Sunday, November 15, 2009
Leif Kindberg surprised to learn the hard way that he had bought a house at risk of flooding from runoff from the north on the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River
Please click on image to go to Flickr site and ENLARGE view of Leif Kindberg standing in front of his home in fall 2009.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Veterans Memorial 5K entry form for Saturday, November 7, 2009
Please click on image to move to Flicker site and ENLARGE.
Please click on image to move to Flickr page and ENLARGE view.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of a sample of items that will be in the goody bags of the first 300 runners who sign up for the Nov. 7, 2009, Veterans 5K.
Please click on image to go to Flickr page to Enlarge logos of first two major sponsors of the Veterans' 5K race set for November 7, 2009, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Please click on image to move to Flickr page and ENLARGE view.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of a sample of items that will be in the goody bags of the first 300 runners who sign up for the Nov. 7, 2009, Veterans 5K.
Please click on image to go to Flickr page to Enlarge logos of first two major sponsors of the Veterans' 5K race set for November 7, 2009, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
NewsPress reports: Stillwater, Oklahoma, City Council turns down same student-apartment development group that recently was turned down in Fayetteville
Council says no to Campus Crest
Monique Headley
October 13, 2009 05:12 pm
— Stillwater City Council denied the request of Campus Crest developers to build local luxury student housing in a four-to-one vote Monday.
Mayor Nathan Bates cast the only vote in favor of Campus Crest.
Councilors determined the proposed site to be incompatible with the Stillwater comprehensive plan. The planned development of multifamily commercial property was considered excessively dense for the single-family residential area.
Developers said the future may yield another construction bid elsewhere in the city.
Councilors said if certain issues were resolved or alternate location selected, a subsequent Campus Crest request could prove successful.
Campus Crest had asked to rezone property located at 717 E. Hall of Fame Ave. and 1000, 1118, 1120 and 1202 E. Virginia Ave. The company planned to build a clubhouse and eight multifamily, four-story dwellings that would be 50 feet tall.
The hearing room overflowed with about 90 people for and against the planned unit development called The Grove.
Residents said that, if approved, the development would plunge property values, not allow sufficient transition space between the structures and increase traffic and the potential for crime.
Several strongly suggested councilors heed the wishes of residents or risk election retribution.
Regardless of such veiled threats, which Vice Mayor Tom Dugger said he found offensive, “we take resident concerns seriously.”
With the dismissal of developers, resident Glenda Roe said, “I am very glad about the decision. I just really trusted councilors to represent the citizens all over town.”
Development opponent Kevin Campbell was excited about the decision.
“I feel like we followed the rules, listened and communicated. I am pleased with the council vote,” he said.
Campus Crest also brought seven to 10 residents of a Grove property in Wichita, Kan., to the meeting. According to Chief Marketing Officer Shannon King, the company gave them only a free bus ride and lunch in exchange for their presence at the meeting.
None of the imported cadre addressed councilors. Several, like Cameron Bedel and Donnie Chauncey, privately expressed support for the Grove as a great place to live.
Recently, 700 signatures in support of development were collected and provided to the council, Crest staffer Alex Eyssen said.
“I am sad and disappointed that the city did not see the benefit the development would provide to residents and university students,” King said.
Further consideration would be given to another site location in Stillwater, she said.
“I am not surprised by resident reactions. I am surprised by the City Council,” she said.
According to King, all planned unit development and city requirements were met.
Councilors did not feel likewise.
“When you look at the comprehensive plan, people do have a right to be concerned. It did not offer transition,” Councilor Chuck Hopkins said.
If alternate solutions had been presented prior to a vote, sub-issues like drainage and necessary roadwork to accommodate additional density could have been resolved.
Bates said, “I believe there is support in the community for Campus Crest. We have to try to find the right location.”
Additional areas with proximity to Oklahoma State University have been provided by council to developers, he said. Stillwater remains in favor of development and additional housing, he added..
Nearby Hampton Inn and Suites owner Joe Martin concurred.
Martin said the area should allow for future commercial development and a no vote would significantly impact neighboring businesses.
“The growth of Stillwater and OSU is important to me,” he said.
Several councilors commended Campus Crest staffers on their professionalism.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Monique Headley
October 13, 2009 05:12 pm
— Stillwater City Council denied the request of Campus Crest developers to build local luxury student housing in a four-to-one vote Monday.
Mayor Nathan Bates cast the only vote in favor of Campus Crest.
Councilors determined the proposed site to be incompatible with the Stillwater comprehensive plan. The planned development of multifamily commercial property was considered excessively dense for the single-family residential area.
Developers said the future may yield another construction bid elsewhere in the city.
Councilors said if certain issues were resolved or alternate location selected, a subsequent Campus Crest request could prove successful.
Campus Crest had asked to rezone property located at 717 E. Hall of Fame Ave. and 1000, 1118, 1120 and 1202 E. Virginia Ave. The company planned to build a clubhouse and eight multifamily, four-story dwellings that would be 50 feet tall.
The hearing room overflowed with about 90 people for and against the planned unit development called The Grove.
Residents said that, if approved, the development would plunge property values, not allow sufficient transition space between the structures and increase traffic and the potential for crime.
Several strongly suggested councilors heed the wishes of residents or risk election retribution.
Regardless of such veiled threats, which Vice Mayor Tom Dugger said he found offensive, “we take resident concerns seriously.”
With the dismissal of developers, resident Glenda Roe said, “I am very glad about the decision. I just really trusted councilors to represent the citizens all over town.”
Development opponent Kevin Campbell was excited about the decision.
“I feel like we followed the rules, listened and communicated. I am pleased with the council vote,” he said.
Campus Crest also brought seven to 10 residents of a Grove property in Wichita, Kan., to the meeting. According to Chief Marketing Officer Shannon King, the company gave them only a free bus ride and lunch in exchange for their presence at the meeting.
None of the imported cadre addressed councilors. Several, like Cameron Bedel and Donnie Chauncey, privately expressed support for the Grove as a great place to live.
Recently, 700 signatures in support of development were collected and provided to the council, Crest staffer Alex Eyssen said.
“I am sad and disappointed that the city did not see the benefit the development would provide to residents and university students,” King said.
Further consideration would be given to another site location in Stillwater, she said.
“I am not surprised by resident reactions. I am surprised by the City Council,” she said.
According to King, all planned unit development and city requirements were met.
Councilors did not feel likewise.
“When you look at the comprehensive plan, people do have a right to be concerned. It did not offer transition,” Councilor Chuck Hopkins said.
If alternate solutions had been presented prior to a vote, sub-issues like drainage and necessary roadwork to accommodate additional density could have been resolved.
Bates said, “I believe there is support in the community for Campus Crest. We have to try to find the right location.”
Additional areas with proximity to Oklahoma State University have been provided by council to developers, he said. Stillwater remains in favor of development and additional housing, he added..
Nearby Hampton Inn and Suites owner Joe Martin concurred.
Martin said the area should allow for future commercial development and a no vote would significantly impact neighboring businesses.
“The growth of Stillwater and OSU is important to me,” he said.
Several councilors commended Campus Crest staffers on their professionalism.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Green Groups Guild meeting Thursday
From: Green Groups Guild (ggg@listserv.uark.edu) on behalf of ggg (ggg@UARK.EDU)
Sent: Tue 10/13/09 2:31 PM
To: GGG@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU
Meeting 10/15/09 7:00 p.m.
209 Thompson Ave. Three Sisters Bldg on Dickson above Fez Hookah Lounge.
Patrick Kunnecke
GGG President
ASLA Vice President
4th Year Landscape Architecture Student
479-544-1906
Sent: Tue 10/13/09 2:31 PM
To: GGG@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU
Meeting 10/15/09 7:00 p.m.
209 Thompson Ave. Three Sisters Bldg on Dickson above Fez Hookah Lounge.
Patrick Kunnecke
GGG President
ASLA Vice President
4th Year Landscape Architecture Student
479-544-1906
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Runners and Sponsors sought for Nov. 7, 2009, 5K veterans' memorial race to benefit Fayetteville National Cemetery
Please click on image to move to Flickr site and ENLARGE for easy reading. The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation meets at 10:30 a.m. Saturday October 10 and needs to add sponsor names to the file for the race T shirts and the brochures so that printing can begin. Already, Tyson Foods has donated at the Medal of Honor level and has challenged others to join them at the top of the list, thanks to the effort of RNCIC Secretary Peggy McClain.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Veterans' Memorial 5K race set for November 7, 2009, in Town Branch neighborhood: Sponsorship information below
The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation (RNCIC) is organizing a Veteran’s Memorial 5K race on Saturday, November 7th at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville. The purpose of this 5K race is to raise funds for purchase and clearing of land to expand the Cemetery and, even more importantly, to raise the awareness of the Cemetery and the ongoing threat of closure.
We write to ask that you consider sponsoring the event.
The sole mission of the nonprofit RNCIC is to secure and clear land adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery to ensure that the cemetery can continue to receive veterans for burial. Established immediately after the Civil War, the Fayetteville National Cemetery is an important part of the history of this region and the country. Veterans living in Northwest Arkansas, as well as many veterans from here but now living outside our region, have planned their final resting place here. But that may not be possible in the near future.
The Veteran’s Administration maintains the Cemetery, but the purchase of new land to expand
existing National Cemeteries has not occurred in decades.
When the RNCIC was organized only seven unfilled grave sites remained at Fayetteville National
Cemetery and the Cemetery was soon to be permanently closed to new interments. We have kept the Cemetery open and increased its size by over 120 percent in the ensuing 25 years, but with the passing of the World War II generation of veterans, the Cemetery will be full in a few years and closed to new burials.
Unless, of course, we act now to prevent that.
The recent controversy over the possible rezoning and development of the adjoining property has regularly been on the front page of local newspapers this summer. The massive turnout of veterans and non-veterans alike to public hearings demonstrates the deep emotional currents that surround the National Cemetery. We are grateful for past commitments to support veterans made by this community. We plan to make the race an annual event and, in this inaugural year, we are happy to give you the opportunity to associate yourself with keeping an important part of this region’s and nation’s heritage alive and to honor those who guarded us. We hope that you will see your way clear to sponsor this event. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Wesley Stites, Race Organizer
wstites@uark.edu
Tel: 479-871-7478
5K RACE
VETERANS MEMORIAL
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702
http://regncic.tripod.com
2009 Veteran’s Memorial 5K Race Sponsorship Levels
We thank you for considering sponsorship of this fundraising event. As you may know, all
proceeds of the race go to purchase and clear land for the expansion of Fayetteville National
Cemetery. The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation is a registered nonprofit
with a 25-year history. Through the efforts of this group and, even more importantly, the
generosity of past donors, land has been purchased, cleared, and donated to the Veterans Administration increasing the size of the National Cemetery by 120% and keeping it open for
burial of veterans. However, without additional purchases of land, the cemetery will be closed in 14 years or less.
MEDAL OF HONOR - $1000
Business name and logo prominently on front and back of race shirt
Business name and logo on all race materials and race website
Sponsorship noted in all press releases
Business name and logo on finish line banner
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
10 complimentary entries and/or race shirts
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE - $500
Business name and logo prominently on back of race shirt
Business name and logo on race website
Business name and logo on finish line banner
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
5 complimentary entries and/or race shirts
SILVER STAR - $250
Business name and logo on back of race shirt
Business name and logo on race website
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
3 complimentary entries and/or race shirts
BRONZE STAR - $100
Business name and logo on back of race shirt if room allows
Business name and logo on race website
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of product samples in race goodie bags
1 complimentary entry and/or race shirt
CONTACT Information:
Wesley Stites 479-871-7478
All checks should be payable to Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation or to R.N.C.I.C.
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702
We write to ask that you consider sponsoring the event.
The sole mission of the nonprofit RNCIC is to secure and clear land adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery to ensure that the cemetery can continue to receive veterans for burial. Established immediately after the Civil War, the Fayetteville National Cemetery is an important part of the history of this region and the country. Veterans living in Northwest Arkansas, as well as many veterans from here but now living outside our region, have planned their final resting place here. But that may not be possible in the near future.
The Veteran’s Administration maintains the Cemetery, but the purchase of new land to expand
existing National Cemeteries has not occurred in decades.
When the RNCIC was organized only seven unfilled grave sites remained at Fayetteville National
Cemetery and the Cemetery was soon to be permanently closed to new interments. We have kept the Cemetery open and increased its size by over 120 percent in the ensuing 25 years, but with the passing of the World War II generation of veterans, the Cemetery will be full in a few years and closed to new burials.
Unless, of course, we act now to prevent that.
The recent controversy over the possible rezoning and development of the adjoining property has regularly been on the front page of local newspapers this summer. The massive turnout of veterans and non-veterans alike to public hearings demonstrates the deep emotional currents that surround the National Cemetery. We are grateful for past commitments to support veterans made by this community. We plan to make the race an annual event and, in this inaugural year, we are happy to give you the opportunity to associate yourself with keeping an important part of this region’s and nation’s heritage alive and to honor those who guarded us. We hope that you will see your way clear to sponsor this event. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Wesley Stites, Race Organizer
wstites@uark.edu
Tel: 479-871-7478
5K RACE
VETERANS MEMORIAL
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702
http://regncic.tripod.com
2009 Veteran’s Memorial 5K Race Sponsorship Levels
We thank you for considering sponsorship of this fundraising event. As you may know, all
proceeds of the race go to purchase and clear land for the expansion of Fayetteville National
Cemetery. The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation is a registered nonprofit
with a 25-year history. Through the efforts of this group and, even more importantly, the
generosity of past donors, land has been purchased, cleared, and donated to the Veterans Administration increasing the size of the National Cemetery by 120% and keeping it open for
burial of veterans. However, without additional purchases of land, the cemetery will be closed in 14 years or less.
MEDAL OF HONOR - $1000
Business name and logo prominently on front and back of race shirt
Business name and logo on all race materials and race website
Sponsorship noted in all press releases
Business name and logo on finish line banner
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
10 complimentary entries and/or race shirts
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE - $500
Business name and logo prominently on back of race shirt
Business name and logo on race website
Business name and logo on finish line banner
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
5 complimentary entries and/or race shirts
SILVER STAR - $250
Business name and logo on back of race shirt
Business name and logo on race website
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of marketing materials and/or product samples in race goodie bags
3 complimentary entries and/or race shirts
BRONZE STAR - $100
Business name and logo on back of race shirt if room allows
Business name and logo on race website
Business recognized at award ceremony
Distribution of product samples in race goodie bags
1 complimentary entry and/or race shirt
CONTACT Information:
Wesley Stites 479-871-7478
All checks should be payable to Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation or to R.N.C.I.C.
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702
Friday, October 2, 2009
Please see Mike Odom on Tour de Cure Web site and help him raise the final $150 to compete in the race to fight diabetes!
Ride with other area bicylists on October 3, 2009!
Arvest Ballpark, 3000 South 56th Street, Springdale
For more information, call 1-888-DIABETES
Mike Odom of Fayetteville on Tour for the Cure site
Information about tomorrow's Tour de Cure in Springdale
Arvest Ballpark, 3000 South 56th Street, Springdale
For more information, call 1-888-DIABETES
Mike Odom of Fayetteville on Tour for the Cure site
Information about tomorrow's Tour de Cure in Springdale
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Mike Odom asks for donations to help him qualify to ride in Tour de Cure fund-raising ride
A message from Michael Odom michael.odom374@gmail.com.
I recently accepted the challenge of cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. The Tour is a ride, not a race; it features different route lengths from a family-friendly 10-mile course to a challenging 100-mile journey. I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
I am asking you to help by supporting my fund-raising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 23 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and over 57 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes.
It's fast and easy to support this great cause - you can make your donation online by selecting the "Click to Support Me" link below.
Any amount, great or small, helps in the fight against this deadly disease. I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. If you want to do even more to help, please consider joining me in this great event. Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes.
More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs and diabetes in general can be found at the Association's Web site: www.diabetes.org
For more information on Tour de Cure, please visit www.diabetes.org/tour.
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC429418030?px=5235787&pg=personal&fr_id=5617&et=t1NUPx3jQAaAmLuyt6Elfw..&s_tafId=219348
I recently accepted the challenge of cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. The Tour is a ride, not a race; it features different route lengths from a family-friendly 10-mile course to a challenging 100-mile journey. I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
I am asking you to help by supporting my fund-raising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 23 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and over 57 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes.
It's fast and easy to support this great cause - you can make your donation online by selecting the "Click to Support Me" link below.
Any amount, great or small, helps in the fight against this deadly disease. I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. If you want to do even more to help, please consider joining me in this great event. Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes.
More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs and diabetes in general can be found at the Association's Web site: www.diabetes.org
For more information on Tour de Cure, please visit www.diabetes.org/tour.
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC429418030?px=5235787&pg=personal&fr_id=5617&et=t1NUPx3jQAaAmLuyt6Elfw..&s_tafId=219348
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wolf spiders thin out beetles and bugs and such in gardens
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Wolf spider eating beetle on September 5, 2009, in the Town Branch neighborhood. Good spider to have in your garden!
Housing Spiders in the Classroom
Wolf spiders are relatively easy to keep if you keep in mind some basic requirements. For classroom study, it works well to collect some spiders, hold them for several days and then release them where they were originally found.
Water
All spiders and especially small ones, require a constant source of moisture. The largest (and quickest) source of mortality for spiders in the lab is dessication. The best means of providing moisture is to have something that will hold moisture for at least a week so if you forget to check it everyday, the spiders will still be okay. You can do this by giving the spider a cotton ball (or a piece of sponge) that is damp; or a wick of cotton or cheese cloth that extends into a small pool of water.
If you are trying to keep spiderlings or baby spiders remember that the surface tension of water is stronger than they are! With baby spiders it is important to not have freestanding drops of water.
Feeding
Wolf spiders have a fairly flexible abdomen that helps them to be able to eat a lot of food when it is present. They also can do fairly well without much food for a week or longer as they are able to decrease their metabolism when food is absent.
Wolf spiders will eat a large number of different kinds of prey. They can take a prey item their own size or smaller and do best with flies, crickets and other spiders. The exoskeleton on many beetles is too tough. In addition to taking live prey, wolf spiders will scavenge and get nourishment from carcasses. You can sometimes see a spider pick up a leg or a wing from a cricket. Different species may show different prey preferences or abilities to subdue prey. Also, species may differ in how much they are willing to scavenge. Some insects may have some defenses against spiders.
Potential prey items for wolf spiders include house flies and mosquitos, crickets, beetle larvae (meal worms) and other spiders. Wolf spiders often will capture a prey item by grabbing the prey and then the spider will flip over onto its back while holding the prey item in its fangs. This may be particularly useful when grabbing a cricket as the strong jumping legs of the cricket could puncture the spiders abdomen.
Housing Spiders in the Classroom
Wolf spiders are relatively easy to keep if you keep in mind some basic requirements. For classroom study, it works well to collect some spiders, hold them for several days and then release them where they were originally found.
Water
All spiders and especially small ones, require a constant source of moisture. The largest (and quickest) source of mortality for spiders in the lab is dessication. The best means of providing moisture is to have something that will hold moisture for at least a week so if you forget to check it everyday, the spiders will still be okay. You can do this by giving the spider a cotton ball (or a piece of sponge) that is damp; or a wick of cotton or cheese cloth that extends into a small pool of water.
If you are trying to keep spiderlings or baby spiders remember that the surface tension of water is stronger than they are! With baby spiders it is important to not have freestanding drops of water.
Feeding
Wolf spiders have a fairly flexible abdomen that helps them to be able to eat a lot of food when it is present. They also can do fairly well without much food for a week or longer as they are able to decrease their metabolism when food is absent.
Wolf spiders will eat a large number of different kinds of prey. They can take a prey item their own size or smaller and do best with flies, crickets and other spiders. The exoskeleton on many beetles is too tough. In addition to taking live prey, wolf spiders will scavenge and get nourishment from carcasses. You can sometimes see a spider pick up a leg or a wing from a cricket. Different species may show different prey preferences or abilities to subdue prey. Also, species may differ in how much they are willing to scavenge. Some insects may have some defenses against spiders.
Potential prey items for wolf spiders include house flies and mosquitos, crickets, beetle larvae (meal worms) and other spiders. Wolf spiders often will capture a prey item by grabbing the prey and then the spider will flip over onto its back while holding the prey item in its fangs. This may be particularly useful when grabbing a cricket as the strong jumping legs of the cricket could puncture the spiders abdomen.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Liatris aspera a showy Arkansas native prairie plant
Please click on images of blazing star to go to Flickr and use magnifying tool above pictures to enlarge one or two sizes!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Video from the Fayetteville National Cemetery with Washington County Livestock Auction barn in the background
Please go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02
to see some of today's photos online. My picasa gigabite is full!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02
to see some of today's photos online. My picasa gigabite is full!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Karst map of NW Arkansas significant tool for identifying green infrastructure deserving of protection
Please click on images to ENLARGE to read and see detail.
http://watershedwarrior.blogspot.com
The Town Branch Neighborhood is the smallest rectangle on that map. Enlarge the chart to read it.
