Archive for August 28, 2008

Public Service Announcement – New Torrance County Office Hours

by John Weckerle

The Estancia Valley Economic Development Association has informed us that the new hours for the Administrative Office of Torrance county will be from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, beginning Monday, September 29.  The offices will be closed Friday.  The Sheriff’s Department will remain open 5 days a week; for hours of operation, call (505) 246-4773.

It’s Not My Job! Well, It’s Not My Job! — Whose @#$%^%$ Job Is It?

by Chuck Ring

My wife, our dogs and I love to walk on the new town trails and appreciate the money and effort spent on them. We also appreciate the potential beauty of the added plants and other features found along the trails. That is, all the features with the exception of the weeds which are now going to seed. We did not just wake up this morning, never having said anything in the past, and decide to ratchet up the noise about the pollen wafting from their beautiful (not) little blooms. No, we both made our concerns known before the council on at least two occasions. We figured that if we tag-teamed our governing body more attention might be paid since we had one of each; that is, one female and one male. Wrong.

It seems that there is some controversy concerning just who is responsible for pulling or wrestling weeds from the right-of-way and the landscaped areas. It was the town’s contention, that the landscape contractor was responsible for maintenance (including weed abatement) of the right-of-way and landscape plantings. It was, according to a spokesperson, the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s (DOT) contention that the contractor was responsible for watering the plants and no more and the town was or is responsible for weed abatement. »» It’s Not My Job! Well, It’s Not My Job! — Whose @#$%^%$ Job Is It?