TPWD Won't Survey Quarry; Gives away Responsibility to Cemex

Elpasonaturally has previously noted that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has no idea whether Cemex has encroached on state land at their quarry at McKelligon Canyon. TPWD as well as the Franklin Mountains State Park were urged to do a boundary survey.

We have now learned that neither TPWD nor FMSP are willing to go to the expense of a survey and will defer to Cemex. In other words, as one astute environmentalist points out: citizens and TPWD have abrogated their responsibility. 

Efforts have begun to determine whether the State will buy the land and close the quarry and end the destruction of the Franklins once and for all. The hitch may be that the General Land Office probably will fight any such efforts because it wants the royalties from mining (and destroying) the Franklins. 

It had previously been thought that the new FMSP headquarters might hold up efforts to get the quarried land from Cemex. There was some fear that the $3Million for the headquarters might vanish. However, new efforts to re-locate the headquarters to Tom Mays from the proposed site at Wilderness Park next to the Archaeological Museum may have saved the day. Although Tom Mays has neither water nor electricity, it seems that both John Balliew of El Paso Water and officials at EPEC are willing to make the new plan work.

Time to Buy CEMEX?

Aerial view of CEMEX McKelligon Canyon Quarry.
Photo by Scott Cutler

Not the stock - the McKelligon Canyon quarry. Here's why:

There is no way to close down the quarry. That was tried several years ago when Caballero was Mayor. The effort failed and it helped lead to the political demise of Ray Caballero and the election of Joe Wardy. 

There is one fact in Texas law that no one can get around unless there is a huge sea change in Texas politics leading to a re-writing of its Constitution. In Texas private property is sacrosanct. It trumps all other considerations. CEMEX owns the land at the quarry to the ridge of the mountain. Although at a certain point it may become logistically impossible to do any further quarrying, CEMEX can continue to scar the Franklin Mountains for the foreseeable future and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Nor can the City easily boycott that quarry and not allow them to bid on city projects. It’s very hard to blacklist a vendor.  They have to have a really bad record with the city (or the state or the feds) such as an inability to perform. A construction industry insider said this to me: "I bet the city won’t even blacklist Basic IDIQ even after all the drama at San Jacinto.  It can be challenged legally too. You can’t blacklist CEMEX simply because they own a quarry and are destroying the mountain.  Won’t work."

The City can reduce the amount of rock and screenings used in landscaping. Although that may impact other quarry businesses, if the City ever gets serious about really fixing our streets and sidewalks, that should be a big plus for that industry that would easily offset any loss of landscaping business.

Finally, CEMEX as a corporation is in trouble. The Street, a financial media company, gives CEMEX a rating of D+. Their recommendation to stock traders:

"We rate CEMEX SAB DE CV (CX) a SELL. This is driven by a number of negative factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and poor profit margins."

You can download the Street's full report and get more information about CEMEX by going HERE.

Simply put, CEMEX needs cash. Their selling the quarry would be advantageous to their corporate survival.

Who should buy? Certainly not the General Land Office of Texas that owns the mineral rights. That would make no sense. The GLO would simply want to find someone else to quarry the rock so that royalties can be paid to the Texas Permanent School Fund. 

The City of El Paso can't afford it, so . . .

That leaves the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that runs the Franklin Mountains State Park. 

The deal could be structured over a period of three or four years. Once part of the TPWD, the face of the Franklins can be conserved. Now that El Paso is beginning to realize the huge economic value of eco-tourism, working in concert with others to buy and shut-down the quarry, and preserve the face of the Franklins from any further unsightly damage will only mean economic gain for the City. 

It's time to consider that option.

PSB to Vote on Access Easement over Arroyo 41A

Arroyo 41A, Mountain to River Trail, with boundaries of Jobe lease in yellow

Click to enlarge

There are two important meetings tomorrow: the regular meeting of the Public Service Board and the general meeting of the local chapter of the Sierra Club.

Once Arroyo 41A leaves the mountain at the Franklin Mountains State Park, a small portion of it goes through the General Land Office area now leased to Jobe Materials for quarrying. Of course, 41A is the key mountain to river trail identified in the City of El Paso Open Space master plan. Through the efforts of El Paso City Council Representative, Ann Morgan Lilly, Mr. Jobe has agreed to preserve that portion of Arroyo 41A. The Public Service Board is scheduled to vote on signing an access easement from the General Land Office that will preserve the arroyo tomorrow (May 26) at its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Public Service Board Meeting Room at 1154 Hawkins Boulevard.

