Ohkay Owingeh resident Maria Isabel Maestas’s front porch sags, and at times, appears as if it will collapse.
During the summer months, her outdoor living space is inundated with mosquitoes and when she tries to sleep, frogs’ incessant croaking keeps her awake.
The aforementioned scene is what Maestas said she deals with on a day-to-day basis because of the San Juan Elementary School retention ponds, which crews built in 2008.
The property is adjacent to the elementary school and she contends that every time it rains, runoff and seepage from the school causes further damage to her home.
“From the time the pond was put in, until now, 2017, the overflow of the drainage from the school and the water from the rain has damaged the east side wall of my home, causing damage to the foundation,” Maestas wrote in a Sept. 5. letter to Española Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez. “This has caused my house and porch to sink, which has put pressure on my windows and walls, as well as my porch sinking and almost falling on me and my vehicles.”
Maestas said the pool of water and ground saturation is a haven for various reptiles such as toads and frogs, not to mention bugs, including mosquitoes.
While she realizes living near swarms of mosquitoes, especially with their ability to transmit disease, is not a good thing, she draws the line when it comes to the destruction of her investment.
“I am constantly having to call the school and all the offices involved to cut the weeds, maintain the drainage, put sand bags or something to help this matter,” she wrote. “The pond produces an abundance of mosquitoes which is a hazard to all human health and then comes the frogs and toads, which make noise all night. I’ve withstood the nuisance, but the damage to my home is not acceptable.”
Maestas, acting on a suggestion from the school’s insurance Attorney Henry Narvaez, called her insurance carrier, who brought an engineer to her property to survey the damage.
The engineer concluded the damage was caused by the District’s negligence.
The conclusion that the District’s negligence created the problem is reportedly supported by a statement Narvaez made to Maestas during a conversation the pair had.
“Mr. Henry F. Narvaez, attorney for the schools, said it is not a sand bag issue, it is a drainage issue and the pond should have had a retaining wall 4 feet below to keep it from coming to my property,” Maestas wrote. “He also said he would bring it to the attention of the school district and that someone would be contacting me to solve the problem. Of course, no one ever did.”
Española School Board Member Patrick Herrera earns his living as a general contractor. He said, from what he can tell, there were several issues with the retention pond.
“We are in the wrong,” he said. “The pond should have never been built where it was at. It should have been lined with rocks and the storm drain should have face the road.”
Herrera said while he doesn’t know many details about the pond’s installation, he believes the District bought the property from the Wolf family and tore down the existing house to build the retention pond some years ago.
Without pulling up the dirt around the structure, it is difficult to determine the amount of damage the water has caused.
“It is probably cracking and ruining the foundation and creating cement problems,” he said. “It could also causing problems with the septic because the ground is so saturated with water.”
Maestas, through her persistence, finally got the attention of New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority Risk Program Coordinator Victoria DeVargas.
DeVargas issued a critical action letter, Oct. 24, that gave the District 10 days to provide a schedule for addressing the flooding.
She specifically recommended the District contract with a hydraulic engineer to assess the problem.
Gutierrez said she received quotes from three engineering firms, who said they would be able to conduct the needed geotechnical investigation and surveys, to determine what, exactly, caused the problem.
The firm would also be charged with designing a new retention pond.
Albuquerque’s Wilson & Company said they could do the work for $54,374. Santa Fe’s Souder Miller & Associates said they could do the work for about $31,500. Rounding out the proposals was Santa Cruz’s Madrid Engineering, who estimated it would cost about $4,181 to complete.
The District, as of Nov. 14, hasn’t selected an engineering firm, but Gutierrez said she is somewhat skeptical of the $4,181 estimate, when compared to its nearest competitor.
She said the Madrid proposal wasn’t accompanied by many details, so she is not confident, if selected, the contractor wouldn’t require numerous change orders to finish the job.
“My concern is we do that (go with the low bidder) and the work is not correct and still has to be done, we will get a lot of change orders and it will be about the same amount,” Gutierrez said.
Wilson officials also estimated it would cost about $35,000 to oversee construction of the new pond, if one has to be built.
With both phases included in the project, according to Wilson’s estimates, it will cost a total of about $97,058.
The estimated cost doesn’t include construction of a new pond or the damage to Maestas’s house.
Gutierrez said her research showed her that fbt Architects, a firm that is currently involved with several projects throughout the District, designed the defunct retention pond.
She plans to talk to the firm’s representatives to see if there is anything they can do to help address the problem.
Gutierrez said the project is in its infancy and it is too soon to determine how much of the undisclosed cost will come from the District and how much will be paid by New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority.