If you are interested in moving to the Folsom area or if you are a
current resident with problems to solve,
this is the page for you!
Moving to Folsom is not an easy task. There are rarely houses or land
for rent or sale, or jobs nearby. Existing
home prices are often outrageous for the quality of house and property.
The nearest shopping region is 37 miles
away in Raton. The nearest Wal-Mart is another 20 miles farther in
Trinidad.
Worst of all, virtually no one in the area seems to be able to provide
answers to questions that most people from
more populated areas take for granted. Most feel that if you must pay
even a small amount for a service, then that
service is not a viable option. For those who are used to paying $10
just to park their car outside a restaurant,
this philosphy can seem a bit confusing.
So why move here? No traffic. Clean air. Less Crime. Mountains. Wildlife.
|
Factoid If you are autopsied when you die, the coroner can tell if you were a city or country dweller. How? Country dwellers have pink lungs while those of city dwellers are gray in color. Makes you think! |
If you still want to live here despite the difficulties, read on for
helpful tips and info!
The obvious candidates are retirees who do not need jobs and have
the financial means to build or move a house
to live in.
Retirees are always welcome, but there are obvious problems down the
road for a remote community consisting entirely
of elderly citizens. Who mows the lawns, paints the houses, and trims
the trees? Who drives to town for groceries
and transports the ill to the doctor or hospital?
A healthy community needs a population with a distributed age pattern.
A grocery store sure doesn't hurt either!
The area is also in desperate need of a licensed carpenter, plumber,
and electrician. Skilled workers from Raton
are loathe to travel to the Folsom area because of the distance and
inconvenience.
There are a few ranching jobs around, some of which pay about $1200 per
month with a house provided. Unfortunately,
the ranch owners are notoriously difficult to work for and the turn
over is high.
There ARE jobs available for those willing to commute for a half
hour to an hour. If you are accustomed to similar
commutes in the city, then driving through the country unencumbered by
crawling traffic will seem like a piece
of cake. Until winter comes.
Some businesses are reluctant to hire a person who must commute from
Folsom due to the fear that inclement weather
will cause excessive absence. How do you get such a job?
The end justifies the means, especially when the alternatives are to
starve to death or to move back to the
city so you can die with gray lungs. Tell prospective employers that
you plan to move to town if you get the job.
Then don't. Just figure out how to get to work regardless of the
weather.
Disclaimer: I myself would NEVER lie under any circumstances yada,
yada, yada...
There are rarely houses for rent in the Folsom area that are
anything similar in quality to what can be found
in larger towns. Most are rather rundown and decrepit by the time they
become rental units.
There is usually a house or two for sale, but the prices are often
unreasonable. Unfortunately, people keep buying
them which serves to justify the prices (the law of supply and demand
sometimes sucks). Sadly, the most common
reason a house becomes available is due to death of the resident. All
too often these homes have been neglected
for some time.
Building a house can be difficult due to the limited number of local
licensed contractors. Building a house with
local labor can cost $50-$60 per square foot. Contractors from
Albuquerque will cost of $80-$90 per square foot.
Due to the cost and incredible logistic difficulties, North Eastern New
Mexico is truly the
Yes, the "Land of Enchantment" has a very high density of trailer
houses - popularly renamed as "modular
homes" or "manufactured homes" in recent years. Admittedly, they are of
higher quality nowadays
- thicker walls, nicer exteriors, better finish materials.
The key to making your "manufactured home" look better is to build on
to it. The limited and distinctive
rectangular shape of manufactured homes make them easily identifiable.
Add a porch, deck, garage, or addition to
break up the outline and the look of the home will change entirely.
Many manufactured homes are now available with
high peaked roofs which also improve their overall appearance.
One small caveat with manufactured homes in the area (and perhaps in
all of New Mexico) is that building codes
require that you place concrete runners to support the trailer. These
runners are not as expensive as a continuous
perimeter foundation, but they do drive the cost up.
If you buy a used trailer house, you must move it. This is not as easy
as some might think because there are only
a handful of decent house movers in the area. Albuquerque, the largest
city in New Mexico, only lists three movers
in the Yellow Pages.
