Spur Ranch Road Ass' work required

Fellow SRRA members,

The Board is aware of the damage done to SRR west of Calle Junipero following the heavy rains yesterday.  Significant parts of the bar ditches have been filled with silt from upstream. In other places the ditches have been significantly deepened.  The culvert we installed earlier this year worked as it was intended but is now filled with silt to approx. 5/8 of its carrying capacity.  In other places water simply washed across the road, north to south along the drainages indicated in the attached jpg.  This problem was not unforeseen; we have a road construction crew coming out soon to effect repairs.  For that section of the road, this will be an ongoing problem – SRRA simply does not have the resources to create a road in that area that will not be impacted by the torrential rains we have experienced recently.

 

We foresee doing repairs several times during each ‘monsoon’ season well into the future.

 

Thanks for your understanding of what appears to be a need for vigilance, caution and repair.

Please drive especially carefully in this area.

Al Webster

Bionic Solutions photos - Spur Ranch Road

Here, attached,  are the photos to which Bob Sherwin refers in his letter to us all.

Hi Jim, Al and Susan,

 

It was nice to meet with you all again last week and giving you the update on what has been happening with our Company during the last year.  As you have requested, I have recapped our conversation below, so you can forward it on to your neighbors and members of the Spur Ranch Road Association.   

 

Recap of the past and what you can expect in the next 90 days:

 

As many of you may already know, I was the distributor for RoadPacker NM and had just purchased the distributorship a few weeks prior to the application or treatment of Spur Ranch Road, which was our first road treated with the RoadPacker formula in NM.  The parent Company, RoadPacker International started in Brisbane Australia in 1990 and has had success in over 40 Countries Worldwide.  Prior to my purchase of the NM distributorship, I visited roads in Calgary Alberta that were 13 to 16 years old.  The photo attached was taken in April of 2012 when the road was 13 years old.  This road was a well documented as it was a part of an International Soil Stabilization Study conducted by the City of Calgary in 1999.  Each of the 8 Companies in the study stabilized one Kilometer of Road.  The RoadPacker product used on this road was the only soil stabilizer in the study that lasted more than one year and as you can see by the photo, it is in great condition 13 years later.  It was as a result of seeing roads like the one, that I and my partners decided to buy the exclusive distribution rights for 7 Southwestern States.   

 

Spur Ranch Road was our first so we hired the RoadPacker distributor for Mexico to oversee the work in October of 2011.  We also treated a number of other roads in Tx and Arizona during the same time. All of them got very hard and looked great until the rains came and they all got very slippery and muddy when wet.  I contacted the person who had sold me the distributorships asking for his assistance and inquired as to what was causing the problem.  He flew to NM from Manila Philippines for three weeks to oversee the second application in January of 2012.  Unfortunately it too was slippery under wet conditions and he thought it was a result of the freezing temperatures as it was not able to cure properly. 

 

We had several articles in the New Mexican about SRR and it was because of these articles that I was contacted by the Founder and the Inventor of the RoadPacker formulas in April of 2012.  He was googling articles on the internet about RoadPacker and found me me as a result.  He said that the person that I had been working with had no technical understanding of the product and was more of a sales person.  I offered to fly the founder, inventor and CEO of RoadPacker Australia (Mr. Sonnenburg) to New Mexico from Brisbane Australia in May of 2012 to provide technical assistance and to find out why SRR had not worked in either application under the supervision of two RoadPacker Representatives.  

 

In April of 2012, I hired CMC, one of the largest soil testing facilities in the US, based in Las Vegas NV to perform testing for us.  Over the the next 9 months they conducted over 2000 tests for us on every kind of soil we could find in the 7 Southwestern states.  Every one of the tests with RoadPacker failed the "96 hour soaked CBR test", which is the most difficult test for any soil stabilizer to pass.  Treated soil samples are compacted and placed under water for 96 hours, then tested for hardness and penetration.  Every sample we tested was a pile of mud within a few hours.  As it turned out, all of the soil we tested in the Southwest had a pH of 7.5 to 9.5.  Mr. Sonnenburg told us that the RoadPacker Plus formula was designed to work in acidic soils with a pH below 7.  The formula is an acid based product that becomes neutralized in higher pH soils which was the reason for the failures in the SW.  This also explained why it worked so well in other Countries like China and Brazil where the pH is 4.5 to 6. 