Our neighborhood is a small hotspot for groundwater recharge and you can see how the wetland with springs and depressed land coincides with the karst coloring when you click and blow up the map.
Although the Nature Conservancy guys who created it admit that more ontheground investigation (and underground) to confirm a stricter scientific map is needed, it matches what I have believed about our neighborhood for some time. You can see the national cemetery circle with the karst just to the north along the old alley between Gov ave and Hill ave and pinnacle and wpwp are bright as is my own yard!
Please note one particular error. Cato Springs Branch, a northeast-flowing tributary of the Town Branch, is mistakenly called the Town Branch on the map. The oldest available government maps mark the portion of the Town Branch that flows from the UA and through our neighborhood as the Town Branch.
This is a significant tool for working on green-infrastructure plans and the FNHA already has it but in PDFs, which I can't post on the blogs.
Aubrey James Shepherd
http://watershedwarrior.blogspot.com
The Town Branch Neighborhood is the smallest rectangle on that map. Enlarge the chart to read it.
Our neighborhood is a small hotspot for groundwater recharge and you can see how the wetland with springs and depressed land coincides with the karst coloring when you click and blow up the map.
Although the Nature Conservancy guys who created it admit that more ontheground investigation (and underground) to confirm a stricter scientific map is needed, it matches what I have believed about our neighborhood for some time. You can see the national cemetery circle with the karst just to the north along the old alley between Gov ave and Hill ave and pinnacle and wpwp are bright as is my own yard!
Please note one particular error. Cato Springs Branch, a northeast-flowing tributary of the Town Branch, is mistakenly called the Town Branch on the map. The oldest available government maps mark the portion of the Town Branch that flows from the UA and through our neighborhood as the Town Branch.
This is a significant tool for working on green-infrastructure plans and the FNHA already has it but in PDFs, which I can't post on the blogs.
Aubrey James Shepherd
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Skip Descant of The Morning News reports on delay of vote on sale-barn issue
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Sale Barn Zoning Delayed A Month
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — Even though veterans and community groups wanted to see the Fayetteville City Council move forward on a zoning request, the city stalled.
The council Tuesday evening ceded to a delay request by developers wanting to build apartments on the 9-acre Washington County Livestock and Sale Barn site.
The council is now to decide the sale barn rezoning Sept. 15.
What irked groups was the continued delay at making a decision.
"This whole issue is beginning to sound like a good-news, bad-news joke," said Sam Sansom, president of the Northwest Arkansas Military Officers Group. "And bad news doesn't get any better."
The tabling request came from Campus Crest, the North Carolina student housing developer set to purchase the site if the zoning request goes through. Developers are still working through the "bills of assurance." Those are guarantees by the developer the project will have certain limitations regarding issues such as density or height.
"There's a lot of moving parts. It's a timing thing, and we'd like some more time to reach out and make some plans," Alex Eyssen, an attorney representing Campus Crest, told the City Council last night.
Veterans groups oppose the zoning change because they would like to buy some of the land as an area to expand the Fayetteville National Cemetery. But they also oppose the idea of college students living next door to the cemetery.
The City Council voted 7-1 to table the request. Robert Rhoads voted against. But other council members also expressed discomfort with the delay.
"I really don't want to table it, myself," said Shirley Lucas, a council member from Ward 4. "It bothers me that the people asking for the extension are not the ones who own the property."
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Sale Barn Zoning Delayed A Month
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — Even though veterans and community groups wanted to see the Fayetteville City Council move forward on a zoning request, the city stalled.
The council Tuesday evening ceded to a delay request by developers wanting to build apartments on the 9-acre Washington County Livestock and Sale Barn site.
The council is now to decide the sale barn rezoning Sept. 15.
What irked groups was the continued delay at making a decision.
"This whole issue is beginning to sound like a good-news, bad-news joke," said Sam Sansom, president of the Northwest Arkansas Military Officers Group. "And bad news doesn't get any better."
The tabling request came from Campus Crest, the North Carolina student housing developer set to purchase the site if the zoning request goes through. Developers are still working through the "bills of assurance." Those are guarantees by the developer the project will have certain limitations regarding issues such as density or height.
"There's a lot of moving parts. It's a timing thing, and we'd like some more time to reach out and make some plans," Alex Eyssen, an attorney representing Campus Crest, told the City Council last night.
Veterans groups oppose the zoning change because they would like to buy some of the land as an area to expand the Fayetteville National Cemetery. But they also oppose the idea of college students living next door to the cemetery.
The City Council voted 7-1 to table the request. Robert Rhoads voted against. But other council members also expressed discomfort with the delay.
"I really don't want to table it, myself," said Shirley Lucas, a council member from Ward 4. "It bothers me that the people asking for the extension are not the ones who own the property."
Monday, August 17, 2009
Do we need another Hill Place-type development in our neighborhood? Next to our National Shrine??
John Lennon video singing Imagine
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Dunn Avenue along the east edge of the Fayetteville National Cemetery as it would appear if student apartments were allowed to be built on the site of the former Washington County Livestock Auction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxLnIRVVwIM
g
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Dunn Avenue along the east edge of the Fayetteville National Cemetery as it would appear if student apartments were allowed to be built on the site of the former Washington County Livestock Auction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxLnIRVVwIM
g
Campus Crest's draft of a concept drawing/tentative plan for apartments the company wants permission to build
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of a draft of a concept plan for a proposed student-apartment complex along the east border of the Fayetteville National Cemetery as it was shared by a representative of the developer on August 11, 2009.
Should rezoning to Downtown General be approved by the Fayetteville City Council to allow apartments or other large-scale projects next to the National Cemetery, the plan would be modified in later meetings with the planning department and planning commission. But rezoning to Downtown General would basically eliminate future council input into what kind of project might go on the land.
Veterans, members of the Town Branch Neighborhood Association and hundreds of others have expressed opposition to the rezoning. And finding someone who believes apartments would be appropriate on that site is difficult.
Should rezoning to Downtown General be approved by the Fayetteville City Council to allow apartments or other large-scale projects next to the National Cemetery, the plan would be modified in later meetings with the planning department and planning commission. But rezoning to Downtown General would basically eliminate future council input into what kind of project might go on the land.
Veterans, members of the Town Branch Neighborhood Association and hundreds of others have expressed opposition to the rezoning. And finding someone who believes apartments would be appropriate on that site is difficult.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Senator Pryor pledges support to buy sale-barn property
Please click on images to read August 12, 2009, Northwest Arkansas Times stories on Senator Mark Pryor supporting acquisition of sale-barn property for addition to the Fayetteville National Cemetery and story about possible delay in vote on sale-barn property until first council meeting in September.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Town Branch neighborhood shows up on the map of karst features in northwest Arkansas.
Please click on the images to ENLARGE view. Town Branch neighborhood is at the center of the third photo, near the left in the middle photo. One of the brightest areas marked as a high-priority karst ground-water recharge area on the map is the World Peace Wetland Prairie and adjacent Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet-prairie land. Another is along Indian Trail Street from Razorback Road east to the Railroad. A smaller but equally important karst wetland recharge area is north of the Fayetteville National Cemetery and the Washington County Livestock Auction property. The Hill Place (former Aspen Ridge) student-apartment project was built on fill dirt atop some of the neighborhood's karst wetland recharge area.
Please click on the images to ENLARGE view. Town Branch neighborhood is at the center of the third photo, near the left in the middle photo. One of the brightest areas marked as a high-priority karst ground-water recharge area on the map is the World Peace Wetland Prairie and adjacent Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet-prairie land. Another is along Indian Trail Street from Razorback Road east to the Railroad. A smaller but equally important karst wetland recharge area is north of the Fayetteville National Cemetery and the Washington County Livestock Auction property. The Hill Place (former Aspen Ridge) student-apartment project was built on fill dirt atop some of the neighborhood's karst wetland recharge area.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Times' July 15 headline two weeks premature; it may be accurate if published on July 22, 2009
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of a couple from West Palm Beach, Florida, at the Fayetteville National Cemetery on July 14, 2009. They were on a self-guided tour of Civil War battlefields and National Cemeteries and such. Many people choose to vacation in cities that have significant historic sites.
The July 15 headline below may be accurate if published again on July 22.
"Rezoning of sale barn property postponed
BY ROBIN MERO Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/78148/
"Consideration of a rezoning request for the Washington County Livestock Auction property will wait until the Aug. 4 meeting of the Fayetteville City Council.
"Developer Campus Crest LLC wants two more weeks to develop a bill of assurance for the request, which will be presented to the council with the aim of making the zoning request more palatable.
"The developer is asking that nine acres be rezoned to downtown general from heavy commercial/light industrial and seeks to build apartments for University of Arkansas students."
The headline and the two graphs above were written after an agenda-setting meeting of the Fayetteville City Council. It may turn out to be accurate if the council tables the issue during the July 21 meeting. No action is taken at agenda sessions beyond setting the agenda for the official council meeting. If the developers actually do ask that it be tabled at the July 21 meeting, then the a member of the council could make a motion to table and, if that were seconded, then they could vote to table or not. If the council approves tabling, then it might not be further discussed.
If the tabling fails, then a motion could be made to vote on the issue of rezoning, which would require allowing developers to present and the public to speak. So there is no guarantee that the issue will not come to a vote at this meeting, but it does appear likely that it will be delayed until the first August meeting.
It would be an embarrassment to the city if apartments were allowed next to the national cemetery. This isn't about property rights. The lack of need for apartments for university students at this time has been well-documented. The obvious need in Fayetteville is for affordable housing such as the single-family homes in the neighborhood nearest the former sale barn and the National Cemetery.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of representatives of the VA and contractors on July 14, 2009, discussing plans to prepare property to be added to the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
On Tuesday, federal officials and engineers and others with experience in cemetery design walked the cemetery and some adjacent land to the west that already has been bought by the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and donated to the VA for cemetery expansion. That land will be prepared after careful study of that land to become part of the burial ground. But it will not meet the projected need for more space for much more than a decade.
The sale-barn ground also would require careful planning and much work if it is added later. But the people on hand yesterday are well-trained and able to do it properly. It will be needed and is in the natural spot to be added to the existing cemetery that was created in 1867, soon after the civil war ended.
Maybe some people would not see the inappropriateness of putting apartments there unless it were allowed and then they actually experienced what it would be like.
Just imagine.
Quoting the NWAT article further: "The council by law is to consider only whether the zoning requested is compatible with the neighborhood.
"Alderman Sarah Lewis asked how the developer can present information about the project when the council is not to consider a specific project.
" 'I don't understand; we're not allowed to talk about the project, but they're allowed to bring a bill of assurance," Lewis said.
"City Attorney Kit Williams said a bill of assurance doesn't describe a project, only limits the range of a zoning.
A bill of assurance places voluntary restrictions on a developer."
"Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com"
Regardless of the outcome of the effort to stop this rezoning, the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation will continue its fund-raising effort. There is no guarantee at this point that federal money will be provided to help expand the cemetery even though Senator Blanche Lincoln told me in person that she will work toward that end and even though Congressman John Boozeman told me and several other people recently that he will work to earmark a bill in the House of Representatives to provide money through the Department of Veterans Affairs to purchase the sale-barn property to add to protect the future cemetery and the thousands of veterans are eligible for burial there already.
Please make donations payable to the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and mail to P.O. Box 4221, Fayetteville, AR 72702.
For more information, please go to the RNCIC's Web site at http://regncic.tripod.com
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation's Web site
The July 15 headline below may be accurate if published again on July 22.
"Rezoning of sale barn property postponed
BY ROBIN MERO Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/78148/
"Consideration of a rezoning request for the Washington County Livestock Auction property will wait until the Aug. 4 meeting of the Fayetteville City Council.
"Developer Campus Crest LLC wants two more weeks to develop a bill of assurance for the request, which will be presented to the council with the aim of making the zoning request more palatable.
"The developer is asking that nine acres be rezoned to downtown general from heavy commercial/light industrial and seeks to build apartments for University of Arkansas students."
The headline and the two graphs above were written after an agenda-setting meeting of the Fayetteville City Council. It may turn out to be accurate if the council tables the issue during the July 21 meeting. No action is taken at agenda sessions beyond setting the agenda for the official council meeting. If the developers actually do ask that it be tabled at the July 21 meeting, then the a member of the council could make a motion to table and, if that were seconded, then they could vote to table or not. If the council approves tabling, then it might not be further discussed.
If the tabling fails, then a motion could be made to vote on the issue of rezoning, which would require allowing developers to present and the public to speak. So there is no guarantee that the issue will not come to a vote at this meeting, but it does appear likely that it will be delayed until the first August meeting.
It would be an embarrassment to the city if apartments were allowed next to the national cemetery. This isn't about property rights. The lack of need for apartments for university students at this time has been well-documented. The obvious need in Fayetteville is for affordable housing such as the single-family homes in the neighborhood nearest the former sale barn and the National Cemetery.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of representatives of the VA and contractors on July 14, 2009, discussing plans to prepare property to be added to the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
On Tuesday, federal officials and engineers and others with experience in cemetery design walked the cemetery and some adjacent land to the west that already has been bought by the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and donated to the VA for cemetery expansion. That land will be prepared after careful study of that land to become part of the burial ground. But it will not meet the projected need for more space for much more than a decade.
The sale-barn ground also would require careful planning and much work if it is added later. But the people on hand yesterday are well-trained and able to do it properly. It will be needed and is in the natural spot to be added to the existing cemetery that was created in 1867, soon after the civil war ended.
Maybe some people would not see the inappropriateness of putting apartments there unless it were allowed and then they actually experienced what it would be like.
Just imagine.
Quoting the NWAT article further: "The council by law is to consider only whether the zoning requested is compatible with the neighborhood.
"Alderman Sarah Lewis asked how the developer can present information about the project when the council is not to consider a specific project.
" 'I don't understand; we're not allowed to talk about the project, but they're allowed to bring a bill of assurance," Lewis said.
"City Attorney Kit Williams said a bill of assurance doesn't describe a project, only limits the range of a zoning.
A bill of assurance places voluntary restrictions on a developer."
"Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com"
Regardless of the outcome of the effort to stop this rezoning, the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation will continue its fund-raising effort. There is no guarantee at this point that federal money will be provided to help expand the cemetery even though Senator Blanche Lincoln told me in person that she will work toward that end and even though Congressman John Boozeman told me and several other people recently that he will work to earmark a bill in the House of Representatives to provide money through the Department of Veterans Affairs to purchase the sale-barn property to add to protect the future cemetery and the thousands of veterans are eligible for burial there already.
Please make donations payable to the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation and mail to P.O. Box 4221, Fayetteville, AR 72702.
For more information, please go to the RNCIC's Web site at http://regncic.tripod.com
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation's Web site
Monday, July 6, 2009
Lauren Hawkins asks City Council to protect neighborhood and Fayetteville National Cemetery
Dear members of the Fayetteville City Council:
I am a homeowner on the south side of Fayetteville — a field away from Pinnacle Foods, the train track, a neighborhood vest-pocket park and with the sale barn.
The blocks that separate me from the sale barn are mostly in the Fayetteville National Cemetery. The cemetery is one of only a few hundred across the country. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and now recognized as a National Shrine.
Many homes in this neighborhood were here when the sale barn was built. The cemetery was. My house was. Two close neighbor's houses were, though one was moved about 200 feet east by mules about the time sale barn was built. A house or two up the road were here to see the Butterfield stagecoach deliver mail. The rest of the neighborhood has grown up with the sale barn as its neighbor.
It is a quiet single-family neighborhood primarily, with a mix of light-industrial, agricultural, a few duplexes and a 12-unit single-story apartment building. The population includes a mix of young families, middle-aged and older folks living here.
This unique neighborhood is one that deserves to be preserved, as we see new developments attempt to emulate much of what we have.
The sale barn has met a few battles as Fayetteville grew up around it, I gather. Established use and preservation of a way of life have won its favor many a time.
The only thing that makes a bit of sense is to rezone the whole area to neighborhood conservation. Period.
The proposal to rezone the parcel to allow such things as rent-by-the-room student apartments is simply incompatible with the surroundings. We owe our veterans' final resting place as much.
Present estimates of the Fayetteville National Cemetery are for capacity to meet demand for the next decade. Will we have our troops out of harm's way by then?
I urge the Fayetteville City Council to be good stewards and take the opportunity to rezone to neighborhood conservation and nothing less.
Lauren Hawkins
I am a homeowner on the south side of Fayetteville — a field away from Pinnacle Foods, the train track, a neighborhood vest-pocket park and with the sale barn.
The blocks that separate me from the sale barn are mostly in the Fayetteville National Cemetery. The cemetery is one of only a few hundred across the country. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and now recognized as a National Shrine.
Many homes in this neighborhood were here when the sale barn was built. The cemetery was. My house was. Two close neighbor's houses were, though one was moved about 200 feet east by mules about the time sale barn was built. A house or two up the road were here to see the Butterfield stagecoach deliver mail. The rest of the neighborhood has grown up with the sale barn as its neighbor.
It is a quiet single-family neighborhood primarily, with a mix of light-industrial, agricultural, a few duplexes and a 12-unit single-story apartment building. The population includes a mix of young families, middle-aged and older folks living here.
This unique neighborhood is one that deserves to be preserved, as we see new developments attempt to emulate much of what we have.
The sale barn has met a few battles as Fayetteville grew up around it, I gather. Established use and preservation of a way of life have won its favor many a time.
The only thing that makes a bit of sense is to rezone the whole area to neighborhood conservation. Period.
The proposal to rezone the parcel to allow such things as rent-by-the-room student apartments is simply incompatible with the surroundings. We owe our veterans' final resting place as much.
Present estimates of the Fayetteville National Cemetery are for capacity to meet demand for the next decade. Will we have our troops out of harm's way by then?
I urge the Fayetteville City Council to be good stewards and take the opportunity to rezone to neighborhood conservation and nothing less.
Lauren Hawkins
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Honeybee on butterfly milkweed on June 30, 2009
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of honeybee on milkweed on June 30, 2009, at World Peace Wetland Prairie.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Robert Williams of Hill Ave says wait for Hill Place apartments to operate a year before allowing more apartments in Town Branch Neighborhood
Northwest Arkansas Times cartoon cites alternative to student apartments
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of June 28, 2009, cartoon from the Northwest Arkansas Times
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Hill Place contractor's machine compacting street base, water added, water carries limestone silt into Town Branch of Beaver Lake Watershed
Please click on image to see where limestone-dust siltation orginates and where it is going.
Issac Caudle, prisoner of war in Germany during WWII, wants cemetery expanded across sale-barn property
Veterans seek one year to raise funds
BY ROBIN MERO Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Thursday, June 25, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/77634/
State Sen. Sue Madison joined military veterans Wednesday at the Fayetteville National Cemetery to implore the public to attend a July 7 City Council meeting and object to nearby property being rezoned for apartment development.
"Anyone who has been to a service here was deeply moved by the sanctity of the place. This is a quiet, tranquil part of town, and I think that atmosphere needs to be preserved. A multistory apartment complex would be very incompatible - and tragic. We have enough apartments in Fayetteville already," Madison said. Her father is a retired lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army, she said.
Madison said she spoke to the veterans affairs liaison for U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln about finding stimulus funds for the purchase.
"He was very receptive to the idea," she said.
Veterans said they need one year to raise at least $2 million - preferably $4 million - to purchase the 9 acres that comprise the old Washington County Sale Barn property. After more than 70 years selling livestock, the barn's final sale is today, and owner Billy Joe Bartholomew said he will close the business. He has a contract with Campus Crest LLC of North Carolina to buy the land and build apartments geared toward university students.
The argument of neighbors and veterans is twofold: The land is needed for cemetery expansion, and apartments are a bad idea.
"Students are the worst kind of neighbor you can have," said Jim Buckner, senior vice commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Arkansas. "In 2023, this cemetery will be filled, and the only way we can expand enough to take us up to the end of this century is to acquire this property."
Buckner said he's guessing at the sale price being around $2 million, since neither Bartholomew or Campus Crest have revealed the contract price.
Veterans have raised $2,475 in private donations toward the purchase, Ron Butler of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation said. The RNCIC has nonprofit status to collect and hold the funds.
The morning press conference was held outside cemetery property to avoid the appearance of cemetery officials taking a position, and Cemetery Director Gloria Bailey was not present.
The city's Planning Commission recommended the rezoning be approved. The City Council tabled the request June 16, and it was moved to the July 7 agenda. The rezoning request, Downtown General, is a downzoning from the current heavy commercial/light industrial zoning. The land is located south of Martin Luther King Boulevard and west of School Avenue, directly across Government Avenue from the cemetery.
