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Panel selected to determine the future of the University of New Mexico golf course

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Garret Price remembers riding his bike past the North Campus Golf Course every day on his paper route.

About 20 years later, Price, a longtime resident of the area and a developer, is one of nine people chosen to determine the future of the golf course.

On Wednesday, UNM President David Schmidly and Sara Koplik, president of the North Campus Neighborhood Association, named nine members of the North Golf Course Community Advisory Board.

The advisory board will provide Schmidly and the Board of Regents with guidelines and suggestions for future uses of the golf course, which was suggested as a site for a retirement community. The board will also provide alternatives for development.

In October, Koplik said neighbors in the North Campus area were angry when the university announced its consideration of developing on the golf course after they were told by acting President Davis Harris in the spring that UNM had no plans to build there.

The mission of the advisory board is to preserve the university green space, said Koplik.

Some of the members of the group are a student, a golfer, past president of Central New Mexico Community College, developer and a neighborhood representative.

Price said the diverse crowd will bring a lot of good ideas to the table.

"As a developer, I think I can help with cooperation and communication with the surrounding neighborhoods," Price said. "And also to maintain open space and realize that it is a balance between the needs of the community, as well as UNM's responsibility to utilize their assets in a proper fashion."

Koplik said the panel was chosen because of their different backgrounds and associations with the university and the North Campus Neighborhood.

During a town hall meeting Nov. 4, Schmidly said he would be comfortable with organizing a task force.

"Neighbors have asked us to have input on the future of the golf course, to put an advisory board together," he said. "I hope people see it as a indication of our desire to be good neighbors."

Tim Davis, another member of the advisory board and a member of the North Golf Course Association, said he thinks developing a task force was a great idea.

"I think President Schmidly did the right thing," he said. "I think he's been so new to the university, he was unaware of the value of the space beyond just being real estate. I think he did the right thing by saying, `Let's study this.' "

At the state Board of Finance on Tuesday, Schmidly said the projects on the $143 million in revenue bonds were not for the development of the golf course. He said he thought it was important to delay plans for the golf course.

"I did that because this advisory board hadn't had time to do its work," he said.

There is no timeline for the board's decision. They will be given as much time as they need, said Schmidly.

"Obviously, the sooner the better," he said. "I think the neighbors would like to settle the issue with the golf course once and forever, and the university would like to know if they should look at what other lands are available to serve our needs."