Wal-mart Supercenter: Archaeologist: developers discount site findings
Wal-mart Supercenter: Archaeologist: developers discount site findings
By Tom Sharpe The New Mexican
July 30, 2006
Researcher considers discoveries significant; city says area ‘cleared’ by earlier survey
An archaeologist who worked on the site of the planned Wal-Mart Supercenter in southwest Santa Fe says the developers didn't want to hear about him finding 2,000-year-old artifacts there.
Tom McIntosh, who was hired to examine the vacant 65 acres earlier this year, said the developers seemed to have their minds made up that there was no significant archaeology there.
He said Richard Gorman, a land-use consultant for the proposed Entrada Contenta development, initially offered him an incentive to finish his work in two weeks.
"Gorman says, 'You don't need to tell me anything. Just go out there and get us a survey. ... There's nothing there. We're going to offer you $2,500 extra to turn that report in in two weeks,' " McIntosh recalled. "I said, 'There's no way we can get it in in two weeks.' He said, 'Well, if there's nothing there, you should be able to get it.' "
While the archaeologist made what he considers significant discoveries, it's not clear what, if anything, city officials will do with a report he drafted. And McIntosh is riled about how his work has been treated.
Gorman did not respond to repeated messages from The New Mexican seeking a response. McIntosh said Gorman called him Thursday and threatened to sue him over his statements to a reporter.
McIntosh, who has been working in Santa Fe for three years under the name ArcCom, said he negotiated an open-ended contract with Gorman and project manager Tom Keesing, acting on behalf of BSW Engineering and Steve Johnson Development LLC.
Keesing directed a reporter's questions to Nancy Long, an attorney for landowner William Herrera. Long said she couldn't speak for Gorman or Keesing because she was not present during their dealings with McIntosh. Keesing also said he had "never met" McIntosh.
McIntosh, who said he only spoke to Keesing by phone, said his contract called for a base fee of $4,500 if no significant archaeology was found or, in the alternative, $150 an hour.
After he and two associates worked for two to three weeks in May along the confluence of the Arroyo de los Chamisos and the Arroyo Hondo, McIntosh said, they identified six "lithic" sites, with stone tools and dwelling sites dating back 2,000 years, plus one "ceramic" site from around 1200 AD.
McIntosh said archaeological sites are considered significant if there is a potential to obtain more information. But he said the lithic sites are particularly significant because little is known of the hunter-and-gatherer cultures that lived in the Santa Fe area before pottery was invented.
Other archaeologists agreed with McIntosh's definition of archaeologic significance but said almost any site has the potential to yield more information. They said lithic sites are common in the Santa Fe area and are considered significant only when found in a context that allows the sites to be dated through scientific methods, such as the presence of hearths with charcoal that yields carbon-14.
"If the site is just a couple of (stone) flakes and there's no way to date when they were left behind, then often it's just considered not significant," said Eric Blinman, director the state Office of Archaeological Studies.
McIntosh said regardless of the significance of the sites, full exploration and documentation would have taken about 30 days and cost the developers another $20,000.
The project already has been put in limbo by a pending lawsuit. More than 20 small-business owners are asking a judge to void City Council approval of the project, claiming the governing body acted improperly during a series of split votes last summer on the development, which includes a planned 265,800-square-foot commercial development anchored by the 150,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The archaeologist said when he presented Keesing and Gorman with a bill for $17,000 for more than 100 hours of work, they balked. "Keesing said, 'Look, do you know who you're dealing with? We'll just walk away from this and not pay you, period, because that's absurd,' " McIntosh said.
After he insisted Keesing and Gorman pay him, McIntosh said, he met with Herrera, who paid him in full. "Herrera is totally honorable," McIntosh said of the retired dentist whose family owns the land. "He wanted to make sure everything was right and no bad stuff was going on."
A few days after Herrera paid him, McIntosh said, David Rasch, head of historic preservation for the city Planning and Land Use Department, told McIntosh his report wasn't needed because the site already had been "cleared" by a 2001 archaeological survey. McIntosh said when he went to Rasch's office to look at the 2001 report, he was told it was missing.