EGSM Inc (505-842-8981) moves a lot of
modular homes from Albuquerque and they can
travel into southern Colorado.
Western Structural (505-897-2800) can move
double wide trailers as one piece. This is
especially nice for used homes which have already been assembled.
Breaking them down and re-assembling them often
results in an imperfect installation at best.
New Mexico Building Codes
Unfortunately, the New Mexico state government responded to a long
history of problems with building standards
with a knee jerk reaction. The entire state of New Mexico is now
covered by the 1997 Uniform Building Code as a
minimum building standard. You have to get permits and inspections for
new homes, additions, remodelling, storage
buildings, and garages. You might can build a dog house
without a permit, but only if it's not too fancy.
You can do your own construction, plumbing, and electrical work. If you
choose to do your own construction, you
must sign a waiver which basically states that you admit that you are a
total idiot for attempting to build your
own house and that you accept and understand that many bad things can
happen. You must still get a permit and have
your work inspected at various intervals. To do your own electrical
work, you must go to Santa Fe and pass a competency
test.
If you hire people to help you, you must get a federal Employer ID
Number and pay the worker's social security
and medicare taxes and withold income tax. In addition, if you do not
carry Worker's Compensation insurance you
will be liable for any injuries. Some people erroneously claim that you
can call them "contract labor"
and avoid all of this. WRONG! They cannot be
"contract labor" for the purpose
of construction, plumbing, or electrical work without a valid New
Mexico contractor's license. The alternative
is to pay them cash and hope you don't get caught.
You can hire licensed contractors to do part of the work. Those
contractors must obtain permits for the work they
perform. If the contractors do not have Worker's Compensation, YOU are
personally liable for injuries their workers
may incur while working on your property - I'm not making this up! This
rule also applies if you hire contractors
to build the entire house.
New Mexico does add some extra standards to the code, mostly regarding
"straw bale" and "adobe"
housing. The code disallows the use of such walls as support
structures, so you can only use them for their insulation
value. This pretty much negates any significant cost savings because
you still have to build a wooden framework
- now you just get to fill it with straw or mud.
For more information on building codes in New Mexico, try these site(s):
http://www.rld.state.nm.us/cid/index.htm
By the way, a copy of the 1997 Uniform Building Code is NOT available
on the website. There are three volumes to
the code, each one costing between $80 - $100. You probably only need
Volume II for the purposes of building a
house. It can be found most easily on the Internet. Used copies can
sometimes be found on Amazon.com, but the price
savings is not that great. It is available on cd-rom as well, but
that's not much cheaper either.
Try these sources for the 1997 Uniform Building Code:
http://www.electrical-contractor.net/The_Store/IC/1997UBC_Code.htm
http://www.amazon.com
Folsom does not have a community sewage disposal system. The
township narrowly voted against applying for a
state grant to build such a system. Many people did not want to pay
$30.00 per month for water and sewage service.
Instead, they get to put in systems for many thousands of dollars which
contaminate the water supply.
Since there is no public sewage system, there are three basic
alternatives:
The New Mexico Environmental Protection Agency is in charge of
enforcing rules and regulations regarding septic
systems.
Septic Tank with Leach Field
For the most popular option, the leach field system, you must have
approximately 1/2 acre of land to disperse your
sewage for a typical 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. The sewage is first
collected in a 1250 gallon concrete septic
tank where the solids are trapped. The homeowner must periodically add
a bacterial agent of some sort to the system
which will break down the solids. A box of this agent called Rid-X
(yup, same name as the lice killer) can be purchased
from the Raton K-Mart for about $7.00. The instructions on the box
recommend a new box be added each month.
A series of baffles in the septic tank prevent the solids from flowing
out to the leach field. The leach field
can be either a perforated pipe running through a buried bed of gravel
or a series of "infiltrators".
Infiltrators are semi-circular plastic arches installed in the ground
with the open side down. The liquid runs
into the infiltrators and soaks into the ground. The number of
infiltrators required depends on the number of bedrooms
and bathrooms in the house and the ability of the ground to soak up
water. This ability is determined with a "leach
test" - two 5 foot deep holes are dug in the ground about 50 feet apart
and filled with water. The amount
of time for the water to dissipate determines the leach rate. A slower
dissipation rate will require more infiltrators.
