A special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mesa del Sol Tax Increment Development District will be held in the Vincent E. Griego Chambers, on the bottom level of the City-County Government Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 10 2007 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be open to the public. An agenda for the meeting may be obtained 24 hours prior to the meeting at the City Council Office, City County Government Center, One Civic Plaza, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service in order to attend or participate in the meeting, please contact the City Council Office at least one day before the meeting date by calling 505.768. 3100. TTY users may call NM Relay at 1.800.659.8331. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes, can be provided in various accessible formats. Please contact the City Council Office if a summary or other type of accessible format is needed.

The Sawmill/Wells Park MRA Education Committee invite you to the 2nd Annual Carnuel Parade and Fiesta, Saturday the 29th of September from 11:00 am to 3:00pm.

The Carnuel Parade & Fiesta is a celebration of the area’s rich history and culture highlighting the significance of Carnuel Road (known today as Mountain Road) and the role it has played in the beginnings of Albuquerque.

The Parade will start at Wells Park Community Center and will travel West on Mountain Road ending with a Fiesta at Tiguex Park. Local artisans, performers, and vendors will take part in the festivities. Bring the kids; spend the afternoon with us, and have some good old wholesome fun!

For more information, please contact Angelica Solares at 764-0359, or Wade Patterson, at 242-6367 x119.

Albuquerque’s City Council continues to build on its first place national ranking for protecting open space. On Monday the City Council approved the purchase of a 420 acre parcel of land adjacent to the City’s existing Gutierrez Canyon Open Space in the East Mountains. City Councilors Isaac Benton and Martin Heinrich spearheaded the legislation, committing $500,000 to the project in partnership with $1.25 million from the New Mexico State Legislature and $250,000 from the State Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The land will be entirely deeded to the City of Albuquerque by the Trust for Public Land.

The legislation’s approval will improve access to a valuable space off of New Mexico Highway 14 (the Turquoise Trail Scenic Byway) and provide space for a new trailhead in Gutierrez Canyon. The expansion will provide the public an opportunity to view a wide variety of wildlife including deer, bears and a multitude of bird species. Since its purchase in 1963, access to the 300 acre Gutierrez Canyon open space has been limited to an area through a nearby residential neighborhood.

The Turquoise Trail / Gutierrez Canyon open space is being made available to the City of Albuquerque for a fraction of the cost that would have to be spent outright for its purchase. “This is a fantastic deal for the city and for our neighbors in the East Mountains. We are very lucky to be able to protect such an important piece of open space in an area where development pressures continue to mount,” said Heinrich. “I can’t wait to hike there,” he added.

In July of this year, the Trust for Public Land ranked Albuquerque first place nationally for its percentage of land devoted to open space – one quarter of its total area, not including recent purchases. Both Heinrich and Benton believe that open space is an important component of our city’s quality of life and is often a significant reason that people choose to live in Albuquerque.

For more information, please contact City Councilor Martin Heinrich or City Councilor Isaac Benton at 768-3100 / TTY 768-2474.

After twenty one years of efforts to establish an archeological ordinance and city archaeologist, the Albuquerque City Council unanimously approved Councilor Heinrich’s “Preservation of Archaeological Sites” ordinance at their Monday night meeting.

Two years ago City Councilor Martin Heinrich initiated the legislation’s drafting and negotiated the legislation’s language with a variety of interest groups, including local archaeological organizations, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the Homebuilders Association of New Mexico and the Public Service Company of New Mexico. The result is a consensus document that will create a city archaeologist and establish a process by which development plans are reviewed for potential impacts to archaeological sites before the development is approved.

Dave Cushman, an archaeologist and planner for the SRI Foundation, a private non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation, said Monday night: “Albuquerque is a wonderful place to live and work; one of the reasons why the City is so special is because of our rich history and our varied culture... The ordinance will not stop development but strikes a balance between what we can learn about our past and how much it will cost to acquire this knowledge.”

Within the city’s limits, there are hundreds of archaeological sites spanning the last 10,000 years of human history. Earlier this year the issue caught local media attention because crews adding new athletic fields at Bosque Preparatory School on Albuquerque’s northwest side uncovered a centuries-old Pueblo Indian site dating back to A.D. 1300 to 1400. Also, in August construction crews excavating rock for a waterline to the new northwest high school damaged many artifacts demonstrating proof of a Folsom culture presence in the Albuquerque area. Heinrich’s ordinance will ensure that the city’s archaeologist will review and approve subdivision plats, site plans and master plans in areas where significant archeological resources are present in order to ensure the preservation of those resources.

“Albuquerque is growing and new construction is a fact of life. However I believe we must protect our heritage as we grow. My hope is that this ordinance will prevent both inadvertent and willful destruction of priceless archeological resources,” stated Councilor Heinrich.

For more information, please contact City Councilor Martin Heinrich at 768-3100 / TTY 768-2474.