"Palisades Nature Preserve Park"

Click to enlarge

Another item on the PSB agenda tomorrow will be the development of a Joint Use Agreement with the City of El Paso for management of the Palisades Nature Preserve Park. This is the newly acquired property on the southwestern tip of the Franklins with an entrance off of Robinson as it curves toward Scenic Drive. Most of you know the place. The idea is to share the management with the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation Department. However, there is some concern that the Parks and Rec does not have the expertise and that PSB should manage it alone with the help of experienced hiker/mountain biker volunteers. The Billy Rogers Arroyo Park is adjacent to Palisades and is under Parks and Rec. However, if it weren’t for the Environmental Club at Loretto Academy and Keep El Paso Beautiful, nothing would be done to maintain and manage the park.

Parks and Recreation is strapped with a tight budget now. At best, they could merely add Palisades to their inventory and nothing more. Currently, the trails in the Palisades are well-established and could be maintained with the help from local bicycle and hiking groups.

PSB has a solid record of performance when it comes to management. There is no reason to share the management of the Palisades with the Parks and Recreation Department which can't handle that now or for the foreseeable future anyway.

Finally, the local El Paso chapter of the Sierra Club is meeting tomorrow in the auditorium at the Downtown Main Public Library. Texas Parks and Wildlife Superintendent John Moses will speak about the Franklin Mountains State Park - Present and Future.

Mayor Cook Meets with Jerry Patterson

So, while Texas Land Commissioner, Jerry Patterson, was in El Paso on Monday for his big fundraiser hosted by pal, Stanley Jobe, he met with Mayor John Cook and other El Paso officials. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss communication with the General Land Office. The context for the meeting was a suggestion made by the Open Space Advisory Board to write a letter to Commissioner Patterson encouraging better communication especially when it comes to leasing critical naturally-important property such as that leased by Jobe near Avispa Canyon and Arroyo 41 A next to the Franklin Mountains State Park.

Following that meeting, Mayor Cook sent this letter to Patterson:

Letter to Commissioner Patterson From Texas General Land Office - Scanned

The letter is a well-crafted, tactful and champions El Paso’s environmental interests. In very polite terms, the Mayor firmly suggests that Mr. Patterson would do himself and El Paso a huge disservice not to consider El Paso's interests and and advises the GLO to be more open and forthcoming.

That letter speaks volumes about Mayor Cook's leadership and stewardship.

Speaking of 41A, Representative Ann Lilly met with Mr. Jobe and Mr. Ed Archuleta of the PSB this past Monday and agreed on the survey conducted by Cutts Land Surveying Inc. that Jobe had paid for so that there can be a buffer between the quarry and the important mountain to river arroyo. Apparently Mr. Jobe spent some valuable time with Commissioner Patterson to get the document moved forward. Representative Lilly calls it a win.

The issue of accepting an easement designated by the survey will be on the Public Service Board's May 26th agenda.

Update on Arroyo 41A and the Lower Sunset Trail

Arroyo 41A from Picnic Area 39

Last week the Franklin Mountains Park Superintendent, Mr. Cesar Mendez, took me and several other people on a hike on those portions of the new Lower Sunset Trail that are now completed.

Our hike began at Picnic Area 39 in the Tom Mays Unit. That area overlooks Arroyo 41A. The new trail begins by going down toward the arroyo and then winding west and south to that portion of the Lower Sunset that is in the State Park. The other portion, of course, was destroyed by Jobe's bulldozers.

Click to enlarge image. You are looking west toward GLO land. The clear path was created by Jobe's bulldozer. You can see the Jobe "No Trespassing" sign. Arroyo 41A is to the left (south) of the picture. The buffer should run somewhere along here past the hill in the foreground. That hill and hundreds of other acres will be no more once the quarry operation begins. To the left (north) of the picture is where the old Lower Sunset Trail crossed Mile Marker 6 and Arroyo 42 back up to the trail to the entrance of Shaeffer Shuffle. Many mountain bikers and environmentalists would also like to see that area preserved as well. That path was actually the originally proposed Mountain to River Trail as these maps reveal. At this time, Mr. Jobe is adamant that he will not grant an easement of that area as well.

We then retraced our steps and some of the hikers continued on a different fork not far below the picnic area. That fork skirts some beautiful limestone cliffs above another arroyo. It eventually will hook up with the Avispa/Lower Sunset Trail and return to the park up the steep hill just past Schaeffer Shuffle.