Andy Aldridge, Campus Crest representative, said Wednesday that the company made an offer to the Bartholomew family to purchase the sale barn property, which is now a binding contract between a buyer and a seller contingent upon approval of the rezoning.
"Campus Crest does not enter lightly into a contract such as this and fully plans to honor its commitment to the Bartholomew family and the community of Fayetteville," Aldridge said. "Throughout this process, Campus Crest has worked very hard to listen and understand the concerns of the neighbors in the area. And, we plan to continue the same level of community involvement and awareness."
Bartholomew has said veterans never approached him about buying the land until after the contract was entered. He said wishes he could afford to give the land to the cemetery but he needs to sell, he told the Planning Commission in May.
The July 7 City Council meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the City Administration Building, Room 219, 113 W. Mountain St.
Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Fayetteville man urges all to donate to help expand the National Cemetery
http://www.geocities.com/regncic/
Future looks grim for cemetery
It's sad when a graveyard dies. You wouldn't think so, but it is. "But how does a graveyard die?' you ask. It dies when it runs out of room. And "how is that sad?" you might inquire further. It's sad because it's happening right now to our beloved Fayetteville National Cemetery, the final resting place for over 7,000 servicemen and women. Veterans who fought and died in the Civil War are buried there. Servicemen and women who'll fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan will be buried there. And, of course, veterans from all the wars in between have been laid to rest there. It's sad to think of the day when the cemetery has to start turning away those whose last wish was to lie for all eternity alongside their compatriots, their brethren. Who will be the last, I wonder. What will be his or her name?
Sadly, this is the fate of the Fayetteville National Cemetery unless it can procure more land. One of only three in the state, the FNC is already smaller than the other two in terms of size and burial capacity. The projected year during which our veteran's cemetery will reach full capacity, if no more land is secured, is 2023. Fourteen years, folks. Fourteen short years and we'll know their name.
But it doesn't have to happen this way, citizens of Northwest Arkansas. We have one chance, but one chance only, to save this cemetery. At present, eight acres of land adjacent to the east of the cemetery, where the "sale barn" sits now, has come up for sale, and the owner is on the verge of selling it to an out-of-state developer who intends to build more of the last thing Fayetteville needs - apartment buildings. The owner has stated that he would like to see the cemetery have the land, but they haven't made him an offer.
One might assume that all the cemetery has to do is ask the federal government for the money. One would be wrong. Under the responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran's cemeteries can only accept land through donations. That's where you come in, citizens of Northwest Arkansas. I would venture to guess that almost everyone reading this letter is either a veteran, is related to a veteran, or knows a veteran, and understands how important this is, and should be, to veterans. It's time to spread the word. And you must move fast. A viable solution as to how the land can be purchased must be underway before the next City Council meeting, or the aldermen might vote in favor of the rezoning, effectively killing the cemetery.
The property owner has yet to reveal his asking price, instead requiring the cemetery to "make an offer." If someone out there, or a consortium of individuals out there, would step up and make that offer, then there's hope for survival of the Fayetteville National Cemetery. Otherwise, it will die.
Brian Jackson
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
Attn: Sue Graham, Treasurer
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702
CONTRIBUTION CARD
Please print out this page and fill in the information below. Then mail the form along with your donation to the address above. Checks may be made out to the RNCIC.
Name:____________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________
City, State, Zip:___________________________________________
• I donate to the (RNCIC) $_________________ Date __________________
Do NOT fill out below line
RECEIPT
Future looks grim for cemetery
It's sad when a graveyard dies. You wouldn't think so, but it is. "But how does a graveyard die?' you ask. It dies when it runs out of room. And "how is that sad?" you might inquire further. It's sad because it's happening right now to our beloved Fayetteville National Cemetery, the final resting place for over 7,000 servicemen and women. Veterans who fought and died in the Civil War are buried there. Servicemen and women who'll fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan will be buried there. And, of course, veterans from all the wars in between have been laid to rest there. It's sad to think of the day when the cemetery has to start turning away those whose last wish was to lie for all eternity alongside their compatriots, their brethren. Who will be the last, I wonder. What will be his or her name?
Sadly, this is the fate of the Fayetteville National Cemetery unless it can procure more land. One of only three in the state, the FNC is already smaller than the other two in terms of size and burial capacity. The projected year during which our veteran's cemetery will reach full capacity, if no more land is secured, is 2023. Fourteen years, folks. Fourteen short years and we'll know their name.
But it doesn't have to happen this way, citizens of Northwest Arkansas. We have one chance, but one chance only, to save this cemetery. At present, eight acres of land adjacent to the east of the cemetery, where the "sale barn" sits now, has come up for sale, and the owner is on the verge of selling it to an out-of-state developer who intends to build more of the last thing Fayetteville needs - apartment buildings. The owner has stated that he would like to see the cemetery have the land, but they haven't made him an offer.
One might assume that all the cemetery has to do is ask the federal government for the money. One would be wrong. Under the responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran's cemeteries can only accept land through donations. That's where you come in, citizens of Northwest Arkansas. I would venture to guess that almost everyone reading this letter is either a veteran, is related to a veteran, or knows a veteran, and understands how important this is, and should be, to veterans. It's time to spread the word. And you must move fast. A viable solution as to how the land can be purchased must be underway before the next City Council meeting, or the aldermen might vote in favor of the rezoning, effectively killing the cemetery.
The property owner has yet to reveal his asking price, instead requiring the cemetery to "make an offer." If someone out there, or a consortium of individuals out there, would step up and make that offer, then there's hope for survival of the Fayetteville National Cemetery. Otherwise, it will die.
Brian Jackson
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
Attn: Sue Graham, Treasurer
P.O. Box 4221
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702
CONTRIBUTION CARD
Please print out this page and fill in the information below. Then mail the form along with your donation to the address above. Checks may be made out to the RNCIC.
Name:____________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________
City, State, Zip:___________________________________________
• I donate to the (RNCIC) $_________________ Date __________________
Do NOT fill out below line
RECEIPT
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Butterfly gardens easy to grow all over, especially in the black, rich soil of the Town Branch valley in south Fayetteville, Arkansas
Butterfly gardens can be grown throughout the
United States. There is a wide variety of both butterfly
attracting (nectar) plants and host (food) plants cover-
ing climates zones throughout the country.
Creating a Garden
Gardens can range in size from containers to sever-
al acres. Butterflies like sunny sites and areas sheltered
from high winds and predators. Warm, sheltered sites
are most needed in the spring and fall. Butterflies are
cold-blooded insects that can only fly well when their
body temperatures are above 70oF. They are often seen
resting on rocks, which reflect the heat of the sun help-
ing to raise their body temperatures, so be sure to
include some rocks in your garden. It’s also beneficial
to have partly shady areas, like trees or shrubs, so they
can hide when it’s cloudy or cool off if it’s very hot.
Plants that attract butterflies are usually classified
as those that areafood source,anectar source or both.
Butterflies require food plants for their larval stages and
nectar plants for the adult stage. Some larvae feed on
specifichost plants, while others will feed on a variety
of plants. If possible, include both larval host plants
and adult nectar plants in your butterfly garden.
Butterflies also like puddles. Males of several
species congregate at small rain pools, forming “puddle
clubs”. Permanent puddles are very easy to make by
buryingabucket to therim, filling it with gravel or
sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer,
sweet drinks or water. Overripe fruit, allowed to sit for
afew days is a very attractive substance to butterflies
as well!
Life Cycle of A Butterfly
Butterflies go through a four-stage developmental
process known as metamorphosis (egg, larva or caterpil-
lar, pupa or chrysalis and adult). Understanding a but-
terfly’s life cycle can make butterfly watching more
enjoyable, andthis knowledge is an important asset to
those who want to understand the principles of attract-
ingbutterflies to their gardens.
Butterflies begin their life as an egg, laid either
singly or in clusters depending on the species. A very
tiny caterpillar emerges and, after consuming its egg
shell, begins feeding on its host plant. Caterpillars must
crawl out of their skin or molt, usually around five times,
before changing into a pupa. Finally, an adult butterfly
emerges, spreads its wings and flies away.
Butterflies typically lay their eggs in late spring and
hatch 3 to 6 days after they are laid. It takes 3 to 4
weeks for a caterpillar to pupate and 9 to 14 days to
emerge as an adult.
Host Plants
Adult female butterflies spend time searching for
food plants required by the immature caterpillar stage.
Most butterflies have specific host plants on which they
develop. For example, caterpillars of the monarch but-
terfly develop only on milkweed, while the black swal-
lowtail feeds only on parsley, dill and closely related
plants. Planting an adequate supply of the proper host
plants gives butterflies a place to lay their eggs, which
will successfully hatch and result in butterflies that will
continue to visit thegarden. Providing the necessary
food plants for the developing caterpillars also allows
production of a “native” population that can be
observed in all stages ofdevelopment.
To enjoy adult butterflies, you have to be willing to
allow their caterpillars to feed on foliage in your garden.
Food source plants that support caterpillars include the
annual marigold, snapdragon and violet; the perennial
butterfly milkweed, daisy and various herbs; the ash,
birch, cherry, dogwood, poplar and willow trees; lilac
shrubs; juniper evergreens and more.
The weediness of some host plants makes them less
than desirable for a space within your more attractive
garden beds, but they serve the same function if you
place them away in a corner of the yard. To keep them
from becoming invasive, remember to remove their
spentblooms before they go to seed.
Plants to Attract Butterflies
To attract the most butterflies, design a garden
that provides a long season of flowers (nectar plants).
The time of flowering, duration of bloom, flower color
and plant size are all important considerations when
selecting plants to attract butterflies. A wide variety of
food plants will give the greatest diversity of visitors.
Choose a mixture of annuals and perennials.
Annuals bloom all summer but must be replanted every
spring (after the last frost). Perennials bloom year after
year from the same roots but their blooming periods are
typically limited to a few weeks or months. To ensure
the availability of nectar sources throughout the sum-
mer, long-blooming annuals should be planted between
the perennials.
Try staggering wild and cultivated plants, as well as
blooming times of the day and year. Planting in mass
(several plants of the same kind) will usually attract
more butterflies, as there is more nectar available to
them at a single stop. Plants with clusters of flowers
are often better than plants with small, single flowers
because it is easier for butterflies to landon clustered
and/or larger flowers.
Many plants which attract butterflies, especially
trees and shrubs, may already be present in a specific
area. Shrubs include azalea, spirea, butterfly bush and
lilacs. Although weeds andsomenative plants are gen-
erally not welcomein a garden, allowingthem to grow
under supervision may be an option, as these plants
help attract butterflies. Try to avoid plants that readily
reseed and may take over and dominate garden sites.
Perennials, such as chives, dianthus, beebalm, but-
terfly weed, mints, black-eyed susan and purple cone-
flower offer a succession of blooms, other perennials
include coreopsis, lavender, phlox, sedum and yarrow.
Add annuals that flower all season, such as cosmos, lan-
tana, pentas,petunias, phlox, salvia and zinnias. Select
flowers with manysmall tubular flowers or florets like
liatris, goldenrod and verbena. Or chose those with sin-
gle flowers, such as marigold, daisy and sunflower.
Butterflies are attracted to flowers with strong
scents and bright colors, where they drink sweet energy-
rich nectar. Planting a variety of nectar sources will
encourage more butterflies to visit the garden.
For better butterfly viewing, plant the tallest
plants in the rear of the garden and work smaller or
shorter towardthefront.
Butterfly
Gardens
Creating, Growing and Enjoying
EARLMAYSEED&NURSERY
www.earlmay.com
SHENANDOAH, IOWA51603
Butterfly Host Plants(continued)
Trees Herbs
Ash Dill
Birch Parsley
Cherry Sweet Fennel
Dogwood
Linden
Poplar
Willow
Butterfly Attracting Plants
Annuals Perennials
Ageratum Aster
Cosmos Beebalm
Gomphrena Blanket Flower
Heliotrope Butterfly Milkweed
Lantana Coreopsis
Marigold Daisy
Nasturtium Dame’s Rocket
Nicotiana Daylily
Pentas Dianthus
Petunia Liatris
Phlox Phlox
Salvia Purple Coneflower
Snapdragon Rudbeckia
Statice Russian Sage
Sunflower Salvia
Sweet Alyssum Scabiosa
Verbena Sedum
Zinnia Veronica
Yarrow
Shrubs Herbs
Azalea Catnip
Butterfly Bush Chives
Lilacs Lavender
Mock Orange Mint
Potentilla
Viburnun
Cut Back on Insecticides
It’s difficult to have a successful butterfly garden
inalocation where insecticides are used. Pesticides,
specifically insecticides, kill not only the insects you
want to get rid of – they also kill the insects you want
tokeep, such as monarch caterpillars. Even biological
controls such as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) will kill but-
terfly larvae. When treating for insect pests, always
consider non-chemical methods of pest control before
turning to pesticides.
Let Your Garden Grow
Most butterfly species over-winter nearby. This
means that their eggs, chrysalises, or larvae are likely to
be in or near your yard during the non-gardening
months. Some will even hibernate as adults. Do not
mow weed sites, cut down dead plants or dismantle
woodpiles which provide them safe shelter in the off-
season until the weather warms up.
Enjoying Your Butterfly Garden
Butterfly gardens are a great source of enjoyment
for everyone. Visiting butterflies include a variety of
different species and names, depending upon the region
of the country in which you live. To learn more about
which plants help in attracting butterflies get your copy
of National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds,
Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife by David
Mizejewski or the Earl May Perennial Guideavailable at
your local Earl May Nursery & Garden Center.
Butterfly Host Plants
Annuals Perennials
Marigold Butterfly Milkweed
Snapdragon Daisy
Violet
Shrubs Evergreens
Lilacs Juniper
IBM# 912600 750 4/08
Copyright Earl May Seed & Nursery L.C. ©
Friday, June 19, 2009
A special meeting of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation is to begin at 10:30 A.M. Saturday. Visitors welcome
The Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation special meeting is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the American Legion Hut in Fayetteville, Arkansas. For a map and directions, please see below.
View Larger Map
Please attend and meet the group and consider donating to help the veterans fight for the dignity of the FAYETTEVILLE NATIONAL CEMETERY, a true national shrine. The cemetery will be degraded if the city of Fayetteville allows a developer to build student apartments next to it on the Washington County Sale Barn property. If rezoning to allow student apartments is allowed by the city council, the cemetery will never again have a chance to raise money and buy the sale-barn land. The fund-raising effort must show progress as soon as possible.
View Larger Map
Please attend and meet the group and consider donating to help the veterans fight for the dignity of the FAYETTEVILLE NATIONAL CEMETERY, a true national shrine. The cemetery will be degraded if the city of Fayetteville allows a developer to build student apartments next to it on the Washington County Sale Barn property. If rezoning to allow student apartments is allowed by the city council, the cemetery will never again have a chance to raise money and buy the sale-barn land. The fund-raising effort must show progress as soon as possible.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Morning News says neighbors, veterans oppose apartments next to National Cemetery
Please click on image of a few of the several veterans who spoke out against the proposed student-apartment complex that an out-of-state developer has proposed for construction adjacent to the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on June 16, 2009.
The Morning News
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/06/16/news/061709fzcouncil.txt
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
New Water Tank Gets Approval; neighbors, veterans disapprove powerfully of sale-barn rezoning next to National Cemetery
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — It took a week, but a decision among the city and residents has been reached to locate a half-million-gallon water tank on the hilltop neighborhood of Hyland Park.
A 143-foot water tank will be built on a .66-acre secluded site on Lovers Lane. The site is one of the four sites originally explored, but it was generally viewed as too expensive, in terms of land cost and needed infrastructure. This site will add about $220,000 to the cost of the project, said Dave Jurgens, Fayetteville utility director.
However, city officials have negotiated a deal with Hyland Park resident Jim Waselues for him to pay the city $75,000 for the original lot intended for the tank — known as Lot 22. In turn, Gary Combs, owner of the Lovers Lane site will donate his site to the city.
"Although I'm not crazy about spending $200,000 more, I think it shows that the city is willing to be flexible and work with people," said Bobby Ferrell a council member.
"Maybe everyone's not totally satisfied, but this is probably the best solution," said Adella Gray a council member from Ward 1.
The project was opposed by the Hyland Park Homeowner's Association that did not want a water tank in their backyards, saying it will negatively impact views, property value and the general aesthetic nature of the neighborhood.
What did not move forward was any decision regarding rezoning the old Washington County Sale Barn site. The barn intends to hold its last sale June 25, said Steve Bartholemew, one of the sale barn's owners.
A 192-unit student housing apartment development is proposed for the nine-acre site. Some 50 people showed up for the council meeting Tuesday to oppose not only the rezoning, but more largely, the development.
It wasn't just residents from the area petitioning the council to deny the downtown general rezoning, but numerous veterans from across Northwest Arkansas. A national military cemetery — the final resting place for 7,963 deceased veterans — sits adjacent to the site. Veterans would like to expand the cemetery into the sale barn site. However, no deal has been reached say veterans and Bartholemew.
"If we can just stave off this rezoning at this time, it will give us that time," said Jim Buckner, a retired lieutenant colonel and a representative of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
"There are private resources," Buckner added, and who said student housing would be "a terrible neighbor."
"In fact it would only be a beer can throw away from our veterans buried there," he continued.
"There has been no contact with us on a dollar amount," said Bartholomew. "I do know that they have talked, but there has never been a dollar amount."
Wanda Peterson, who's lived in the neighborhood since 1938 and has family buried in the cemetery, was passionate in her plea to stop the rezoning.
"I just can't bear an apartment building shadowing those graves," Peterson told the council.
Others reminded the council the current zoning is light industrial and a number of undesirable land uses could move in without the rezoning.
"The rezoning tonight is a downzoing from industrial to a downtown general," said Dustin Bartholomew, grandson to Billy Joe Bartholomew, co-owner of the Washington County Sale Barn.
"The things that could be built there at this time could be a lot more damaging than what's being proposed," Dustin Bartholomew said.
What Comes Next?
Washington County Sale Barn Rezoning
• The ordinance was left on its first reading.
• It will be considered again at the next council meeting.
For government channel schedule of reruns of the council meeting on City 16 on Cox Cable, please see
http://fayettevillearkgovernmentchannel.blogspot.com
The first rebroadcast of the June 16 city council meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. today and the second is at 7:30 p.m. today.
Rebroadcasts of the June 8 meeting of the Town Branch neighbors with the developers who want the sale barn rezoned for student apartments are set for CAT 18 on cox cable at 11 a.m. Wednesday, 3 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
I am uncertain how this affects the short takes normally run at those times. Some weeks, few short takes are recorded. In fact, the one I recorded for those time slots is mostly about the same issue! I apologize to anyone who did a short take and is bumped by this very timely production.
When all equipment is running properly, the shows run on CAT 18 are run simultaneously on the Internet from the CAT Web site for those with access to the Web but no cable television.
The Morning News
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/06/16/news/061709fzcouncil.txt
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
New Water Tank Gets Approval; neighbors, veterans disapprove powerfully of sale-barn rezoning next to National Cemetery
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — It took a week, but a decision among the city and residents has been reached to locate a half-million-gallon water tank on the hilltop neighborhood of Hyland Park.
A 143-foot water tank will be built on a .66-acre secluded site on Lovers Lane. The site is one of the four sites originally explored, but it was generally viewed as too expensive, in terms of land cost and needed infrastructure. This site will add about $220,000 to the cost of the project, said Dave Jurgens, Fayetteville utility director.
However, city officials have negotiated a deal with Hyland Park resident Jim Waselues for him to pay the city $75,000 for the original lot intended for the tank — known as Lot 22. In turn, Gary Combs, owner of the Lovers Lane site will donate his site to the city.
"Although I'm not crazy about spending $200,000 more, I think it shows that the city is willing to be flexible and work with people," said Bobby Ferrell a council member.
"Maybe everyone's not totally satisfied, but this is probably the best solution," said Adella Gray a council member from Ward 1.
The project was opposed by the Hyland Park Homeowner's Association that did not want a water tank in their backyards, saying it will negatively impact views, property value and the general aesthetic nature of the neighborhood.
What did not move forward was any decision regarding rezoning the old Washington County Sale Barn site. The barn intends to hold its last sale June 25, said Steve Bartholemew, one of the sale barn's owners.
A 192-unit student housing apartment development is proposed for the nine-acre site. Some 50 people showed up for the council meeting Tuesday to oppose not only the rezoning, but more largely, the development.
It wasn't just residents from the area petitioning the council to deny the downtown general rezoning, but numerous veterans from across Northwest Arkansas. A national military cemetery — the final resting place for 7,963 deceased veterans — sits adjacent to the site. Veterans would like to expand the cemetery into the sale barn site. However, no deal has been reached say veterans and Bartholemew.