Water from the bathroom sinks, bathtub, shower, and washing machines
can be dispersed right on the ground so long
as it does not result in standing water. Dispersing the water in this
manner instead of through the septic system
helps to avoid saturation of the leach field.
The leach field method has its drawbacks, the most obvious being the
amount of land required. The leach field must
be 100 feet from any existing well, whether the well is on your
property or on neighboring land. The septic tank
must be 5 feet inside the property line. If the tank is within 50 feet
of a well, it must be "leak tested"
by filling it with water and looking for leaks. The tanks often leak -
three tanks were tried at one installation
and all leaked. The last had to be hand caulked from inside to solve
the problem - and that tank had been assembled
and tested at the manufacturer's facility before installation.
The price of a 1250 gallon septic tank as of December 2003 is about
$800.00. For a very simple system where the
tank and leach field can be laid out near the house, you can expect to
pay $3,000 to $5,000. Not so simple systems
such as those that require more infiltrators, longer pipe runs, or
digging through rock can cost $10,000 or more.
Get a written quote from your contractor before starting work - $6,000
systems can become $10,000 systems in a
hurry.
Installing a septic system requires a licensed contractor, of which
none seem to exist. As the homeowner, however,
you can install one "yourself". You can then get "help" from somebody
who knows what the Hell
they are doing but is unlicensed. Ask around town and you will quickly
find out who can "help" you.
The rules and regulations are constantly changing. To get things
started, contact the EPA office in Raton at 505-445-3621.
Mini Processing Tank with Spray System
For landowners with too much stuff and not enough land, there is an
alternative. These are small tanks which
process the sewage with chemicals and stirring action - the resulting
waste water can be used for irrigation.
The major drawbacks to this system are the necessity to add chemicals
and the mechanical moving parts which can
break down. Of course, none of the leach field installers are
particularly enamored with this system. You'll have
to decide for yourself. One example of these devices is the Multi-Flo,
a brochure for which can be obtained by
calling 1-800-HELP NOW.
Contact the EPA office in Raton at 505-445-3621
for information and advice.
Collection Tank Which Must be Emptied Periodically
This would have to be the absolute last choice. Having a collection
tank emptied is not cheap, and who knows what
the fellows who empty it do with the resulting treasure. Such fellows
are not all that common and even less reliable.
This method might cost you $200 per month or more.
Grandfather Clause
There is a "grandfather clause", be it official or unofficial, that
allows an existing septic system
to be used until it requires repair. So you can use an existing system
until it clogs up and you need to dig it
up or repair it, at which time you are supposed to install a government
approved system. It behooves one to do
any digging in the middle of the night.
In any case, policy enforcement seems to be sadly lacking. While you
are installing your permitted, approved, $10,000
system, your neighbor may be putting in his own cheaper version whilst
skipping a lot of hassle by filling out
nary a form. Chances are that your neighbor is going to be quite happy
with his system and several thousand dollars
richer.
Disclaimer
I recommend that you follow ALL rules and regulations regarding sewage
disposal. Besides, digging at night is a
leading cause of shoe-poo syndrome.
As with the community sewage disposal system, Folsom also voted
against creating a municipal water system as
well. Oddly enough, the EPA does not seem to get involved when a water
well is drilled in the Folsom area. It has
been reported that water wells in the Raton area are regulated as
strictly as are sewage systems. It is unknown
if the Folsom area is overlooked due to a lack of interest or a lack of
coverage by regulations.
Most of the area in Folsom proper has a water pocket at a depth of 23
to 25 feet. A lot of the older wells tap
into this pocket. Unfortunately, many people claim that this water is
contaminated by all of the sewage leach fields
because of the shallow depth. Others are just as adament that their
shallow wells are uncontaminated. Water test
results across the community have been inconsistent, so absolute proof
has yet to be provided as of this time.
A second layer of water can be reached at a depth of approximately 100
feet in most areas of the community. It
is generally agreed that this water is pure. Most well drillers in the
area charge about $12 per foot with a 100
foot minimum, so it makes sense to drill down to the deep water. An
ex-well driller recently reported that $2500
should buy a 100 foot well with piping and a cinderblock well pit (as
of 11/04).