However, Carla Lopez, a media spokeswoman for the city, said no report is missing. She said a 1994 report by Matthew Schmader, approved by the city Archaeological Review Committee in 2001, found no significant archaeology in the area, including the adjoining Tierra Contenta subdivision. She said this gave "permanent approval" to development on the property.
The city about a decade ago annexed Tierra Contenta and some adjoining properties, including the land near Cerrillos Road that Herrera and his representatives have designated as Entrada Contenta.
McIntosh, however, said he's not satisfied with the city's explanation.
Other archaeologists say they have heard of developers offering incentives for finishing surveys quickly and trying to persuade archaeologists not to find anything. Alysia Abbott, a local archaeologist, recalled how a developer refused to pay her a $3,000 fee because she found archaeological sites on his county land. She said she turned in her report identifying the sites to county officials, even though the developer told her not to do it.
McIntosh said he'll turn his report in to the city, even though city officials say it's no longer needed. "The thing that's got me riled up now," he said, "there's seven significant sites that are going to get destroyed out there without any kind of protection or data recovery or anything."
Staff writer Bob Quick contributed to this report.
Contact Tom Sharpe at 995-3813 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.
Firm withdraws from Wal-Mart project
One of three firms involved in the development of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in southwest Santa Fe has dropped out.
Steve Johnson Development LLC of Albuquerque and Scottsdale, Ariz., canceled its option to buy part of the proposed Entrada Contenta project three weeks ago, said Doug Peterson of Albuquerque.
Peterson said his family’s firm, Peterson Properties, is an equal partner with Steve Johnson Development in CAP II Investments LLC, which was the potential investor in Entrada Contenta, though Steve Johnson Development was listed individually on public records related to the project.
Asked why the firm pulled out, Peterson said, “I don’t want to say anything that would hurt the pending lawsuit,” referring to the court challenge filed by more than 20 local businesses who say the City Council acted improperly in approving the project last August.
The withdrawal leaves Herrera and Associates, owned by landowner William Herrera of Santa Fe, and Frontera Development of Phoenix as the partners in Entrada Contenta.
— Tom Sharpe
©2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. Opinions expressed by readers do not necessarily reflect the views of the management and staff of the Santa Fe New Mexican.
By Tom Sharpe The New Mexican
July 30, 2006
Researcher considers discoveries significant; city says area ‘cleared’ by earlier survey
An archaeologist who worked on the site of the planned Wal-Mart Supercenter in southwest Santa Fe says the developers didn't want to hear about him finding 2,000-year-old artifacts there.
Tom McIntosh, who was hired to examine the vacant 65 acres earlier this year, said the developers seemed to have their minds made up that there was no significant archaeology there.
He said Richard Gorman, a land-use consultant for the proposed Entrada Contenta development, initially offered him an incentive to finish his work in two weeks.
"Gorman says, 'You don't need to tell me anything. Just go out there and get us a survey. ... There's nothing there. We're going to offer you $2,500 extra to turn that report in in two weeks,' " McIntosh recalled. "I said, 'There's no way we can get it in in two weeks.' He said, 'Well, if there's nothing there, you should be able to get it.' "
While the archaeologist made what he considers significant discoveries, it's not clear what, if anything, city officials will do with a report he drafted. And McIntosh is riled about how his work has been treated.
Gorman did not respond to repeated messages from The New Mexican seeking a response. McIntosh said Gorman called him Thursday and threatened to sue him over his statements to a reporter.
McIntosh, who has been working in Santa Fe for three years under the name ArcCom, said he negotiated an open-ended contract with Gorman and project manager Tom Keesing, acting on behalf of BSW Engineering and Steve Johnson Development LLC.
Keesing directed a reporter's questions to Nancy Long, an attorney for landowner William Herrera. Long said she couldn't speak for Gorman or Keesing because she was not present during their dealings with McIntosh. Keesing also said he had "never met" McIntosh.
McIntosh, who said he only spoke to Keesing by phone, said his contract called for a base fee of $4,500 if no significant archaeology was found or, in the alternative, $150 an hour.
After he and two associates worked for two to three weeks in May along the confluence of the Arroyo de los Chamisos and the Arroyo Hondo, McIntosh said, they identified six "lithic" sites, with stone tools and dwelling sites dating back 2,000 years, plus one "ceramic" site from around 1200 AD.
