Impact fees still worry residents
Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Gallup residents are still worried that proposed impact
fees will hinder the city's growth by driving out developers and discouraging
potential home buyers.
That was the sentiment of many who attended Tuesday's Gallup City
Council work session.
Rick Counts, the city's consultant who oversees the impact fee studies,
land development standards and assumptions for growth, presented the
council with recommendations from the impact fees committee.
The five-member committee conducted a five-month study
to assess how much of the city's five-year Capital Improvement Program
budget would be subject to the impact fees.
As a result of its findings, the committee is proposing an introductory
impact fee of $926 per new development for the first year, followed
by annual increases.
If passed, the ordinance calls for impact fees of $9,274 per development
in 10 years an amount that spawned worried looks from audience members.
But council members assured residents that even if the impact fees
are implemented, they will conduct quarterly reviews to ensure the
fees do not obstruct growth.
Counts said the committee, which includes three developers, evaluated
the CIP categories individually and attrib0uted only 20 percent ($13.8
million) of the $75 million to new development.
He said the ordinance draft was modeled after other New Mexico communities
and that the proposed fees are significantly less than other communities
adopting impact fees for the first time.
Of the CIP categories, the committee approved improvements to the
city's wastewater, streets, water and quality life (the last item
includes public safety improvements such as the planned fire station
renovation).
Dan Frady, a local real estate agent representing the
Gallup Board of Realtors, described the plan as "anti-growth"
and said fiscal pressures are causing cities to impose impact fees,
which are simply another tax.
He pointed out that at the previous public hearing about the impact
fees, 80 percent of the council chambers was full of people opposed
to the plan.
Frady, along with other residents, expressed concern
about administrative costs associated with implementing impact fees
and the fact that impact fees will be the same regardless of the cost
of the home.
The expense developers incur inevitably will be pushed onto consumers,
Frady said. Residents acknowledged the city's infrastructure problems,
but urged the council to review other options to raise needed revenues.
"We're all for growth, but the problem is we have outdated infrastructure.
Even if we had zero growth today, the streets, wastewater and water
plants need to be repaired and upgraded," Frady said.
"I think if the community understood the problem,
everyone would be willing to pay their share just to maintain basic
services through portions of bonding, gross receipts and the legislature
to fund through capital improvements a major portion of the costs
of infrastructure to help bring us up to current and future needs,"
he said.
Frady and others also suggested raising money through
user fees placed on water and sewage on an incremental basis.
In regard to asking the state legislature for funding, several council
members recounted their past failed attempts at receiving assistance
from the state.
Councilman Charlie Chavez said after the state allocates
money to local schools and hospitals, there is nothing left for the
city.
And although state law allows 3 percent of impact fees allocated to
be used for administrative costs, several council members said that
amount would not cover the expenses.
Counts said the committee considered the need to bring the city's
infrastructure up to a level for continued growth but that impact
fees should not be considered an answer to the community's financial
problems.
He said the city needs to use all potential resources strategically
to keep from burdening any one group current residents or newcomers.
The impact fees are a way to guard existing taxpayers from paying
for new growth, he said.
Counts also said he thought the fees would increase growth, encouraging
developers to plan ahead and build early to avoid increasing fees.
City Manager David Ruiz said with such heavy demands for infrastructure
and change, the city could not maintain the status quo forever.
"Impact fees aren't the total answer," he said. "There
is no easy fix."
Council members will vote on the ordinance at the next meeting at
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11.
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Some homes in McKinley are still unmapped
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — For almost 14 years, the McKinley County Rural Addressing
System has been mapping the county, naming roads and giving out street
numbers. Nevertheless, many McKinley County residents still don't
have addresses.
About 75 percent of the county population now has an address, said
Rich Friedman, director of computer services for the addressing office.
"The main thing that keeps it slow is just going
out and finding everybody," Friedman said. "We have to add
to the old system also. We spend two to three days a week maintaining
the system."
The addressing office uses geographical information
systems, a type of computer program, to digitally map physical points
in the county.
After the base map is created, people travel throughout
the county and record all roads and homes on the roads. Finally, the
office gives names to the roads and numbers to the houses according
to their location.
Meanwhile, the office must also determine addresses for new home owners
who request them.
Discovering every road and house in a given area can be daunting,
Friedman said.
"It takes a long time to drive to every place," Friedman
said. "Some people don't know where they live. People can't describe
where they live very well. One time it took three or four days to
find a house."
The department has worked with the town of Crownpoint
since 1988 to name the more than 50 roads in the area, said Benson
Largo, a field engineer technician with the office.
Community citizens and officials have since had several
debates and discussions about what to name the roads, though the project
may be coming to an end soon, Largo said.
Crownpoint resident Sandra Namken, 59, moved to the
community four years ago and has never had an address.
"People are so used to the things the way they are I really don't
(worry about) getting an address," Namken said. "When I
first moved here, it was a big deal. I'm a public health nurse, and
I was just used to being able to look at maps and finding my way around."
Namken said when she makes house calls, she takes a
Navajo driver and interpreter, and they can find the homes with the
little information available.
