County brings in outside firm for drilling ordinance

Without help, staff could have needed a few years to develop legislation

Phaedra Haywood | The New Mexican

4/29/2008 - 4/30/08

Santa Fe County has hired a planning firm to help develop an oil-and-gas-extraction ordinance, write an area plan for the Galisteo Basin and finish writing growth-management amendments to the county general plan.

The County Commission voted Tuesday to enter into a contract with Planning Works, a Kansas City-based firm that will charge the county $125 per hour. County spokesman Stephen Ulibarri said the county has set aside about $160,000 to pay for planning services from the firm.

Ulibarri said Robert Freilich, the Los Angeles-based attorney the county hired in February to consult on the projects, recommended Planning Works.

Ulibarri said Freilich, whom the county is paying $500 per hour, will continue to coordinate the legal aspects of the work but will be assisted with planning and research by Planning Works.

County Attorney Stephen Ross said several other contractors may need to be hired before the project is completed. County Commissioner Jack Sullivan said the commission has budgeted $600,000 to $700,000 total for the job.

Santa Fe County began rewriting its oil-and-gas ordinances last fall after Houston-based Tecton Energy announced plans to drill for oil in the Galisteo Basin area. The county's existing mining ordinance, which was written over a three-year period in the early 1990s, pertains mostly to hard-rock mining.

County Attorney Stephen Ross initially said he and other county staff would do the job. But after Gov. Bill Richardson ordered a six-month drilling ban in Galisteo so the environmental and archaeological impacts could be evaluated, the county followed suit by slowing its own process.

In February, the county, which had originally called for a three-month drilling moratorium in the basin area, banned drilling in the area for at least a year, saying that would give county staff time to work on regulations to govern the industry.

Ulibarri said the county decided to hire outside experts after realizing the complicated issue was gobbling up huge amounts of staff time. "We realized we couldn't finish it up in a few months," Ulibarri said, "that it could take a few years before this thing ties up."

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.