APCAT 2005

NOTE: Ejido is a frequently-used term here. An ejido is a community cooperative, one that’s engaged in a process of land and water stewardship that pre-dates the arrival of the Spanish. The members of an ejido—the ejidatarios—are people from every aspect of village life.

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A LETTER FROM THE 2005 APCAT BOARD

Asociacion Para la Conservacion Ambiental de Troncones, A.C.

(aka APCAT or the Property Owners Association)

Primarily for the benefit of the newer property owners in Troncones, we would like to share a little bit of history, comment on the projects we are working on currently and explain why we would welcome your participation in future endeavors.

First of all, most of our Mexican neighbors in the area are members of the Ejido General Emiliano Zapata, which we commonly refer to as the Troncones Ejido. They collectively owned the 1600 hectares that originally made up this ejido before the Agrarian Reform Laws were enacted that allowed for privatization of certain parts of it. Most of the early expatriate owners bought their lots directly from ejido members and over the years many have built homes and businesses here.

In addition to the individually-owned private lands, the ejido still owns their public use land collectively. The ejido members elect representatives from their group, hold monthly ejido meetings, appoint committees and deal with all the same issues that any community must deal with, including those things that are also of concern to the more recent arrivals to the neighborhood.

Only members of the ejido are eligible to participate in the ejido meetings and vote on issues affecting the ejido.

In 1999, a group of the expatriate residents decided to form their own association. The first meeting was held July 23, 1999 and resulted in the Asociacion Para la Conservacion Ambiental de Troncones, A.C.

We have much in common with our counterparts in the Troncones Ejido, not the least of which is that only members are eligible to participate in our meetings and vote on issues.

The Association is open to property owners, lessees and corporations that have land in the area lying between Playa Buena Vista to the south through to the north end of Bahia Majahua. All the folks living on and owning property within this area have many common concerns. Naturally an Association such as ours can’t solve all the problems in our little corner of the world, but it does provide a forum for discussing our concerns and pursuing solutions that are available to us.

Historically speaking, the property owners of the Troncones Ejido and expatriates alike have received few, if any, services from the government in exchange for the annual taxes we pay on our bare lots and improved properties. Nearly all the improvements and services in our village we have paid for ourselves.

Out of necessity, community projects have been initiated by residents. Prior to the formation of the Association, such projects started out with somebody going door to door to collect what he could to fund the work on the particular task at hand. There were no records kept of who contributed, how much money was collected or what monies were actually spent on the projects. The Property Owners’ Association has provided a framework of organization to the situation and the benefits that can arise when a group of individuals pool their ideas, skills and efforts for the greater good.

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THE ROAD.

Before there was an association…the beach road was often pretty rough, especially after the rainy season. It was improved, in some places, by individuals who fixed the portions in front of their own properties, at their own expense.

For the last several years, APCAT has paid to have the entire beach road from Troncones to Majahua graded at the end of each rainy season. This year there were also thirty-five loads of fill put down on the length of the road. While occasionally additional monies have been collected from residents to help with larger road improvements, all of the grading, the fill and the labor required were paid for out of the Association dues.

We are fortunate that business-owning members of the Troncones Ejido frequently give us special prices on materials that are to be used on projects that benefit the community. The Association members have voted the surfacing of the beach road to be its #2 priority this year. Up until now individual property owners have resorted to doing their own thing in front of their respective properties. It would be nice to develop a cohesive plan for the rest of the road.

With regard to the paved road coming from Highway200 into the beach, we have our neighbors in the Troncones Ejido to thank for that. They gave up some ejido property to the new highway project in exchange for having the ingress road paved.

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WATER.

Before the Property Owners’ Association was formed, there was no real water system in place.

Members of the Association gave generously of their time, money, personal labor, use of tools, equipment, vehicles and workers to put in the infrastructure for a water system.

