The Jaltemba Express

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

RESIDENTS GROUP Called “LOS AMIGOS DE LA PENITA”

Los Amigos de La Peñita----report of Jan. 30 meeting
Next Meeting--Feb. 13th at 7:00 PM at Hotel California
Water committee reported on meeting with Marconi in Compostela : Marconi promised $8,000.00 for our water upgrade by Semana Santa and said that water for our area was a top priority on his list and promised a new pump by Feb. 15. Marconi was not impressed with our name and suggested a name change might have more influence with government officials.
It was decided to change the time of our meetings from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM to accommodate the Mexican residents that are working to 5:00 PM. The meetings will now be held on the second and forth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM at the Hotel California. Next meeting will be on Feb. 13 so get the word out about the change of time and date.
Bob Gibbs has produced a flyer in English and Spanish to post in various locations to advertise the date, time and location of our meetings and what our purpose and goals are.
Everyone is encouraged to come up with an appropriate name for our group that will sound more professional and have more influence. Please submit names at the Feb. 13 meeting. Conalep will also be asked to help with a new name and logo for our group.
Subcommittees were formed and we are still looking for more people who want to be on one or more of the following committees.
Water: Nora, Ralph, George, Sebastian, Juan.
Garbage: Karen, Lupita, Concha, Veta, Mimi, Ginnie, Susan , Betty
Security: Donado, Mark, Nelson, Ortensia, Letty, Gord, Cesar, Bob
Beach: Maruka, Joyce, Rosalie, Johan, Bob
All the Subcommittees will give a report at the Feb.13 meeting.$900 pesos was donated at this meeting to cover miscellaneous expenses.
We need more involvement from the Mexican residents if our group is to be successful and long lasting so please encourage your Mexican neighbors to attend out Feb. 13 meeting at 7:00 PM at Hotel California.

New Name / Water Quality Issues

On Jan. 9 the first meeting of the residents of La Peñita took place at the California Hotel at 4:00 PM. Thirty two residents attended the meeting with many issues discussed. George, owner of the California Hotel, invited Jorge Rubio from SIAPA to explain the current water problems, the improvements made during the past year and the upcoming project to install new water lines and connect the new well in February.

The SIAPA office posts a list of all the colonials in La Peñita with dates when these areas will receive water. If you live in an area and do not receive water on the designated date, notify the SIAPA office and a person will come to your house and inspect the problem. The inspection can only be done on the date that your area is to receive water. Also, please report leaks in water lines to SIAPA so the leaks can be corrected. Again, the leaks can only be repaired when the water is turned on in that area.

Rosalie Hope suggested a name for our group which was voted on and accepted. Our new name is "Los Amigos de La Peñita"

A water committee was formed. The members are George (California Hotel), Eddie Dominguez, Sue Snyder and Mark O'Neill. This committee met on Jan. 10 to draft a letter to Marco Antonio Moreno Venegas, Municipal President of Compostela. For those residents that do not have Internet, this letter can be picked up at the California Hotel on Friday, Jan. 12 at 5:00PM. We want residents to go door to door in their neighbourhood to obtain as many signatures as possible so we can present the letter and signatures directly to Marco Antonio in Compostela. The English version appears below and we are still working on the Spanish version. This is not the final draft but it will give you an idea of what we are doing.

January 10, 2007

The Honourable Marco Antonio Moreno Venegas

Municipal President of Compostela

Nayarit, Mexico

Dear Mr. President Moreno Venegas,

We the undersigned are a newly formed group of caring citizens and residents who live full time or part time in La Peñita de Jaltemba. We recently met to address issues that are common to all of us who live in La Peñita de Jaltemba so we can make this a better community in which to live.

We want to work with our elected officials and institutions at all levels to make Nayarit the best state in the nation. We congratulate you on the work begun this past year and want to establish a direct line of communication with your office.

Our main concern is the water issue. Yesterday at our meeting a representative of SIAPA, Mr. Jorge Rubio, met with committee members to explain the current situation, the improvements made this past year and to advise of the upcoming public works projects to install new water lines and connect the new well beginning in February of this year.

The purpose of this letter is to request a direct contact from your office that we can work with to assure that this project moves forward without the delays and damage that we suffered when the new sewer system work was done 2 years ago.

During that renovation project, cobble stone streets were torn apart without consideration of neighbourhood and the streets were not restored to their original condition. The contractor broke water lines and did not repair them, left tons of debris on our streets and created a true health hazard with dust that has lasted these past 2 years.

The work that the new SIAPA management has done in less than a year is commendable and as residents of La Peñita we want to help in any way we can. We understand the work will be beginning in February and be completed prior to Holy Week, April 1 - 8, 2007 when Jaltemba Bay towns receive more than 20,000 visitors.

Once you assign a contact person from your office that we can work with, we assure you that the majority of our residents will receive regular updates as to the progress of this project. Please advise how you would like us to participate and help in this project to ensure its successful completion on time. We look forward to working with you in the near future,

Los Amigos de La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit

January 10, 2007

Residentes de la Colonia

Any questions, phone of email Mark O'Neill at
274-2539, email: anesthesia94@yahoo.ca