In addition to the well and well pit, a pump and pressure tank are
required. For 25 foot wells, a surface pump
can be used. For anything deeper, a submersible pump must be used. This
type of pump hangs at the bottom of the
pipe leading down into the well. The pump is actually submerged in the
well water. Make sure that your driller
"ties off" your pump. This involves tying one end of a rope or cable to
the pump and the other end to
something solid in the well pit. Sometimes the pump can fall off of the
pipe or be blown off by a lightening strike.
When this happens, it is nearly impossible to retrieve the pump if it
has not been "tied off" and a new
one will have to be installed at a cost of $600 or more.
The pressure tank is usually located in the well pit. It is a metal
tank with an air filled rubber bladder in one
end and a reservoir for water on the other end. The pump will fill the
reservoir and the water will compress the
bladder until a specific pressure is reached at which time the pump
will turn off. When a tap is turned on in the
house, the pressure from the bladder will force the water down the
pipe. The pump will not turn on again until
the pressure in the tank decreases to a specific pressure - the turn on
pressure is lower than the turn off pressure.
By using the pressure tank to supply force for the water the pump does
not have to turn on every time water is
drawn, extending the life of the pump. This also reduces the delay
between the time a tap is opened and the appearance
of water pressure. If water is drawn for a longer time, such as for a
shower, the pump may turn on and stay on
for the duration.
Piping must be layed between the well pit and the house for the main
water feed. This should be buried at least
3 feet underground to prevent freezing. A popular type of piping now
used is called "PEX". It is a special
flexible polycarbonate hose which is more resistant to bursting due to
freezing since it can expand more easily
than metal piping. It is usually cheaper to have a house plumbed with
PEX because it is easily cut to length, coiled
for easy transport, and bends around corners. The fittings are crimped
on the ends with a special tool, reducing
or even eliminating the need for soldering.
PEX is available at the ACE Hardware in Raton and they will loan you
the crimping tool. If you wish to buy one,
the tool costs between $400 and $500.
When drilling a well into the deeper water table, the well driller is
supposed to provide a cement "seal"
around the pipe between the upper and lower water tables. This is to
prevent the upper water table from draining
down into the lower and thereby contaminating it as well.
Unfortunately, each driller uses a different method and
there is some concern that a well will be or already has been drilled
which has or will cause cross contamination
between the two water tables. Ask your well driller about his method of
sealing to be sure that he understands
that this is an issue of which he should be cognizant.
The city of Folsom provides 5 dumpsters for use by city residents.
These are NOT for use by county residents.
At one time, the county provided 5 dumpsters in the same area as the
Folsom dumpsters for use by county residents,
but they have ceased to do so.
The dumpsters are maintained and emptied by Tri-State Waste from
Texline at a cost of $50 per month per dumpster.
If you are a county resident or a Folsom resident who wants their own
dumpster, Tri-State Waste can provide you
with one.
Tri-State Waste can be contacted at 806-362-4828. Their
address is
Tri-State Waste
Highway 296 East
Box 421
Texline, TX 79087
A lot of properties in Folsom have an abandoned building which is
beyond repair or have the remains of such
a building. Disposing of the debris seems to be a mystery to most
residents, as is evident from the copious amount
decorating the township.
Raton's dump does NOT want your trash or debris. The fellow at the city
office told me that quite clearly. Although
I got different prices from different people, he quoted a price of $40
per ton for those who are not residents
for Raton. They will take your tires for $1 each - see Tire & Battery
Disposal.
The Clayton landfill is a bit more understanding, and will take your
refuse at $5.50 per cubic yard. The volume
of your waste is estimated by a worker at the landfill. What they will
and will not take is not clearly explained,
even over the telephone. Household waste, tree branches, grass
clippings, wood, glass, nails, and similar construction
material are okay, but they do not want tires, batteries, cars, or car
body parts.
The procedure is to drive out to the dump and look for a tractor moving
garbage. The tractor driver will tell you
where to dump, usually right in front of his tractor while he watches.