"If we can just stave off this rezoning at this time, it will give us that time," said Jim Buckner, a retired lieutenant colonel and a representative of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
"There are private resources," Buckner added, and who said student housing would be "a terrible neighbor."
"In fact it would only be a beer can throw away from our veterans buried there," he continued.
"There has been no contact with us on a dollar amount," said Bartholomew. "I do know that they have talked, but there has never been a dollar amount."
Wanda Peterson, who's lived in the neighborhood since 1938 and has family buried in the cemetery, was passionate in her plea to stop the rezoning.
"I just can't bear an apartment building shadowing those graves," Peterson told the council.
Others reminded the council the current zoning is light industrial and a number of undesirable land uses could move in without the rezoning.
"The rezoning tonight is a downzoing from industrial to a downtown general," said Dustin Bartholomew, grandson to Billy Joe Bartholomew, co-owner of the Washington County Sale Barn.
"The things that could be built there at this time could be a lot more damaging than what's being proposed," Dustin Bartholomew said.
What Comes Next?
Washington County Sale Barn Rezoning
• The ordinance was left on its first reading.
• It will be considered again at the next council meeting.
For government channel schedule of reruns of the council meeting on City 16 on Cox Cable, please see
http://fayettevillearkgovernmentchannel.blogspot.com
The first rebroadcast of the June 16 city council meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. today and the second is at 7:30 p.m. today.
Rebroadcasts of the June 8 meeting of the Town Branch neighbors with the developers who want the sale barn rezoned for student apartments are set for CAT 18 on cox cable at 11 a.m. Wednesday, 3 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
I am uncertain how this affects the short takes normally run at those times. Some weeks, few short takes are recorded. In fact, the one I recorded for those time slots is mostly about the same issue! I apologize to anyone who did a short take and is bumped by this very timely production.
When all equipment is running properly, the shows run on CAT 18 are run simultaneously on the Internet from the CAT Web site for those with access to the Web but no cable television.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Meeting of vets, Town Branch neighbors and developers from last Monday on CAT 18 and internet at 10:30 P.M.
Video of Town Branch Neighborhood meeting with developers of sale barn property to be shown on Cox cable channel CAT 18 starting at 10:30 p.m. Please watch to get an idea of the issues that will affect neighbors and the National Cemetery.
Meeting video streams online at the same time at
http://www.catfayetteville.org
Meeting video streams online at the same time at
http://www.catfayetteville.org
Monday, June 15, 2009
Fran Alexander says support your local NIMBYs because your backyard could be next!
CROSS CURRENTS : Our backyards
Fran Alexander frana@nwarktimes.com
Posted on Monday, June 15, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/77415/
I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for NIMBYs, and it doesn't even matter if I agree with their issues or not. When people draw a line in the sand and declare, "That's it - no longer will I put up with this," it is like witnessing the birth of citizenship. "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) reactions lift people off couches, send them into research and action/organizing modes and introduces many of them to how their community government is run.
Contrary to what our public servants on councils, boards, and quorum courts probably think, people rarely stand up for themselves in relation to how many times they actually should. If they did, no one would serve on these civic bodies because their workload would consist of 12-hour days. Apathy, innocence, and ignorance (the unintentional kind) keep a sleepy populace manageable because rarely do the masses bother to coalesce in large, angry numbers to push down the doors of city halls or courthouses. Oh, but when a group of citizens have had enough, those in politics might do well to check on the local sales figures for torches and pitchforks!
From the east, south, and west parts of Fayetteville, there are some hot backyard issues cooking on the grill this summer. On the east side, folks in the Hyland Park neighborhood continue their resistance to the construction of a crucial city water tower smack in the middle of several residents' lines of sight. The approved tower would be so close to some houses that the owners feel their property values and personal enjoyment of their homes will be lost or severely diminished.
The controversy centers to a large extent around what the intent of use was for a specific lot on that hill, which the city says was long ago designated for a water tower, but some believe that such a huge tank was not the objective for Lot 22. Alternative locations or solutions continue to be sought that will not cost either the city or the neighborhood's residents millions of dollars to remedy. Obviously at some point in time property buyers must not have had full disclosure nor knew to seek out details for what might be constructed on that hilltop. Perhaps a citywide property buyers' awareness guide needs to be created.
South Fayetteville is home to some of the oldest neighborhoods that were once "out in the country." Because of how the area grew over time, the changes there have created a mishmash of zones within close proximity to each other. For example, part of the cattle sale barn property is zoned "industrial," another part as "RMF-24," which translates as "residential multifamily - 24 units (or less) to an acre." Next to the sale barn is an established older neighborhood (also zoned RMF-24) and the Fayetteville National Cemetery, the final resting place of military veterans since 1867.
The owner of the Washington County Sale Barn wants to sell, and a builder of college student housing has made an offer contingent chiefly on a zoning change to Downtown General. However, the neighborhood is feeling the squeeze between the recently constructed Hill Place apartments for 800 students (and their cars) to their north, and this newer proposal, which will add 500 more on the east, further congesting what was once a peaceful place.
"Peaceful" is a key ingredient as well in regard to the national cemetery location. Currently without the funds to make or match an offer on the sale barn property, the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation (P.O. Box 4221, Fayetteville, AR 72702) is looking for donations in order to expand before reaching capacity around 2023. Supposedly our nation promises the benefit of burial in a national cemetery to our service people, but there is no ongoing land acquisition paid for by our government. (Talk about need for a bailout!)
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Civil War Discovery Trail, this cemetery is a very special place where families and friends come to honor and remember those who served our country in the military. The possible ramifications that can accompany student life worries many who care greatly about the solemnity of this very intimate place.
Sorry that they did not petition to do it sooner, the neighborhood needs other voices to help them tomorrow night, Tuesday, June 16 at 6 p.m., in getting the City Council to agree with their request to rezone the whole area to "Neighborhood Conservation." This zoning would allow for some mix of uses, but "serves to promote and protect neighborhood character."
Moving westward, we find citizens who once enjoyed the pastoral peace of their area before dirt farm companies began to dig up the scenery a few years back. Unaware of any opportunities to object at the time this activity was permitted, residents tried to reconcile their loss with the knowledge that when the 45 acres of dirt were eventually depleted, they would be left looking at a pit, but at least the excavation noise and dust would end. Now they face applications by the landowners for a 100 acre expansion, plus the quarrying of the limestone that lies below the red dirt.
Adding insult to injury, the Quorum Court granted a conditional use for this quarrying, which could mean decades of blasting, truck traffic, dust, environmental harm, and continued degradation of the residents' surroundings. So, as in many cases of this sort, the West Fayetteville Citizens for Environmental Quality ("http://www.wfceq.com") has had to raise money in order to take legal action to correct what they see as detrimental and incompatible land use. They are supporting a county ordinance, "which discourages the establishment or the expansion of the non-conforming uses," within two miles of the limits of an incorporated city. They hope their fellow citizens will e-mail or call the Quorum Court members in support of this ordinance.
We need to view these backyard battling warriors among us as defenders for us all instead of the usual dismissal such isolated efforts are given by people who do not think they have a dog in these fights. As the west Fayettevillians point out, the next pit could be coming to a backyard near you.
Fran Alexander is a local resident and active environmentalist.
Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
Fran Alexander frana@nwarktimes.com
Posted on Monday, June 15, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/77415/
I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for NIMBYs, and it doesn't even matter if I agree with their issues or not. When people draw a line in the sand and declare, "That's it - no longer will I put up with this," it is like witnessing the birth of citizenship. "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) reactions lift people off couches, send them into research and action/organizing modes and introduces many of them to how their community government is run.
Contrary to what our public servants on councils, boards, and quorum courts probably think, people rarely stand up for themselves in relation to how many times they actually should. If they did, no one would serve on these civic bodies because their workload would consist of 12-hour days. Apathy, innocence, and ignorance (the unintentional kind) keep a sleepy populace manageable because rarely do the masses bother to coalesce in large, angry numbers to push down the doors of city halls or courthouses. Oh, but when a group of citizens have had enough, those in politics might do well to check on the local sales figures for torches and pitchforks!
From the east, south, and west parts of Fayetteville, there are some hot backyard issues cooking on the grill this summer. On the east side, folks in the Hyland Park neighborhood continue their resistance to the construction of a crucial city water tower smack in the middle of several residents' lines of sight. The approved tower would be so close to some houses that the owners feel their property values and personal enjoyment of their homes will be lost or severely diminished.
The controversy centers to a large extent around what the intent of use was for a specific lot on that hill, which the city says was long ago designated for a water tower, but some believe that such a huge tank was not the objective for Lot 22. Alternative locations or solutions continue to be sought that will not cost either the city or the neighborhood's residents millions of dollars to remedy. Obviously at some point in time property buyers must not have had full disclosure nor knew to seek out details for what might be constructed on that hilltop. Perhaps a citywide property buyers' awareness guide needs to be created.
South Fayetteville is home to some of the oldest neighborhoods that were once "out in the country." Because of how the area grew over time, the changes there have created a mishmash of zones within close proximity to each other. For example, part of the cattle sale barn property is zoned "industrial," another part as "RMF-24," which translates as "residential multifamily - 24 units (or less) to an acre." Next to the sale barn is an established older neighborhood (also zoned RMF-24) and the Fayetteville National Cemetery, the final resting place of military veterans since 1867.
The owner of the Washington County Sale Barn wants to sell, and a builder of college student housing has made an offer contingent chiefly on a zoning change to Downtown General. However, the neighborhood is feeling the squeeze between the recently constructed Hill Place apartments for 800 students (and their cars) to their north, and this newer proposal, which will add 500 more on the east, further congesting what was once a peaceful place.
"Peaceful" is a key ingredient as well in regard to the national cemetery location. Currently without the funds to make or match an offer on the sale barn property, the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation (P.O. Box 4221, Fayetteville, AR 72702) is looking for donations in order to expand before reaching capacity around 2023. Supposedly our nation promises the benefit of burial in a national cemetery to our service people, but there is no ongoing land acquisition paid for by our government. (Talk about need for a bailout!)
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Civil War Discovery Trail, this cemetery is a very special place where families and friends come to honor and remember those who served our country in the military. The possible ramifications that can accompany student life worries many who care greatly about the solemnity of this very intimate place.
Sorry that they did not petition to do it sooner, the neighborhood needs other voices to help them tomorrow night, Tuesday, June 16 at 6 p.m., in getting the City Council to agree with their request to rezone the whole area to "Neighborhood Conservation." This zoning would allow for some mix of uses, but "serves to promote and protect neighborhood character."
Moving westward, we find citizens who once enjoyed the pastoral peace of their area before dirt farm companies began to dig up the scenery a few years back. Unaware of any opportunities to object at the time this activity was permitted, residents tried to reconcile their loss with the knowledge that when the 45 acres of dirt were eventually depleted, they would be left looking at a pit, but at least the excavation noise and dust would end. Now they face applications by the landowners for a 100 acre expansion, plus the quarrying of the limestone that lies below the red dirt.
Adding insult to injury, the Quorum Court granted a conditional use for this quarrying, which could mean decades of blasting, truck traffic, dust, environmental harm, and continued degradation of the residents' surroundings. So, as in many cases of this sort, the West Fayetteville Citizens for Environmental Quality ("http://www.wfceq.com") has had to raise money in order to take legal action to correct what they see as detrimental and incompatible land use. They are supporting a county ordinance, "which discourages the establishment or the expansion of the non-conforming uses," within two miles of the limits of an incorporated city. They hope their fellow citizens will e-mail or call the Quorum Court members in support of this ordinance.
We need to view these backyard battling warriors among us as defenders for us all instead of the usual dismissal such isolated efforts are given by people who do not think they have a dog in these fights. As the west Fayettevillians point out, the next pit could be coming to a backyard near you.
Fran Alexander is a local resident and active environmentalist.
Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
Friday, June 12, 2009
Peace-garden tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday June 13, 2009
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of OMNI Peace Garden Tour Poster.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Peg commented:
"ok, i have to wonder how people would react if the developer was coming in to put a livestock sale barn in next door to a national shrine. i am not promoting the apartments but this shrine argument loses credibility when one realizes what's been there for decades."
Aubrey James Shepherd replies:
In 1867, that cemetery was built OUTSIDE the city with farm land surrounding it. Cattle surely grazed there from the beginning. They probably grazed inside the cemetery for some years before a significant fence was ever installed. Didn't require mowing! People visited the cemetery afoot, on horseback or in a horsedrawn carriage or wagon.
When the sale barn was built in 1936, many people still used such transportation. I grew up in the 1940s in Shreveport and remember that mules pulled garbage wagons through WWII!
The house I live in only 2 blocks from cemetery property was adjacent to a dairy farm in the 1930s. And there were no buildings between the sale barn and cemetery and my house as late as the 1940s or 50s. Those cattle grazed all over the area freely well into the 20th century every day of the year. Almost no cattle are at the barn all week long now. Wednesday and Thursday are the sale days. There is NO FEED-LOT operation there.
Certainly, few would advocate bringing a sale barn near the center of the city now. But the sale barn is a true historic site in its own right. It is a part of the agricultural heritage; and losing it will cause inconvenience and extra expense to dairy and beef-cattle producers. It will encourage the selling of grazing land and the most likely next use will be SPRAWL
"ok, i have to wonder how people would react if the developer was coming in to put a livestock sale barn in next door to a national shrine. i am not promoting the apartments but this shrine argument loses credibility when one realizes what's been there for decades."
Aubrey James Shepherd replies:
In 1867, that cemetery was built OUTSIDE the city with farm land surrounding it. Cattle surely grazed there from the beginning. They probably grazed inside the cemetery for some years before a significant fence was ever installed. Didn't require mowing! People visited the cemetery afoot, on horseback or in a horsedrawn carriage or wagon.
When the sale barn was built in 1936, many people still used such transportation. I grew up in the 1940s in Shreveport and remember that mules pulled garbage wagons through WWII!
The house I live in only 2 blocks from cemetery property was adjacent to a dairy farm in the 1930s. And there were no buildings between the sale barn and cemetery and my house as late as the 1940s or 50s. Those cattle grazed all over the area freely well into the 20th century every day of the year. Almost no cattle are at the barn all week long now. Wednesday and Thursday are the sale days. There is NO FEED-LOT operation there.
Certainly, few would advocate bringing a sale barn near the center of the city now. But the sale barn is a true historic site in its own right. It is a part of the agricultural heritage; and losing it will cause inconvenience and extra expense to dairy and beef-cattle producers. It will encourage the selling of grazing land and the most likely next use will be SPRAWL
Monday, June 8, 2009
Neighbors, veterans to meet developers of proposed student apartments next to Fayetteville National Cemetery at 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, 2009
The gathering will be at the South Hill Avenue Church of Christ near 11th Street at 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, 2009.
Everyone is welcome.
Everyone is welcome.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Apartment building plan for sale barn property next to National Cemetery subject of meeting at 6 p.m. Monday June 8 at S. Hill Avenue Church of Christ
Town Branch Neighborhood Association invites everyone to participate.
http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com offers information and photos from the neighborhood and links to the history of the neighborhood at http://www.aubunique.com
Please come to our neighborhood meeting at 6:00 p.m, Monday June 8, 1009 at the Hill Avenue Church of Christ, 1136 S. Hill Ave., near Intersection of 11th St. and Hill Ave./Ellis Ave.
The sale barn property is to be sold and we can help decide what is built there, The current proposal by the developers will mean another 500 residents in our small neighborhood.
The developers (Campus Crest) and the owner Mr. Bartholomew have put in a request to rezone the livestock-auction property to Downtown General. They already have approval by the planning commission, and now it will go before Fayetteville City Council on June 16.
But we do not have to sit idly by and watch this happen; we can voice our opinion. The Town Branch Neighborhood Association has a plan to request that our neighborhood be rezoned to “neighborhood conservation.” This will protect us from such high impact developments, now and in the future.
Our neighborhood is mostly single-family homes and most neighbors want to keep it that way.
We have all the details and want to share them with you at our Town Branch Neighborhood meeting so that we can make a difference.
This is a crucial issue in our neighborhood, and we need as many people as possible to come to this meeting and subsequent City Council meetings.
With Hill Place almost complete and possible rezoning of the sale barn property we will have 1,300 more people (University of Arkansas students) in our neighborhood. With an increase in traffic & noise, a once quiet neighborhood will change forever.
We can make a difference, but only with your help.
***Campus Crest Development, a student-housing company based in Charlotte, N.C., has proposed building an apartment complex on the “Sale-barn property” currently owned by Billy Joe Bartholomew.
The proposal will be to allow construction of 192 apartment units that will house approximately 512 students on 10 acres. The buildings will be 3 to 4 stories high hovering over the National Cemetery for U.S. military veterans immediately to its west. Each apartment will be 2 & 3 bedrooms. Apartments will be leased out by the bedroom, and each student bedroom will have a lock on the door.
Please come to the Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at the Church of Christ at 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, at 1136 S. Hill Ave.
Developers will be there for first part of meeting to show plans and answer at questions.
Next City Council Meeting is Tuesday, June 16 — we need as many neighbors as possible to come and voice their opinion!
For details, contact Kathy at 443-5751 or mail4ktk@yahoo.com
or Aubrey Shepherd at 444-6072 or aubreyshepherd@hotmail.com
For related information, please visit
http://aubreyshepherd.blogspot.com
http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com offers information and photos from the neighborhood and links to the history of the neighborhood at http://www.aubunique.com
Please come to our neighborhood meeting at 6:00 p.m, Monday June 8, 1009 at the Hill Avenue Church of Christ, 1136 S. Hill Ave., near Intersection of 11th St. and Hill Ave./Ellis Ave.
The sale barn property is to be sold and we can help decide what is built there, The current proposal by the developers will mean another 500 residents in our small neighborhood.
The developers (Campus Crest) and the owner Mr. Bartholomew have put in a request to rezone the livestock-auction property to Downtown General. They already have approval by the planning commission, and now it will go before Fayetteville City Council on June 16.
But we do not have to sit idly by and watch this happen; we can voice our opinion. The Town Branch Neighborhood Association has a plan to request that our neighborhood be rezoned to “neighborhood conservation.” This will protect us from such high impact developments, now and in the future.
Our neighborhood is mostly single-family homes and most neighbors want to keep it that way.
We have all the details and want to share them with you at our Town Branch Neighborhood meeting so that we can make a difference.
This is a crucial issue in our neighborhood, and we need as many people as possible to come to this meeting and subsequent City Council meetings.
With Hill Place almost complete and possible rezoning of the sale barn property we will have 1,300 more people (University of Arkansas students) in our neighborhood. With an increase in traffic & noise, a once quiet neighborhood will change forever.
We can make a difference, but only with your help.
***Campus Crest Development, a student-housing company based in Charlotte, N.C., has proposed building an apartment complex on the “Sale-barn property” currently owned by Billy Joe Bartholomew.
The proposal will be to allow construction of 192 apartment units that will house approximately 512 students on 10 acres. The buildings will be 3 to 4 stories high hovering over the National Cemetery for U.S. military veterans immediately to its west. Each apartment will be 2 & 3 bedrooms. Apartments will be leased out by the bedroom, and each student bedroom will have a lock on the door.
Please come to the Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at the Church of Christ at 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, at 1136 S. Hill Ave.
Developers will be there for first part of meeting to show plans and answer at questions.
Next City Council Meeting is Tuesday, June 16 — we need as many neighbors as possible to come and voice their opinion!
For details, contact Kathy at 443-5751 or mail4ktk@yahoo.com
or Aubrey Shepherd at 444-6072 or aubreyshepherd@hotmail.com
For related information, please visit
http://aubreyshepherd.blogspot.com
Neighbors, veterans to meet developers of proposed student apartments next to Fayetteville National Cemetery at 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, 2009
The gathering will be at the South Hill Avenue Church of Christ near 11th Street at 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, 2009.
Everyone is welcome.
Everyone is welcome.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
How to support the National Cemetery
Had the public gotten on board to support the
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
there would be no discussion of student apartments being built adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
Please visit the Web address above.
Someone anonymously posted the following comment on an earlier thread>
"Donations can be sent to
RNCIC
PO Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702-4221
Please donate, even if it a small amount, every bit helps! Tell all your friends to donate also. The neighborhood is going to fight this zoning and the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation will have to act fast if we are able to stop the city council from rezoning."
Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation
there would be no discussion of student apartments being built adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
Please visit the Web address above.
Someone anonymously posted the following comment on an earlier thread>
"Donations can be sent to
RNCIC
PO Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702-4221
Please donate, even if it a small amount, every bit helps! Tell all your friends to donate also. The neighborhood is going to fight this zoning and the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation will have to act fast if we are able to stop the city council from rezoning."
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Budd Saunders shared this letter to the editor with friends more than a week ago and it was published Saturday
Gotta give the newspapers first shot or they might think it is old news.
So here is what they published pretty much as Budd wrote it.
