Legal Notices-Non-government

WHEREAS, Section 10-15-1-(B) of the Open Meetings Act (Section 1-15-1 through 10-15-4 NMSA 1978) States that, except as may be otherwise provided in the Constitution or the provision of the Open Meetings Act, all meetings of a quorum of members of any board, commission or other policy-making body of any state agency held for the purpose of formulating public policy, discussing public business or for the purpose of taking any action within the authority of or the delegated authority of such board, commission or other policy-making body, are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times; and
WHEREAS, any meeting subject to the Open Meetings Act at which the discussion or adoption of any proposed resolution, rule regulation, or formal action occurs shall be held only after reasonable notice to the public; and
WHEREAS, Section 10-15-1 (C) of the Open Meetings act allows for a member of a public body to participate in a meeting of the public body by means of a conference telephone or other similar communications equipment;
WHEREAS, Section 10-15-1 (D) of the Open Meetings Act requires the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District to determine annually what constitutes reasonable notice of its public meetings;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District on this 8th day of December, 2022 that:

1. Regular meetings of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District shall ordinarily be held each month at a time and place designated in the notice. Regular meetings of the Board of Supervisors shall be held at 4 PM on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area Visitor Center, 2424 Highway 47, Belen, NM. A proposed agenda will be available during the week before the meeting from Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District whose office is located in the Whitfield Conservation Education and Visitor Center, 2424 Highway 47, Belen, NM. Notice of regular meetings will be given ten (10) days in advance of the meeting date by posted notices and additionally by publication in the local newspaper the Thursday prior to the meeting.

2. The Chair may call special meetings of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District or a majority of the members upon three (3) days’ notice. Parties who have requested notice of the meetings in writing will be notified by telephone.

3. Emergency meetings of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District are meetings called under open circumstances, which demand immediate action, by the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District. Although the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District would avoid emergency meetings whenever possible, such circumstances may occasionally arise. The Chair or a majority of the members upon twenty-four (24) hours’ notice may call emergency meetings of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District.

4. For the purpose of regular meetings described in paragraph one of this Resolution, notice requirements are met if notice of date, time, place and general subject matter to be discussed is placed in one newspaper of general circulation in the District area (noting that the paper of record for VSWCD is the Valencia County News-Bulletin). The Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District Director shall also mail copies of the written notice to those broadcast stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and other area newspaper(s) of general circulation which have made a written request of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District for notice of public meetings.

5. For the purpose of special meetings and emergency meetings described in paragraphs two and three of this resolution, notice requirements shall be met by posting notices at the Valencia Soil & Water Conservation District Administrative Office at the Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area, 2424 Hwy 47, Belen, NM. The Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District Director shall also provide telephonic notice to those broadcast stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and newspapers of general circulation that have made a written request of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District for the notice of public meetings.

6. Pursuant to Section 10-15-1 (H) NMSA 1978, the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District may close a meeting to the public if the subject matter of such discussion or action is included in the subsection H of the Open Meetings Act, Section 10-15-1 NMSA 1978. If a Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District meeting is closed pursuant to Section 10- 15-1 (H) NMSA 1978, such closure:

•if made in an open meeting, shall be approved by a majority vote of a quorum of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District and authority for the closure shall be stated in the motion calling for a vote on a closed meeting. The vote on a closed meeting shall be taken in an open meeting and the vote of each individual member is to be recorded in the minutes. Only those subjects announced or voted upon prior to closure by the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District may be discussed in the closed meeting; and shall not be held until public notice, appropriate under the circumstances, stating the specific provision of law authorizing the closed meeting is given to the Board members and to the general public. This notice is effective, 1/1/2023 – 12/31/2023;

7. Pursuant to Section 10-15-1(C) NMSA 1978, the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District for purposes of regular, special, emergency and open or closed sessions of Board meetings as outlined above, the District will allow teleconferencing and web conferencing of Board Supervisors for participation and voting at a meeting when it is otherwise difficult or impossible for the member to attend the meeting in person, provided that each member participating by conference telephone can be identified when speaking, all participants are able to hear each other at the same time and members of the public attending the meeting are able to hear any member of the public body who speaks during the meeting.

8. As meetings in 2023 are expected to be impacted by efforts to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic, VSWCD will continue to hold remote meeting through its MS-Teams platform. The current Meeting ID is 947 334 101#. To join a board meeting with audio-only, the current call-in number is

+1 469-965-2602,, 947334101#, while the current URL to participate in the board meetings remotely is: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2F

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If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the meeting, contact the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District Director at (505) 864-8914 seven days before meeting date. Agenda and minutes can be provided in various accessible forms. Please contact the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District Director if a summary or other type of accessible form is needed.

Published in the Valencia County News-Bulletin 28th September, 2023

Valencia County News-Bulletin

505-864-4472 | [email protected]

The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.