Our first water source unfortunately proved insufficient for our needs and, accordingly, the APCAT members have voted WATER our #1 priority this year. Water is of equal concern to our Ejido neighbors. We have joined with the Ejido to hire a certified hydrologist to identify a likely aquifer in the area and are awaiting his report at this time. Our part of the hydrologist's fees was paid for from our dues.

Members of the Association raised thousands of dollars to put in the existing infrastructure that will be used to help deliver water to our homes and businesses when we develop a new source. If we are successful in obtaining any governmental help with developing a new water source, it will be due to the combined efforts of the respective Water Committees from the Ejido and our Association.

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SECURITY.

We are lucky to have very little crime here in Troncones. Still most of us feel better knowing we have some police presence to help keep things that way. Members of the Association joined with members of the Ejido to secure from our municipal government the presence we do have, namely some police stationed at the Entronque and regular patrols of our beach road.

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GARBAGE.

To the best of our knowledge, this service was secured primarily through the efforts of early members of the Property Owners’ Association. While the service is one of those that should come with payment of our property taxes, the collective community is presented a bill every month. Despite the fact that we have to pay for our twice-weekly service, the community is better off for its existence. The prior situation included people either burning their garbage in pits or hauling it to a dump near lxtapa.

The monies collected for garbage pay for the twice-weekly service and also for the clean-up of our beach road. A group of Troncones school kids, with the assistance of adults who volunteer their vehicles and their time, are paid to remove litter from the beach road several times a year.

Additional litter clean-up is funded by an anonymous group of property owners to whom we also all owe our thanks.

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Services aside, we need to occasionally reflect on why it was we chose to purchase land in this place. Why did we choose to build homes and businesses and to spend parts of our lives in this particular community?

Many of us chose this place because, besides being beautiful, it isn’t a typical expatriate enclave. Troncones is a unique little village at this point in time and with good planning we may be able to retain the best elements of its uniqueness even as it grows.

In the scheme of things, the history of Troncones is relatively short and most of it is yet to unfold. We still have before us an opportunity to help shape its future and hopefully minimize the negative impacts that often come with development.

We all have ideas about what changes that we’d most like to see happen here and, correspondingly, those things that we’d prefer not to have happen. The Property Owners’ Association provides a forum for sharing such ideas and a procedure for jointly and democratically deciding which are the wiser goals to pursue and the better courses to follow in our attempts to achieve them.

While there are some things that we can do little or nothing about, there are others that we can at least try to have an effect upon.

One branch or another of the government may own various of the resources that surround us and/or theoretically be responsible for services that they have heretofore failed to provide. United, amongst ourselves and with our Ejido neighbors, we are much more likely to be able to influence the government than we would be able to acting independently.

To these ends the current APCAT Board of Directors hopes to forge a closer relationship with our counterparts in the Ejido so that our two groups can better help each other to work toward those objectives we have in common.

Many members of the Association give countless hours of their time to a wide variety of projects and continue to do so year after year. They volunteer their time and efforts on behalf of all of us. Even if you choose not to actively participate in the work of the Association, your payment of membership dues will provide you the right to participate in making decisions about those things within our purview. You will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed to the efforts that continue to increase the value of your properties along with ours.

Regardless of whether or not you join the Association, we hope that as neighbors and fellow owners of property in Troncones, we will be able to count on your help with community projects.

If you are not currently members of APCAT, however, we encourage you to give serious consideration to joining. For 1500 pesos, or about 136 US dollars, you can have a voice and a vote in the future of Troncones. Plus, the greater our numbers, the stronger our collective voice will be.

Respectfully,

The Board of Directors of APCAT, 2005

Hans Brouwers, President

Ernie Mracheck, First ViceP resident

Susana Casarin, Second Vice President

Jill Edwards, Treasurer

Winn Leva, Secretary

February 18, 2005

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Some things change and others remain the same. Troncones still relies on its ejido and its foreigners to find ways to work together to sustain its roads, water service and other essential infrastructure. Neighbors helping neighbors is the way things get done in Troncones.

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