Letters to the editor
Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/76982/
Veterans could use the land
By the time this is published I will have attended the Memorial Day ceremony at the Fayetteville National Cemetery. The ceremony is to honor those who have served our country with honor. Many fought in our country's wars.
I was standing near the flag pole talking with a friend. He looked around and asked me how many friends of mine are buried in the cemetery. I thought a moment and said, "All of them." That sounds like false patriotism but it's quite true. I didn't know most of them personally, but attending memorials and funerals honoring their service makes them friends of mine.
Several years ago vandals sprayed red paint on 60 headstones. I went to see the damage. My eyes were burning with tears as I walked along looking over the scene. That act dishonored that garden of stone which is hallowed ground. The cemetery's crew and the volunteers worked in freezing weather, with a cold north wind blowing sleet into their faces. It was hard work, and it took three days to clean the bright, red paint from the headstones.
I wrote in an open letter to the Northwest Arkansas Times that I wanted to talk with the young boys who had done this terrible deed. That's all I wanted to do. Let them walk with me through the cemetery. I would read the headstones to them while I explained what they meant. For example, there's Clarence B. Craft, U.S. Army, Medal of Honor for Valor Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. There are veterans buried there from the Civil War, the Mexican border war, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and more recently Afghanistan and Iraq. Many are unknown but still honored for their service.
Fayetteville has one of the few national cemeteries with room to grow, and the old sale barn area beside the cemetery is for sale. I am a member of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation. We raise money any way we can to buy land around the national cemetery. Earlier this year Milo Cumpston, one of the founders of our organization and a Marine survivor of Iwo Jima, arranged to purchase enough land to have burials until 2023. Milo was the last of the five veterans who founded the RNCIC.
Developers want to build student housing on the sale barn land. I don't know that students living near the cemetery will desecrate the cemetery, but there's a good chance they will. When we lived in Fayetteville years ago our home was across from Evergreen Cemetery. That is close to the University of Arkansas campus. Regularly I had to go over there and break up parties. Students damaged the headstones and grave markers. They meant no harm, but being young they didn't give it a thought if it was fun.
The RNCIC wants to purchase the land for the cemetery, but we don't know where to turn for the money. Can you help?
Budd Saunders
Durham
So here is what they published pretty much as Budd wrote it.
Letters to the editor
Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2009
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/76982/
Veterans could use the land
By the time this is published I will have attended the Memorial Day ceremony at the Fayetteville National Cemetery. The ceremony is to honor those who have served our country with honor. Many fought in our country's wars.
I was standing near the flag pole talking with a friend. He looked around and asked me how many friends of mine are buried in the cemetery. I thought a moment and said, "All of them." That sounds like false patriotism but it's quite true. I didn't know most of them personally, but attending memorials and funerals honoring their service makes them friends of mine.
Several years ago vandals sprayed red paint on 60 headstones. I went to see the damage. My eyes were burning with tears as I walked along looking over the scene. That act dishonored that garden of stone which is hallowed ground. The cemetery's crew and the volunteers worked in freezing weather, with a cold north wind blowing sleet into their faces. It was hard work, and it took three days to clean the bright, red paint from the headstones.
I wrote in an open letter to the Northwest Arkansas Times that I wanted to talk with the young boys who had done this terrible deed. That's all I wanted to do. Let them walk with me through the cemetery. I would read the headstones to them while I explained what they meant. For example, there's Clarence B. Craft, U.S. Army, Medal of Honor for Valor Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. There are veterans buried there from the Civil War, the Mexican border war, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and more recently Afghanistan and Iraq. Many are unknown but still honored for their service.
Fayetteville has one of the few national cemeteries with room to grow, and the old sale barn area beside the cemetery is for sale. I am a member of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation. We raise money any way we can to buy land around the national cemetery. Earlier this year Milo Cumpston, one of the founders of our organization and a Marine survivor of Iwo Jima, arranged to purchase enough land to have burials until 2023. Milo was the last of the five veterans who founded the RNCIC.
Developers want to build student housing on the sale barn land. I don't know that students living near the cemetery will desecrate the cemetery, but there's a good chance they will. When we lived in Fayetteville years ago our home was across from Evergreen Cemetery. That is close to the University of Arkansas campus. Regularly I had to go over there and break up parties. Students damaged the headstones and grave markers. They meant no harm, but being young they didn't give it a thought if it was fun.
The RNCIC wants to purchase the land for the cemetery, but we don't know where to turn for the money. Can you help?
Budd Saunders
Durham
Arkansas officials say 'Don't Do Fescue'
Arkansas “Don't Do Fescue" is theme of AGFC public campaign
JONESBORO - Tall fescue is a widely used forage crop. It is insect resistant, tolerates poor soil and climatic conditions well and has a long growing season. Unfortunately, tall fescue also has a downside.
With approximately four million acres of pasturelands planted in tall fescue, Arkansas has a great deal of this crop. According to David Long, agricultural liaison with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the agency is working diligently to help the public understand the shortcomings of this type of grass.
"The AGFC has developed a new tool in its effort to educate landowners about the toxic and negative effects of Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue to farm wildlife. A new bumper sticker entitled 'Don't Do Fescue' is now being distributed to agency employees and others interested in spreading the word," Long said. Tall fescue is a common forage grass that has been planted across Arkansas for over 40 years.
Estimates are that about 70 percent-95 percent or 4 million acres of the pasturelands planted with tall fescue in Arkansas are infected with an endophyte fungus. The fungus causes declines in bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits, grassland songbirds and also limited other game populations such as white-tailed deer and wild turkey.
"The fact that the plant is actually toxic to both domestic livestock and farm wildlife species is accepted by agriculture extension specialists and wildlife biologists alike," Long said. "The plant produces chemicals causing the fescue to have very toxic qualities. The alkaloids are found throughout the plant, but are especially concentrated in the seeds and leaves," he explained.
In cattle, the fungus causes excessive body temperatures, elevated respiratory rates, loss of appetite, body weight loss, lowered fertility rates and abortion of fetuses. Dairy cows often show sharp declines in milk production. Horses are affected also with more aborted fetuses, foaling problems, weak foals and reduced or no milk production. The CES estimates that this endopytic toxin cost American beef producers up to $1 billion a year in lost profits.
"It's very important for private landowners who desire viable wildlife populations on their property to know the effects of planting fescue," Long noted. "Many species of wildlife would directly suffer these same negative effects if they were confined to the pasturelands as are livestock. However, since they are free ranging, they simply avoid the fungus infected fescue pastures, but nevertheless, this results in loss of farm wildlife habitat on these acres. You may have deer and turkey travel through tall-fescue pastures, but they rarely find food sources available they can utilize, since the aggressiveness of the fescue usually results in solid stands of the plant," Long concluded.
The grass is a sod-forming turf with thick matted growth that also limits movement of young bobwhite quail, turkey and cottontail rabbits, provides no nesting habitat for wild turkey or quail, and is extremely poor habitat for many declining grassland species of songbirds. "Bottom line, fungus infected tall-fescue pastures offer little food, cover or nesting habitat to a broad range of farm wildlife," he said.
"Tall fescue has been planted in an estimated 4 million acres of the 5.4 million acres of pasture scattered over the state and for all practical purposes is of no value to farm wildlife. With the widespread establishment of tall fescue pastures, a great loss of wildlife habitat for deer, turkey, quail, cottontails and grassland songbirds has occurred.
Many landowners now recognize this problem and are interested in eliminating tall-fescue on some or all of their acreage. However, many landowners continue to plant tall-fescue, not knowing the detrimental effects it will have to wildlife. (There is an endophyte-free variety of tall fescue available for planting but it is less viable and hardy, and still provides very limited habitat for wildlife.)
We want to educate all landowners regarding this fact because there are other planting options to providing livestock forage and wildlife habitat on their farms," Long explained.
Please help spread the word to landowners "Don't Do Fescue!" by requesting a bumper sticker to place on your vehicle. Especially if they have an interest in managing for wildlife on their farm. For more information contact David Long at 877-972-5438 or dlong@agfc.state.ar.us.
JONESBORO - Tall fescue is a widely used forage crop. It is insect resistant, tolerates poor soil and climatic conditions well and has a long growing season. Unfortunately, tall fescue also has a downside.
With approximately four million acres of pasturelands planted in tall fescue, Arkansas has a great deal of this crop. According to David Long, agricultural liaison with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the agency is working diligently to help the public understand the shortcomings of this type of grass.
"The AGFC has developed a new tool in its effort to educate landowners about the toxic and negative effects of Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue to farm wildlife. A new bumper sticker entitled 'Don't Do Fescue' is now being distributed to agency employees and others interested in spreading the word," Long said. Tall fescue is a common forage grass that has been planted across Arkansas for over 40 years.
Estimates are that about 70 percent-95 percent or 4 million acres of the pasturelands planted with tall fescue in Arkansas are infected with an endophyte fungus. The fungus causes declines in bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits, grassland songbirds and also limited other game populations such as white-tailed deer and wild turkey.
"The fact that the plant is actually toxic to both domestic livestock and farm wildlife species is accepted by agriculture extension specialists and wildlife biologists alike," Long said. "The plant produces chemicals causing the fescue to have very toxic qualities. The alkaloids are found throughout the plant, but are especially concentrated in the seeds and leaves," he explained.
In cattle, the fungus causes excessive body temperatures, elevated respiratory rates, loss of appetite, body weight loss, lowered fertility rates and abortion of fetuses. Dairy cows often show sharp declines in milk production. Horses are affected also with more aborted fetuses, foaling problems, weak foals and reduced or no milk production. The CES estimates that this endopytic toxin cost American beef producers up to $1 billion a year in lost profits.
"It's very important for private landowners who desire viable wildlife populations on their property to know the effects of planting fescue," Long noted. "Many species of wildlife would directly suffer these same negative effects if they were confined to the pasturelands as are livestock. However, since they are free ranging, they simply avoid the fungus infected fescue pastures, but nevertheless, this results in loss of farm wildlife habitat on these acres. You may have deer and turkey travel through tall-fescue pastures, but they rarely find food sources available they can utilize, since the aggressiveness of the fescue usually results in solid stands of the plant," Long concluded.
The grass is a sod-forming turf with thick matted growth that also limits movement of young bobwhite quail, turkey and cottontail rabbits, provides no nesting habitat for wild turkey or quail, and is extremely poor habitat for many declining grassland species of songbirds. "Bottom line, fungus infected tall-fescue pastures offer little food, cover or nesting habitat to a broad range of farm wildlife," he said.
"Tall fescue has been planted in an estimated 4 million acres of the 5.4 million acres of pasture scattered over the state and for all practical purposes is of no value to farm wildlife. With the widespread establishment of tall fescue pastures, a great loss of wildlife habitat for deer, turkey, quail, cottontails and grassland songbirds has occurred.
Many landowners now recognize this problem and are interested in eliminating tall-fescue on some or all of their acreage. However, many landowners continue to plant tall-fescue, not knowing the detrimental effects it will have to wildlife. (There is an endophyte-free variety of tall fescue available for planting but it is less viable and hardy, and still provides very limited habitat for wildlife.)
We want to educate all landowners regarding this fact because there are other planting options to providing livestock forage and wildlife habitat on their farms," Long explained.
Please help spread the word to landowners "Don't Do Fescue!" by requesting a bumper sticker to place on your vehicle. Especially if they have an interest in managing for wildlife on their farm. For more information contact David Long at 877-972-5438 or dlong@agfc.state.ar.us.
Why not plant fescue?
Arkansas “Don't Do Fescue" is theme of AGFC public campaign
JONESBORO - Tall fescue is a widely used forage crop. It is insect resistant, tolerates poor soil and climatic conditions well and has a long growing season. Unfortunately, tall fescue also has a downside.
With approximately four million acres of pasturelands planted in tall fescue, Arkansas has a great deal of this crop. According to David Long, agricultural liaison with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the agency is working diligently to help the public understand the shortcomings of this type of grass.
"The AGFC has developed a new tool in its effort to educate landowners about the toxic and negative effects of Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue to farm wildlife. A new bumper sticker entitled 'Don't Do Fescue' is now being distributed to agency employees and others interested in spreading the word," Long said. Tall fescue is a common forage grass that has been planted across Arkansas for over 40 years.
Estimates are that about 70 percent-95 percent or 4 million acres of the pasturelands planted with tall fescue in Arkansas are infected with an endophyte fungus. The fungus causes declines in bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits, grassland songbirds and also limited other game populations such as white-tailed deer and wild turkey.
"The fact that the plant is actually toxic to both domestic livestock and farm wildlife species is accepted by agriculture extension specialists and wildlife biologists alike," Long said. "The plant produces chemicals causing the fescue to have very toxic qualities. The alkaloids are found throughout the plant, but are especially concentrated in the seeds and leaves," he explained.
In cattle, the fungus causes excessive body temperatures, elevated respiratory rates, loss of appetite, body weight loss, lowered fertility rates and abortion of fetuses. Dairy cows often show sharp declines in milk production. Horses are affected also with more aborted fetuses, foaling problems, weak foals and reduced or no milk production. The CES estimates that this endopytic toxin cost American beef producers up to $1 billion a year in lost profits.
"It's very important for private landowners who desire viable wildlife populations on their property to know the effects of planting fescue," Long noted. "Many species of wildlife would directly suffer these same negative effects if they were confined to the pasturelands as are livestock. However, since they are free ranging, they simply avoid the fungus infected fescue pastures, but nevertheless, this results in loss of farm wildlife habitat on these acres. You may have deer and turkey travel through tall-fescue pastures, but they rarely find food sources available they can utilize, since the aggressiveness of the fescue usually results in solid stands of the plant," Long concluded.
The grass is a sod-forming turf with thick matted growth that also limits movement of young bobwhite quail, turkey and cottontail rabbits, provides no nesting habitat for wild turkey or quail, and is extremely poor habitat for many declining grassland species of songbirds. "Bottom line, fungus infected tall-fescue pastures offer little food, cover or nesting habitat to a broad range of farm wildlife," he said.
"Tall fescue has been planted in an estimated 4 million acres of the 5.4 million acres of pasture scattered over the state and for all practical purposes is of no value to farm wildlife. With the widespread establishment of tall fescue pastures, a great loss of wildlife habitat for deer, turkey, quail, cottontails and grassland songbirds has occurred.
Many landowners now recognize this problem and are interested in eliminating tall-fescue on some or all of their acreage. However, many landowners continue to plant tall-fescue, not knowing the detrimental effects it will have to wildlife. (There is an endophyte-free variety of tall fescue available for planting but it is less viable and hardy, and still provides very limited habitat for wildlife.)
We want to educate all landowners regarding this fact because there are other planting options to providing livestock forage and wildlife habitat on their farms," Long explained.
Please help spread the word to landowners "Don't Do Fescue!" by requesting a bumper sticker to place on your vehicle. Especially if they have an interest in managing for wildlife on their farm. For more information contact David Long at 877-972-5438 or dlong@agfc.state.ar.us.
JONESBORO - Tall fescue is a widely used forage crop. It is insect resistant, tolerates poor soil and climatic conditions well and has a long growing season. Unfortunately, tall fescue also has a downside.
With approximately four million acres of pasturelands planted in tall fescue, Arkansas has a great deal of this crop. According to David Long, agricultural liaison with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the agency is working diligently to help the public understand the shortcomings of this type of grass.
"The AGFC has developed a new tool in its effort to educate landowners about the toxic and negative effects of Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue to farm wildlife. A new bumper sticker entitled 'Don't Do Fescue' is now being distributed to agency employees and others interested in spreading the word," Long said. Tall fescue is a common forage grass that has been planted across Arkansas for over 40 years.
Estimates are that about 70 percent-95 percent or 4 million acres of the pasturelands planted with tall fescue in Arkansas are infected with an endophyte fungus. The fungus causes declines in bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits, grassland songbirds and also limited other game populations such as white-tailed deer and wild turkey.
"The fact that the plant is actually toxic to both domestic livestock and farm wildlife species is accepted by agriculture extension specialists and wildlife biologists alike," Long said. "The plant produces chemicals causing the fescue to have very toxic qualities. The alkaloids are found throughout the plant, but are especially concentrated in the seeds and leaves," he explained.
In cattle, the fungus causes excessive body temperatures, elevated respiratory rates, loss of appetite, body weight loss, lowered fertility rates and abortion of fetuses. Dairy cows often show sharp declines in milk production. Horses are affected also with more aborted fetuses, foaling problems, weak foals and reduced or no milk production. The CES estimates that this endopytic toxin cost American beef producers up to $1 billion a year in lost profits.
"It's very important for private landowners who desire viable wildlife populations on their property to know the effects of planting fescue," Long noted. "Many species of wildlife would directly suffer these same negative effects if they were confined to the pasturelands as are livestock. However, since they are free ranging, they simply avoid the fungus infected fescue pastures, but nevertheless, this results in loss of farm wildlife habitat on these acres. You may have deer and turkey travel through tall-fescue pastures, but they rarely find food sources available they can utilize, since the aggressiveness of the fescue usually results in solid stands of the plant," Long concluded.
The grass is a sod-forming turf with thick matted growth that also limits movement of young bobwhite quail, turkey and cottontail rabbits, provides no nesting habitat for wild turkey or quail, and is extremely poor habitat for many declining grassland species of songbirds. "Bottom line, fungus infected tall-fescue pastures offer little food, cover or nesting habitat to a broad range of farm wildlife," he said.
"Tall fescue has been planted in an estimated 4 million acres of the 5.4 million acres of pasture scattered over the state and for all practical purposes is of no value to farm wildlife. With the widespread establishment of tall fescue pastures, a great loss of wildlife habitat for deer, turkey, quail, cottontails and grassland songbirds has occurred.
Many landowners now recognize this problem and are interested in eliminating tall-fescue on some or all of their acreage. However, many landowners continue to plant tall-fescue, not knowing the detrimental effects it will have to wildlife. (There is an endophyte-free variety of tall fescue available for planting but it is less viable and hardy, and still provides very limited habitat for wildlife.)
We want to educate all landowners regarding this fact because there are other planting options to providing livestock forage and wildlife habitat on their farms," Long explained.
Please help spread the word to landowners "Don't Do Fescue!" by requesting a bumper sticker to place on your vehicle. Especially if they have an interest in managing for wildlife on their farm. For more information contact David Long at 877-972-5438 or dlong@agfc.state.ar.us.
Walker Park picnic noon to 6 p.m. today a great place to bring family and talk to south Fayetteville residents about neighborhood concerns
Saturday, May 30, 2009
noon to 6:00pm
Walker Park
Off 15th St
Fayetteville, AR
479-871-7902
Email: Hill_City_Lodge347@yahoo.com
Free Community Picnic
Food, Fun, and Fellowship
Moon Bounce for kids, D.A.R.E and Fire Dept
BBQ, Cakes..etc..etc
noon to 6:00pm
Walker Park
Off 15th St
Fayetteville, AR
479-871-7902
Email: Hill_City_Lodge347@yahoo.com
Free Community Picnic
Food, Fun, and Fellowship
Moon Bounce for kids, D.A.R.E and Fire Dept
BBQ, Cakes..etc..etc
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Neighbors, veterans turn out to protest plan for student apartments next to National Cemetery
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
County Sale Barn Site Gets Rezoned
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/05/26/news/052709fzplanning.txt
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/05/26/news/052709fzplanning.prt
tmn
FAYETTEVILLE — Despite nearly universal public opposition to a possible student apartment complex, the Fayetteville Planning Commission approved the rezoning of the Washington County Sale Barn to a multifamily land-use.
The property was rezoned from heavy commercial and light industrial use to downtown general. This was viewed by the commission as a "down zoning" in terms of the impact the land-use could have on the area.
But the commissioners were quick to note an endorsement of rezoning should not be read as an endorsement of the proposed project for the nearly 9-acre site on the south side of town.
"I want to emphasize that this is a rezoning request and the development will come at another time," said Christine Myres, a commissioner.
In the meantime, developers say they intend to meet with residents and find some sort of middle ground.
"We have a lot to do on this, and we're about trying to make concessions and see if we can have the problems worked out," said Dave Jorgensen, of Jorgensen and Associates, the design firm leading the project. Campus Crest, a Charlotte, N.C.-based developer, wants to develop the property for a 192-unit apartment complex. The apartments would be rented on a per-bedroom basis and bring some 500 residents to the area.
However, those at the meeting Tuesday night said there seems to be too much distance between what's been proposed and what they could live with.
"We've met with them at the ward meeting and they didn't seem to want to change their plans," said Michele Raine, a resident in the area.
But it wasn't just residents who were opposed to the project. Veterans also turned out to speak against any development that would border Fayetteville National Cemetery, which they say needs both more space and more respect.
"To have a sale barn removed and have an RMF-24 coming there and occupy the property right next to the cemetery is offensive to us veterans," said Jim Buckner, a retired lieutenant colonel and a representative of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which represents some 600 Purple Heart recipients in the state.
