Alternative resolutions to those passed by Socorro Electric Cooperative member-owners at district meetings last October have been drafted by the SEC's board of trustees, but the board wasn't ready to make them public following its regular meeting on Wednesday, March 10.

After spending more than an hour in executive session, SEC President Paul Bustamante announced that the board-sponsored resolutions would be posted on the co-op's Web site, www.socorroelectric.com, as soon as they were finalized.

SEC General Manager Polo Pineda said Friday morning (March 12) the alternative resolutions were being reviewed by the SEC attorney and would be posted on the Web site as soon as they were ready. As of El Defensor Chieftain press time on Friday, the resolutions had not been posted.

For the most part, the board's alternatives mirror the resolutions passed by the members, Bustamante said in a March 11 telephone interview.

"They are alternatives to the member-sponsored resolutions passed in Districts 3 and 5," he said. "Some of the member-sponsored ones were actually against state statues and some of them are conflicting with the other bylaws, so the wording was cleaned up."

The board-sponsored resolutions, as well as about a dozen proposed by members, are to be put up for vote by the general membership at the annual meeting on Saturday, April 17.

Many of the member-sponsored resolutions call for radical changes to the makeup of the SEC board and the manner in which it conducts business. They include reducing the number of trustees who serve on the board from 11 to five, which would require realigning districts; putting a cap on expenses a trustee can incur during a year, including travel and insurance benefits; and requiring the board to follow guidelines for open meetings. Those resolutions have not been posted on the SEC's Web site, but can be found on the SEC reform group's Web site at www.secreform.org.

In addition to the alternative proposals, Bustamante said the board has suggested some changes to existing bylaws.

"Some current bylaws have been cleaned up. Some of verbiage was changed to make them a little more clear," he said.

What to do about the member-passed resolution has been a topic of discussion at recent SEC board meetings.

Dennis Francish, the SEC attorney, pointed out that some of them were not in sync or in direct conflict with existing bylaws or state laws. A bylaw committee, made up of Leroy Anaya, Jack Bruton, Leo Cordova, Manny Marquez and Donald Wolberg, was formed to address the variances and come up with alternative resolutions the member-owners could consider for adoption at next month's annual meeting.

The informational meeting is intended to be a forum at which the alternative resolutions could be explained to member-owners, Bustamante said. In turn, member-owners will have the opportunity to submit questions. Bustamante said members would be asked to submit their questions in writing and a two-minute time limit would be enforced.

The Saturday, March 27, meeting is for informational purposes only, Bustamante said. Although there will be registration, beginning at noon, no voting will take place once the meeting begins at 1 p.m., at Finley Gym.

• A bid to install transmission lines between Pie Town and Quemado in Catron County was awarded to C.B. Ray Services, Inc. SEC General Manager Polo Pineda said three companies submitted bids, and C.B. Ray's was considerably less than the next lowest bidder, but he did not disclose the amount.

Pineda said C.B. Ray was also recommended as contractor by SGS Engineering, the company overseeing the project.

• Pineda reported that a controversial proposal by the New Energy Economy made to the State Environmental Improvement Board to put strict limitations on greenhouse gas emissions has been altered. NEE is a group working on developing solutions to global warming in New Mexico.

The petition called for 1990 emission levels to be reduced by 25 percent by 2020 — something Pineda said at a previous meeting would have a "devastating affect" on the state's economy.

Pineda said the petition now calls for a 3 percent reduction each year, beginning with 2010 levels.

"NEE did change the petition quite a bit, so they'll probably have a public hearing," Pineda said, adding that there remains a question as to whether the Environmental Improvement Board even has the authority to impose the restrictions.

The next SEC board of trustees meeting is set for Thursday, March 25, 7 p.m., in the SEC board room, 310 Abeyta St. in Socorro.

Contact T.S. Last