The date for the Bloomfield City Council to vote on the zoning change requested by B8D LLC has become a moving target since the company from Little Rock, Arkansas, requested a zoning change on two parcels of land to operate a sand fracking processing facility.
The company first began digging at the Bloomfield site under an agricultural zone. It now seeks heavy industrial use to resume operations.
First, the city was slated to vote on the change on Dec. 23. When the City Hall entryway was filled to overflowing, and seating in the council chambers was limited to about 60 people, it was announced to the assembled crowd that a vote would not take place that night and the City Council would just listen to citizen concerns and questions. At that time, it was announced the council would vote on the change from agricultural to heavy industrial use at its meeting on Jan. 27.
At the Jan. 13 City Council meeting, Mayor Cynthia Atencio said that because some key people were not sent letters notifying them of the impending change, the vote was being delayed to the regularly scheduled Feb. 10 meeting.
Now, the city has announced a special City Council meeting will be heard to address the issue on Feb. 3. After the meeting Monday night, City Clerk Crystal Martinez refused to answer verbal questions, instead requiring written questions be submitted via email. The following questions were submitted Tuesday morning:
Question: Why does the city of Bloomfield send letters to people with property that is within 150 feet of the boundary of the property requesting a zoning change?
Answer: Per state statute. And City Ordinance (Appendix C, Section 10).
Question: Is this required by state law or statute?
Answer: Yes, but state law only requires notice to people within 100 feet. Bloomfield’s 150-foot policy captures more people.
Question: If so, what is the statute?
Answer: NM Stat § 3-21-6 (2023)
Question: How many letters were sent Nov. 20, 2024?
Answer: Forty-two were sent certified mail, and one was to the city of Bloomfield.
Question: It seems that what was said vaguely in the 1/13/25 City Council meeting is that some addresses that fall within this guideline were missed?
Answer: That is correct.
Question: How were they missed?
Answer: We requested and received a list from San Juan Title in November 2024; San Juan Title updated that list on Jan. 9, 2025.
Question: How many properties were missed?
Answer: Six
Question: How did the city find out that some properties were missed?
Answer: The city received an email from San Juan Title with an updated list on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.
Question: The first letter sent to citizens within 150 feet were told to contact the City Clerk’s office with questions and concerns prior to the public hearing, the hearing being the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting held December 16. These citizens then had an opportunity to direct comments to the P&Z Commission, and then additionally comment to the City Council on 12/23/24. Will these additional citizens be allowed an opportunity to attend a public hearing prior to the City Council’s determination on the zoning change now set for February 10?
Answer: Citizens will have an opportunity to speak at the scheduled hearing being held on Monday Feb. 3, 2025, at the multicultural center, 333 S. First St., Bloomfield, NM 87413.
Question: Why is the City Clerk requiring questions from the press be submitted in writing rather than answering questions verbally?
Answer: To have a written record of what was said.
This was a change to the Feb. 10 council meeting on the subject noted at the City Council meeting, so clarification was requested.
In writing, Martinez answered: “Citizens will be given the opportunity to address their concerns at the Feb. 3 meeting. They have been notified. The planning and zoning commission has already recommended denial of the application. The City Council will hear the property owner as well as the citizens concerns on Feb. 3 and a decision will be made.”
Despite an official announcement on the City of Bloomfield’s website indicating the change to Feb. 3 had been posted to the required locations on Jan. 15, as of Thursday morning no special meeting notice had been posted at either the Farmers Market or Jamaican Me Java, two of the six approved posting sites. (Additional sites are Kare Drug, Citizens Bank, Bloomfield Public Library and Bloomfield City Hall.)
In light of the change of date for the vote, B8D postponed its scheduled Jan. 18 town hall meeting for citizens. The town hall to explain their process and address citizen concerns was changed to Jan. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Bloomfield Multi-Cultural Center.
As of Friday, the large earthmoving equipment was removed from the B8D site at U.S. Highway 550 and Arizona Avenue, and “dirt-moving” has apparently stopped.
On Tuesday evening, the Bloomfield Irrigation District had discussions of B8D on its quarterly meeting agenda.
“We put them on the agenda to make the public aware of where we were at,” said Stacy Dodd, executive director of the BID. “We didn’t want to appear like we weren’t being transparent because we’re seeing a lot of those kinds of accusations with all the other stuff that they (B8D) have going on.”
To date, BID has had discussions with B8D about their project, but to date B8D has not made any request or supplied any numbers or information as to what their project would entail with regards to water usage to the irrigation district. As it stands, BID is responsible to supply water to the land purchased by B8D for agricultural purposes only. If B8D wishes to use the water in a frack sand processing facility, the water use would need to be changed via the State Engineering Office.
“We just wanted to be straight up from the beginning,” Dodd said. “Here’s where we’re at: yes, they’ve come and talked to us and no, there is no agreement being discussed at this time.” Tuesday’s agenda item was to allow people to inform the BID Board as to what people are opposed to or concerned about to make sure that when, or if, it comes time to discuss agreements with B8D to make sure those issues are addressed.
People attending the BID quarterly meeting again made known their concerns regarding water availability for irrigation users and drought conditions. As part of its regular meeting, BID reported that as of Tuesday the total snowpack at Wolf Creek was 43 inches; in January 2024 it was 55 inches.
Before any agreements are made for irrigation water from the BID, the change from agricultural use to industrial use would have to be approved by the State Engineer’s Office. Shawn Williams, District 5 manager for the State Engineer’s Office, was also present at the Tuesday evening meeting.
He reported he, too, had met with B8D, but has received no follow up information from them. Williams explained that there is a process to making the change. First, B8D would have to file an application for the change with the State Engineer’s Office. Then, a notice of the requested change would need to be published in the paper of record for three consecutive weeks. Following that, there would be a period of time when people could protest the change.
The entire process could take as long as six months, Williams said. Additionally, Dodd noted that any change in regards to BID and the water for B8D would be made in an open public forum.