"This is sacred ground," Buckner added. "This is almost holy ground to us veterans."
He plans to rally veterans groups to raise the money needed to buy the property from Billy Joe Bartholomew, who owns the barn, but says today's economy makes his multigenerational business no longer viable.
"I'm going to have to sell the sale barn," Bartholomew told the commission. "It's outlived its uses."
Whatever new use the sale barn site takes, residents are not rooting for apartments. Most said the city already has its fair share. And still many seem opposed to the model presented by Campus Crest, with its standard building plan and leased bedrooms.
"I feel that renting apartments out by the bedroom is, I guess, just asking for trouble," said Kathy Kisida, of West Avenue.
"This apartment complex is what I'm against," she added. "I know that progress is going to happen there. I would just like to find something else."
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thousands visit Fayetteville National Cemetery on Memorial Day 2009
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of National Cemetery celebration of Memorial Day 2009 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. At right is the Washington County Livestock Auction Barn, which would be replaced by a 500-bedroom student-apartment complex if allowed by Fayetteville City officials. The Planning Commission is to hear the North Carolina developer's proposal during its 5:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting in Fayetteville City Hall. The commission will hear public opinion on the proposed project before whether to vote yes or no on allowing rezoning the land for student apartments.
National Cemetery's director asked about threat of construction of student apartments on adjacent sale-barn property
Please click on start arrow to acivate the short video recorded at Fayetteville National Cemetery on May 25, 2009.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
National Cemetery's Memorial Day 2009 celebration under threat of rain and construction of student apartments on adjacent sale-barn property
The Veterans Administration's annual Memorial Day ceremony is to begin at 10 a.m. Monday at the Fayetteville National Cemetery at 700 Government Avenue south of Martin Luther King Boulevard (former Sixth Street) west of South School Avenue in the Town Branch neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The keynote speaker is to be Vic Walker, a retired Veterans of Foreign Wars commander.
Everyone is welcome.
Please click on image to ENLARGE 2005 view of the Fayetteville National Cemetery next to the Washington County Auction Barn. The bare ground at right is the former Aspen Ridge site where student apartments for more than 800 students are nearing completion now.
A 500-bedroom student-apartment complex of multistory buildings likely would be underway on Memorial Day 2010 if the Fayetteville Planning Commission on Tuesday night approves rezoning the adjacent property of the Washington County Sale Barn.
The buildings would overshadow the historic cemetery created in 1867 after the Civil War.
Monthly business meetings of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation are at 10:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month at the American Legion Post No. 27, 1195 S.Curtis Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The group meets at 10:30 a.m. May 13, 2009, TOMORROW. Visitors are welcome to attend to discuss the proposed Live-stock-auction land sale to allow student apartments to be built adjacent to the east side of the national cemetery.
For information, please call President Roger McClain at 479-306-6459 or visit the group's Web site at http://www.geocities.com/regncic/
Fayetteville National Cemetery has conducted close to 8,000 interments of veterans and immediate dependents. The cemetery has laid to rest six soldiers from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The keynote speaker is to be Vic Walker, a retired Veterans of Foreign Wars commander.
Everyone is welcome.
Please click on image to ENLARGE 2005 view of the Fayetteville National Cemetery next to the Washington County Auction Barn. The bare ground at right is the former Aspen Ridge site where student apartments for more than 800 students are nearing completion now.
A 500-bedroom student-apartment complex of multistory buildings likely would be underway on Memorial Day 2010 if the Fayetteville Planning Commission on Tuesday night approves rezoning the adjacent property of the Washington County Sale Barn.
The buildings would overshadow the historic cemetery created in 1867 after the Civil War.
Monthly business meetings of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation are at 10:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month at the American Legion Post No. 27, 1195 S.Curtis Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The group meets at 10:30 a.m. May 13, 2009, TOMORROW. Visitors are welcome to attend to discuss the proposed Live-stock-auction land sale to allow student apartments to be built adjacent to the east side of the national cemetery.
For information, please call President Roger McClain at 479-306-6459 or visit the group's Web site at http://www.geocities.com/regncic/
Fayetteville National Cemetery has conducted close to 8,000 interments of veterans and immediate dependents. The cemetery has laid to rest six soldiers from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Memorial Day 2009: Time to raise the money to buy the auction-barn property for expansion of the National Cemetery
The Morning News had a good but far too short article on the upcoming 5:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting of the Fayetteville Planning Commission where a public hearing on the future use of the Washington County auction barn property is to be discussed. A developer wants to put more than 500 bedrooms in multistory buildings next to Fayetteville's National Cemetery, where U.S. military veterans have been buried since the end of the Civil War.
The many ways the proposed development and the construction of it would hurt the neighborhood and the watershed of Beaver Lake can't all be listed completely in even many paragraphs. But the incredible insult of even proposing such a project adjacent to a national cemetery for veterans is all that needs to be considered for the city planning commission to reject the proposed rezoning of this land.
A major fund-raising campaign must be started to allow the Regional Cemetery Corporation to buy the sale barn for expansion. It is not too late, but it must begin on Memorial Day 2009.
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Apartments Planned For Sale Barn Site
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — A proposal to build student apartments where the long-running livestock sale barn operates will come before the Fayetteville Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Before the 8.9-acre Washington County Sale Barn property can become a 192-unit apartment complex, the area has to be rezoned. Right now, most of the area is zoned for heavy commercial and light industrial uses. Campus Crest, a Charlotte, N.C.-based developer, wants to rezone the property as RMF-24 — the standard zoning for apartment complexes. Campus Crest plans to build less than 24 units per acre.
Fayetteville planning staff is not supportive of an RMF-24 zoning. However, multiuse development and multifamily housing could work here, officials say.
“It is staff’s opinion that the RMF-24 zoning district in this area would permit a development form that would be contrary to the city’s adopted land-use planning objectives and principles of City Plan 2025,” wrote Dara Sanders, a city planner, in her opinion to the commission.
In short, the city’s master plan wants development that’s more pedestrian-friendly.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/05/23/news/052309fzplanningagenda.txt
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/05/23/news/052309fzplanningagenda.prt
Sale-barn vs student apartments vs National Cemetery
Washington County Auction Barn or 500 rooms for students next to Fayettevill National Cemetery for U.S. veterans
The Downtown General zoning district allows for the same uses as RMF-24 but is more likely to result in the types of traditional town planning building forms the city planners would like to see.
“Before public comment, we want it to be known that we are good with downtown general,” Dave Jorgensen, of Jorgensen and Associates, design firm for the project, told the commission during its agenda session Thursday.
“Though naturally, we have to work out a bunch of details, and we’ll do that,” he added.
Campus Crest met with Ward 1 residents in early April to answer questions and introduce the project.
Critiques included questions about whether Fayetteville needs more apartments. Residents at the Ward 1 meeting said, no, citing issues like increased traffic that come with concentrations of college students.
"I just don't think that this property is conducive to the neighborhood," said Michele Raine, a resident in the area, speaking during the April Ward 1 meeting.
Another resident, Scott Hill, said he’s not opposed to student housing or apartments, but said he is “opposed to the way they are built in Fayetteville.”
Hill urged developers to build student communities much like the Cotton District in Starkville, Miss., a leafy neighborhood where apartment buildings edge up next to narrow streets that are usually filled with bikes and pedestrians.
At A Glance
Zoning Designations
Downtown General
Permitted Uses: Single, double and three-family dwellings, offices, studios, eating establishments, neighborhood shopping locations and government facilities.
Density: No set density
Building Height: 56 feet
RMF-24
Permitted Uses: Single, double and multifamily dwellings.
Density: 24 units/acre
Building Height: 60 feet
Source: Staff Report
Meeting Information
Fayetteville Planning
Commission
When: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Room 212, City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St.
The many ways the proposed development and the construction of it would hurt the neighborhood and the watershed of Beaver Lake can't all be listed completely in even many paragraphs. But the incredible insult of even proposing such a project adjacent to a national cemetery for veterans is all that needs to be considered for the city planning commission to reject the proposed rezoning of this land.
A major fund-raising campaign must be started to allow the Regional Cemetery Corporation to buy the sale barn for expansion. It is not too late, but it must begin on Memorial Day 2009.
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Apartments Planned For Sale Barn Site
By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE — A proposal to build student apartments where the long-running livestock sale barn operates will come before the Fayetteville Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Before the 8.9-acre Washington County Sale Barn property can become a 192-unit apartment complex, the area has to be rezoned. Right now, most of the area is zoned for heavy commercial and light industrial uses. Campus Crest, a Charlotte, N.C.-based developer, wants to rezone the property as RMF-24 — the standard zoning for apartment complexes. Campus Crest plans to build less than 24 units per acre.
Fayetteville planning staff is not supportive of an RMF-24 zoning. However, multiuse development and multifamily housing could work here, officials say.
“It is staff’s opinion that the RMF-24 zoning district in this area would permit a development form that would be contrary to the city’s adopted land-use planning objectives and principles of City Plan 2025,” wrote Dara Sanders, a city planner, in her opinion to the commission.
In short, the city’s master plan wants development that’s more pedestrian-friendly.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/05/23/news/052309fzplanningagenda.txt
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/05/23/news/052309fzplanningagenda.prt
Sale-barn vs student apartments vs National Cemetery
Washington County Auction Barn or 500 rooms for students next to Fayettevill National Cemetery for U.S. veterans
The Downtown General zoning district allows for the same uses as RMF-24 but is more likely to result in the types of traditional town planning building forms the city planners would like to see.
“Before public comment, we want it to be known that we are good with downtown general,” Dave Jorgensen, of Jorgensen and Associates, design firm for the project, told the commission during its agenda session Thursday.
“Though naturally, we have to work out a bunch of details, and we’ll do that,” he added.
Campus Crest met with Ward 1 residents in early April to answer questions and introduce the project.
Critiques included questions about whether Fayetteville needs more apartments. Residents at the Ward 1 meeting said, no, citing issues like increased traffic that come with concentrations of college students.
"I just don't think that this property is conducive to the neighborhood," said Michele Raine, a resident in the area, speaking during the April Ward 1 meeting.
Another resident, Scott Hill, said he’s not opposed to student housing or apartments, but said he is “opposed to the way they are built in Fayetteville.”
Hill urged developers to build student communities much like the Cotton District in Starkville, Miss., a leafy neighborhood where apartment buildings edge up next to narrow streets that are usually filled with bikes and pedestrians.
At A Glance
Zoning Designations
Downtown General
Permitted Uses: Single, double and three-family dwellings, offices, studios, eating establishments, neighborhood shopping locations and government facilities.
Density: No set density
Building Height: 56 feet
RMF-24
Permitted Uses: Single, double and multifamily dwellings.
Density: 24 units/acre
Building Height: 60 feet
Source: Staff Report
Meeting Information
Fayetteville Planning
Commission
When: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Room 212, City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Public hearing to consider rezoning sale-barn property for apartments coming at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
Please click on images to ENLARGE and read.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 26 public hearing before the Planning Commission to consider rezoning the sale-barn property for multistory student apartments
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Fayetteville Planning Commission sign announcing a public hearing on the proposed rezoning of the Washington County Sale Barn property at Eleventh Street and South West Avenue to allow the building of apartments to house 500 students adjacent to the Fayetteville National Cemetery in the Town Branch neighborhood.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
A few words about the value of Pinnacle Prairie with night sounds for background
Click on start arrow to view night scene at Pinnacle Prairie and hear a few words about the value of Pinnacle Prairie and similar areas.
Runoff from driveway can be reduced by routing roof water to flat, grassy area of yard or a garden spot
Please click on image to ENLARGE night view of rapid runoff from a paved driveway.
Most dwellings don't have a large prairie parcel to which stormwater runoff can be directed. However, simply routing roof water through gutters to the lowest, flattest part of the yard can reduce downstream flooding. If every building in the city is designed with this in mind (and if the natural soil and vegetation is left in place to provide a natural raingarden) an extremely large portion of runoff to our streams can be prevented.
Most dwellings don't have a large prairie parcel to which stormwater runoff can be directed. However, simply routing roof water through gutters to the lowest, flattest part of the yard can reduce downstream flooding. If every building in the city is designed with this in mind (and if the natural soil and vegetation is left in place to provide a natural raingarden) an extremely large portion of runoff to our streams can be prevented.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Town Branch neighbors again called upon to step up and speak out about proposed development in the heart of the neighborhood
Campus Crest Development, a student-housing company based in Charlotte, N.C., has proposed building an apartment complex on the “Sale-barn property” currently owned by Billy Joe Bartholomew. Bartholomew's grandfather built the auction site in 1937.
The proposal will be to allow construction of 192 apartment units that will house approximately 512 students on 10 acres. The buildings will be 3 to 4 stories high hovering over the National Cemetery for U.S. military veterans immediately to its west, and each apartment will be 2 & 3 bedrooms. Apartments will be leased out by the bedroom. Each student bedroom will have a lock on the door.
If you live close to this you will be the most affected. There will be a huge increase in traffic & noise in the neighborhood. In addition, during the construction phase, which could take up to a year or longer if the economy doesn't improve soon, noise and construction vehicles (dump trucks, mostly) will be using our quiet streets to reach the property.
As you might already know, another similar development is currently being built on S. Hill Ave between 11th and MLK (6th street).
Is it wise for the city to approve another such development in the same neighborhood so close to each other? As with the Hill Ave. development, their main access routes will be via 15th St. and MLK, which means their main access to the sale-barn property will probably be Governemt Avenue, West Ave or maybe even Dunn Ave. Only the route along 11th Street would affect the neighbors the least. There is no traffic light to get traffic out of the neighborhood at any of those intersections.
Many of your neighbors feel that it is important to preserve our single-family neighborhood and that there could be better use of this property. Research on the internet revealed that Campus Crest Properties has been plagued with problems in several cities, including mismanagement, possible lawsuits, and liens.
Please come to the planning-commission meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, to voice your opinion. The rezoning request is only the first in a several-step process to get the 500 student bedrooms approved. But we must share our opinion at each step of the process!
• The property is across the street from the National Cemetery and borders S. Dunn Ave, S. Government Ave,, 11th St. & the end of S. West Ave.
• The developers (Campus Crest) have put in a request to rezone the livestock-auction property to RMF-24, Residential Multi-family, 24 units per acre.
• Public comment is welcome. If you are concerned about this development, please come to the meeting to voice your opinion.
• If you have any questions or concerns, or need a ride to the meeting, please call Kathy at 443-5751 or email me at:
mail4ktk@yahoo.com
The Planning Commission meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in room 219 of the City Administration Building at 113 W. Mountain St.
The proposal will be to allow construction of 192 apartment units that will house approximately 512 students on 10 acres. The buildings will be 3 to 4 stories high hovering over the National Cemetery for U.S. military veterans immediately to its west, and each apartment will be 2 & 3 bedrooms. Apartments will be leased out by the bedroom. Each student bedroom will have a lock on the door.
If you live close to this you will be the most affected. There will be a huge increase in traffic & noise in the neighborhood. In addition, during the construction phase, which could take up to a year or longer if the economy doesn't improve soon, noise and construction vehicles (dump trucks, mostly) will be using our quiet streets to reach the property.
As you might already know, another similar development is currently being built on S. Hill Ave between 11th and MLK (6th street).
Is it wise for the city to approve another such development in the same neighborhood so close to each other? As with the Hill Ave. development, their main access routes will be via 15th St. and MLK, which means their main access to the sale-barn property will probably be Governemt Avenue, West Ave or maybe even Dunn Ave. Only the route along 11th Street would affect the neighbors the least. There is no traffic light to get traffic out of the neighborhood at any of those intersections.
Many of your neighbors feel that it is important to preserve our single-family neighborhood and that there could be better use of this property. Research on the internet revealed that Campus Crest Properties has been plagued with problems in several cities, including mismanagement, possible lawsuits, and liens.
Please come to the planning-commission meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, to voice your opinion. The rezoning request is only the first in a several-step process to get the 500 student bedrooms approved. But we must share our opinion at each step of the process!
• The property is across the street from the National Cemetery and borders S. Dunn Ave, S. Government Ave,, 11th St. & the end of S. West Ave.
• The developers (Campus Crest) have put in a request to rezone the livestock-auction property to RMF-24, Residential Multi-family, 24 units per acre.
• Public comment is welcome. If you are concerned about this development, please come to the meeting to voice your opinion.
• If you have any questions or concerns, or need a ride to the meeting, please call Kathy at 443-5751 or email me at:
mail4ktk@yahoo.com
The Planning Commission meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in room 219 of the City Administration Building at 113 W. Mountain St.
FarmToTable theme of today's program in the Rose Garden of the Walton Art Center with renewable-energy lecture at Night Bird bookstore at 2 p.m.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of OMNI Springfest poster.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of poster.
Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of poster.
Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Louisiana Tech professor to discuss the struggle for the solar future Saturday afternoon at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of poster.
Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Louisiana Tech professor to discuss the struggle for the solar future Saturday afternoon at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of poster.
Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Solar Power Struggle
Professor Richard Hutchinson of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston will speak on "The Struggle for the Solar Future" at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
An inquiry into environmental change and the obstacles and opportunities in the path of the renewable energy transition.
Sponsored by OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
City 16 schedule April 19-25 includes Ward One, Town Branch neighborhood meeting with developer of proposed BIG apartments by cemetery at 9 a.m. today
Brown thrashers among the many species to be seen on World Peace Wetland Prairie during Sunday's Earth Day celebration
Please click on image to Enlarge view of one of the many species of birds feeding and picking nesting sites on World Peace Wetland Prairie on April 17, 2009. The elusive brown thrasher is often able to slip into the thickets before a camera can capture its image. But the attraction of scattered brush piles and the excitement of mating season can make them a bit careless.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sale barn or 500-student apartment complex next to National Cemetery?
Ward One meeting held a week ago in the Town Branch Neighborhood is to be shown on Cox cable channel 16 at 11 a.m today and again at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
City16 Government Channel schedule available online.
Apartment-builders' plan for the sale-barn property is presented during that meeting and several people who live in the neighborhood comment on the idea and even suggest alternatives.
City16 Government Channel schedule available online.
Apartment-builders' plan for the sale-barn property is presented during that meeting and several people who live in the neighborhood comment on the idea and even suggest alternatives.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Aerial view of Town Branch Neighborhood from the northeast looking southwest shows sale barn, cemetery and Hill Place project site at right in 2005
Please click on image to ENLARGE 2005 view of the Fayetteville National Cemetery next to the Washington County Auction Barn. The bare ground at right is the former Aspen Ridge site where student apartments for more than 800 students are nearly completion now.
Monthly business meetings of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation are at 10:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month at the American Legion Post No. 27, 1195 S.Curtis Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The group meets at 10:30 a.m. April 11, 2009, TOMORROW. Visitors are welcome to attend to discuss the proposed Live-stock-auction land sale to allow student apartments to be built adjacent to the east side of the national cemetery.
For information, please call President Roger McClain at 479-306-6459 or visit the group's Web site at http://www.geocities.com/regncic/
Monthly business meetings of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation are at 10:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month at the American Legion Post No. 27, 1195 S.Curtis Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The group meets at 10:30 a.m. April 11, 2009, TOMORROW. Visitors are welcome to attend to discuss the proposed Live-stock-auction land sale to allow student apartments to be built adjacent to the east side of the national cemetery.
For information, please call President Roger McClain at 479-306-6459 or visit the group's Web site at http://www.geocities.com/regncic/
The Morning News of April 7, 2009, reports Town Branch neighborhood meeting to discuss student-apartment project proposed for sale-barn site
Please click on image to Enlarge view of clipping from The Morning News of April 7, 2009.
Earth Day celebration on April 19, 2009, at World Peace Wetland Prairie
Please click on image to ENLARGE to read details of the poster.
Bird-watchers welcome every day from dawn to dusk!
Bird-watchers welcome every day from dawn to dusk!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Zoom lens shows proximity of proposed and newly built multifamily housing in Town Branch neighborhood
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of the Washington County Sale Barn from the west balcony of the Fayetteville Senior Center on South College Avenue in Walker Park.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of the top of the Washington County Sale Barn and, a few blocks further west, the top of newly built student apartments west of Hill Avenue and, beyond that across the railroad, the east slope of Rochier Hill, which also is slated for multifamily residential development. The white roof in the foreground is that of a business on South School Avenue.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of the top of the Washington County Sale Barn and, a few blocks further west, the top of newly built student apartments west of Hill Avenue and, beyond that across the railroad, the east slope of Rochier Hill, which also is slated for multifamily residential development. The white roof in the foreground is that of a business on South School Avenue.
Ward One of south Fayetteville meets developers to discuss proposal to build student apartments on Washington County Sale Barn land
Please click on images to enlarge view of some of the people attending the meeting in the top two photos and a view east on Eleventh Street on Tuesday morning showing the National Cemetery in the background and the part of the sale barn at right.
