Highlights and lowlights

August 19th Regular County Commission Meeting:
* Commissioners accepted certificate of appreciation from U.S. Census Bureau. Otero County has 68K inhabitants.
* Public hearing to discuss proposed Environmental Department for Otero County. (There will be another public hearing next month on the 16th.) As reported in part by the Daily News:

"...Tommie Herrell, who is running for the District 1 commission seat currently held by Doug Moore, was the first member of the audience to make comment after Kirby's presentation. He said in doing his research with the NMED, he found the revenue and costs to do the permitting, inspecting and enforcing were quite different than those presented during the meeting by Kirby.

Herrell called it "silly" to duplicate services to citizens that the state already provides.

Rardin said Herrell was coming in at the end of a process the county began in January, and that Herrell ran into some of the same problems the county found in the beginning..."

What was not reported in the ADN:

The Alamogordo phone book, under New Mexico government listings, shows the address of the ENVIRONMENTAL DEPARTMENT as 1015 Cuba Avenue.

The Otero County Assessor's website shows the owner of 1015 Cuba Avenue to be HERRELL, TOMMIE & JOSETTE TRUST. Can you say conflict of interest?

*Aerowest Helicopters will be hired by the county for approximately $30K to conduct coyote reduction - Pinon. (The coyotes are thick in my area. Two dogs attacked in the past week. How about where you live?)

Outside the Commission Chambers: I have visited with three rural volunteer fire departments; Burro Flats, Oro Vista and Bent. Each is unique but what they have in common is dedicated people that provide an very valuable service.

Did you know the ISO (Insurance Services Organization) rating of the department serving you affects the fire insurance rates you pay? I didn't. The lower the ISO (Class 1 to 10), the lower the rates. In the whole U.S. with a total of 44,000 departments, 62 are Class 1 and 60% are Class 9.

Burro Flats (18 +/- members) Class 9
Bent (16 +/- members) Class 9
Oro Vista (20 +/- members) Class 5

Complete ADN report at http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_15846442