 

Mr. Sonnenburg has been involved in soil stabilization research and development for 23 years and fortunately for us, in November of 2012 he had his biggest breakthrough ever with a new formula that he calls The Bionic Road Solution.  There is not one ingredient from any formula that he has ever created in the past 23 years.  He studied Mother Nature to find out how sand, silt and clay turns into rock over thousands or even millions of years.  He discovered that there are naturally occurring chemicals in the Earth's crust that must be present, along with water and pressure for the soil to turn into rock.  He experimented with various combinations of these naturally occurring chemicals and the percentages of each until he figured it out.  Bionic Soil Solution is that perfect blend of naturally occurring chemicals, mixed into water and we add the pressure with a 15 ton roller and we can turn insitu soil into a rock-hard surface that repels water, in one day!

 

We have conducted another 2500 tests since November of 2012 and the results are unprecedented in the soil stabilization and road building industries.  All roads are designed using an International standard called the CBR (California Bearing Ratio) test.  The CBR number indicates the strength of the road or its' weight bearing capacity to support the traffic index which is the number of vehicles on the road each day and the weight loads carried on the road.  The ultimate test to determine this number is called the "96 Hour Soaked CBR Test".  This test assumes the worst conditions that any road should encounter as it simulates a flood condition where the road remains completely submerged for 4 days.  

 

Base Course has been the standard used on all County dirt road surfaces in the US and it is also used by the DOT's for the sub-base or sub grade under asphalt highways.  Base course is primary 50% sand and 50% gravel.  For the 96 hour soaked CBR test, base course is compacted inside a perforated steel cylinder, then placed under water for 4 days, then tested for hardness with a penetrometer.  Sand and gravel does not change much under water as it is a granular material that does not take on water.  Silt and clay however quickly turns into mud when placed under water.  Base course scores a soaked CBR number of 55 to 70.  

Our goal was to achieve a CBR in this range after it had been under water for 4 days.  I am happy to announce that the Bionic Road Solution formula has achieved CBR's as high as 212 after being under water which is unprecedented.  The engineers that we are working with have never seen CBR numbers over 80 before.  Mr. Sonnenburg treated a soil sample of Spur Ranch Road with the Bionic Road Solution and gave it to Jim Garland in early December to do his own under water testing.  Last week Jim showed us the compacted soil puck which had been under water for over three months!  We also have samples that have been under water since November of 2012 which is now over 8 months and still remain hard. 

 

We just completed our second field demonstration on a parking lot for the Bass Brothers at their offices in Carlsbad NM, using the new Bionic Road Solution.  Our pre soil testing produced a CBR of 150.  It was immediately put to the test as we received 3" of rain the night we finished the parking lot.  At 6:00 am the next morning the Bass Brother Company had a meeting with 35 of their vendors.  The attached photo is a picture of the parking lot as the people were arriving for the meeting.  Some of the vehicles tracked mud on to the surface however the surface remained hard and intact.  The area surrounding the parking lot was untreated which left 6" of mud everywhere.   Photo attached.

 

During the last 16 months we have conducted over 4500 tests totaling over $2.5M.  We are finally ready to launch Bionic Road Solutions Internationally, with its roots based here in NM.

As I discussed in our meeting last week with some of the board members, we will have to re-construct Spur Ranch Road at the end of a job with a paying customer.  I was originally paid approximately $45K (including the contractors fee) to treat Spur Ranch Road with the RoadPacker product.  We have paid $127,000 on SRR to date, in our efforts to make it right for you.  It will cost us approximately $80k to $85k additional, to reconstruct SRR with the Bionic Road Solution.  I remain committed (as I have been from the beginning) to making this right for the Spur Ranch Road Association

 

I am in the process of finalizing an agreements with another large community in NM that would like to treat 20 miles in August and September.  If we are successful in finalizing this agreement, I intend to complete SRR as soon as we finish with their roads while all of the equipment is mobilized.  If you decide to do at least another 1/2 mile section within SRR Association before then, we may be able to expedite the time lines for you.  

 

I apologize to all of you for the amount of time that it has taken us to figure this situation out however we now have an incredible product to reconstruct SRR.  We hope to finalize our manufacturing agreements this coming week with Turner Manufacturing in ABQ, who will be manufacturing the product for us worldwide.  

 

When I first met with the SRR Association, I was told by the Santa Fe County officials that Spur Ranch Road was considered one of the two worst roads in Santa Fe County and they recommended that I contact you.  It is my intention, that when I am done with SRR, that you will have the best road in the County.  Thanks for your patience, we are almost there!

