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More about White Oaks

To the editor of the Optic.

WHITE OAKS, August 28. – The country through which the surveyed line of the old El Paso-White Oaks railroad would run, and which would still be tributary and contributory to the proposed Las Vegas, White Oaks and El Paso road, presents many features which command attention. The immediate approaches to White Oaks, from both sides, are only on a sixty-eight foot grade; for the rest of the way to El Paso the line would run over a comparatively level course. Water is obtainable in sufficient quantities for all purposes. The Sacramento mountains contain an acreage of timber which mounts far up into thousands. This timber is easy of access, superior in quality, can readily be marketed at remunerative prices, and its freightage would form an important item towards paying dividends of the transporting company. The country being level, the cost of the construction of the road bed would be reduced to a minimum, especially when coupled with the fact that construction timber is so convenient and plentiful. There are no large streams to cross, consequently the dangers and costliness of washouts are non-existent. Altogether this line, when compared with that of the Santa Fe company running down the Rio Grande valley, would seem peculiarly blessed by the absence of a stream of sufficient drainage and volume to cause washouts.

Carrots will be auctioned to get cash for relief

Grants, N.M., Sept. 1. (AP) – The vegetable growers and packers of the Bluewater valley in central New Mexico have done their bit to help the American prisoners in the Philippines.

A bannered freight carload of carrots, donated by the Bluewater valley folks was en route to New York to be sold at auction September 9 for benefit on the Bataan relief organization.

A cheer went up upon word from vegetable salesmen in New York that the car would at least equal the $32,500 which the BRO received from a carload of lettuce from Salinas, Calif., in an auction last week.

Japanese refusal to guarantee safe passage from the relief whip Kanangoora prompted a grim resolution “to dig deeper for war bonds” and the hope that such conduct might bring quicker United Nations’ action to free the prisoners, among whom are some 2,000 New Mexico soldiers.

Compromise allows voting at age of 20

SANTA FE (AP) – Constitutional Convention delegates had a breather scheduled to hear cabinet member George Romney today, after a lengthy session to adopt the important elections article.

Romney, secretary of housing and urban development in President Nixon’s cabinet, and former governor of Michigan, was vice president of the convention which drafted a constitution for Michigan in 1961.

The New Mexico convention debated five hours Thursday before approving an elective franchise article containing a compromise provision to lower the voting age to 20 years.

This was the most dramatic change from the present constitution, which sets the minimum voting age at 21 years.

An attempt to make the residence requirement more liberal failed to receive approval. The article approved by the elections committee would have reduced the voting age to 18 years and required only six months residence in New Mexico.

But the convention, by a 44-25 vote, restored the one-year residence requirement.

The Castañeda Hotel is changing ownership, from the person who bought and renovated the once dilapidated venue to the people who worked to bring it to its current functioning state.

Allan Affeldt, who has owned the Castañeda Hotel since 2014, said the hotel, restaurant and lounge located at 524 Railroad Ave. is in the process of being purchased by four locals – two contractors and their wives.

General contractor Carlos Lopez and his wife Patricia Lopez, along with electrical contractor Dennis Lucero and his wife Annette Lucero already have “full access” to the Castañeda Hotel, Affeldt said, but the process of transferring ownership will likely be complete by November.

The Castañeda’s new owners also own and operate Buffalo Hall & Cowboy Café BBQ.

“We decided it would be in good hands if we were to purchase it,” Lopez said of purchasing the Castañeda. “We’re already in the restaurant business, and the bar business, so we’re excited about that.”

Lopez said he and Dennis Lucero were “involved from the very beginning” of restoring the Castañeda after it was purchased by Affeldt. Lopez said he did a lot of general construction work on the Castañeda, which was reopened by Affeldt in 2020.

“It was a big undertaking that Allan (Affeldt) did when he renovated it,” Lopez said. “It was in really bad shape back then. … (Affeldt) really saved a jewel.”

Affeldt said that the Castañeda’s restaurant stopped operating about two months ago, but its 22-guest room hotel is still available. Its new owners plan to reopen the restaurant with what Lopez called a high-scale selection of menu items, such as steaks, fish and pasta dishes. Both a bar and dining room menu are planned, Lopez said, with lighter selections offered in the bar and a list of more formal dining entrées offered in the dining area.

Affeldt said he owns and has restored various buildings in New Mexico, and that his interest is in saving these buildings. Once they’ve been restored, he said, it’s time to move on to another project.

“That’s what I really love to do,” he said.

The Castañeda was built in 1898, Affeldt said, and was the first trackside hotel for the Santa Fe Railway. Las Vegas was New Mexico’s headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway before it moved to Lamy, and then to Albuquerque.

Engineers to start survey work on highway to Mora

This afternoon a crew of engineers from the New Mexico State Highway department arrived here to begin preliminary survey work on the Las Vegas-Sapello section of State Highway No. 3 and made arrangements to first complete the check on location and construction profile on the old Mora road or Seventh street extension via the Storrie lake dam before running a survey on the present location from U.S. 85 north.

The crew will require a week or more in completing the survey of the Seventh street road location along the line required for a standard highway. The work will include bridge structures across the Sanguijuela creek north of the Storrie lake and at other sites where heavy drainage must be accommodated. It will also include the additional work necessary to raise the level of Storrie lake dam which has settled at the middle section about eight feet, necessitating an average fill of four feet to bring the top to a maximum height.

El Vado water ‘guaranteed’

Another chapter in the stormy career of El Vado Reservoir has gone into the court records.

