Tuesday 8:00 a.m. Update -- Paddy had a gran mal seizure at 7:30 this morning. We've got an appointment at 4:30 to see Dr. Bouchet. Needless-to-say, the board meeting will have to wait.
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Today at 4:00 I'll take part in a BioPark Board meeting via Zoom. I've been a member of the Mayor's board that advises on the BioPark for just over two years now. It's been an interesting ride.
At first the Director, Baird Flemming, ran the meetings as an opportunity to give us straight-forward updates on construction plans and on-going developments, mostly at the Zoo. As a docent, I gave a Botanic Garden tour to some board members. Later, I along with others got a backstage tour of the Zoo: capybaras, hippos, mountain lions.
While it was good stuff, it didn't seem like we were providing any guidance to the BioPark or the Mayor's office. Our first annual report was very thin on actionable items. Then in this year of the pandemic our meetings were drastically cut back and all held virtually. Finally, this past summer we learned that Baird was leaving to take a position with the IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
With that, the search was on for a new director. After some time, the Assistant Director, Stephanie Stowell, was selected to replace Dr. Flemming. Since then, we've had three meetings on Zoom that have been informative.
Some of Baird's projects have been revised or shelved due to financial realities. Work at the Zoo on the new Asia and Australia areas continues apace. Work is just getting underway at the Heritage Farm for a significant upgrade there.
We've had several guests attend our meetings, including Sandy and Judith from the Nature's Notebook group. There's concern about the changes at the Farm affecting the Cottonwood Gallery and the plants we monitor.
We've also had a junior faculty member from the UNM Department of Landscape Architecture join the board as an official member. He has been obviously giving a lot of thought to the redesign/upgrade of the Heritage Farm. We'll see where this leads when I'm able to summarize today's meeting later. I'm posting his long lists of questions below so I can refer to them later.
- Who is currently responsible for the maintenance of the ditch/pipe carrying the Duranes Ditch flow through the BioPark? Is there a maintenance plan for the existing pipe, and if so, has it been followed since the Botanic Garden’s construction?
Has the City/BioPark arranged for any alternatives analysis (construction cost, maintenance agreements, impact to the BioPark overall, etc.) to ensure that the current proposed re-route of the MRGCD ditch is the best option? If so, is that report available and if not, why not?
The master plan calls for the train re-location to serve as a people mover through the Botanic Gardens, which is badly needed in that space. Instead a loop is proposed, which isn’t needed. There appears to be sufficient space and accessibility for the people mover to be included as shown in the Master Plan. Why was the change made?
What is the minimum turn radius for the engine/railcars that will be operating on the track system in the Botanic Garden?
Where can meeting minutes of the Master Plan Project Management Team be accessed or requested?
What method did the City use when commissioning the Heritage Farm expansion plan awarded to AFH Design in 2019 (RFP, RFQ or other)?
Why does the design for the Heritage Farm expansion not conform to the Master Plan? The proposed Heritage design expands the Heritage Farm area well beyond what the Plan allows (7 acre expansion, Plan only provides for ~0.5 acres), encroaching on areas designated for new native New Mexico exhibits. The proposed programs and facilities for the Heritage Farm can be rearranged to fit into the space provided for in the Master Plan. I’ve included an example in the attachment with this e-mail that shows some of the issues with the current design and how a space re-arrangement would also provide for a better visitor experience and improved maintenance staff efficiency.
And this list from his second e-mail of the past week:
- Better understand current staffing/City funding for the BioPark, identify needs, and promote Mayoral/City Council awareness of the more important needs.
- Ensure BioPark development is occurring in accordance with Master Plan and Master Plan Tax Ordinance.
- Identify important key qualities of each of the four components of the BioPark and discuss how City can preserve those while still developing the BioPark as a whole.
- Work with the BioPark Society to increase the percentage of
membership funds that go directly to meeting BioPark financial needs.
- Discuss what kinds of information could be more regularly provided to the public and how it could be disseminated.
- Consider types of public input opportunities and how they could be facilitated.
- Identify key groups in the city whose input would be valuable, in particular the execution of the Master Plan (the Master Plan has some suggestions in this area)
- Promote and support public participation opportunities to comment on use of the park.
- Invite education staff to provide insight into how the board can help support their efforts.
- Help develop and support new ideas for promotional events that can be used to draw guests to the park.
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