San Marcos raises nearly $5.1 million to buy Spring Lake site 251 acres will be preserved as parkland By _Molly Bloom_ (mailto:mbl...@statesman.com) AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Friday, June 15, 2007 SAN MARCOS — The City of San Marcos has raised almost all of the $5.1 million it needs to buy 251 acres of environmentally sensitive land once slated to be the site of a hotel and conference center. A $360,000 check from Emmett McCoy, retired chairman and chief executive officer of McCoy's Building Supply Centers, and his wife, Miriam McCoy, on Monday was the most recent contribution to a fundraising campaign to preserve the land on hills above Spring Lake as parkland. About half the land lies over the Edwards Aquifer's recharge zone, and Sink Creek, the uppermost tributary of the San Marcos River, runs through the heavily wooded site. "This project will offer a legacy that will last for generations to come," San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz said in a written statement.
In 2004, the city and companies of hotelier J.Q. Hammons and landowner Terry Gilmore unveiled plans to build a hotel and conference center on the land. Some residents objected, concerned that runoff from parking lots and rooftops would hurt the aquifer and pollute the lake. The site is also considered habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler, a federally protected endangered species. In response, the location of the hotel and conference center was shifted to a site owned by Gilmore on Interstate 35 at McCarty Lane, about a mile north of the outlet malls. The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation group, agreed to provide interim funding for the purchase of the Spring Lake land from Gilmore while the city raised enough to take ownership. Contributions came from: passage of a 2005 city bond that raised $2 million; $700,000 from a Hays County parks and open space bond; $1 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior; $355,670 from the Meadows Foundation; $400,000 from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; $200,000 from the Lower Colorado River Authority; and $100,000 from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. Some of the donations may not be able to be used for land purchases. Also, Gilmore sold the land for $1.1 million less than its appraised value as a donation. "We're 95 percent-plus of the way done," said Jeff Francell, director of land protection for the Nature Conservancy. The city expects to raise the money by summer's end, spokeswoman Melissa Millecam said. With advice from Texas State University-San Marcos and the National Park Service, the city plans to preserve the land as undeveloped green space with a few hiking trails. The city and Texas State also plan to offer educational programs and birding activities on the site. _http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/15/15smpark.html_ (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/15/15smpark.html) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