With it went assurance by a public official that the agency which directly controls the dam would not, of its own wishes, drain the lake below 5,000 feet.

The lake now is filled to only a fraction of its 200,000-acre foot capacity, with slightly more than 8,000 acre-feet of water.

The partial guarantee of a backlog of water in El Vado came as an offshoot of a suit in which William N. Faris, landowner on the Chama River, and the state asked for an injunction against emptying of the lake below 8,350 acre feet. The suit was aimed at the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.

Dist. Judge David W. Carmody granted a motion to dismiss the suit after Hubert Ball, chief engineer for the district, testified he had no intention of allowing the water level to fall below 5,000 acre-feet.

Las Vegan becomes commander at NMMI

Cadet Major H. Randy Huston of Las Vegas has been appointed to the position of regimental commander over the Corps of Cadets for the 1977-78 academic year at New Mexico Military Institute. The announcement came from Institute president, Brig. Gen. Gerald Childress and Commandant Col. George B. Robbins. The achievement of regimental commander is the highest ranking honor earned by a member of the corps leadership.

The regimental commander is the senior officer in the Corps of Cadets. He is responsible for directing and coordinating the efforts of all elements of the Corps and for the establishment and maintenance of high standards of performances and conduct on the part of the entire regiment.

Cadet Major Huston, a sophomore in college, has received various honors and awards including the Academic Excellence Award, Department Excellence Award, Academic NMMI Foundation Award and the C. Cliff Amos Memorial Award. He has also earned the H.P. Saunders Commandant’s Award, Daughters of Founders and Patriots of Americans Award, for academic excellence in military science as well as Superior Cadet, a cadet who is highest in standing in the military science class.

In addition to maintaining a four point grade average and being first in his class in 1976-77, Cadet Major Huston serves as president of the Rodeo Club on the NMMI campus. Huston hopes to continue pursuing a career in veterinary medicine, following the profession of his father, Dr. Darrel Huston of Las Vegas.

The New Mexico Environment Department’s installation of new pre-treatment equipment for the City of Las Vegas’ drinking water supply should offer at least some reassurance to residents the next time they see storm clouds gather on the horizon, a department official told Source New Mexico this week.

The Environment Department recently took over almost all the Northern New Mexico town’s work to replace its water treatment facility, a necessity after the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in summer 2022.

During the fire, sediment turned the Gallinas River black as it flowed through town, and the city and other areas in and around the burn scar have seen repeated floods ever since the fire.

Because the United States Forest Service started the blaze, Congress approved more than $5 billion to compensate fire victims, and specifically included $140 million to the city for a brand new water treatment system. A year ago, the city received $98 million of that.

But repeated flood events last summer and earlier this year, as well as a complete water shutoff in the city this winter, prompted the city to enter into a “joint governmental agreement” with three state agencies in hopes of fast-tracking the new system.

The agreement, which all the parties signed off on early last month, empowers the state’s finance, disaster response and environmental departments to “plan, design, procure, construct, test, deliver, and close out a temporary water treatment facility and a permanent water treatment facility” in the city, according to a copy of the agreement.

The city keeps control of the $98 million it received, along with other federal and state grants and loans it has received as part of the replacement project. Its main job is to pay for all the work the state does, according to the agreement.

On Tuesday, state environment officials announced that they’d successfully completed a half-dozen projects that aim to improve the city’s water filtration system and ensure the public is kept in the loop on what they’re drinking.

One of the most important improvements is the installation of temporary “pre-treatment” equipment at the city’s water treatment plant, said Jonas Armstrong, director of NMED’s Water Protection Division, in an interview Tuesday afternoon with Source. The city procured the equipment, which removes extra sediment and debris in high-turbidity or runoff events, last year.

“[The city was] having some issues earlier this year with getting it connected and making sure it was operating correctly,” Armstrong said. “We’ve worked through that with them in the last couple months, and it’s connected now and ready to go. So that’s a big improvement.”

The state has also begun upgrades to filters at the existing facility; replaced a vacuum system that removes scum and floating debris from the Gallinas River; and built a sediment pond near a reservoir to reduce flooding and contamination risks, according to a news release Tuesday.

Armstrong deferred questions about the costs of the improvements to the city, including how much of the $98 million the city received last year has been spent. A spokesperson for the city*, in an email to Source on Wednesday, did not answer the question about the funds but noted that the city’s new manager, Robert Anaya, would be updating the City Council on numerous water-related matters at a meeting today at 5:30 p.m., including “an extensive discussion on current initiatives and updates related to the water treatment plant, water distribution and storage, and various concepts and recommendations under consideration.”

While the state does not expect to begin construction on the new facility until next year at the earliest, Armstrong said the changes should offer a measure of comfort to Las Vegas residents who’ve seen their drinking water supply repeatedly compromised due to floods and equipment failures.

“I think the pre-treatment system being brought online and ready to go at the flip of a switch is a big advancement, and an assurance that the shutdowns and the restrictions that have happened in the last couple of years should not happen again,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong said the joint agreement has been “really collaborative so far,” with the state drawing on local knowledge about how best to tailor the project to the city’s needs. When it’s finally built, the new water treatment system will be a “generational asset,” given the adequate funding and the state’s technical expertise, he said.

“This existing facility is 50-plus years old and needs to be replaced, and having the federal funds and the state funds to do it is a huge opportunity for the city and the people of Las Vegas,” he said.

Update Aug. 20 at 12:05 p.m.:This story has been updated with comment from the City of Las Vegas.