Ward One residents shared their impressions and commented on a proposal presented by Bob Estes for rezoning the Washington County Sale Barn property in the Town Branch neighborhood to allow building an apartment complex that would provide rooms for 500 college students on the east side of Government Avenue and Dunn Avenue between 7th Street and 11th Street. The national cemetery is on the west side of those avenues.
Fayetteville residents expressed concern about the proposed four-story buildings overshadowing the historical cemetery for war veterans and their spouses. They expressed concern about the traffic of 500 students using the adjacent streets. They expressed concern about the noise of 500 students living adjacent to the cemetery.
They asserted that the city has more apartments than needed already, including the soon-to-be completed Hill Place project that will provide more than 800 bedrooms for UA students only three blocks to the northwest this fall.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan and the two City Council members from Ward One, Adella Gray and Brenda Thiel, attended the meeting.
Ward One residents shared their impressions and commented on a proposal presented by Bob Estes for rezoning the Washington County Sale Barn property in the Town Branch neighborhood to allow building an apartment complex that would provide rooms for 500 college students on the east side of Government Avenue and Dunn Avenue between 7th Street and 11th Street. The national cemetery is on the west side of those avenues.
Fayetteville residents expressed concern about the proposed four-story buildings overshadowing the historical cemetery for war veterans and their spouses. They expressed concern about the traffic of 500 students using the adjacent streets. They expressed concern about the noise of 500 students living adjacent to the cemetery.
They asserted that the city has more apartments than needed already, including the soon-to-be completed Hill Place project that will provide more than 800 bedrooms for UA students only three blocks to the northwest this fall.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan and the two City Council members from Ward One, Adella Gray and Brenda Thiel, attended the meeting.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Would student apartments be more appropriate than a livestock auction barn next to National Cemetery for veterans? Not likely
Everyone is welcom at today's 5:30 p.m. meeting of Ward One residents and the Town Branch Neighborhood at the S. Hill Avenue Church of Christ near the intersection of 11th Street and S. Hill Avenue to hear and discuss a proposal to rezone the Washington County Livestock Auction Barn for student apartments. The area is shown on Google Maps below.
View Larger Map
The sale barn in the view below is at right and the national cemetery is at left. WOULD STUDENT APARTMENTS be any more appropriate next to the National Cemetery than a sale barn? The cemetery was created in 1867 and the sale barn in 1937.
View Larger Map
Please share information about the 5:30 p.m. April 5 (TODAY) meeting of Ward One residents at the Church of Christ on South Hill Avenue in Fayetteville.
Attorney Bob Estes is to present a proposal to have the Washington County Sale Barn rezoned so that student apartments may be built on the land in the Town Branch Neighborhood. If the rezoning is accepted, then a North Carolina company will buy the land and build the apartments.
The cattle-auction facility was constructed in 1937 by the grandfather of the current owner.
Cattle are brought in early each week and auctioned on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. There is no permanent housing of a large group of animals.
Because of the north slope's being well vegetated, stormwater runoff to streams in each direction is relatively clean, much cleaner than the runoff from the Hill Place Apartment complex being constructed three blocks to the west.
Closing the sale barn in south Fayetteville would greatly inconvenience ranchers and farmers in south Washington County. In fact, having to travel to Springdale to buy and sell cattle could be final factor in some landowners deciding to sell out and stop farming.
All this would come at a time when encouraging local production of food and protecting the rich soil on the prairies in the river valleys is high on the agenda of many people and many conservation organizations.
Closing the sale barn could affect the local farm economy and several other businesses in south Fayetteville that rely on local farming. It would encourage more unneeded housing to be built in rural areas while allowing more unneeded apartments to be built in a city where empty apartments and condominiums are plentiful.
Anything that damages the agricultural economy of Northwest Arkansas will reduce the effectiveness of such ongoing efforts as the FNHA's green-infrastructure project, the Beaver Lake and Illinois River watershed-protection efforts and the efforts of OMNI Center, the Sierra Club, Audubon Arkansas, the League of Women voters, the Ozark Society, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited and many other conservation organizations to protect and improve our environment and counter the threat of global climate change.
Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009
Ward One City Council members, members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the public will hear a presentation from a developer seeking to rezone the Washington County Sale Barn property to allow construction of student apartments. Everyone is welcome to the meeting in the church at 1136 S Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6.
For details, please call 479-444-6072 or visit http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com
View Larger Map
The sale barn in the view below is at right and the national cemetery is at left. WOULD STUDENT APARTMENTS be any more appropriate next to the National Cemetery than a sale barn? The cemetery was created in 1867 and the sale barn in 1937.
View Larger Map
Please share information about the 5:30 p.m. April 5 (TODAY) meeting of Ward One residents at the Church of Christ on South Hill Avenue in Fayetteville.
Attorney Bob Estes is to present a proposal to have the Washington County Sale Barn rezoned so that student apartments may be built on the land in the Town Branch Neighborhood. If the rezoning is accepted, then a North Carolina company will buy the land and build the apartments.
The cattle-auction facility was constructed in 1937 by the grandfather of the current owner.
Cattle are brought in early each week and auctioned on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. There is no permanent housing of a large group of animals.
Because of the north slope's being well vegetated, stormwater runoff to streams in each direction is relatively clean, much cleaner than the runoff from the Hill Place Apartment complex being constructed three blocks to the west.
Closing the sale barn in south Fayetteville would greatly inconvenience ranchers and farmers in south Washington County. In fact, having to travel to Springdale to buy and sell cattle could be final factor in some landowners deciding to sell out and stop farming.
All this would come at a time when encouraging local production of food and protecting the rich soil on the prairies in the river valleys is high on the agenda of many people and many conservation organizations.
Closing the sale barn could affect the local farm economy and several other businesses in south Fayetteville that rely on local farming. It would encourage more unneeded housing to be built in rural areas while allowing more unneeded apartments to be built in a city where empty apartments and condominiums are plentiful.
Anything that damages the agricultural economy of Northwest Arkansas will reduce the effectiveness of such ongoing efforts as the FNHA's green-infrastructure project, the Beaver Lake and Illinois River watershed-protection efforts and the efforts of OMNI Center, the Sierra Club, Audubon Arkansas, the League of Women voters, the Ozark Society, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited and many other conservation organizations to protect and improve our environment and counter the threat of global climate change.
Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009
Ward One City Council members, members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the public will hear a presentation from a developer seeking to rezone the Washington County Sale Barn property to allow construction of student apartments. Everyone is welcome to the meeting in the church at 1136 S Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6.
For details, please call 479-444-6072 or visit http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com
Friday, April 3, 2009
Ward One council members, residents of south Fayetteville to meet to discuss proposal to build student apartments on Washington County Sale Barn land
Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009
Ward One City Council members, members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the public will hear a presentation from a developer seeking to rezone the Washington County Sale Barn property to allow construction of student apartments. Everyone is welcome to the meeting in the church at 1136 S Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6.
For details, please call 479-444-6072 or visit http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com
The construction phase of this proposed project would send silty runoff to both Tanglewood Branch and the main Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River because it sits on the ridge between the two. Current runoff from that sale-barn area actually is very minimal because of the vegetated pasture land protected there for a few cattle to graze on for only two days a week.
Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday April 19, 2009
Members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology present the fifth-annual Earth Day celebration with activities for kids and adults. Wildflowers will be planted in the butterfly garden and peace-circle garden on the east portion of the city-owned nature park by children and adult volunteers. Ice-storm damaged limbs will be removed by those who wish to help. Volunteers may dig out fescue grass or remove Japanese honeysuckle that is suppressing native plants in parts of the western 2 acres.
Musicians and poets will be invited to play, sing or read in a pleasant outdoor setting.
Still on the Hill and Emily Kaitz are the headliners.
Several activities for youngsters will be provided by volunteers.
Parking is free from 1 to 5 p.m. at the the Hill Avenue Church of Christ south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street, and street parking is legal in much of the neighborhood.
Everyone is welcome. For details, call 444-6072
or visit http://worldpeacewetlandprairie.blogspot.com
World Peace Wetland Prairie is at 1121 South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Ward One City Council members, members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the public will hear a presentation from a developer seeking to rezone the Washington County Sale Barn property to allow construction of student apartments. Everyone is welcome to the meeting in the church at 1136 S Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6.
For details, please call 479-444-6072 or visit http://townbranchneighborhood.blogspot.com
The construction phase of this proposed project would send silty runoff to both Tanglewood Branch and the main Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River because it sits on the ridge between the two. Current runoff from that sale-barn area actually is very minimal because of the vegetated pasture land protected there for a few cattle to graze on for only two days a week.
Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday April 19, 2009
Members of the Town Branch neighborhood association and the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology present the fifth-annual Earth Day celebration with activities for kids and adults. Wildflowers will be planted in the butterfly garden and peace-circle garden on the east portion of the city-owned nature park by children and adult volunteers. Ice-storm damaged limbs will be removed by those who wish to help. Volunteers may dig out fescue grass or remove Japanese honeysuckle that is suppressing native plants in parts of the western 2 acres.
Musicians and poets will be invited to play, sing or read in a pleasant outdoor setting.
Still on the Hill and Emily Kaitz are the headliners.
Several activities for youngsters will be provided by volunteers.
Parking is free from 1 to 5 p.m. at the the Hill Avenue Church of Christ south of the intersection of S. Hill Avenue and Eleventh Street, and street parking is legal in much of the neighborhood.
Everyone is welcome. For details, call 444-6072
or visit http://worldpeacewetlandprairie.blogspot.com
World Peace Wetland Prairie is at 1121 South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Reagan family farm north of Arkansas 16 exemplifies the kind of land that must be protected in the cities of Northwest Arkansas to save Beaver Lake
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Bill Reagan pointing to the line of trees along the fence on the south edge of his family farm along the north edge of East Fifteenth Street.
The Reagan family has owned the land for many years and Bill said that he has bought it from his mother and will keep it in the family. The farm is prairie that has been used for cattle grazing and other agriculture over the decades. It is an example of a heritage farm of the sort identified in the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association's Green Infrastructure plan. Its rich soil captures water where falls and does not cause flooding downstream with its limited stormwater runoff entering the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River without causing siltation or pollution. See Google map with view of Fifteenth Street area in a preceding post on this subject.
Democrat-Gazette on widening of Arkansas 16
The Reagan family has owned the land for many years and Bill said that he has bought it from his mother and will keep it in the family. The farm is prairie that has been used for cattle grazing and other agriculture over the decades. It is an example of a heritage farm of the sort identified in the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association's Green Infrastructure plan. Its rich soil captures water where falls and does not cause flooding downstream with its limited stormwater runoff entering the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River without causing siltation or pollution. See Google map with view of Fifteenth Street area in a preceding post on this subject.
Democrat-Gazette on widening of Arkansas 16
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Public invited to view plan for widening portions of Huntsville Road and Fifteenth Street from 4 to 7 p.m. today
People interested in protecting Northwest Arkansas' two major watersheds, in this case, the watershed of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River and Beaver Lake, need to turn out and make sure that the planners are taking into account the potential affect of this project on water quality and the need for stormwater retention to avoid increasing the flooding and erosion threat downstream.
View Larger Map
Please use controls and cursor to move the image, zoom in or out and trace the whole route to be discussed this afternoon.
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials will reveal the first phase of design for widening a 2.7-mile stretch of Arkansas 16 between S. College Avenue and Stonebridge Road to four lanes and installing a traffic light at the Stonebridge intersection, east of Crossover Road from 4 to 7 p.m. in the activity center of Fayetteville First Assembly of God at 550 E. 15th St. There won't be a presentation; residents can look at displays, ask questions and give feedback verbally or on survey forms, The Northwest Arkansas Times reported in its March 31, 2009, edition.
View Larger Map
Please use controls and cursor to move the image, zoom in or out and trace the whole route to be discussed this afternoon.
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials will reveal the first phase of design for widening a 2.7-mile stretch of Arkansas 16 between S. College Avenue and Stonebridge Road to four lanes and installing a traffic light at the Stonebridge intersection, east of Crossover Road from 4 to 7 p.m. in the activity center of Fayetteville First Assembly of God at 550 E. 15th St. There won't be a presentation; residents can look at displays, ask questions and give feedback verbally or on survey forms, The Northwest Arkansas Times reported in its March 31, 2009, edition.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Severed limb budding at end. Birds and squirrels and rabbits may eat them
Here is the caption with the photo of limbs burning in Benton County:
Up in smoke:
Benton County employee Harvey Johnson watched a fire at 10791 Stoney Point Road near Lowell on Thursday. The county is burning limbs and trees broken by this winter’s ice storm. Other burn sites are at 9900 Marchant Road in Elm Springs, 21447 Waukesha Road in Siloam Springs and 19941 Bettis Hill Road near War Eagle. Washington County is also burning ice-storm debris on North 40th Street in Springdale. DAVID FRANK DEMPSEY / Benton County Daily Record
If no one in either county had a fireplace or a wood stove, this might seem slightly less ridiculous.
I hope a lot of people who can use firewood or who would collect it and sell it will be at those sites before more is burned and load it up and take it away.
This wood would save people money, reduce air pollution now and save the carbon in these limbs for actual home heating and reduce global climate change (because people with wood stoves and fire places will be buying wood next fall and reducing the tree cover even more in Northwest Arkansas).
Additionally, birds and squirrels are eating buds on those limbs where they are lying. In fact, many large limbs or trunks lying separated from the main trunk for nearly two months are budding right now! So wildlife are having to search a bit more for food, which may be tough for birds facing nesting season.
Burning material with this much value is WRONG.
It is even worse than chipping it all. This is incredibly wasteful and inconsiderate of people and other living things. I am proud to live in Fayetteville where an effort is being made to separate potential firewood for sharing and where the rest is being chipped rather than burned.
This is an example of the need for cross-training and keeping all environmental enforcement under one big umbrella. Apparently, it would be the responsibility of the EPA to see that FEMA's requirements for subsidizing "cleanup" efforts meet environmental guidelines. But I would bet that the EPA has had no input in the cleanup efforts. Otherwise, they would have required sound environmental use of the downed trees and limbs.
And, if there were any budgetary control of FEMA, their pet contractors would be required to compact and compress the loads of loose limbs in their trailers and trucks before claiming a load is full and counting it on the basis of cubic yards.
If you take waste metal to a steel yard or aluminum-recycling facility, you will have your vehicle weighed and then weighed again after the workers pull off what can be recycled. They don't pay more for half-empty truckloads or uncrushed cans that fill a big bag. The scales tell the story.
Should the taxpayers support a system that rewards only selected contractors and ignores the value of the material being destroyed in the pretense of "cleaning up" after a disaster? And requires the hiring of "inspectors" or whatever from different pet companies to make sure the trucks aren't overfilled?
My questions aren't original. I have heard these questions from residents of Fayetteville who are offended by the appearance of poor management and waste.
The city can't ask these questions because the EPA MIGHT look into the problem and FEMA MIGHT delay reimbursement of the city for the work that took a big chunk out of the city's reserve fund.
But somebody has to ask why they don't just weigh the loads and pay and reimburse on the results. My neighbors have asked.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Neighborhood meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 6, at the S. Hill Avenue Church of Christ
Please click on image to Enlarge view of the sale barn from the senior center.
Everything is set at the South Hill Avenue Church of Christ for a Ward One Town Branch Neighborhood meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009. The meeting will allow residents of the area to hear details of a plan being brought forward by attorney Bob Estes for a company from North Carolina that wants to buy the Washington County livestock sale barn on 11th street in the Town Branch neighborhood and build hundreds of student apartments on the site.
Everyone is welcome. It doesn't matter whether a resident of the neighborhood, which extends from Razorback Road to South
School Avenue and from Martin Luther King Boulevard (former Sixth Street) to Fifteenth Street rents or owns his home. Everyone who lives, works or owns property in the area is automatically a member. There is no cost to join and no dues to pay.
Visitors are welcome.
The church address is 1136 S. Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill
Avenue and W. 11th Street.
Everything is set at the South Hill Avenue Church of Christ for a Ward One Town Branch Neighborhood meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday April 6, 2009. The meeting will allow residents of the area to hear details of a plan being brought forward by attorney Bob Estes for a company from North Carolina that wants to buy the Washington County livestock sale barn on 11th street in the Town Branch neighborhood and build hundreds of student apartments on the site.
Everyone is welcome. It doesn't matter whether a resident of the neighborhood, which extends from Razorback Road to South
School Avenue and from Martin Luther King Boulevard (former Sixth Street) to Fifteenth Street rents or owns his home. Everyone who lives, works or owns property in the area is automatically a member. There is no cost to join and no dues to pay.
Visitors are welcome.
The church address is 1136 S. Ellis Avenue south of the intersection of S. Hill
Avenue and W. 11th Street.
Meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Monday March 6
Everything is set at the South Hill Avenue Church of Christ for a Ward One Town Branch Neighborhood meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday March 6, 2009. Please call Steve Odom, who has replaced Ric in scheduling and managing the PEG Center office for government channel, to request recording. I will use email, telephone, Web sites and personal contact plus maybe a couple of signs to let the neighborhood know about it.
The church address is 1136 S. Ellis Avenue near the intersection of S. Hill
Avenue and W. 11th Street.
The church address is 1136 S. Ellis Avenue near the intersection of S. Hill
Avenue and W. 11th Street.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Focus group to discuss plan for Beaver Lake
On Wednesday, March 25th, you are invited to a focus group meeting with Tetratech to discuss the status of the Beaver Lake Watershed Management Plan that they have been helping facilitate. This follow-up focus group meeting with conservation and environmental representatives will take place on Wednesday, March 25th at 3pm in the Chicago Room (room #220) at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. They want to gather your feedback on some of the management options that they have been developing for the watershed.
I believe each of you participated in the first focus group meeting Tetratech convened a few months back. If you have suggestions for other folks who should be included in this focus group, please let me know or pass this invitation along to them.
Tetratech has put together a series of newsletters to update you and other focus group members on the status of the project. I will distribute some of the newsletters attached to this message and others attached to another message early next week.
Please let me know if you have any questions and whether you will be able to attend the meeting on Wednesday, March 25th at 3pm.
Thank you!
Mike Malone
387-5590 (cell)
I believe each of you participated in the first focus group meeting Tetratech convened a few months back. If you have suggestions for other folks who should be included in this focus group, please let me know or pass this invitation along to them.
Tetratech has put together a series of newsletters to update you and other focus group members on the status of the project. I will distribute some of the newsletters attached to this message and others attached to another message early next week.
Please let me know if you have any questions and whether you will be able to attend the meeting on Wednesday, March 25th at 3pm.
Thank you!
Mike Malone
387-5590 (cell)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Daffodils may be damaged by predicted thunderstorms in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 10, 2009
Please click on images of daffodils in the Town Branch Neighborhood on March 10, 2009.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Good day for a knight to turn out for a neighborhood business
Click on image to ENLARGE view of living advertisement on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on March 7, 2009.
Friday, March 6, 2009
POSTPONED March meeting of Town Branch Neighbors open to everyone but new date to be announced
A Town Branch Neighborhood meeting for March 2009 at the Hill Avenue Church of Christ date to be announced soon.
Guest presenter to share a development plan with residents who attend. Renters and property owners all invited.
Guest presenter to share a development plan with residents who attend. Renters and property owners all invited.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sale Barn Cafe a great place to eat on Wednesday and Thursday
Please click on image to enlarge view of people enjoying lunch in the Sale Barn Cafe in the Town Branch Neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 5, 2009.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lowest wetland portion of Hill Place (former Aspen Ridge) property being dredged and filled for parking lot in former overflow area of Town Branch
Please click on images to ENLARGE photos of dredging and filling of Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River west of South Hill Avenue and north of 11th Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on February 26, 2009. Rich, absorbent soil being hauled away to make space for truckloads of non-absorbent, non-organic red dirt to provide parking spaces for Hill Place student apartments.
Don't let the contractors take all your brushpiles; the birds won't forgive you
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of mockingbird on brushpile at World Peace Wetland Prairie on February 25, 2009,
The more buds you spot on the ends of small limbs the more likely these limbs are the ones to keep on your property if you want plenty of song birds to be in your neighborhood when spring comes. You might also try to convince your neighbors to preserve some similar brushpiles on their property. And urging neighbors to preserve ice-damaged trees on their property also will help.
Many won't understand. But every property owner who keeps a brush pile or resists pressure to cut down a damaged tree can make a difference in the reproductive success of song birds in the coming spring.
The more buds you spot on the ends of small limbs the more likely these limbs are the ones to keep on your property if you want plenty of song birds to be in your neighborhood when spring comes. You might also try to convince your neighbors to preserve some similar brushpiles on their property. And urging neighbors to preserve ice-damaged trees on their property also will help.
