Monday, February 3, 2014

Parks & Recreation Board Member Describes Lincoln Park's Nature Center, Trails as "Irreplaceable"

Growing bed at the Nature Center, Lincoln Park
"When children see the butterflies hovering around the flowers, get an understanding of how things grow and get the balance of nature, that's what makes the Nature Center inside Lincoln Park such a unique feature," spoke a member of Brownsville's Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee.  

The board member said he had observed buses of seniors come to Lincoln Park, do a bit of low impact zumba, then walk down the nature trail.  The member recalls groups of Boy and Girl Scouts using the garden center to understand planting, cultivating and the growing process.  

"You know, Jim, my parents were raised on a farm, but I wasn't.  I want my children to understand where grown food comes from and how nature works." 

The Nature Center and the Nature Trail are integral parts of the city's Lincoln Park, located on E.
Nature Center gardens at Lincoln Park
Ringgold Street.  We've been told the City of Brownsville is on the verge of transferring the multi-purpose park to the ultra-rich University of Texas system, who plan to demolish the park's recreational features and construct buildings on the property.

"Were the university to preserve the integrity of the park, the nature center and trail, allowing students to sit on the benches under the trees, accessing the wifi, I could understand it, but to destroy the park for buildings makes absolutely no sense," continued the board member.  "There is plenty of undeveloped property nearby to leave the park undisturbed.  UTB even owns tracts across the interstate where they plan to put soccer fields."  


The person who likely should be out front on this issue is District 1 City Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, whose constituents make up the majority of those using Lincoln Park, which sits just to the west of Southmost.  To allow Lincoln Park to be demolished and replaced by buildings is unconscionable and certainly not protecting the long-term interests of District 1.  Once gone, Lincoln Park is not coming back.  

The spin that will be put on this dumber-than-dumb transaction will be that some of the amenities of Lincoln Park will be added to Gonzalez Park, but that's simply not the reality. Gonzalez Park cannot accommodate what Lincoln Park now offers, does not have the room or the parking to replace two softball fields, an amphitheater,  a nature center, two walking trails and picnic sites with metal grills.  This is an unnecessary giveaway to UT, but a horrible ripoff for District 1, Southmost residents.  Who will stand up and protect their interests?
Portway Acres Park Dedication
This past December, Commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa cut the ribbon on a greatly enhanced Portway Acres Park.  Local citizens were there to celebrate a new canine section, a water geyser slip-n-slide feature and other amenities.  To refurbish Portway Acres Park, but then to lose Lincoln Park is one step forward, three steps back.  Commissioner Tetreau-Kalifa, who knows how much local citizens use their parks, should stand up and stop the takeaway of Lincoln Park.  

We did contact Park Director Chris Patterson for an interview.  He suggested calling his office Monday afternoon, which we did twice, leaving a message both times.  We told Chris via Facebook inboxing, that we had no desire to involve him in political entanglement, but were just seeking details about Lincoln Park.  Perhaps, Chris will return our call tomorrow.  


Lincoln Park's Nature Trail
Two commissioners recently showing courage, John Villarreal and Debbie Portillo, placed an item on the 1/21/14 City Commission agenda to learn how much had been spent from the AEP Texas $3,060,000 settlement and to insure careful use of any remaining funds.  Both commissioners can again demonstrate leadership by protecting against the loss of Lincoln Park.  The fact that both commissioners signed a resolution February 2013 to include the park in two tracts of land designated for transfer to the UT system, does not tie their hands.  

Many things have changed in the last year.  First of all, the new UT-RGV Brownsville campus will not include the downtown buildings purchased by the City Commission.  UT's regents had zero interest in any of the 11 third-tier buildings Tony and the City Commission purchased with taxpayer money.  Additionally, there is plenty of available land for the satellite campus without destroying a Brownsville city park. 



Lincoln Park's Nature Center
Should the City Commission foolishly decide in executive session February 4 to turn over a unique, irreplaceable city park for demolition, the $6,000,000 of recovered funds have to be carefully monitored lest they fall into the manipulative fingers of Mayor Martinez or Rose Gowen.  Since it is District 1 and Southmost losing their recreational heritage, the monies must be reserved for some kind of replacement park in District 1.  District 1's children can ill afford to lose butterflies, greenery, nature trails, a garden center and ball fields in exchange for blacktop and CO2 emissions.   They deserve better than that from the City Commission.
Children's Garden Education Center at Lincoln Park

Children's Garden at Lincoln Park

14 comments:

  1. Keep writing Mr. Mean. Martinez doesn't care about Brownsville. He just wants work deals that will benefit himself and his friends.

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  2. A crying shame that Bozo Martinez got elected. By the time his term expires, he will have already raped and pillaged Brownsville citizens to complete hell.

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    Replies
    1. Just like what b HUSSEIN (A TERRORIST NAME) obammie will do to this country raped and pillaged the citizens to complete hell.

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  3. Replies
    1. Impeach b HUSSEIN(A TERRORIST NAME) obammie too.

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  4. Will one of our commissioners please stand up? The community needs you.

