NOTE:  The DeLuca Administration's 3rd Conservation Symposium

Flower Mound Leader / January 18, 2003 / Cliff Despres

Free Trade of Development Ideas

Mexican delegation gets lesson in town’s environmental friendliness

          The scope of Flower Mound’s environmental programs could eventually reach all the way to Mexico .

An international delegation, composed of educators and leaders from cities and states in Mexico , was introduced to the town’s development and ecological concepts during a presentation by town staff on Thursday at Town Hall.

The Mexican officials were in Denton this week as part of a conference called “Building Sustainable Communities in Mexico and U.S.A. ” that runs through Monday at the University of North Texas .

          “It kind of makes you excited all over again about SMARTGrowth and our whole vision”, town council member Stephani Spruill said.“We live it and work it every day, but through their eyes it was fresh and exciting.It really rejuvenated our concepts.”

          Stanley R. Ingman, a professor of applied gerontology at UNT, led the international conference into Flower Mound.  He said he hopes the Mexican officials will get environmentally sound ideas for building neighborhoods in their own communities after hearing about “green” communities such as Flower Mound.

          But this was more than just an idea-gathering experience for the participants.

          “The idea for this is not just the trading of ideas, but hooking up connections with others in order to get things accomplished,” Ingman said.“The goal is…partnering to take on a piece of work.”

           In that vein, Ingman said the town was a natural stop for the conference because it is “on the cutting edge of these environmental issues.”

          Thus, during Thursday’s three-hour presentation, town officials defined the SMARTGrowth plan and several other environmental protection activities going on in town for the Mexican delegation.

Town Manager Van James explained that the primary intent of the SMARTGrowth program was to ensure that growth does not occur at the expense of environmental quality or the quality of life.Town sanitarian Richard Milam told the group about the town’s neighborhood enhancement programs.

          Timothy Riley, the town’s environmental resources manager, said he hopes the delegation will utilize some of those programs when they return to Mexico .

          “A primary goal was to provide a brief overview of some of our environmental and sustainable programs that we feel have been successful in Flower Mound,” Riley said.We wanted to provide them some examples of our ordinances that they could take back with them to use as models.”

          Riley said the town also got some positive, but unexpected, feedback from the participants.

          “A lot of lines of communication were opened,” he said.“We weren’t sure of the audience going in, but it turned out that after the discussion both sides stayed and talked for an hour.It was a great learning experience for us, and I think we might possibly go and visit their communities in the future.”

          Francisco Saldana, a small-business operator in Mazamitla, is a member of the Mexican delegation.

          He listened to Flower Mound officials’ presentations and compared his city to Flower Mound—and was astounded.

          “It’s our first time in the United States , and we came by train and started to see the differences in our two regions,” Saldana said through a translator.“It’s surprising to see the conservation of the environment that is taken into account here.”

          Saldana also took some important concepts from the presentation in town.

          “Some municipalities don’t have the vision to do something like this,” he said.“Looking at these concepts inspires us to have that kind of vision.”

          In addition to their field trip to Flower Mound, the Mexican delegation is slated for a large-scale conference today at UNT.

          Several regions in Mexico —Mazamitla, Jalisco, Colima and Chapala —will be introduced, and several UNT professors will speak on a range of environmental topics at the conference.The representatives from Mexico will present a plan for the future development of their respective regions at the conclusion of the discussions.

          Nevertheless, the delegation’s date in Flower Mound certainly provided the participants with an interesting view of an environmentally conscious community, according to Ingman.

          “It’s good to see the range of thinking and the ability to get Flower Mound citizens to think in this way,” he said.“The delegation picked up some good ideas.The people in Mexico are worried about the future for their children, just like here.It’s prudent to be thinking ahead.”

          The field trip to town also reaffirmed some town leaders’ faith in their programs.

          Mayor Lori DeLuca said the fact that the town was involved at all in the conference says a lot about its environmentally aware vision.

          “It was an honor to have the delegation from Mexico visit Flower Mound to learn about our SMARTGrowth Plan,” DeLuca said.“Our commitment to excellence and environmentally friendly policies continue to attract attention from across the nation and even beyond our nation’s borders.