 

here's Bob's signature from the previous letter - it got cut off

Sincerely,

Bob Sherwin

Bionic Soil Solutions

Bob@BionicSoil.com

www.BionicSoil.com

505-982-7444 Office

877-437-9468 Office

505-699-2930 Cell 

Fellow SRRA Members:

I’m sending this along to you in Jim Garland’s absence

Just as an update  you may have seen S. Schoenfeld & her husband Ben and my wife, Roberta,  and me on the road recently -  we have  been picking up trash along SRR during the past 2 weeks – it is truly amazing both the variety and amount of material we have collected – almost archaeological in nature – much of it has been or will soon be recycled.  Trash has been collected by the 4 of us from Rosa Linda to Calle Junipero on both sides of SRR and from Silver Saddle to 285 on both sides of SRR.  I would be good to have some assistance in cleaning the remainder; Calle Junipero to the railroad tracks, the rail road tracks to Silver Saddle on both sides of the road – don’t be afraid to just jump in there and do it – who knows what artefacts  you may find…..

We will commence spraying within the next week for Russian Thistle (aka ‘tumbleweed) along the roadway.

Attached in pdf form is the anticipated letter from Bob Sherwin dba Bionic Soil Solutions (formerly, Roadpacker, NM).

Any questions and/or comments may be directed to the Spur Ranch Road Association’s Board of Directors.

Drive Safely (please; at the posted speed limit of 30 mph),

Al Webster

Spur Ranch Road Association

Fellow SRRA Members:

I’m sending this along to you in Jim Garland’s absence

Just as an update  you may have seen S. Schoenfeld & her husband Ben and my wife, Roberta,  and me on the road recently -  we have  been picking up trash along SRR during the past 2 weeks – it is truly amazing both the variety and amount of material we have collected – almost archaeological in nature – much of it has been or will soon be recycled.  Trash has been collected by the 4 of us from Rosa Linda to Calle Junipero on both sides of SRR and from Silver Saddle to 285 on both sides of SRR.  I would be good to have some assistance in cleaning the remainder; Calle Junipero to the railroad tracks, the rail road tracks to Silver Saddle on both sides of the road – don’t be afraid to just jump in there and do it – who knows what artefacts  you may find…..

We will commence spraying within the next week for Russian Thistle (aka ‘tumbleweed) along the roadway.

Attached in pdf form is the anticipated letter from Bob Sherwin dba Bionic Soil Solutions (formerly, Roadpacker, NM).

Any questions and/or comments may be directed to the Spur Ranch Road Association’s Board of Directors.

Drive Safely (please; at the posted speed limit of 30 mph),

Al Webster

Tierro Bello Update

 

Dear Neighbors,

 

On May 14, the Board of County Commissioners will consider developer Joe Miller’s proposal to create the 73 lot Tierra Bello subdivision. Mr. Miller’s proposal was approved last month by the Country Development and Review Committee (CDRC), following a recommendation by its in-house staff. The CDRC is authorized to consider only whether the proposed subdivision meets County code requirements, whether all applications and paperwork have been submitted properly, and so forth. Larger issues -- the impact on surrounding neighborhoods, community support or opposition, and whether the project serves the larger public good -- are the purview of the County Commissioners.

 

If you are concerned about this development, then I urge you to show up at the meeting to make your views known, either by commenting during the public hearings session, or by supporting those who do make comments. The Commissioners are elected officials, and listening to their constituents is an important part of their responsibilities. Here’s the info:

 

Date: Tuesday May 14

Time: public hearings will start no earlier than 5pm, Tierra Bello may not come up until 6pm or so.

Place: County Administration Building, 102 Grant Avenue

Agenda: http://www.santafecountynm.gov/documents/agendas/agendas/BCCAgenda5-14-2013.pdf

               

 

The Water Availability Issue

As many of you know, I have been collecting comments about Tierra Bello from the community of surrounding subdivisions for the past several months. Opposition to Tierra Bello appears to be unanimous among those who do not have a financial stake in it. Virtually every resident who has spoken to me has serious concerns about this development.The one concern which stands out, however, is over the future availability of water. Mr. Miller has a “will serve” permit from the Eldorado Area Water and Sanitation District (EAWSD), which is a contractual obligation of EAWSD to sell him water. Whether it was prudent for EAWSD to issue a permit to him (and other developers) is thus water over the dam, so to speak.

 

EAWSD offers assurances that the Eldorado water system has the capacity to serve Tierro Bello, as well as to meet other community water needs. However, in the opinion of experts, EAWSD has not demonstrated that ample water will be there in the future to meet those needs. EAWSD obtains nearly all of its water from ground water -- aquifers hundreds of feet underground -- and nobody really knows how reliable that source will be in the future. At a recent public meeting, I heard the County hydrologist, Ms. Karen Torres, caution that communities should use surface water (reservoirs, snowpack runoff, rivers) as their primary sources, if possible, and avoid using ground water. She mentioned that the Eldorado ground water probably dates from Paleozoic times, with a replenishment rate of thousands or even millions of years. In other words, in her opinion and that of other scientists, the deep ground water on which we now all depend is potentially a non-renewable resource, and once it is gone it is gone. Not everybody shares this view, however, and other assessments are more optimistic. From what I can tell, however, nobody really knows, because there just isn’t enough data about the status of the aquifers. What is known, however, is that the stakes are very high, and prudence suggests that caution and a conservative approach to water management is highly desirable.