He will estimate the volume and record it
along with your name, which he will later report to the office. You
should call the office and give them your billing
address in case the tractor driver fails to do so or records it
improperly. You can make things a bit easier by
having your name and address written on a piece of paper so you can
just hand it to the driver. You will later
receive a bill in the mail.
If the wind is blowing, the dump will not be open and the gate will be
closed. If it is blowing much at all, I
recommend that you choose another day if you have to unload by hand.
Even a slight wind will result in choking
sand and dust, making the unloading process quite unpleasant. If you
arrive around lunch time and the gate is closed
with a sign saying "Closed due to Wind", come back later. Apparently
that is the only sign they have,
so it is used for lunch breaks, etc.
For more information and for directions to the dump, call Clayton City
Office at 505-374-8331.
The city office is located at 1 Chestnut St.
If you have a lot of construction debris, it may be more economical to
purchase the use of a "roll-off"
dumpster. A "roll-off" dumpster is one of those dump truck bed sized
rectangular containers often seen
near construction sites. The disposal company drops one off at your
site and picks it back up when you are done
with it.
Tri-State Waste will provide you with a "roll-off" container for $400
per dump. You get 30 days to fill
the container between dumping - if you take longer than 30 days, there
is a $5 per day surcharge.
Click here for the address and phone
number for Tri-State Waste
Electrical service to the area is provided by Springer Electric
Cooperative. All users of the service must join
the cooperative. Some cooperatives pay the members a small amount back
- the members are more or less the owners
of the company.
As of December 2003, I could not find the cost per KWH listed anywhere
on my bill. Apparently, I have rate "1",
which refers to residential service. Using my calculator (or you can go
to their website), I found the cost to
be 8.54 cents per KWH. I'm not sure how much ink they are saving by not
printing the rate on the bill, but I hope
it's worth it.
For more information, go to http://www.springercoop.com
or call them
at 505-483-2421.
There are several options for propane service. The closest is probably
Arthur Propane in Des Moines. They will
provide a propane tank free of charge so long as you use a minimum
amount of propane each month. Installation is
extra - they will set the tank, run about 50 feet of line underground,
and make the connections for about $400.
As of December 2003, the rate for propane was $1.05 per gallon if you
paid with a check upon delivery. It's 5 cents
per gallon more if you don't pay immediately.
You can contact Arther Propane at 505-278-2500.
Their mailing address is:
Arthur Propane
Box 97
Des Moines, NM 88418
How much are you going to spend on electricity and gas? It depends on
your house, the time of the year, and the
weather. Your costs can be quite minimal for April through November,
especially if you don't use the air conditioner
- perhaps as low as $40 per month for electricity and the same for gas.
Unfortunately, the area has been experiencing
hotter than normal summers with temperatures approaching 100 degrees
Fahrenheit.
If you live in one of the old rock houses in the area, your winter
costs can be astronomical. Contrary to popular
myth, rock is NOT a good insulator. Neither are logs in a log cabin for
that matter. Since the construction of
these houses makes the addition of insulation virtually impossible,
energy costs can be quite high. In December,
$200 for gas and $150 for electricity in one month is not unheard of.
New houses with proper insulation will have
significantly lower energy costs.
The school for kids in the area is in Des Moines. The school was
recently remodeled with a South West motif
and is very nice. The average size for each grade is 10 students.
That's the entire grade, not just one class.
Thus the student teacher ratio is about 1 to 10 or better. There are
plenty of computers and equipment, and all
grades Kindergarten through twelfth are in the same building.
The best thing about the Des Moines school is that the teachers are not
overwhelmed by having too many students.
Whereas in the larger cities up to 20% of the children may be on
Ritalin at the advice of the school, I'm not sure
Des Moines even knows about Ritalin. A very large percentage of the
students go on to college.
The mascot for Des Moines is the "Demons". The lady Demons have won the
state championship in volleyball
for their division for the last three years and the basketball
championship for the last two - they are working
on the third for that as well.
The boys have an equally impressive record. Football and soccer are not
currently played at Des Moines.
For more information, call the school at 505-278-2611
or visit their website at http://www.desmoinesschools.net
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