Shining a light on LPEA politics

To the editor,  

I have been an LPEA director for over 25 years, but I am expressing my opinion and not that of the LPEA Board. 

The LPEA staff is highly professional and goes out of its way to keep the board informed. The staff does not get involved in board politics. It is unfortunate that the progressive directors have stooped to a new low and blame others for their ineptness. LPEA directors should have the courage to support these fine employees.

The directors who attempted to eliminate a rate adjustment admit they don’t care enough to attend board meetings and don’t understand the process. Rate design is a complicated process, yet one director based his decision on something he worked out on a napkin. The board, along with an independent rate consultant, has worked on the rates for the past six months. The board had ample time to ask questions and understand the process.  

Not one of the protesting directors asked how LPEA would pay its bills if their motion passed. Their amendment would have cut $500,000 from LPEA revenue. This is not Washington D.C.; we can’t just print more money. Directors have a legal and fiduciary obligation to keep the coop healthy. 

I think the entire board supports renewable energy; but it should be done in a responsible way. I will only support a program that benefits the entire membership not a select few. I have solar on our ranch and none of them are subsidized by LPEA.

I believe in responsible programs, why does this make me anti-renewable? LPEA members should not be subsidizing the affluent members so they can get free electricity and make money. Besides, folks seem to forget LPEA is a distribution coop not a generator.

Directors need to make good business decisions and not base their decisions on the potential for re-election or for self-serving reasons.

– Davin Montoya, Hesperus

Kicking up dust over Hesperus truck traffic

To the editor,

I am writing to voice my concerns about the truck traffic on County Road 120. My concerns are as follows.

Since moving to Hesperus in the spring of 2013, I have read about the increasing number of trucks the company Grupos Cementos de Chihuahua are running on the northern section of County Road 120. It used to be 100 trucks a day, and now the number is 280 trucks per day.

I am concerned for all of the residents/voters who use both County Road 120 and Highway 140 from Hesperus to Farmington. I and my family use these roads every day. Allowing more trucks on these winding and narrow mountain roads puts all of us at greater risk.

It is my understanding that due to the noise, pollution and safety concerns for the residents who live along north County Road 120, the Board of County Commissioners is considering re-routing some of the traffic onto either south County Road 120 or County Road 119. Neither of these solutions will solve the noise, safety or pollution concerns. It will simply create more concerns by exposing more citizens to noise, pollution and traffic.

South County Road 120 has numerous blind hills and three hairpin turns; additionally, vehicles routinely exceed the speed limit. There are more residences located directly adjacent to the road on south County Road 120 than there are on the northern section of County Road 120, and many of these residences have children. Adding more traffic, specifically trucks, will only increase the risk of an accident or death.

Finally, I am concerned that our elected county commissioners are allowing a foreign corporation  to pollute the environment and jeopardize the lives and well-being of county residents.

It seems that the only viable solution is for the La Plata County commissioners to deny the land use permit for GCC currently being considered and put the health and well-being of the citizens they were elected to protect above the needs of a foreign multinational company and its profits.

– Timothy Prow, Hesperus

Beware ill effects of Zika eradication

To the editor,

This week on TV, there was a short segment that deserves more coverage than The Donald.  Apparently, a “pandemic “ due to a virus called Zika, transmitted by mosquitos, is being spread through all of Mexico, Central America, half of South America, and most recently in four of our southern states.

My major concern is that the means to eradicate the mosquitos, poisons that also kill humans, are being sprayed in waterways and – unbelievably – inside homes with over-kill fumes.

Not that long ago in the news, a well-to-do family rented a vacation villa  where extreme illness and death resulted from an irresponsible bug exterminator.

I can only imagine the company responsible for the bug spray being used in the above-mentioned countries is making a fortune, as well as its stockholders.

Insidious greedy corporations not only affect the air we breathe, they hide poisons in the food consumed globally. Yes, you know the big, bad GMO corporation that, if I mention by name, is wealthy enough to “target” me.

The Durango Herald had an eye-opening article back in May 17, 2015, page 2B, “Super weeds rise in defiance of herbicide.” The deadly corporation is named by a brave former Durango writer. The “super weeds” are eradicated by Agent Orange, which Round-up could not kill.

The range-free chickens, whose eggs a consumer pays a lot more for, eat the same tainted Agent Orange cornmeal as the incarcerated hens. I buy eggs that specifically say “range-free hens fed non-GMO grain” and figure the additional cost for a dozen nonpoisonous eggs will pay health dividends down the road.

We are what we eat/breathe, and I care enough about humans to express my deep concerns.

– Sally Florence, Durango