Mark Johns walks a portion of the new Lower Sunset that will hook-up with the trail to Schaeffer Shuffle

All agreed that the new trail layout will make for a beautiful hike. Although disappointed by Mr. Jobe's planned destruction of the land leased to him by the Texas General Land Office, everyone agreed that the new trail would be even better than the older trail. Tommy Young exclaimed: "My overall impression was WOW! It will be fantastic when completed."

WOW!

So where do things stand with Arroyo 41A Go here and here to read about Jobe's plan to grant an easement to the Public Service Board and create a buffer between the arroyo and his future quarry. At his expense, Stanley Jobe agreed to survey the area to the north of the Arroyo where an the buffer will go. The GLO must approve the easement and the survey before it can be submitted to the PSB.

I asked Mr. Jobe whether the survey had been completed and whether I could see a copy of the survey. He replied by email and a phone call and told me that the survey had been done. Once the GLO approves the plan, he will submit it to Representative Ann Lilly who will take it to the PSB. He declined to show me a copy of the survey until after the GLO approves it. I did not push the matter but will ask him again in a month, if I hear nothing back from him.

Win Some/Lose Some

The best news from the City Council this past Tuesday was their decision to find a solution for preserving the 26 acres near Scenic and the 623 acres near Hondo Pass. Apparently a short term lease will be worked out at this point while the City finds a buyer who will preserve these portions of the Franklin Mountains as open space. The ideal will be to see that it all becomes part of the Franklin Mountains State Park.

Dave Wilson of the Borderland Mountain Bike Association already see possibilities for developing good hike and bike trails in the area near Hondo Pass. In an email to Association members, Wilson wrote:

"This area is at the top of Hondo Pass and already has some gnarly jeep roads. Jen and I have been eyeballing some routes through the area but have been hesitant to put in the effort since it is private land. This area would allow access into another stash of future trails which would be very close to town."

City Council did fail to downzone PSB land to Rural-Farm designation from R-3. In effect, the decision was tabled for a joint decision by the PSB and City Council.

Council also unanimously agreed to send a letter to Representative Joe Moody for his meeting with the General Land Office. Moody contacted City lobbyist, Sylvia Firth. She recommended that a letter coming from City Council similar to the letter drafted by Open Space Board members would make a better impression with the GLO. We shall see how close their letter will be to the original drafted by Charlie Wakeem and others on the OSAB.

Breach of Contract?

On May 3, 2005 Jobe signed a mining lease with the General Land Office for the land next to the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. (The lease is signed by Irene Epperson, a Member of Jobeco L.L.C., the general partner of Jobe Materials, L.P. Jerry Patterson signs as the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

Provision 24 of the lease states:

24. SURFACE USE LIMITATIONS: LESSEE shall not drill or mine, erect buildings or conduct any mining operations within three hundred (300) feet of the improvements without reasonably compensating the owner of said improvements.

The hike/bike trails on both the GLO and Franklin Mountains State Park properties are improvements. Sources tell me that such improvements are valued at $5.00 per linear foot. Jobe deliberately bulldozed those trails on the GLO property and within 300 feet of the State Park. In doing so, he may have encroached on the state park itself.

Pay attention: This could be a breach of contract.

By the way, Jerry Patterson has been a favorite candidate of Stanley Jobe. On July 19, 2005 (2 months after the lease was signed) Patterson received two contributions from Jobe, the individual: $35,000 and $1,340. In 2006, Patterson got another hefty amount of $20,000. Jobe PAC money also went to Patterson. On December 9, 2008, Jobe gave Jerry another $10,000.

GLO's Respect for City Zoning Ordinances Not Pressed in the Case of Jobe Lease

According to a State of Texas document, the "GLO [General Land Office] almost never exercises its immunity from local zoning ordinances . . . " If that is the case, then why can't the City of El Paso assert its zoning requirements over the GLO land which includes the planned Mountain to River corridor now leased to Jobe Materials? In fact, the land in question is governed by some of the strictest ordinances in the City of El Paso. Again, if so, shouldn't the GLO not exercise immunity in this case as well.

Decisions about such land "are made publicly and with ample opportunity for public input." That hasn't been done in the case of the Jobe leased land that would destroy Arroyo 41A. In fact, some of the public input should come from nearby schools: El Paso Community College and Canutillo High School. Even the Jenna Welch and Laura Bush Community Library is nearby.

Environmental activists are asking how it can be good for school children (the very people the GLO oversight is supposed to benefit) to be so close to the pollution of a quarry. Even the vibration from the blasting will be near a major gas pipeline!

I suspect that some City of El Paso officials well understood that the GLO would respect City zoning laws. Nevertheless, they didn't say a word when Jobe signed the lease or when the City adopted the Open Space Master Plan and, even earlier, the Mountain and Hillside Development Districts. Hmmmm . . .