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    Replies
    1. How about you democRATS that voted for this EXCREMENT STAND UP like the Tea Party.

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  5. should be an interesting city commission meeting tomorrow

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  6. What a complete Shame!!! Are the citizens in this area or people who enjoy this park aware of such injustice?!!

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  7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

    TITLE 8. ACQUISITION, SALE, OR LEASE OF PROPERTY

    SUBTITLE A. MUNICIPAL ACQUISITION, SALE, OR LEASE OF PROPERTY

    CHAPTER 253. SALE OR LEASE OF PROPERTY BY MUNICIPALITIES

    Sec. 253.001. SALE OF PARK LAND, MUNICIPAL BUILDING SITE, OR ABANDONED ROADWAY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the governing body of a municipality may sell and convey land or an interest in land that the municipality owns, holds, or claims as a public square, park, or site for the city hall or other municipal building or that is an abandoned part of a street or alley. A sale under this section may include the improvements on the property.
    (b) Land owned, held, or claimed as a public square or park may not be sold unless the issue of the sale is submitted to the qualified voters of the municipality at an election and is approved by a majority of the votes received at the election; provided, however, this provision shall not apply to the sale of land or right-of-way for drainage purposes to a district, county, or corporation acting on behalf of a county or district.
    (c) To effect the sale, the governing body shall adopt an ordinance directing the municipality's mayor or city manager to execute the conveyance.
    (d) The proceeds of the sale may be used only to acquire and improve property for the purposes for which the sold property was used. Failure to so use the proceeds, however, does not impair the title to the sold property acquired by a purchaser for a valuable consideration.
    (e) Subsection (b) does not apply to a conveyance of park land that:
    (1) is owned by a home-rule municipality with a population of less than 80,000 and that is located in a county bordering the Gulf of Mexico;
    (2) is one acre or less;
    (3) is part of a park that is 100 acres or less;
    (4) is sold or is conveyed as a sale to the owner of adjoining property; and
    (5) is conveyed pursuant to a resolution or an ordinance that:
    (A) is adopted under this section;
    (B) requires the sale to be with an owner of adjoining property for fair market value as determined by an independent appraisal obtained by the municipality; and
    (C) has an effective date before December 31, 1995.
    (f) The election requirements of Subsection (b) do not apply to a conveyance of a park if:
    (1) the park is owned by a home-rule municipality with a population of more than one million;
    (2) it is a park of two acres or less;
    (3) the park is no longer usable and functional as a park;
    (4) the proceeds of the sale will be used to acquire land for park purposes;
    (5) a public hearing on the proposed conveyance is held by the governing body of the home-rule municipality and that body finds that the property is no longer usable and functional as a park; and
    (6) the park is conveyed pursuant to an ordinance adopted by the governing body of the home-rule municipality, unless within 60 days from the date of the public hearing the governing body of the home-rule municipality is presented with a petition opposing the conveyance which contains the name, address, and date of signature of no less than 1,500 registered voters residing within the municipal limits of the municipality; then, the governing body of the home-rule municipality shall either deny the conveyance or shall approve the conveyance subject to the election required in Subsection (b); or
    (7) the conveyance involves an exchange of two existing parks, situated within a home-rule municipality with a population of more than one million, that together total 1.5 acres or less in size, that are located within 1,000 feet of each other, that are located in an industrial area, that have been found in a public hearing to no longer be usable and functional as parks, and that are conveyed pursuant to an ordinance, adopted by the governing body of that municipality, that has an effective date before December 1, 1993.
    (g) A sale made under Subsection (e) or (j) is exempt from the notice and bidding requirements in Chapter 272.

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  8. There is more in the Local Govt. Code. Please read the rest. I couldn't post it all.

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  9. Frist of all, UT-B does not need the land. It is a SATELLITE campus that will never have more than 8 to 10 thousand full time students at the most. Most students will be part-time and few will actually graduate for a variety of obvious reasons. There is no need for a Taj Mahal, the Queen will be long gone to other public sector rip-offs. Brownsville will again, as it has since the 60's, be left to vegetate and stagnate in glorious ignorance and poverty while the rest of the valley continues to grow. The money and the power will be in Hidalgo County with a few crumbs for the "gente de razon" in Harlingen.

    One thing to keep in mind about Brownsville that few people understand is the fact that it is extremely vulnerable to Gulf storms even though it is not on the coast. However, as the wind blows, it is less that 10 miles from the flats. Take a look at topographical map. You might get a nice surprise. We are way overdue for a big storm. When, not if, another Beulah hits most of the place will look like parts of Damascus. Padre Island will return to its pristine past. And, nothing has been done or will be done to mitigate the future catastrophe. Mr. Musk must wonder by beach front land sells for a pittance. He just might find out sooner than he thinks.

    "Hurricane Beulah made landfall south of the mouth of the Rio Grande as a Category 5 storm."

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  10. I went to his bakery several months ago and the thugs were meeting, enjoying some coffee and pastries. This was a little before the big brew ha ha at UTB.....the economic conference. I was just thinking, what a perfect place for a meteor to drop out of the sky. LOL!!!!

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