The Senator Frank L. Madla, Jr. Natural Area
That’s what it will be known as – The Senator Frank L. Madla, Jr. Natural Area.
Grey Forest held a public hearing on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, to share the details of this project.
About a month ago, the Grey Forest City Council was informed that the grant from the state in the amount of $1,125,000 intended for the creation of a memorial park to honor the late Senator Frank Madla (which had been turned down by the Helotes City Council in 2008) was now available to them if they were willing to accept the challenge and come up with the matching funds.
The search then began for an appropriate location. After much hard work in a very short period of time, they have selected a 42.1-acre tract of land that is in the Edwards Aquifer Contributing Zone and the Trinity Aquifer Recharge Zone. Going toward Grey Forest on Scenic Loop Road, coming from Hwy. 16, the land is in Grey Forest’s ETJ on the right of Scenic Loop at Menchaca Road, between Grey Forest and the 33-acre tract of land that Helotes had selected for the Madla Memorial Park (before there was an administration change and the contract on the land was allowed to expire).
Much work has since been done by many dedicated volunteers, including site work and project management by Jennifer Nottingham, a Grey Forest Council member, and a hydrological and geological environmental assessment by Ron Green, a hydrogeologist (and a Helotes resident). Laurie Hawkins performed a natural, cultural and endangered species environmental assessment, and Paul Barwick provided services such as landscape planning, a site visit, materials development, and research. The Green Spaces Alliance provided land acquisition negotiations bringing the selling price of the land down to $840,000 from the original asking price of $968,000. All of these services have been provided to Grey Forest free of charge and will count as in-kind contributions.
As of Tuesday night, nothing had been finalized, but it is generally felt that this is going to happen. Grey Forest will sell the conservation easement on the land to the City of San Antonio, which will virtually pay for the land and will permanently dedicate the property for only conservation and recreation in perpetuity.
The natural area will be owned by Grey Forest, and they will make the planned improvements and maintain the area. The budget presented at the public hearing included features such as a pavilion, a volunteer/research station, trails (construction, signage, and benches), road improvements, parking lot construction, an interpretive kiosk, rainwater catchment systems, a composting toilet, etc.
Frank L. Madla III, the son of the late Senator Madla, was at the public hearing. He is very much in favor of the project, and he and his wife have created an endowment fund in his father’s name to fund the future maintenance of the natural area. They have donated $5,000 to the endowment to get it started.
He also stated that all of the Madla family now living on the Madla Ranch (the entrance to which is on Madla Ranch Road at Scenic Loop Road and Menchaca) are all behind this and are eager to get to work helping Grey Forest with the improvements planned for the land.
Diedre Hisler, who is with Texas Parks and Wildlife and currently in charge of Government Canyon, is also heavily involved in this project. She announced that there will be more public meetings in the future and possibly some fundraising events.
At some point in the past a residential subdivision had been planned for this land, which would have contained 27 homes. Everyone at the public hearing agreed that this natural area is a much better use of the land.
Interested Observer has it exactly, logically right. Since Schoolcraft assumed office, nothing has been more obvious than his intention to turn back the clock to the pre-Jon Allan era and undo everything–good, bad, or indifferent–that the Allan administration did. Something similar is being played out on the national stage: for purely political reasons, the Party of No is opposing our new president at every turn.
They should be more than embarrassed. They should be ashamed!!! It was no accident Helotes lost that grant or the park land. Schoolcraft refused to put the park land on Council’s agenda, and he also blocked anyone else on Council from putting it on. If it’s not on the agenda, it cannot be discussed and acted on. If it cannot be discussed and acted on, the contract on the land cannot be renewed. If the contract cannot be renewed, it expires, and Helotes loses the contract. Not rocket science. It appears to me that Schoolcraft’s main agenda from the start was to destroy everything Jon Allan ever did or ever tried to do for Helotes, no matter what it was. As I said, they should be ashamed!!!
Good job, Grey Forest!!!!! You have our support.
The Helotes City Council and Mayor Schoolcraft should be embarrassed that they fought this for so long. They had been told that there were ways of getting the money [for the matching grant-Ed.], but they had no intention of letting a park go forward.