HNA held its Spring membership meeting on Tuesday, March 24 in the cafeteria of Hodgin Elementary School.
On the meeting’s agenda were presentations from a representative from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), and from State Senator Heather Berghmans, State Representative Cristina Parajón and City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn.
First up, Carl Christensen from the Conservation Dept. of Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. Carl brought with him some giveaway goodies and handouts on water conservation, and he shared the details on the various outdoor water conservation rebate programs available to residents. These programs include the Desert Friendly Xeriscaping conversion program in which property owners receive $3 per square foot of turf that is replaced with drought tolerant alternatives. The Treebate program offsets 25% of not only the purchase of a medium to low water tree, but also upgrades to irrigation systems for the trees and mulch. There are also rebates for water collection systems and conversions of sprinkler heads to drip systems. Information for all of these rebates, as well as a broad offering of landscaping and water conservation resources and schedule and registration info for upcoming weekly webinars can be found at the website 505outside.org. Carl also mentioned the website https://getchipdrop.com/ that helps folks get free mulch dropped at their properties.
Carl took a few questions from attendees. One person asked why, if we are in a drought crisis, are trees planted in street medians. Carl responded that though trees require water to survive, the benefits they bring make their presence well worth the usage. He also mentioned that Albuquerque’s tree canopy has been shrinking for the past couple of decades, exasperating effects of a changing climate.
Next, State Senator Berghmans, State Rep Cristina Parajón and Councilor Fiebelkorn took the stage.
The state legislators presented an overview of the recently closed legislative session. Items of note are HB99 – Medical Malpractice Reform, with an aim of increasing and retaining doctors practicing in New Mexico, HB200, which provides funding for assisting first time Homebuyers, and HB124 that established the Office for New Americans, and SB73, which requires additional training for new drivers, below 18 years old, focusing on vulnerable road users (ie, pedestrians, bicyclists, scooter riders).
Councilor Fiebelkorn joined the conversation highlighting the continued collaboration with the legislators in securing funds for improvements to the Hahn Arroyo. This is a long term project that is addressing one section of the arroyo at a time. Hodgin’s stretch of the arroyo will be last in line to see such state funding, but we were assured that we are in the line.
After these presentations, the audience received brief updates from HNA Committee chairs on efforts such as securing a traffic study for occurrences of speeding on Palo Duro, improving outreach to the community, and boosting HNA membership levels.
