PNM Damages: Discussion

This post was sent in an email letter from The Ridges Board president, Jim Baker, on January 27, 2020. Residents are requested to review the list of damages and make comments for additions or changes here: https://theridgesla.org/forums/topic/pnm-cleanup-list-for-discussion/

Dear Neighbor,

As you well know, PNM has been installing a new service cable in The Ridges, and has caused extensive damage while doing so.  I am writing to give you an update on the PNM situation, and how The Ridges Landowners Association (RLA) intends to proceed with holding the company accountable for cleaning up the damages it has inflicted on our neighborhood.

At a December meeting with PNM officials, Charlie Whiteley of our RLA Roads Committee impressed upon the utility and its subcontractor that the easements on which PNM buried its cable are PRIVATE PROPERTY.  This includes our roads.  Through annual assessments to the RLA, you and your neighbors pay for the maintenance of our roads and shoulders.  And over the years, the RLA has gone to great expense in its maintenance work to provide for the safety of our residents and the public, protect against liability exposure, and enhance our neighborhood’s aesthetics by promoting the health and growth of native grasses and wildflowers on our road shoulders.

At that December meeting, PNM officials stated that the company’s policy is to return the impacted areas to original condition, or better.  With the Roads Committee taking the lead, the RLA intends to press PNM to make good on its promise.

Our first task in holding PNM accountable is to conduct an inventory of all the damage done during its cable burial project on the lengths of Rey de Reyes and Agua Viviendo plus the north side of Principe de Paz between those two streets.  Currently this is something of a moving target because PNM and its subcontractor have not completely finished the work.  However, the RLA Roads Committee has taken a first look incorporating residents’ reports of damages.  Frankly I find the resulting “punch list” of required repairs by PNM is shocking, extensive, and very likely expensive.

You can see the “punch list” on the Community Forum page of our website at: https://theridgesla.org/forums/topic/pnm-cleanup-list-for-discussion/  If you know of any impacts missing on the inventory, please note them in a Forum comment at your earliest possible opportunity.  We will pass the information to the Roads Committee.  Thanks for doing this.

As soon as PNM completes its project, The Ridges Roads Committee plans to meet with utility officials, present the list of necessary repairs, and urge the company to do the clean up quickly and comprehensively.  At this point, we have no reason to believe that PNM will not make The Ridges whole.  On the other hand, you and The Ridges should, under no circumstances, pay for any damages done by the utility.  So in closing, I want to assure you that the RLA will take all steps necessary to hold PNM accountable.

Jim Baker, President
Board of Directors
The Ridges Landowners Association