McIntosh said archaeological sites are considered significant if there is a potential to obtain more information. But he said the lithic sites are particularly significant because little is known of the hunter-and-gatherer cultures that lived in the Santa Fe area before pottery was invented.
Other archaeologists agreed with McIntosh's definition of archaeologic significance but said almost any site has the potential to yield more information. They said lithic sites are common in the Santa Fe area and are considered significant only when found in a context that allows the sites to be dated through scientific methods, such as the presence of hearths with charcoal that yields carbon-14.
"If the site is just a couple of (stone) flakes and there's no way to date when they were left behind, then often it's just considered not significant," said Eric Blinman, director the state Office of Archaeological Studies.
McIntosh said regardless of the significance of the sites, full exploration and documentation would have taken about 30 days and cost the developers another $20,000.
The project already has been put in limbo by a pending lawsuit. More than 20 small-business owners are asking a judge to void City Council approval of the project, claiming the governing body acted improperly during a series of split votes last summer on the development, which includes a planned 265,800-square-foot commercial development anchored by the 150,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The archaeologist said when he presented Keesing and Gorman with a bill for $17,000 for more than 100 hours of work, they balked. "Keesing said, 'Look, do you know who you're dealing with? We'll just walk away from this and not pay you, period, because that's absurd,' " McIntosh said.
After he insisted Keesing and Gorman pay him, McIntosh said, he met with Herrera, who paid him in full. "Herrera is totally honorable," McIntosh said of the retired dentist whose family owns the land. "He wanted to make sure everything was right and no bad stuff was going on."
A few days after Herrera paid him, McIntosh said, David Rasch, head of historic preservation for the city Planning and Land Use Department, told McIntosh his report wasn't needed because the site already had been "cleared" by a 2001 archaeological survey. McIntosh said when he went to Rasch's office to look at the 2001 report, he was told it was missing.
However, Carla Lopez, a media spokeswoman for the city, said no report is missing. She said a 1994 report by Matthew Schmader, approved by the city Archaeological Review Committee in 2001, found no significant archaeology in the area, including the adjoining Tierra Contenta subdivision. She said this gave "permanent approval" to development on the property.
The city about a decade ago annexed Tierra Contenta and some adjoining properties, including the land near Cerrillos Road that Herrera and his representatives have designated as Entrada Contenta.
McIntosh, however, said he's not satisfied with the city's explanation.
Other archaeologists say they have heard of developers offering incentives for finishing surveys quickly and trying to persuade archaeologists not to find anything. Alysia Abbott, a local archaeologist, recalled how a developer refused to pay her a $3,000 fee because she found archaeological sites on his county land. She said she turned in her report identifying the sites to county officials, even though the developer told her not to do it.
McIntosh said he'll turn his report in to the city, even though city officials say it's no longer needed. "The thing that's got me riled up now," he said, "there's seven significant sites that are going to get destroyed out there without any kind of protection or data recovery or anything."
Staff writer Bob Quick contributed to this report.
Contact Tom Sharpe at 995-3813 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.
Firm withdraws from Wal-Mart project
One of three firms involved in the development of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in southwest Santa Fe has dropped out.
Steve Johnson Development LLC of Albuquerque and Scottsdale, Ariz., canceled its option to buy part of the proposed Entrada Contenta project three weeks ago, said Doug Peterson of Albuquerque.
Peterson said his family’s firm, Peterson Properties, is an equal partner with Steve Johnson Development in CAP II Investments LLC, which was the potential investor in Entrada Contenta, though Steve Johnson Development was listed individually on public records related to the project.
Asked why the firm pulled out, Peterson said, “I don’t want to say anything that would hurt the pending lawsuit,” referring to the court challenge filed by more than 20 local businesses who say the City Council acted improperly in approving the project last August.
The withdrawal leaves Herrera and Associates, owned by landowner William Herrera of Santa Fe, and Frontera Development of Phoenix as the partners in Entrada Contenta.
— Tom Sharpe
©2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. Opinions expressed by readers do not necessarily reflect the views of the management and staff of the Santa Fe New Mexican.
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