Animal Corridor Close to Being Finished

Photo by Rick Bonart 6/16

We've been following the progress of the animal corridor/underpass at the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. The photo above is taken looking south. The project should be done by September just in time for Celebration of Our Mountains.

The corridor is envisioned by some as a part of a new Mountain to River trail. It includes the hike bike trail along the Transmountain frontage where currently some trees have died and are being replaced by cacti - something not originally planned. More on that later.

Stakeholders Meeting Take Two

Worth preserving: Arroyo 41A as seen from Tom Mays Unit of the State Park

A second mountain to river stakeholders meeting was held yesterday in a conference room of the IBWC. Sponsored again by the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, this meeting topped the first. Those who had spoken at the first meeting added to their presentations. New speakers offered new insights. Mike Gaglio, President of the Frontera Land Alliance, provided new food for thought: mitigation banks and in lieu fee mitigation. He was supported with additional information from Rick Gatewood of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The City Parks and Recreation Department finally got into the act with Rick Garcia who could not attend the last meeting. Also from the City was Engineer Kareem Dallo. A pleasant surprise was the presence of Barry Russell who had served as acting Director of P & R before taking a job in Spokane. Barry worked with Chuck Kooshian, the former City Planner, as the mountain to river plan was developed.

Jobe was represented by Trish Tanner. Pat Woods of Desert View Homes the builder/developer for Desert Springs was present. In fact, it was the attendance by Pat Woods (and consequently Randy O'Leary, owner and founder of Desert View Homes) that made my day. (Pat was unfortunately out of town for the first meeting.) He shared a new land study for their development which includes portions of the Ann Morgan Lilly Trail (Arroyo 41A) which drew praise from Open Space Advisory Board Chairman, Charlie Wakeem. Woods and O'Leary are trying to accommodate the mountain to river trail and still offer affordable, attractive homes. (Their product is for a first time homeowner or someone moving up.) They are trying to make an honest living and do what they can within the confines of financing, expenditures, environmental considerations and so forth. Bottom line: they are striving to be good neighbors and good corporate citizens. Desert View Homes received the Gold National Housing Endowment Builder Achievement Award for Outstanding Community Service. Mr. O'Leary was an El Paso Inc. Candidate for 2009 El Pasoan of the Year.

Bottom line: these meetings are building relationships among people who share values and concerns and want to get along and make things work together. Kudos to Judy Ackerman for making these meetings happen.

Conspicuously absent: Doug Schwartz of Enchanted Hills and any of the investors of the Santa Fe Properties who own the corner at I-10 and Transmountain.

Mountain to River Trail Stakeholders Finally Gather

Persons interested in the fate of the Mountain to River Trail (now defined as Arroyo 41A - the Ann Morgan Lilly Trail) finally came together for a stakeholders meeting sponsored by the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. The meeting took place without publicity on Monday morning, July 12 at Canutillo High School.

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.

Jobe's Proposal for Arroyo 41 A

I will follow up with more later. For now, here is this communication by email from Charlie Wakeem, Chairman of the Open Space Advisory Board regarding a meeting this afternoon with Mr. Stanley Jobe. Mr. Jobe made his proposal regarding Arroyo 41A which must be agreed to by the General Land Office of the State of Texas and the Public Service Board. It was sent to the Board members with a copy to Parks and Recreation persons: Shamori Whitt, Nanette Smejkal and Rick Garcia; Gonzallo Cedillos of the El Paso Water Utilities who sits ex-officio on the OSAB; City Council Representatives Representatives Ann Lilly, Susie Byrd and Beto O'Rourke; Matt McElroy of the City of El Paso; Ed Archuleta, CEO of PSB; and Stanley Jobe:

Dear OSAB members,

Reps. Ann Morgan-Lilly, Susie Byrd, and Beto O'Rourke met with Stanley Jobe, Ed Archuleta, Mathew McElroy, OSAB co-chair Richard Thomas and me Wednesday afternoon to discuss Mr. Jobe's offer to vacate a portion of FEMA Arroyo 41A on his leased premises with the GLO. He is willing to vacate the 41A flowpath on that property up to the rim directly above it as recommended by the Open Space Advisory Board, and as I understood it, would include a buffer. He stated that the quarry operations will not affect the Mountain to River corridor in any way.

First, the GLO must agree to dedicate the land as an easement to the PSB and the PSB must be willing to accept it. Mr. Jobe will then survey the property. When the stakes are laid out, there will be an on site inspection by the PSB and others with interest in the property to deem it worthy of accepting.

