MEETING
NSD Business Office
1326 W. Highway 92 #12
Bisbee, AZ 85620
June 7, 2024
Minutes
Meeting
2:00 PM
The meeting was called to order at 2:00 PM. Stephen Dey, Charles Behney, Andrew Foster, Jesus Guerrero, and Angelica Coronado were present.
Mr. Dey spoke about organizing the local community based organizations for a grant writing- problem solving seminar in the Naco-Bisbee area to pursue EPA Environmental justice grants for the area.
Mr. Behney spoke about the upcoming EPA Border 2025 meeting in Nogales, Sonora with the transboundary state and federal agencies from Mexico and the United States to discuss problems regarding the Naco region.Office Manager, Ms. Monika Patience had nothing to add. Mr.
Dey stated that NSD had more money coming in, and no major bills to pay.
New Business
The minutes of May 17, 2024 were discussed and approved. Ms. Coronado’s name was misspelled and corrected. Mr. Dey made a motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Behney. The minutes were approved unanimously by the board.
Next on the agenda was the conflict waiver agreement between the NSD and Pierce Coleman law firm, which cites a conflict of interest between the City of Bisbee and the NSD. Apparently, City of Bisbee Attorney Joe Estes has become a partner with Pierce Coleman, which created a conflict of interest unknown to Mr. Paladini until Mr Dey noticed the address change of Mr. Estes to Pierce Coleman. NSD and Bisbee now have a conflict of interest and cannot utilize the services of Pierce Coleman Law Firm for litigation between the City and NSD.
Since the board had read the Waiver of Conflict of Interest, a motion was made by Mr. Dey to accept the waiver as written, and seconded by
Mr. Behney. The vote to approve was passed by roll call unanimously.
Mr. Behney then had the Waiver of Conflict of Interest signed by the NSD board, to be emailed to Pierce Coleman.
Next on the agenda was the Memorandum of Understanding between NSD and the City of Bisbee. This MOU will provide NSD with approximately the same revenue that NSD would collect in property taxes, if Bisbee was a private enterprise instead of being a public municipality. In exchange for NSD providing sewer connections and no fees, the City of Bisbee will pay NSD revenue based on the approximate value of Camp Naco.
NSD attorney, Mr. Jon Paladini stated that the MOU was a good, fair agreement. Mr. Paladini congratulated “whoever had negotiated the agreement.” Mr. Behney said “we can thank for the negotiation.” Mr. Dey regarded the negotiation as being basically what all the parties wanted regarding Camp Naco and NSD connections and cooperation.
Mr. Dey made a motion to pass the NSD-City of Bisbee Memorandum of Understanding as written. Seconded by Mr. Behney, the motion passed unanimously with a roll call.
The MOU as then signed by the board, to be sent to Mr. Paladini.
The letter to local Community Based Organizations was then read for the record by Mr. Behney:
RE: Community Based Organizatons Grant Opportunities
Dear [*]
The Naco Sanitary District (NSD) has been made aware of various grant opportunities available for local Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and non-profits such as your organization.
We have advisors from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) that are able to assist you in applying for and receiving federal grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
The NSD is working with federal and state agencies to obtain these grants for regional communities in Cochise County.
We ask that your organization partners with NSD to bring these funds to our communities.
Solar energy, clean water, housing improvements and health are among the projects that our rural communities qualify for.
If you are interested, please contact the NSD Chair, Mr. Stephen Dey at 520-255-6368 or this email: nsdoffice@nacosanitary.org.
Some of these opportunities need to have applications before November of 2024.
NSD is organizing a two day grant writing workshop and seminar soon for our regional CBOs and stakeholders. We will notify you of this event when its finalized.
Sincerely,
Stephen T. Dey Chair, on behalf of the NSD board.
Mr. Behney stated that this letter will be sent to local CBOs soon, to organize a seminar and meeting to help the CBOs obtain grants. There were no further questions or additions. Mr. Paladini approved the content of the letter. Mr. Dey made a motion to accept the letter as written and then send it out to as many local CBOs as possible. Mr. Behney seconded the motion. A vote was taken, which passed the motion unanimously.
Next on the agenda was discussion of the purchase of five laptops for the NSD board. This purchase will allow NSD board members to attend meetings online, remotely and provide up to date tools for the board. Mr. Dey suggested that the computers would be public records. Mr. Behney stated that confidental records such as attorney-client privilege, NADB (North American Development Bank) confidentiality, and executive sessions were not available as public records.
An estimate of approximately $3500 was agreed. Mr. Dey made a motion to approve the laptop purchase for approximately $3500, which was seconded by Mr. Behney. Without further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
For Public Comments, former NSD chair Mr. David Loyd wanted to ask questions about grants. Mr. Dey said these questions could not be answered since they were not on the agenda.
Ms. Lorie Anderson stated that the Naco Heritage Alliance was a non-profit. The City of Bisbee owns Camp Naco and they pay zero taxes. She complained that NSD taxes were going down as Camp Riff was going to be paying taxes but not Camp Naco. Mr. Behney said that the NSD board had just passed the MOU between NSD and the City of Bisbee, which will have the City paying revenues to NSD for Camp Naco.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:23 PM.
_____________________________________
Stephen T. Dey
Naco Sanitary District Chair