For several years the Open Space Committee and now the Open Space Advisory Board had sought such a meeting. For whatever reason, Parks and Recreation Department staff were never able to put one together. Finally as a Board member I suggested that we just do one without City support if necessary. Judy Ackerman of the Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition took the initiative and got to work. In less than a month, she had arranged the venue, gathered the speakers, found a facilitator and invited the stakeholders. At the end of the meeting she asked those in attendance if they wanted to meet again and keep talking. Everyone indicated that they wanted to keep talking including engineers who work for two of the planned developments along the arroyo: Desert Springs and Enchanted Hills. When people come together no matter how much they may disagree, good things can come about. In fact, this meeting didn't just generate good will, it aroused curiosities and intellects. In brief, the meeting was inspiring.
Dignitaries on hand included City Representative Ann Morgan Lilly, former County Attorney and current candidate for State Senator, Jose Rodriguez, Ruben Vogt for County Commissioner Veronica Escobar, and PSB member, Dr. Rick Bonart. John Moses and John Balliew were present along with representatives from the IWBC, EPWU and TxDOT. Stanley Jobe was also present and commented favorably about conservation organizations. Developer, Justin Chapman, from Hunt also attended.
Ruben Vogt gave a talk on eco-tourism; Frontera Alliance President Mike Gaglio spoke about techniques for preserving open space.
Wildlife Biologist Lois Balin could not be present but her assistant, Mary Anderson, presented a slide show on conservation development.
Professor John Walton discussed ways to work with water and challenged developers not to put a huge retention pond in the middle of the arroyo but, instead, think about smaller ponds. "A good open space management program would mean harvesting rainfall," he said. You can see his full presentation here.
EPWU VP of Operations John Balliew gave the PSB perspective.
Environmental Engineer Katrina Martich, one of the attendees, added some reality to the discussion at the end of the presentations. She said that developers can decide to design differently but only if they see a benefit. Having extensive municipal and ordinance experience, Ms. Martich suggested that ordinances can often restrict what a developer can do when it comes to conserving land.
After the meeting, several in attendance visited the top of Arroyo 41A in the Franklin Mountains State Park.
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