I am very optimistic that an agreement will be reached for the good of the community and all concerned, and that Mr. Jobe should be commended for doing this. I also thank Rep. Ann Morgan-Lilly for working with Mr. Jobe during the past few weeks to help facilitate it.

Charlie Wakeem

Chairman

Open Space Advisory Board

A Christmas Miracle: Jobe To Turn Over 41A

Click to enlarge

I do not know all of the details yet. However, it appears that Stanley Jobe has agreed to turn over FEMA Flowpath 41A (Mountain to River Arroyo on the GLO land).

Here's the news from Charlie Wakeem:

Dear Friends,

We may have a wonderful Christmas present this year. First, I got a call from Rick Bonart, then Rep. Ann Morgan-Lilly this afternoon about great news for our city, the Open Space Plan, the Mountain to River Trail, and the Franklin Mountains. Stanley Jobe has agreed to turn over FEMA Flowpath 41A (Mountain to River Arroyo on the GLO leased premises) for preservation. However, Mr. Jobe must first get permission from the GLO, but Rep. Lilly said that should be no problem. She told me she's been in talks with Mr. Jobe for about a month, but that it's now OK for everyone to know about this positive turn of events.

Mr. Jobe will meet with key people and groups after the holidays to discuss the details of his offer. Rep. Lilly also told me he will repair and improve bike trails and wants to turn the property over to the PSB and not to the Parks Department, which I agree is the right thing to do.

We don't know exactly how much of the property will be dedicated at this time, and if it will include more than just the FEMA 41A stream bed. That will be determined in talks at a later date.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy & Healthy New Year.

Charlie Wakeem

Of course, if Jobe does not mean rim to rim, this is an empty gesture. For now, the news sounds promising - a true Christmas miracle.

Is Sustainability a Goal or Just Words?

The City Council of El Paso recently approved a sustainability plan. The mission plan is:

"By 2014, El Paso will be a model of sustainability and smart growth by building on its roots as an international hub, promoting sustainable enterprises and wisely using natural resources."

2014 may be too far away. Judging by the overuse of rock and gravel in private and public landscapes all over the City, the possible overbuilding of public facilities and Jobe's plan to quarry next to the largest intra-urban State Park in the country, El Paso is far from wisely using natural resources.

One wonders whether master plans such as the Sustainability document are not just words. After all, Arroyo 41A was designated to be preserved as the Mountain to River corridor. Once the General Land Office leased property containing a portion of that arroyo to Jobe Materials, public officials acted much like ostriches with their heads in the ground. Now that Stanley Jobe has made it abundantly clear that he intends to quarry all 480 acres, City officials say that there is nothing that they can do - City zoning laws apparently do not apply to State of Texas land managed by the GLO even if that land is within the city's limits.

Recently, Public Service Board/EPWU officials proposed an Alternative route for the Mountain to River Trail. One of the top officials of the EPWU told me that they had decided on the route once they realized that Jobe intended to mine limestone in Arroyo 41A. The implication was that the realization was fairly recent. However, they must have known that he would do so when they gave him access to the land. By law you can't landlock someone else and so El Paso Water Utilities had to grant Jobe an easement through their property to the GLO land and did so on May 20, 2005.

It would appear that EPWU/PSB officials have known for a number of years now that a portion of the proposed Mountain to River corridor could very well be mined. If they knew, then shouldn't the City Council also have known? After all, Mayor Cook is a board member of the PSB. If City Council knew so early on, what was the point of accepting in its entirety the January 2007 Open Space plan ("Towards a Bright Future: A Green Infrastructure Plan for El Paso, Texas") that called for preserving all of Arroyo 41A?

Click on image to enlarge

The alternative route is the light blue line on the map above. Note that only a small - yet critical - portion of 41A goes through the very bottom of the GLO land leased to Jobe. One wonders why pressure cannot be applied from elected and other officials and the public at large to make Jobe forsake that small portion of land. If sustainability and the wise use of resources is the goal, why not start right here?

Of course, there is yet another threat to Arroyo 41A a bit west of the GLO/Jobe Quarry: the Desert Springs development currently plans reducing the 1200 foot arroyo to just 120 feet, concreting the sides and building some roads over it in several places. To say that the developer's plans may be grandfathered so that he doesn't have to comply to codes requiring keeping the arroyo to at least 300 feet, is still missing the larger point that El Paso envisions one thing and does another.