How Could the GLO Lease Land to Jobe?

Jobe Materials tags beautiful arroyo wall. Click to enlarge.

One big question emerges with the current destruction by Jobe Materials of land owned by the people of Texas next to a State Park: How could the GLO (General Land Office) lease the land to Jobe in the first place?

As far as we now know, there was no cultural or conservation evaluation made. Also an archaeological assessment should have been conducted by the GLO prior to releasing the site for use by Jobe. The assessment would have been done by an archaeologist on the "approved" list of the Archaeology Division of the Texas Historical Commission. Was it?

A long-standing leader in regional real estate commented:

With a planned Mountains to River Corridor running from the Franklin Mountains State Park to the Rio Grande River, why is it that the GLO allowed 480 acres in the middle of the proposed Corridor to be leased to Jobe for a new gravel and rock quarry in Northwest El Paso? Jobe has already posted no trespassing signs and begun grading dirt roads into the area and across the arroyos. Was there a public posting that I missed or was the land deal merely determined between the parties without the public's knowledge? It would seem to me that, where there are environmental concerns, the Public should have full knowledge of the GLO's plans before they're initiated.

Apparently, there was no attempt to make public this transaction between the GLO and Jobe . I would expect Jobe to remain silent as to their intentions. Jobe appears to have little, if any, concern for the environmental impact a planned quarry will have on this pristine area. It is, after all, a privately held company that is looking for the greatest financial return on their investment. Jobe is destroying the only chance for a Mountains to River Corridor that would link the Franklin Mountains Park to the
Valley.

I am not against development. I am not against any company working to earn an honest dollar. I am against State Governnment Agencies working with private industry without regard for the People, the Environment, Open Space and for the Enjoyment of the Public for future generations. I want the GLO and companies like Jobe to look ahead to the consequences of their actions and work together to bring about responsible development.

I am trying to understand why the GLO allowed a 480 acre quarry to be situated in
such an environmentally delicate area so close to such a beautiful park. I am trying to understand how this could happen without any input from the general public. Isn't the General Land Office an agency of the Texas State Government, and as such, an agency of the People of Texas? Shouldn't the GLO have posted a Public Notice and asked for feedback from the People before allowing this travesty to occur?

By allowing Jobe to lease the land without public notice and feedback, the GLO must be held responsible for the destruction of an area that is a natural extension of the Franklin Mountains State Park and what could have been a beautiful trails system from the Mountains to the River.

As I write this, Jobe is bulldozing roads through the land and through the arroyos. Already, the destruction can be seen from the roads.

It is not too late to protest. It is not too late to bring to the attention of
the People just what is happening to their chances of a better life for themselves and their children, and their children's children.

Call you State Representatives. Call the Newspapers and the Television News. Make you views known. Do not let this irresponsible transaction by the State of Texas destroy your chances for a better life for you and for generations to come.

We can still stop the destruction. It's not too late.

I might add that I too have nothing against business. People need homes. Roads need to be built. Services need to be provided. Jobe Materials meets a demand. It should not meet that demand by destroying acreage that should stay in its natural state such as the land next to the State Park that should be developed into a regional park that preserves the Mountain to River Corridor.

Click image to enlarge

What also should be is this: It is time for all of us to think long and hard about how we use natural materials and how much we use as individuals, home and business owners and as a City. Our mountains and deserts are limited. They are not sustainable. Once mined, that portion is gone forever. Just drive down any City of El Paso thoroughfare or see any "zero-scaped" commercial or residential property and note the overuse of large rocks and gravel in the landscaping. It doesn't have to be that way. But as long as it is, and as long as we want to build more than we need for ourselves and for the services we require, we will be gluttons of our environment.

I have two friends who are now selling their house. It is 2639 square feet. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The kitchen is huge. The living room has a cathedral ceiling. There's a pool. It is just for the two of them.

We want big box houses, rocked landscapes, roads going every which way. When a study shows that walkability will increase the value of our properties, then El Paso builders say such things are not feasible for El Paso because we don't have a thriving downtown or reliable mass transit. Huh? Neither has anything to do with building walkable communities. The fact is this: builders and developers in El Paso want all the land that they can get their hands on. The City has for too long accommodated them and taxpayers have paid for infrastructure including roads. Roads need materials from Jobe.

I too want responsible development: responsible and sustainable development.

We can still stop the destruction. It is not too late.

It is also not to late for each of us to ask how we contribute to that destruction.