Blog

I spent the day out at Bird's property with the field crew from Red Mountain Engineers. It was very exciting to watch the surveyor's stakes being placed in the ground to mark the site of future roads and homes that up until now had only been visible on paper! We also flagged many large Juniper and Pinon trees to make sure that they are not disturbed and remain focal points in the community.

I would like to thank all of you for the fabulous response to our first online newsletter. It seemed to be very well received and many of you also told your friends about Birds of a Feather or forwarded a copy of the newsletter to them. We appreciate your help in spreading the news about our new community and all of the positive support and encouragement. it's been a long journey to get to this point. Thanks again.

We are currently working on brochures. We think that they will be fabulous because of the work of our talented team members Jessie Gilmer, graphic designer and Donna Davis, artist (our newest team member). Hopefully, they will be ready to be mailed (with lot/home prices) sometime in early 2002.

We will be updating this area as often as we have news to report. Please check back periodically to find out what's happening in our new community.

Dear Friends, supporters, and future Bird's residents...  this morning we sent our first e-mail newsletter to our mailing list subscribers. We will also be mailing brochures via regular mail in the next few months. If you have moved or changed your e-mail address in the last couple of years and wish to continue to receive information about Bird's new community... please e-mail us your updated information. It will be kept strictly confidential.

We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic events that unfolded today. We sincerely hope that this finds you and your loved ones well. For those of you who lost family or friends to this horrific event, you have our deepest sympathy and heartfelt thoughts.

Despite the tragedy today, the County Commissioners held their hearing as planned.

We are still preparing for our next meeting with the County Commissioners on September 11.

We know that many of you are waiting for an indication of lot and home prices. We are still learning what is required by the County to obtain approval and getting bids for the infrastructure work such as utilities and roads.

See the front page news in the Santa Fe New Mexican!

After a long and hard battle for the past year...

I (Bonnie) arrived safely in Santa Fe on July 3rd after an across the country road trip with 5 of my friends, a moving van, my dog and parrot (Skye & Echo)!  I hope to put up pictures of the trip in the very near future! After spending my entire life as a resident of Minnesota, I can now say that I'm a resident of the Land of Enchantment!  My focus will be on doing everything possible to get the approvals necessary to move forward with the project.

We continue to prepare for our meeting with the Planning and Zoning Commission July 26. We have also recently divided the property into two parcels. one parcel of 140-acres for Birds of a Feather's residential community and the second parcel of 17-acres for Las Alas, the future guest ranch/spa/retreat center. This "lot split" should also simplify the subdivision approval process with San Miguel County and make it easier to obtain the long sought after approval.

The State of New Mexico Office of the State Engineer has once again given a favorable opinion for our subdivision proposal!  On April 26, the Office of the State Engineer sent a letter stating their opinion regarding our water supply and availability to San Miguel County officials.  The director of Community Development is now preparing our file for submission to the Planning and Zoning Commission and I anticipate that we will be on the P & Z agenda for late May or June.

We are currently working on the new Birds of Feather brochures so that they will be available as soon as we receive preliminary approval. Lot reservations will also begin at that time. We will be sending e-mail and "snail" mail newsletters to not if you as the time draws near.

Join hundreds of women from around the world this Memorial Day Weekend as they descend upon the land of expansive blue skies and breathtaking vistas for the first annual Santa Fe Women's Weekend. A Wild Women Productions event, this May 25-28 weekend promises a mix of indoor and outdoor parties, comedy, music, art and more. "The goal," say organizers, "is to create a venue that shares the Santa Fe experience, going beyond the parties with off the beaten path experiences and adventures."

Wish I had more news to report, but now it's just a matter of going thru the approval process once again!  The new hydrology report by Glorieta Geoscience was just completed and submitted to San Miguel County.  The County submitted it to the State Engineers Office and now they have 30 days to review the report and make a recommendation back to San Miguel County.

Just returned from Santa Fe. and a great meeting with Marisol Miranda-Greene, the new Director of the Planning and Zoning Division of San Miguel County and Jesus Lopez, San Miguel County Attorney.  I think that we are finally "back on track" and everyone is in agreement with how to proceed with our application for subdivision. We should receive preliminary approval by June 2001. I'm somewhat reluctant to make projections about time but I sincerely believe that we have finally addressed every issue previously raised by Planning and Zoning during the past year!

I had a conversation with Marisol Miranda-Greene, the new Director of the Planning and Zoning Division of San Miguel County. Marisol assured me that as long as we have adequate resources (water) all other problems standing in the way of subdivision approval can and will be overcome! It's great to have someone who appears to be open to discussion and willing to help us move through the approval process. Since Marisol is the fourth director we've worked with at San Miguel County, it will be nice to finally have some continuity.

Our attorney, Rosanna Vazquez and hydrologist, Jay Lazarus had an informal meeting with County officials about our new well and subsequent hydrology report. We were hoping that since the report confirmed previously submitted evidence of long-term water supply that the county attorney would agree to let us proceed to a public hearing with the County Commissioners.

We have received several requests for more frequent news updates, even if brief.

We will update this section at least twice a month so that you can stay connected with our slow but steady progress. Thanks again for your continued patience and support.  It is very much needed and appreciated.