenting is that he thought it was unfair to support one area of the county because we had the money and drive to pay for our own engineering analysis. He felt that all of the flood studies may be flawed and this was unfair to the poorer areas of the county.

While we acheived our objective with this vote by the County Commission, this was only a step on the path to our overall goal. Having the County agree with us, lends a lot of credibility to our arguments. However, the final decision will still be up to FEMA and is yet to be made.

At the late afternoon ETA meeting, the ETA voted 3-2 to grant the Shittal LLC appeal of the ETZ’s earlier decision to deny their rezoning request. That means that the request to rezone 36.5 acres at the corner of Achenbach Canyon Road and Chippewa Trail from ER2 (2 acre minimum) to ER3 (1 acre minimum) was granted. There were conditions attached to the rezoning approval, so the parcel is officially zoned ER3C. The two conditions attached to the zoning change are 1- Maximum of 18 lots total, and 2- Minimum lot size of 1.5 acres. County commissioners Oscar Vasquez Butler and Kent Evans supported the change along with 1 city counselor. County Commissioner Karen Perez voted against the change.

Sadly, the ETA has once again shown that hey consider maximizing developer profits is a higher priority than maintaining neighborhood integrity.

Please mark Wednesday, October 15 on your calendar.There are 2 county meetings of great importance to Talavera residents. At 9:00 AM, the regular County Commission meeting will occur. The Noahs Ark Group Study (NAGS) petition to request a new study of the Tellbrook/Filmore Arroyo flood plain will be presented to the board. A strong turnout by area residents is needed to show our support for this request. The agenda for the meeting can be found at THIS LINK. Note that our request is item # 25.

At 5:00 Pm on the same day, the ETA (Extra Territorial Authority) will consider an appeal from Shital, LLC, on their request to rezone 36.5 acres at Achenbach Canyon Rd and Chippewa Trail to ER3, 1 acre minimum lot size. A strong turnout by local residents at the August ETZ meeting, helped convince the ETZ to reject the proposal.We need a strong turnout once again, to convince the ETA that we have not lost interest. The agenda for the EtA meeting can be found here: ETA Agenda.

The Noahs Ark Group Study (NAGS) flood plain mapping results were presented to area residents in a meeting that was held Wednesday September 17, at the Farm and Ranch theater. Approximately 75 area residents attended the meeting along with State Senator Lee Rawson, and a representative from the staff of U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. The study, prepared by Mr. J. E. Fuller of E Fuller/Hydrology & Geomorphology, INC., found serious flaws in the original FEMA study. Links to the documents presented to NAGS and at the meeting have been added on a separate page labeled NAGS documents. The links to these .pdf documents are also posted here:

talavera-floodplain-delineation-study-presentation

talavera-rvw-comments-letter-9-03-08

The minutes from the September 13 meeting have now been posted. The minutes are on the minutes page, or you can see theme here: September 13 minutes.

etz-hearing.pdf

The Talavera ETZ Steering Committee has revised their proposed zoning recommendations. A letter has been sent to property owners in the effected areas. The recommendations are linked below as PDF documents, and are posted on the ETZ Committee page.

Recommendation Letter

Zoning Proposal Map

In the last couple of weeks we have had almost twenty burglaries in the Soledad Canyon area that we suspect have been committed by the same people. We would like to request assistance from residents in watching for the following vehicles in their neighborhoods.

A red pickup truck and a light brown pickup truck, probably occupied by at least two male suspects and possibly up to four or five male suspects between the hours of 11:00 am and 3:00 pm. They usually kick in the front door and target specific items in the residence. Then they vandalize the house, breaking glass and destroying property. Suspects are considered to be armed and dangerous, so use caution when observing them. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPROACH OR APPREHEND THESE SUSPECTS. If you spot these vehicles or any other suspicious activity in your neighborhood please be our eyes and ears. Call 911 and give the dispatcher the following information if you can get it: Closest address of the suspects present location, description of vehicle or vehicles, license plates, noticeable body damage, number of suspects, suspects descriptions and activity. If at all possible, please remain on the phone with the dispatcher. All of this information will assist us in capturing these criminals. BE A GOOD OBSERVER AND A GOOD WITNESS!!! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPROACH, CONFRONT, OR APPREHEND THESE SUSPECTS.

Hopefully, with all of us working together we can put a stop to these attacks on our community. Thanks for the help.

Alan Franzoy,
Deputy Sheriff, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office

With February dedicated as National Heart month by the American Heart Association, come and learn how you may save a loved one.

The Las Alturas Volunteer Fire Department is offering a fully approved AHA CPR class on Saturday, February 23, 2008 from 8:30am to 3:00pm.

The class will cover adult, children and infant CPR along with using an AED in conjunction with CPR. Once you have demonstrated your skills and taken a short test you will be eligible to receive an AHA CPR card, which will be valid for two years and costs only $5.00

Please contact fire department member Eileen Monahan at 496-0264 to reserve your spot for this interactive CPR class.
If necessary we will hold additional classes to accommodate all interest persons.

Thank You