An insider recently informed me:

"Individual City staff may or may not be in favor of "economic development" as exemplified by Jobe and the homebuilders' style of growth. The staff is mainly concerned with staying out of trouble, and the developers can make big trouble if any legal boundaries are crossed.

"The zoning and subdivision codes are the legal tools that have to be followed. The developers worked very hard to ensure that those codes were "vetted" by their own lawyers, lobbyists and friends before they were adopted by the City. If the land is zoned for whatever the developer wants, the law allows them to do it. If it's not zoned for what they want the law allows them to request a zone change and the Council can grant it.

"The Open Space plan and the General Land Use Plan are legally just "guides" to decision making by the Council, so they can approve zoning that is not in conformity with the Plans. (There is actually some legal precedent for holding Councils more accountable to such plans, but it is rare in Texas. There may be some precedent on the GLO immunity issue as well, but of course not from Texas.)

"Botttom line- the developers have the law on their side in most cases and there is too much apathy to try to change the laws again. (Look at the all the fighting over the subdivision code rewrite last year that resulted in nothing more than some very minor changes.)"

If El Paso wants to make sustainability and the wise use of resources its goal, it must begin to stand up and, at the very least, use the bully pulpit, or even more, grow a backbone and start standing up legally to those who would destroy riparian corridors and thus cheapen all of our lives and fortunes.

Jobe Destroys the Mountain to River Corridor

The Lower Sunset Trail destroyed

Stanley Pruet Jobe has destroyed the Lower Sunset Trail and with it the cherished mountain to river corridor. With bulldozed trails he has marked his territory much like many male mammal beasts mark theirs with their odorous urine. His No Trespassing signs are aligned like a barbed wire fence over and around the hills above Arroyo 42 and dip down into what was once scenic walkways of sedimentary rock and animal habitat.

Just this past Monday evening Jobe met with the Borderland Mountain Bike Association who first discovered his clandestine slashings of huge swaths of desert. He told them pointedly that he intends to quarry 480 acres of the land that the State of Texas General Land Office leased to him. He is in the right place where transporting mountainsides of dirt and gravel to developers, road builders and landscapers will be cheap and easy and very profitable.

He did promise to build a new trail for the mountain bikers. He has after all proven himself adept at the art of public relations, the price of doing business. Convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, Stanley Pruet Jobe served time, was paroled and then pardoned by President Clinton on his last day in office - the same day that the former President pardoned the notorious Marc Rich. Jobe has learned how to curry favor with charities, contribute to politicians and political organizations (including Mayor John Cook) and advertise well with local news publishers.

The Lower Sunset Trail is one of the best loved, often frequented trails with trailheads in the Franklin Mountain States Parks. It has utilized bike trails through beautiful arroyos that begin in the park and flow toward the Rio Grande.

Jobe's extensive bulldozing from the air

A recent aerial surveillance of the destruction by Jobe revealed that Jobe cut into FEMA #42 at Trail Marker #6, the Mountain to River trailhead. At the time of my first post about Jobe's full frontal assault on the arroyos, an effort was being made to convince him to leave alone a portion of Arroyo 41A that straddles the southern General Land Office property line with the Public Service Board. Jobe wouldn't deal.

Of course, the General Land Office is probably just as complicit as Jobe. They leased their land with Planned Mountain Development Zoning on it - the toughest zoning in the City of El Paso. This parcel of land is one of the most pristine in the City and it will now be subjected to the worst possible land use. Arroyos and mountainsides will disappear as Jobe's No Tresspassing markers and bulldozed roads foreshadow. The GLO is exempt from local zoning ordinances and they knew that when they leased the land to Jobe. The right thing would have been to sell the land to State Parks or even a developer. The land then would have come under tight development restrictions which would have enabled the City to regulate the mountain to river corridor on that land.

Jobe had told public officials that he would not do anything with the land next to the State Park for five years. It is not certain why he changed his mind. However, his actions have destroyed the mountain to river corridor.

He currently operates a quarry to the northwest of the area.

GLO leased land owned by the People of the State of Texas

Throughout the summer, my hiking group (the Sunrise Hikers) often enjoyed treks on the Lower Sunset Trail. The beauty of the rock, the hills, the plants and animals added to our adventures. Soon, very soon, unless something is done - Stanley Pruet Jobe will decimate this land as he has done and is still doing around the City.