GRANTS - While the Sierra Club online tooted its horn for winning a hard-fought battle with tribal partners in designating Mount Taylor a Traditional Cultural Property, a longtime mining manager in Cibola County was voicing concern at a Grants city council workshop on June 24.

Joe Lister, manager of Rio Grande Resources next to San Mateo, said, “As a resident of Grants for 50 plus years and a manager of one of the local uranium mines, it is my responsibility to protect our resources, on top of and in the ground. I have concerns and believe you guys should, about the recent TCP designation of Mount Taylor.”

According to Lister, in the nomination the property included in the designation is 160 acres in Grants city limits, “I just thought you guys might want to know,” Lister told the council.

“I voiced my displeasure in the hearings,” Mayor Joe Murrietta told Lister, “We are seeing what we can do.”

City Manager Bob Horacek said, “The city is seeking legal action to protect the city's interests. Our attorney is involved.”

Lister went on to say the Sierra Club was involved and was also responsible for nominating the San Francisco Twin Peaks near Flagstaff, Ariz., which went on to the Supreme Court.

An article dated June 22 on the club website stated, “The Sierra Club and its tribal partners won a hard-fought victory on June 15 when 541 square miles of New Mexico's Mount Taylor, held sacred to many southwestern tribes, were listed on the state's Register of Cultural Properties. The designation will trigger an automatic consultation with the tribes for any new development proposals in the area.”

The articles clearly targets uranium mining companies as the losers in the battle, stating from Sierra Club Associate Regional Representative Robert Tohe, a Navajo, “The tribes and other community leaders are committed to opposing new mining proposals one by one and to everything they can to use this cultural designation to protect Mount Taylor.”

The article can be read in its entirety at sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2009.

Lister went on informing the council that his company is awaiting a permit to pump water out of the ground and to test the parts of uranium in it. People don't realize the highest parts of uranium in water in the state is not hear in Cibola County, instead, “It is in Espanola,” Lister told the council. The mining manager invited the council to the test once his company receives the permit.

City takeover possible of CCAABC

Grants Recreation Board Member Frank Merrick approached the council at the workshop reporting on recreation activities.

Merrick reported to the council that there has been discussion among the board  and many parents about a possible city takeover of the local youth baseball league, Cibola County American Amateur Baseball Congress.

“There has been a lot of talk about a possible city takeover for years,” said Merrick, “but this time it seems more serious because of all the concerns.”

Merrick said the board is researching the issue but the issue could come before the council soon.

Mayor Murrietta advised Merrick to have Recreation Director Dick Griffith do a full review of the issue and for Griffith to report to the board in July.

Merrick stated it is possible for the city to manage the 2010 local youth baseball season.

Merrick also reported four recent disciplinary actions, an excellent Ty Detmer All Star Weekend and that the 2009 Roberto Clemente Tournament will be held in Grants on July 8-12.

Other action items of interest for the June 30 Grants City Council meeting:

•  Approval of a Drainage Management Plan resolution and agreement, involving Cibola County. Cost is $230,000; $115,000 from the Army Corps of Engineers, $55,000 Planning Grants for each, the city and county and $5,000 matching funds from the county.

• Approval of a new fire truck and equipment. Fire truck is $212,000.

• Approval of Cibola Regional Communications Center third quarter expenditures. The amount is $57,000, approximately $4,000 more than last quarter, according to City Manager Bob Horacek. Councilman Martin 'Mody' Hicks once again voiced his concerns of the Central Dispatch system, saying, “Santa Fe County didn't do anything about their system that did not work all the time until it cost them two lives,” Hicks said. “Are we going to do the same?” Hicks was referring to the recent deaths in a helicopter crash near Santa Fe. “A lady was calling 911 and the call did not go through.”

Murrietta added that after meeting with the Village of Milan attorney, “Milan seems to be closer to getting involved in the [dispatch] system.”

• Lodger's Tax agreements of $10,000 and more; Mining Museum $77,000, Chamber of Commerce $140,000, Rodeo Association $18,000 and Fire and Ice Route 66 Bike Rally $46,000.