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Thursday, November 1, 2007

Campbell Is Trails' Linchpin

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
    Campbell Ranch is almost certain to play a prominent role in Edgewood's future.
    It also may be the key to some town officials' vision for a trail system that would ultimately link Edgewood to Santa Fe.
    Creating a network of trails has been a longtime passion for Edgewood Parks and Recreation Director Roger Holden. Despite a few setbacks, Holden said, he will continue working on a trail connection to Santa Fe.
    To get there, though, public trails running through Campbell Ranch must be secured, Holden said.
    "We cannot lose this opportunity to interconnect with Campbell," he said Monday.
    The 8,000 acres of the Campbell Ranch Master Plan are designed with four residential villages and a private trail system as well as extensive open space.
    Access to Campbell Ranch is off N.M. 14 in Sandia Park. Although it's a long way from what has traditionally been known as Edgewood, the town annexed the master plan area in 2001.
    A number of hurdles still must be overcome before ground can be broken on even the early phases of the huge development.
    As Campbell Corp. prepares for the future, Holden said he sees a time limit for a public trail system through Campbell Ranch to be established.
    To that end, Holden initiated a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, in September between Edgewood, Santa Fe County, Sandoval County, Bernalillo County and Campbell Corp.
    If approved by all of the parties, the memorandum would be something of a blueprint for negotiations involving a trail system passing through the town and all three counties as well as Campbell Ranch.
    The proposal has appeared before the Edgewood Town Council several times, but has been shot down each time. One of the objections to the MOU is a paragraph dealing with Campbell Corp. and confidentiality.
    The paragraph may violate New Mexico's Open Meetings Act, which requires that public business be done in public view.
    Holden said he is now looking at ensuring public trail access through Campbell Ranch from another angle: the town's subdivision ordinance.
    He said he hopes to see the ordinance require a trail system for any development that exceeds a certain size.
    Exactly what that ordinance would look like in the end is unclear at this point, but Holden did say Campbell Ranch would have to conform with the ordinance.
    A public meeting will be held at the Edgewood Community Center on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. to "focus in on what those trails would look like," Holden said.
    Most of the members of the Edgewood Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will probably attend that meeting, Holden said.
    As for the MOU, Holden said he will go to the town's attorney, Marcus Rael, to ask for recommendations.
    Holden, who was appointed as parks and recreation director on Sept. 5, admitted that he has been somewhat preoccupied.
    On Saturday, Edgewood hosted a three-mile walk to benefit breast cancer awareness and research as well as Adopt-a-Pet Month.
    "My total focus has been this walk," he said.
    About 50 people and 42 dogs participated in the walk. Participants were allowed to walk their own dogs or walk a dog that was available for adoption provided by local rescue groups.
    Vote Discouraging for Field Supporters
    Sports can bring out the best and the worst in people, even before play begins.
    In Edgewood, soccer fields, basketball courts and baseball diamonds that haven't been built yet are already causing some heartache.
    Bill Batie, one of several parents trying to get recreational fields built in Edgewood, said the effort suffered a setback to morale at a recent meeting of the Edgewood Town Council.
    Batie's group, made up of local soccer and youth athletics coaches, is proposing a preliminary plan for an athletic facility on the lower part of Section 16, which is west of N.M. 344 north of Dinkle Road.
    They have met one morning each week for about two years to discuss the issue. They also enlisted the help of an architect, who created a draft plan for the facility for free.
    At the Oct. 3 Town Council meeting, Edgewood Mayor Howard Calkins and Councilors Rita-Loy Simmons and Chuck Ring voted for a resolution that would have supported the group. Councilors Glenn Felton and Brad Hill voted against.
    Even though the resolution passed, Batie said the process did some damage.
    "It's kind of hard to hold the group together after some of the councilors voted against us," he said.
    The resolution stated the town's support for using 82 acres of state land— 40 acres of which is leased to the town— on Section 16 for multi-use recreational fields such as soccer, football and baseball.
    One problem brought up by the council is that about half of the land is not leased to the town yet.
    The group's stated plan is to ask the State Land Office for the additional land, Edgewood Parks and Recreation Director Roger Holden said at the meeting. That intention was not included in the resolution, however.
    The idea that the council was agreeing to more than they may have liked was brought up by Felton.
    After discussion, Hill noted that he'd feel more comfortable if the resolution were reworded and suggested the council table the issue and have it brought back.
    Felton had what Batie felt were more biting criticisms.
    "We were up against one (councilor) that was real negative towards us," Batie said in a phone interview Monday.
    At the council meeting, Felton criticized the quality of the plan proposed.
    "I'm worried that this is 'just anything,' '' Felton said.
    The comment was a reference to a statement Calkins once made, that he wanted to get "something, anything" started on Section 16.
    Felton also said he was wary of working with a group whose nonprofit status was not yet approved.
    The coaches' group, known as the New Mexico Coalition for Community Recreation, expects to have its nonprofit status soon, Batie said.
    "We're waiting to sign all the papers," he said.
    He added that he didn't want to shell out the roughly $600 in legal and filing fees to become a nonprofit until he knew the group had the town's support.
    "We would have abandoned it," Batie said.
    After spending so long working on the fields, Batie acknowledged he is emotionally involved in the process.
    "It's got some emotional ups and downs," he said. "You put a lot into it and you don't want to get shot down. ... When that kind of politics start getting involved, that's when it gets kind of difficult."
    Batie said the group has incorporated, which means it can accept donations. And once the nonprofit status comes through, the group will begin lobbying for money.
    So it seems the group's foray into politics may have just begun.
    Now that a resolution of support from Edgewood has been approved, the group plans a lobbying effort at the upcoming legislative session, according to Dave Bliss, another member of the group.
    But the resistance from some members of the town council may have caused another problem in procuring money.
    Although he has a number of leads on potential private donations, as well as money from state legislators' funds, Batie said he is a bit leery about taking it.
    "Put yourself in my shoes. You've got the ability to get all this private money donated for a park and you look at something that may drag and drag and drag," Batie said, referring to the political turmoil the group may have to face. "The resolution is only the first step. We've got a lot more ahead of us."