by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
UNM President David Schmidly announced Wednesday the members of a board that will help determine the future of the North Golf Course area.
Hundreds of people have turned out at rallies for the preservation of the course since February when UNM issued requests for information for commercial development of University-owned property, including the North Golf Course.
The community advisory board is made up of nine members, including ASUNM Vice President Matt Barnes, CNM President Emeritus Ted Martinez and Mardon Gardella, president of the Federation of University Neighborhoods.
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The board will make recommendations for the course to Schmidly, who will present them to the Board of Regents.
"I'm certainly going to listen to (the community board), and I think the Board (of Regents) will listen to me," Schmidly said. "But the final decision on anything related to property is the responsibility of the Board of Regents."
The regents will follow Schmidly's recommendations for the course, said Jamie Koch, president of the Board of Regents.
"We're going to follow the lead of the president," he said. "That's what we've done all along in this issue."
The advisory board is charged with determining parameters for the space, including a nine-hole golf course, and constructing a legal framework between UNM and New Mexicans for preservation of the course's
footprint.
Schmidly said the board will decide on a footprint for the golf course on the 80-acre space.
"The first order of business is try to take care of the golf course and try to figure out where it's going to be," he said.
After space for the golf course is determined, the board will decide on a jogging, walking and biking path around the area, Schmidly said.
"Then, we'll get down to determining the available footprint for future buildings," he said. "If the golf course is 50 acres, then you'll have somewhere around 25 or 30 acres."
Schmidly said there is no schedule for the board to make recommendations.
"I don't think people work well with a deadline gun over their heads," he said. "I'm not concerned about timelines. I'm concerned about getting to a win-win situation here."
Chairwoman of the board is Sara Koplik, president of the North Campus Neighborhood Association.
"This is a way of protecting green space, the cherished green space of the North UNM Golf Course," Koplik said. "The goal of the board is to find a compromise that will serve the interest of the University and the surrounding community."
Koplik said the board will find ways to make the course a teaching device for wildlife studies and sustainability.
"It's really important to talk about the golf course as a teaching environment for students," she said. "There are so many programs at UNM who can benefit from studying this environment."
Koplik said she would begin organizing public meetings this week to discuss the course's future.
"We need the voices of everyone," she said. "We need a wide participation. That's a crucial part of the process."
Barnes said he wants input from students so he can best represent them on the board.
"I have the ability to go quickly to the Senate, and they'll be responsive when I go to them,"
he said.
The board will be able to find a reasonable solution for what to do with the course, Barnes said.
"As long as we're all communicating, I think we can find what everyone needs out of the project," he said.
Barnes said concerned students can set up an appointment with him at the ASUNM office or e-mail him at Asunmvp@unm.edu.