But having an address not only makes it easier for visitors to find
the house, it also makes it easier for police and firefighters to
find the house.
However, Namken said she is not preoccupied with emergency problems,
because she knows how to give directions to her home without having
to mention a street name.
Friedman said he tentatively expects all county roads
to be named by 2001.
Cibola County addresses
The Cibola County rural addressing office has also given addresses
to 75 percent of its county residences, and it has been working on
the addresses only for a year and a half, said Darryl McCullough,
the county's rural addressing coordinator.
However, Cibola County has not given out these rural addresses to
people yet. The office will complete the project, then provide the
information.
While the McKinley County office has given addresses to most of the
reservation residences, Friedman said, the Cibola County office has
not.
Reservations, where people can live long distances apart,
can have roads and houses that are more difficult to map than those
of more densely populated areas.
McCullough said Cibola County will begin to work with the Ramah Navajo
Reservation and Laguna Pueblo soon.
The Rural Addressing System also does archaeological work by using
the geographical information systems to help survey land.
Moreover, much of the addressing officials' time is spent in determining
the area of jurisdiction for departments and governments that cannot
agree on political boundaries. Friedman said he must answer questions
as simple as who has the right to give whom a traffic ticket.
However, the most time-consuming element of addressing the county
is finding what needs an address, said Largo, the field engineer technician.
"Every time we go out there, we find a new road,
and we find three or four houses along it," he said.
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Dealer finds niche in first editions
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — In the days just before Christmas, Ernie Bulow was spending
a lot of his time on the Internet checking to see how his Tony Hillerman
books were doing in the online auction houses.
A book dealer for more than 20 years, Bulow has managed to carve a
market for himself with very limited editions of the Tony Hillerman
mysteries, providing signed and illustrated editions that have caught
on with fans of the New Mexico mystery writer.
Hillerman for years has been one of the most popular mystery writers
in the United States, mixing murder and mayhem with a backdrop of
Navajo tradition and culture. The mix has made him a millionaire many
times over.
But for the past decade or so, Bulow, with the help
of famed Navajo artist Ernest Franklin and the approval and support
of Hillerman has been bringing out a special edition of Hillerman's
works that includes Hillerman's autograph and Franklin's drawings,
increasing the value of the book fivefold or more.
"I recently was able to get the bids up to $113
on ebay (the main Internet auction house) for just a signed copy of
Hillerman's latest book," Bulow said. And this book didn't even
have a Franklin drawing in the front.
Bulow was helped by the fact that a Hillerman autographed book is
still pretty rare. "He just doesn't like to sign his books,"
Bulow said.
But Bulow, a long-time friend of Hillerman, has been making a living
in part during the last decade writing about Hillerman his book "Talking
Mysteries," which includes a Hillerman interview, has sold more
than 30,000 copies and putting out these special editions of Hillerman's
books which sell for $125 or more.
Bulow is quick to point out that while he makes a decent living selling
books, it's not all profit because he gives some back to Hillerman.
Franklin also is paid for each drawing he does. The Hillerman books
with Franklin drawings many featuring Hillerman detectives Jim Chee
or Joe Leaphorn have been very popular with Hillerman collectors and
people who want to buy a copy in the hope that the books will go up
in value someday.
It all began, Bulow said, in 1988 when Native Peoples
magazine, with the help of Bulow, convinced Hillerman to allow them
to do a story. Franklin was chosen to do the illustrations and the
drawings gained a lot of attention.
"It seemed obvious to put Franklin together with Hillerman,"
Bulow said.
At the same time, Bulow had a friend in Tucson who was
in the printing business and who suggested a limited edition of Hillerman's
books would sell well. So beginning with "Thief of Time,"
Bulow began buying first edition copies of Hillerman books as they
came off the press, got Hillerman to sign them and then had Franklin
do individual drawings in color in the front.
Each drawing is different, he said, and depends on what
Franklin decides on at the moment.
"He really had a good time when Hillerman brought out 'Sacred
Clowns,'" Bulow said. "Every single drawing he did was funny."
Over the years, Bulow has managed to get first editions
of earlier Hillerman works and Franklin has drawn colored sketches
in those as well. This has worked in some cases, but not in others.
"Blessingway," Hillerman's first novel, is
hard to find in a first edition and is worth thousands of dollars
even without a Franklin sketch.
"Most people would rather not take a chance of having a sketch
drawn in it because of the uncertainty as to whether it will help
or hurt the value of the book," he said.
In the last year, Bulow has been spending more and more of his time
putting up the Hillerman signed editions on Internet auction houses
like ebay and amazon.com.
When he first put "Hunting Badger," Hillerman's latest book,
on ebay, Bulow said the prices would peak at about $45 but they began
going up until he sold one for $113. Then the prices began going down
again, as people realized that if they didn't get this copy, another
one would be on the block within a couple of days.
But that doesn't bother Bulow. He knows there is a growing market
out there for the Hillerman/Franklin books. All he has to do is go
to his computer and get on the Internet it'll be there waiting for
him.
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Scandal in Aneth may not be over
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The biggest chapter scandal of 1999 the unauthorized
issuance of almost $41,000 in checks by the top three elected officials
of the Aneth Chapter may not be over.