 

I plan to make a brief presentation to the County Commissioners. In it, I will make the following recommendations:

 

1. The County should impose a temporary moratorium on large developments until the future availability of both ground and surface water, including the risks and uncertainties and the long term impact of the current drought, is better understood.

 

2. The County should recommend that EAWSD commission a scientific study of the aquifers upon which all Eldorado residents depend. Currently, the only legitimate scientific estimate of the aquifer capacity is a six-year-old consultant’s report, whose predictions of future water availability have been criticized as unduly optimistic.

 

Regards,

Jim Garland

President, Spur Ranch Road Association

 

 

Tierra Bello Approved by the CDRC

Dear Neighbors,

The 7-member County Development Review Committee (CDRC) this afternoon approved the Tierra Bello Subdivision proposal by a vote of 6:1.  There was no public discussion of the development, but the report I sent you earlier was distributed to the committee members, who recessed their meeting for a few minutes to read it carefully.

 

In my opinion, the vote did not indicate strong support by the CDRC for Tierra Bello, but rather the belief that the committee had no legal basis on which to oppose the project. The CDRC staff had already reviewed the Tierra Bello proposal and had recommended passage, on the grounds that it did not violate any county code requirements.The issue of water availability was off the table, since the Eldorado Water and Santitation District had already issued a legally binding water permit to the developer. Thus, confronted with a staff recommendation and unable to consider the global issue of water availability, the committee members, in my opinion, had little choice but to approve the project.

 

Interestingly, in the discussion among the committee members, it became clear that they fully understood that the County Commissioners, whom they advise, have the latitude to consider broad issues of water, neighborhood impact, etc., of the development, and are not at all obligated to support the CDRC recommendation. Despite the vote, I came away from the meeting heartened that these larger county development issues will very much be on the minds of the County Commissioners when they take up the Tierro Bello proposal at their May meeting. Thus, if you are concerned about water issues in the community (and I hope you are), it is very important to make your opinions known in the next few weeks. I'll send around a memo in the next couple of weeks with specific suggestions, but in the meantime I hope you will inform yourself on the issues.

Regards,

Jim Garland

Tierra Bello CDRC Vote Today

Dear Neighbors,

            Attached is the agenda for today's County Development Review Committee (CDRC) meeting, during which a vote will be taken on the Tierra Bello subdivision. Sorry for the late notice, but I've been out of town all week and just returned last night.

            As some of you may recall, the vote last month by the CDRC resulted in a 3-3 split vote. The tie-breaking 7th member did not attend the meeting, so the vote was postponed until this month when presumably the 7th member will be present.

            In response to my inquiry, Ms. Vicki Lucero, the County's Building and Development Services Manager, replied:

" The CDRC closed the public hearing at their last meeting, so they will not be taking any more public comment.  The one committee member who was not present at the last meeting has received a copy of the meeting minutes so that he is aware of the discussion that has already taken place.  Upon review of the minutes he will be able to vote on the project." (Note that the schedule has changed slightly so that Tierra Bello is now first on the agenda.)

            I replied to Ms. Lucero by protesting the CDRC chairperson's decision to close the meeting to public discussion: " I think members of the community are going to be pretty unhappy with no opportunity for further public comment. As everybody is aware, reading minutes of meetings is not an adequate substitute for hearing the actual discussion. Perhaps CDRC minutes are different, but usually minutes of meetings merely list the topics that were discussed, with at most a sentence or two of elaboration. Given the strong community feelings about this proposal, if a committee member who missed the discussion casts the deciding vote without being fully informed, it will seriously undermine the reputation for fairness of the CDRC in the eyes of the public."

            Please keep in mind that the CDRC does not have the final say on the Tierra Bello proposal. The CDRC, which has appointed members. advises the Board of County Comissioners, which has ultimate authority. The BCC recently tabled indefinitely the Spirit Wind Ranch development, another development by Mr. Joe Miller.

            While there probably will not be any public comment allowed on the Tierra Bello proposal, I  nevertheless believe it would be a good idea to have community members present for the vote, just to remind the CDRC of the broad community interest in this proposal. 

Thanks!

Jim Garland