Prince and Carter Ranch suitors were hoping some progress would be made at the Oct. 22 City Council meeting, but they walked away with no lease.
The Council voted 6-2 to table a $900,000 lease with Washington-based Ealasid Inc., but not before having to pacify an Alcalde man that had been in informal discussions with Mayor Alice Lucero to lease the property for a solar therapy center for brain injury patients.
The Regional Development Corporation’s Eric Vasquez, the program manager for the Regional Economic Development Initiative, gave a presentation before the Council on behalf of Ealasid. According to Vasquez, Ealasid is the brainchild of Dr. Keith Jones and Dr. Norman Lewis, who have developed a technology that allows poplar trees to produce rose oil — a commodity that is used in perfumes, deodorants and beverages.
Lewis, who was not present at the meeting, said in a later interview that by using their technology, many plants have the capability of producing rose oil and other commodities. Ealasid amplifies certain genes within plants that grant them new abilities — like growing rose oil.
Vasquez reached out to Jones and Lewis through the New Mexico Consortium, a non-profit corporation that partners top research universities in the state with the Los Alamos National Laboratory, that uses scientific research to advance national priorities. Among the research he worked on at the Consortium, Lewis felt that the poplar tree project was the closest to commercialization, leading Vasquez to identify the Prince Ranch as a site that would meet all of their needs.
Initially, Ealasid would only hire three to five employees, including an office manager and agricultural workers to tend to the poplar trees. According to Vasquez, Ealasid could employ 30 to 50 workers by its eighth year.
The lease drawn up by City Attorney Frank Coppler was molded around Ealasid’s start-up status.
The 30-year lease is divided into 10-year intervals. The first interval will charge Ealasid $200,000 in rent, while the second costs $300,000 and the third $400,000. After each interval, Ealasid will have the option of renewing the lease or terminating it.
If Ealasid fails to pay each year’s rent, the city has the option of terminating the lease.
The first interval is backloaded, with the city charging Ealasid $1 per year for the first two years. The rent then increases to $20,000 per year in years three through five and $28,000 in years six through 10.
According to Vasquez, the $1 rent for the first two years will give Ealasid time to attract investors and allow the poplars to mature.
In addition to footing the bill for any improvements the property needs, Ealasid will also have to make an imperative to hire local workers and contractors. Vasquez said that a previous corporation study revealed that there was an available supply of semi-skilled workers in Española, which Ealasid will need for its labor force.
Councilor Peggy Martinez was concerned with water rights. Under the proposed lease, Ealasid would draw water from the Salazar Ditch, Vigil Ditch and Well No. 9.
According to Martinez, recent storms destroyed the dam at the Vigil ditch, causing it to lose water. She wanted Ealasid and the city to begin discussions with the ditch commissions before proceeding with the lease.
Councilor Robert Seeds echoed Martinez’s concerns over Ealasid’s water access.
“In New Mexico, water is a jewel,” Seeds said. “It’s a privilege to have.”
In addition to a drip irrigation that Ealasid plans to install to save water, Vasquez said that poplar trees need significantly less water after three years.
Ultimately, the Council decided they needed more time to research the project and tabled the issue, with Councilors Pedro Valdez and John Hernandez voting against.
Even with the setback, Lewis is optimistic that Ealasid will reach a deal with the city.
“We’re trying to make the situation work,” Lewis said.
Guillen also wants lease
While Ealasid tried to build a bridge with the city, Alcalde resident Diego Guillen seems to have spent his time during the meeting, trying to burn any bridge he had with Lucero.
During public comment, Guillen claimed that he had discussions with Lucero over the past three years about putting a project of his own at the Prince Ranch.
Guillen told the Council that his plans for a solar therapy center for brain injury patients would bring the Española Valley at least 500 jobs.
He also claimed that billions of dollars from investors were being moved around to fund the project and investors from Europe, Canada and the Philippines were interested.
Guillen said he bore no ill will toward Ealasid and instead took issue with Lucero not informing him of the lease sooner. Lucero told Guillen that she had called and texted him about the lease without a response.
Because of Lucero’s perceived disrespect, Guillen said that he would never do business with the city again and present his project to Rio Arriba County instead. Multiple Councilors pleaded with Guillen to reconsider his decision and questioned Lucero for not informing them about this project.
Lucero assured the Council that she had actually stopped meeting with Guillen because he kept promising that he would lock down private investors each time they met.
“We finally stopped meeting because it was the same meeting every time,” Lucero said.
When Councilor Eric Radosevich asked for Guillen to come before the Council again during Vasquez’s presentation, Lucero pounded her gavel multiple times when Guillen refused to leave the microphone. Guillen only left when Radosevich told him he had no further questions.
During a later interview, Lucero elaborated on her connection with Guillen.
She said when she took office in 2010, Guillen approached her with the project, having already been rebuked by former Mayor Joseph Maestas.
Lucero originally met with Guillen every month to discuss his plans, only to grow disillusioned after progress stalled. Even after the meetings fizzled, Lucero said she and Guillen would still occasionally exchange emails.
The mayor said that relations further eroded when Guillen began to interfere with city business on the Prince Ranch. According to Lucero, Guillen would arrive on the property when city employees were doing a project and either try to halt it or instruct them on how to do it.
Lucero said Guillen claimed he had earned millions of dollars selling an unspecified business in Texas and owned spas in Santa Fe, though she could never find any evidence of those events happening.
California Franchise Tax Board spokesman Dan Tehara said that in 2008, Guillen had his business license suspended when he didn’t file tax returns for his company Reflex Testing and Developing.
Tehara said that his business could reopen in California if the returns are filed and he pays any fees related to them.