Although the Ethics and Rules Committee of the Navajo
Nation Council removed the chapter's president, vice president and
secretary-treasurer after administrative hearings Monday and Tuesday,
the case was also referred to the Office of the Prosecutor which may
investigate possible fraud.
The chapter eventually will get $69,215 back from the three officials
if they make full restitution as ordered by the committee. All three
received the maximum penalties allowed under tribal law: immediate
removal from office, disqualification from holding Navajo elective
office for five years, and the requirement to pay back all the money
in question...
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Navajo Nation: Feds must be loyal to
tribes
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The entire U.S. government not just the Bureau
of Indian Affairs should have only one principle to guide its responsibilities
to Indian tribes: total loyalty.
In a two-page position paper approved Tuesday, the Navajo Nation Council's
Intergovernmental Relations Committee maintains that the principle
must be an undivided loyalty to serve the best interest of the tribes.
The Navajo position is that the recent BIA draft of trust responsibilities
is a self-serving document designed to protect the U.S. Department
of Interior from liabilities in a lawsuit regarding a lack of accountability
for individual and tribal funds...
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Book seller rides out the ups, downs
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The last time a story about Ernie Bulow appeared in
the Gallup Independent was about 1994 and he was getting ready to
mosey out of Gallup for a better life in Tucson.
Before he did, however, he changed his mind. But in the years since,
he has managed to do something a lot of people would think would be
impossible here in Gallup: He has managed to make a living selling
first editions by mystery writers.
Today, he has between 20,000 and 30,000 books on walls throughout
his rambling house on the southside. Almost all are first editions
and nearly all are in mint condition. That's good because one thing
Bulow learned early when he stopped specializing in Old West and Indian
books is that a book not in mint condition is a book that is meant
just for reading...
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Area rivalries on tap to open Gallup
Invite
Alan Arthur
Sports Editor
GALLUP — There is going to be a lot of familiarity among teams
in the first round of the Gallup Invitational on Thursday.
Tournament organizers have seen fit this year to pit all four area
teams in this year's tournament against each other on the opening
day with the big matchup being the host Gallup Bengals hosting their
area rival Window Rock Scouts at 8 p.m. on Thursday night in the feature
battle. This was the game that went down the wire in last year's semifinals
with Window Rock winning on a last second shot by Derrick Boye.
"That's going to be a big challenge for us," Gallup head
coach Zach McBride said. "I have a lot of respect for the things
they (the Scouts) do, even without Bo (Whitelock)..."
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Mirror image
Ganado sweeps Window Rock by identical scores
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — The Ganado Hornets and Lady Hornets pulled
off an unusual feat of posting identical winning scores Tuesday night
in sweeping their 3A Enchantment Region Conference opener against
Window Rock.
Using an edge on the offensive boards, the Hornets downed the Fighting
Scouts 51-42. In the girls game, the Lady Hornets sank a perfect 16-of-16
free throws in the final period in matching the boys game also with
a 51-42 conference win.
Ganado will host Tuba City Saturday in a crucial conference showdown.
The Window Rock boys will face host Gallup at 8 p.m. during the opening
round of the Gallup Invitational. The Window Rock girls will be off
until next Tuesday when they host conference foe Winslow...
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Gallup girls keep winning in new millennium
Robert Arrieta
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP — Whether it is the start of a new millennium, new century
or just a new semester, the Gallup Bengals do not care. They are just
going to keep winning.
The Bengals are riding the wave of a winning streak that dates back
to Dec. 11 and, after defeating the Durango Demons 51-29 on Tuesday
night, does not appear ready to break any time soon.
"I don't like to look at winning streaks," coach John Lomasney
said. "We look at things from game to game. We've been doing
good and getting some wins during this non-district part of our schedule..."
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Gomez vows to fight for trustee seat
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
MILAN — Quit without a fight? Not in your lifetime and that is
exactly Rebecca Gomez's attitude about her battle with the Village
of Milan Board of Trustees to retain a trustee seat.
She hired Albuquerque attorney Kent Winchester to take
her battle into court after trustees Tom Ortega, Ray Ortega and Vivian
Brumbelow filed a petition for a declaratory judgment seeking $175,000
in damages to stop her from taking office and exercising its duties.
A hearing on the declaratory judgment was supposed to
be heard Dec. 27, but Winchester requested and got a continuance.
The continuance does not give a specific time when a hearing will
be held...
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Tribe to hear legacy case
Shiprock woman's insurance at issue
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The Navajo Nation Supreme Court has ruled
that the tribal courts and not the federal courts have jurisdiction
regarding who will get benefits from a Navajo woman who worked for
an area coal mine before her death.
This reverses a decision by the Shiprock Family Court,
which had dismissed the case in 1996, saying it did not have jurisdiction
over who should get the life insurance proceeds of the late Lucinda
Ruth MacDonald her husband whom she divorced the year before or her
daughter.
MacDonald was an employee of BHP-Minerals when she died in an automobile
accident on June 9, 1995. She had purchased the company's employee
group benefit package which included a life insurance policy...
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