Many won't understand. But every property owner who keeps a brush pile or resists pressure to cut down a damaged tree can make a difference in the reproductive success of song birds in the coming spring.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Composite aerial view of WPWP
Please click on image to ENLARGE composite aerial view of World Peace Wetland Prairie.
World Peace Wetland Prairie sign reveals origin and purpose of the Fayetteville, Arkansas, nature park in the Town Branch Neighborhood
Please click on image to ENLARGE view and read World Peace Wetland Prairie sign in the Town Branch Neighborhood.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Fayette Junction Master Plan to be presented at 6 p.m. Thursday
Please click on image to ENLARGE one of the slides found at the link below.
All,
The Fayette Junction Master Plan Community Presentation has been rescheduled
for Thursday, Feb. 5 at BioBased Companies, which is located at the SE corner of Razorback Road and Cato Springs Road. Over 100 stakeholders contributed to the vision that will be presented, and a draft of the vision document and Illustrative Plan are now available at http://cityplan2025.accessfayetteville.org.
Please paste in address above or go directly to the information at the link below:
Access Fayetteville drawings and photos from Fayette Junction planning session
Please join us on the 5th for tours at 6:00 p.m., the presentation at 6:30 p.m., and light
refreshments following the presentation.
Best,
Karen Minkel
Karen Minkel
Interim Director of Long Range Planning
City of Fayetteville
(479) 575-8271
All,
The Fayette Junction Master Plan Community Presentation has been rescheduled
for Thursday, Feb. 5 at BioBased Companies, which is located at the SE corner of Razorback Road and Cato Springs Road. Over 100 stakeholders contributed to the vision that will be presented, and a draft of the vision document and Illustrative Plan are now available at http://cityplan2025.accessfayetteville.org.
Please paste in address above or go directly to the information at the link below:
Access Fayetteville drawings and photos from Fayette Junction planning session
Please join us on the 5th for tours at 6:00 p.m., the presentation at 6:30 p.m., and light
refreshments following the presentation.
Best,
Karen Minkel
Karen Minkel
Interim Director of Long Range Planning
City of Fayetteville
(479) 575-8271
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Woodpeckers can have a great year in Fayetteville if people will keep the damaged trees that die later from the ice storm
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of woodpecker on World Peace Wetland Prairie at about sunset on January 29, 2009.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Community garden planning going on in the neighborhood
January 24, 2009
Dear Neighborhood Association Leader,
We have organized a steering committee to help bring about community
gardens in Fayetteville and also to help provide supportive services
for them, if possible, such as networking and gardening education, tech
support etc. The folks from the city and the parks are excited about
it as we are. We are just beginning and are gathering information.
We want to find out where there are current community gardens and where
there is interest before moving forward. So we would appreciate you answering a few
quick questions.
1. Do you know of any community gardens in your neighborhood or area of
Fayetteville (community gardens are gardens that have involvement from
several families even if they are on private land)? If so, can you please
tell us where they are located and who we might contact to learn more about
them.
2. Do you know of any people in your neighborhood or area who are not
currently involved in community gardens but would like to be? If so, who?
3. Are there any people in your neighborhood or area who would be good
leaders to talk to about the gardening needs of your neighborhood? If so,
who?
Thank you for your cooperation and quick reply. We are meeting weekly and will be
happy to move forward with your feedback. Please just email me your information or call me if you like. My cell number is 283-2449.
Jo Ann Kaminsky
Kaminsky's shop is immediately east of Brenda's Bigger Burger on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard east of S. Hill Avenue.
Michael H. Thomas
Dear Neighborhood Association Leader,
We have organized a steering committee to help bring about community
gardens in Fayetteville and also to help provide supportive services
for them, if possible, such as networking and gardening education, tech
support etc. The folks from the city and the parks are excited about
it as we are. We are just beginning and are gathering information.
We want to find out where there are current community gardens and where
there is interest before moving forward. So we would appreciate you answering a few
quick questions.
1. Do you know of any community gardens in your neighborhood or area of
Fayetteville (community gardens are gardens that have involvement from
several families even if they are on private land)? If so, can you please
tell us where they are located and who we might contact to learn more about
them.
2. Do you know of any people in your neighborhood or area who are not
currently involved in community gardens but would like to be? If so, who?
3. Are there any people in your neighborhood or area who would be good
leaders to talk to about the gardening needs of your neighborhood? If so,
who?
Thank you for your cooperation and quick reply. We are meeting weekly and will be
happy to move forward with your feedback. Please just email me your information or call me if you like. My cell number is 283-2449.
Jo Ann Kaminsky
Kaminsky's shop is immediately east of Brenda's Bigger Burger on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard east of S. Hill Avenue.
Michael H. Thomas
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Red-shouldered hawk hunts from willow tree on Pinnacle Foods wet prairie adjacent to World Peace Wetland Prairie on January 21, 2009
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of red-shouldered hawk on Pinnacle Prairie, at the end of West 12th Street adjacent to World Peace Wetland Prairie in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The hawk is perched in a willow tree on alert for small birds and mammals on the prairie.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Council of Neighborhoods to have public meeting at Fayetteville Public Library at 6 p.m. Thursday Jan. 15, 2009
The Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods will be holding an Open House, January 15, 2009 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Walker Room at the Fayetteville Public Library. Everyone is invited.
The purpose of the event is:
to build community,
encourage participation in the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods,
· provide information about forming neighborhood associations, and
· provide information that is important to Fayetteville neighborhoods.
There will be information and representatives available on the following topics:
Community Development - Code Compliance - Building Safety - Solid Waste
Long Range Planning - Current Planning - Animal Services - Parks & Recreation
Urban Forestry - Water and Sewer - Trails - Sustainability - Transportation
Watershed Resource Conservation Center - Woolsey Wet Prairie
Communication/Mayor’s Transition Team - Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
For more information contact:
Julie McQuade
Neighborhood Coordinator
City of Fayetteville
Planning Division
479-575-8253
125 W. Mountain Street
Fayetteville AR 72701
www.accessfayetteville.org
The purpose of the event is:
to build community,
encourage participation in the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods,
· provide information about forming neighborhood associations, and
· provide information that is important to Fayetteville neighborhoods.
There will be information and representatives available on the following topics:
Community Development - Code Compliance - Building Safety - Solid Waste
Long Range Planning - Current Planning - Animal Services - Parks & Recreation
Urban Forestry - Water and Sewer - Trails - Sustainability - Transportation
Watershed Resource Conservation Center - Woolsey Wet Prairie
Communication/Mayor’s Transition Team - Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
For more information contact:
Julie McQuade
Neighborhood Coordinator
City of Fayetteville
Planning Division
479-575-8253
125 W. Mountain Street
Fayetteville AR 72701
www.accessfayetteville.org
Friday, January 2, 2009
Lioneld Jordan sworn in as mayor of Fayettevile, Arkansas
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Mayor Lioneld Jordan a few minutes after being sworn in by Judge Lindsey on Friday, January 2, 2009, being congratulated by admirers and supporters in the Washington County Courthouse.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Why is muddy water flowing in a normally clear Ozark Mountain stream on a sunny New Year's Day?
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of muddy water flowing on New Year's Day into the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
For a closer view of the pipe spewing water from Hill Place work site, please click on image to ENLARGE. Use cursor to move about and see the contrast between the flow from the pipe and the stream's normal clear water at right.
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
For a closer view of the pipe spewing water from Hill Place work site, please click on image to ENLARGE. Use cursor to move about and see the contrast between the flow from the pipe and the stream's normal clear water at right.
For more images and a bit of explanation of this situation, please click the following link Silt-laden water pumped to the Town Branch by contractors flows to Beaver Lake
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Three-hour public-listening session fills Chamber of Commerce meeting room early with small groups toward noon
Transition team committee Dec. 29, 2008, NWAT
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Linda Ralston (from left), Michelle Halsell and James Phillips facing the camera, with Cindy Cope at right and Julie McQuade facing the table. Not pictured were Jeff Erf and Walt Eilers (chairman of the Jordan mayoral transition teams' communition subcommittee).
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Linda Ralston (from left), Michelle Halsell and James Phillips facing the camera, with Cindy Cope at right and Julie McQuade facing the table. Not pictured were Jeff Erf and Walt Eilers (chairman of the Jordan mayoral transition teams' communition subcommittee).
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Squirrels happiest creature in a bountiful October even sitting on the stump of an old friend
Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of Police and Firefighter banner endorsing Lioneld Jordan for mayor of Fayetteville, Arkansas, on October 25, 2008.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Good idea only if using waste material from agriculture and timber production and without decreasing wildlife habitat. Clearing land pollutes air
Summit promotes growing high-energy plants
BY DUSTIN TRACY
Posted on Saturday, October 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/69979/
Northwest Arkansas Times Fayetteville’s first ever Sustainability Summit brought more than 300 people to the city’s center to talk about ways organizations can become more environmentally friendly. One way discussed was a switch from conventional diesel fuel to the use of bioenergybased fuel. Jim Wimberly with BioEnergy System LLC in Fayetteville talked about the energy-efficient idea at a small breakout session during the summit. “ Agriculture and energy are so intertwined, ” Wimberly said.
He said the idea is to start promoting the growth of high-energy yielding plants that can be processed and manufactured into a full spectrum of energy projects, including fuel for automobiles.
“ In essence, plants are batteries, ” he said. “ They store energy through photosynthesis. ”
Arkansas provides a large amount of natural resources to make bioenergy manufacturing a reality, Wimberly said, and if the state takes an active interest in the concept, it could cut in half its yearly 1 billion gallons of petroleum used each year.
“ It would take just under a million acres of herbaceous energy crops (crops high in energy ) to displace half of that diesel used, ” he said.
Wimberly said a lot of research is being done on soybeans to create biodiesel, and that it’s a good fuel. However, he said fuel users need to broaden their horizons.
“ We need to quit being worried about planting a future around traditional approaches to biofuel, ” he said.
The state has the forest and farmland to support biofuel operations, which makes it already an attractive location to bioenergy companies, Wimberly said, but Arkansas and its cities need to work towards sealing the deal with the green fuel producers.
“ We are in competition with neighboring states, ” Wimberly said.
Financial incentives as well as getting state landowners and far mers on board with the idea could be the key, Wimberly said.
“ It’s not going to happen unless (farmers ) can make at least as much money as they do growing traditional crops, ” he said.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
BY DUSTIN TRACY
Posted on Saturday, October 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/69979/
Northwest Arkansas Times Fayetteville’s first ever Sustainability Summit brought more than 300 people to the city’s center to talk about ways organizations can become more environmentally friendly. One way discussed was a switch from conventional diesel fuel to the use of bioenergybased fuel. Jim Wimberly with BioEnergy System LLC in Fayetteville talked about the energy-efficient idea at a small breakout session during the summit. “ Agriculture and energy are so intertwined, ” Wimberly said.
He said the idea is to start promoting the growth of high-energy yielding plants that can be processed and manufactured into a full spectrum of energy projects, including fuel for automobiles.
“ In essence, plants are batteries, ” he said. “ They store energy through photosynthesis. ”
Arkansas provides a large amount of natural resources to make bioenergy manufacturing a reality, Wimberly said, and if the state takes an active interest in the concept, it could cut in half its yearly 1 billion gallons of petroleum used each year.
“ It would take just under a million acres of herbaceous energy crops (crops high in energy ) to displace half of that diesel used, ” he said.
Wimberly said a lot of research is being done on soybeans to create biodiesel, and that it’s a good fuel. However, he said fuel users need to broaden their horizons.
“ We need to quit being worried about planting a future around traditional approaches to biofuel, ” he said.
The state has the forest and farmland to support biofuel operations, which makes it already an attractive location to bioenergy companies, Wimberly said, but Arkansas and its cities need to work towards sealing the deal with the green fuel producers.
“ We are in competition with neighboring states, ” Wimberly said.
Financial incentives as well as getting state landowners and far mers on board with the idea could be the key, Wimberly said.
“ It’s not going to happen unless (farmers ) can make at least as much money as they do growing traditional crops, ” he said.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Only 8 polling places open today for school-board election
Polling Places
Zn # 1 Precincts 6, 19, 22, 28, 30, 39
Prairie Twp 1-A
Northeast Baptist Church
2578 Oakland Zion Road
Zn #2 Precincts 7, 8, 11, 12, 21, 29, 42,
Elkins, Prairie Twp 1-B,
Prairie Twp 2, Richland,
Richland-S, Wyman
First United Presbyterian Church
695 Calvin
Zn #2 Goshen City, Goshen Twp,
Brush Creek Twp
Goshen Community Center
Zn # 3 Precincts 2, 20, 27
Covenant Church
4511 W. Wedington
Zn # 3 Precincts 1,9,10,15,26,35, Center Twp
Farmington, Prairie Twp 3
Wiggins Methodist Church
205 W. 6th Street/MLK Blvd
Zn # 4 Precincts 13, 14, 23, 31, 37, 38, 40,41
Johnson City, Johnson Twp,
Prairie Twp 4 Wheeler
Trinity Methodist Church
1021 W. Sycamore
Zn # 4 Precincts 17, 18, 32
Sequoyah Methodist Church
1910 Old Wire Road
Zn # 5 Precincts 3, 4, 5, 24, 25, 33, 34, 36
Central Methodist Church
6 W. Dickson Street
Or call the County Clerk's office
444-1711
Zn # 1 Precincts 6, 19, 22, 28, 30, 39
Prairie Twp 1-A
Northeast Baptist Church
2578 Oakland Zion Road
Zn #2 Precincts 7, 8, 11, 12, 21, 29, 42,
Elkins, Prairie Twp 1-B,
Prairie Twp 2, Richland,
Richland-S, Wyman
First United Presbyterian Church
695 Calvin
Zn #2 Goshen City, Goshen Twp,
Brush Creek Twp
Goshen Community Center
Zn # 3 Precincts 2, 20, 27
Covenant Church
4511 W. Wedington
Zn # 3 Precincts 1,9,10,15,26,35, Center Twp
Farmington, Prairie Twp 3
Wiggins Methodist Church
205 W. 6th Street/MLK Blvd
Zn # 4 Precincts 13, 14, 23, 31, 37, 38, 40,41
Johnson City, Johnson Twp,
Prairie Twp 4 Wheeler
Trinity Methodist Church
1021 W. Sycamore
Zn # 4 Precincts 17, 18, 32
Sequoyah Methodist Church
1910 Old Wire Road
Zn # 5 Precincts 3, 4, 5, 24, 25, 33, 34, 36
Central Methodist Church
6 W. Dickson Street
Or call the County Clerk's office
444-1711
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Small moths and butterflies on World Peace Wetland Prairie on September 30, 2008
Please click on images for larger view of moths and butterflies on World Peace Wetland Prairie on September 30, 2008.
Pollinators on World Peace Wetland Prairie on September 30, 2008
Please click on images to ENLARGE view of pollinators on World Peace Wetland Prairie on September 30, 2008.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Painted lady nectaring on World Peace Wetland Prairie
Please click on images to ENLARGE photos of painted lady butterfly on zinnea on World Peace Wetland Prairie on September 23, 2008.
For Painted lady information
please click the link.
For Painted lady and Red Admiral information please click the link.
For Painted lady information
please click the link.
For Painted lady and Red Admiral information please click the link.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Morning News reports that school-board supports new high school on old site
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
New High School Gets Green Light On Current Site
By Rose Ann Pearce
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- A 21st century high school will be built on the current site of Fayetteville High School.
Please click on
High school to be rebuilt on site to read the rest of the story of copy and paste the code below:
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/09/25/news/092608fzfayschlbrd.txt
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
New High School Gets Green Light On Current Site
By Rose Ann Pearce
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- A 21st century high school will be built on the current site of Fayetteville High School.
Please click on
High school to be rebuilt on site to read the rest of the story of copy and paste the code below:
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/09/25/news/092608fzfayschlbrd.txt
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
City Council to consider allowing Hill Place student-apartment developers to dredge out portion of tree-protection area and an existing trail area
Please click on image to ENLARGE and read. The photo is from August 3, 2008, when we found several youngsters swimming and fishing in the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River in the hole immediately downstream from the big culvert.
The city council agenda session Tuesday night will include include discussion of putting a revision of the PZD already approved for the Hill Place student apartments to be built on the site cleared in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for the Aspen Ridge condominium project.
Members of the Town Branch Neighborhood Association are uncertain that this change in the PZD will help reduce the flooding threat south of the Hill Place project. The value of that stream crossing is undeniable. People have walked it for decades. Wildflowers, understory vegetation used for roosting and nesting by many species of birds, and some large trees will be removed if the walkway is removed. Logically, this walkway should be listed as a future trail site, to connect the Cherokee Trail that is to pass beneath the railroad and cross the old east-west rail trestle with the trail to be builgt by the Hill Place developers along the Brooks Avenue right of way previously cleared and dredged-out through the Pinnacle Foods Inc. wetland prairie south of Hill Place and west of World Peace Wetland Prairie, an existing city nature park and turn south to connect to 12th Street. The stream crossing is important. The hole of water immediately south of the big culvert is the deepest hole for fish and for people who want to swim between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Fifteenth Street. Pinnacle Foods Inc. has offered to donate the 2 acres closest to World Peace Wetland Prairie to increase the size of WPWP.
The city council agenda session Tuesday night will include include discussion of putting a revision of the PZD already approved for the Hill Place student apartments to be built on the site cleared in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for the Aspen Ridge condominium project.
Members of the Town Branch Neighborhood Association are uncertain that this change in the PZD will help reduce the flooding threat south of the Hill Place project. The value of that stream crossing is undeniable. People have walked it for decades. Wildflowers, understory vegetation used for roosting and nesting by many species of birds, and some large trees will be removed if the walkway is removed. Logically, this walkway should be listed as a future trail site, to connect the Cherokee Trail that is to pass beneath the railroad and cross the old east-west rail trestle with the trail to be builgt by the Hill Place developers along the Brooks Avenue right of way previously cleared and dredged-out through the Pinnacle Foods Inc. wetland prairie south of Hill Place and west of World Peace Wetland Prairie, an existing city nature park and turn south to connect to 12th Street. The stream crossing is important. The hole of water immediately south of the big culvert is the deepest hole for fish and for people who want to swim between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Fifteenth Street. Pinnacle Foods Inc. has offered to donate the 2 acres closest to World Peace Wetland Prairie to increase the size of WPWP.
Big Culvert featured in Free Weekly on July 15, 2004
Please click on images to ENLARGE and read article.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Town Branch neighbor in the news
Ozark Profile : Creel intertwines her life with process of birth
BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Monday, September 1, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/68701/
Apositive aura glows around Jennifer Creel. This is a woman who’s spent her existence bringing new life into the world. This is a woman whose passion is empowering other women in the birthing process. Most of all, she’s a woman who wants women to have the choice to give birth the natural way.
“ I see myself as a protector of natural birth, ” Creel said.
Creel was born in Dalton, Ga., and spent most of her childhood and teenage years in Franklin, Tenn. It wasn’t until college that she found herself in Fayetteville. In 1993 she came to the University of Arkansas to play soccer and major in zoology.
“ I was a goalie, ” she said. “ It was short lived. ”
Creel found out she was pregnant with her first daughter in 1995 and made the decision to move home to have the baby. It was nine months later that she had her first experience with childbirth at a hospital in Nashville.
“ I felt like I was completely informed. Of course, when you don’t know all your choices, you have no options, ” she said.
Overall, Creel described the birth of her daughter Greenley as a very painful experience with echoing negative effects on her body. Creel said she felt like she had no control over the decisions the doctors made, what medications they gave her and what procedures they did during labor.
At that point, Creel’s new life began.
She joined the Northwest Arkansas La Leche League, a support group for breastfeeding mothers and after discussing her childbirth experience with a few other new mothers she found that there was an underlying connection.
“ A lot of them had home births, ” she said. “ They didn’t have the same feelings of pain or loss of control. ”
Creel went back to the UA and started to research the concept of home birth. She found that a lot of countries, especially Scandinavian ones, preferred home birth to hospitalization, which pushed her further towards her ultimate decision.
While at school finishing her zoology degree, Creel had another realization. She said she was a single mother, and she just didn’t see herself working away in a laboratory.
“ It didn’t have much contact with people, which I love so much, ” Creel said.
In 1998 during her last semester at the UA, she started an apprenticeship with the Arkansas Midwives School and Services. During the two-year program, Creel married Curt Richardson and eventually had her own home birth.
“ It was just an awesome experience, ” she said. “ I was able to do it uninhibited. It really solidified in my mind that I could facilitate empowering safe births for families. ”
Creel said the program wasn’t easy. In fact, she said the very first home birth she attended, she beat her mentor to the scene and was worried that she’d have to deliver the baby on her own.
“ I was 22; (the mother ) was in the bathroom. When I walked in, she looked at me very calmly and said, ‘ The head is right here, ’ and then she showed me, ” Creel said with a chuckle.
After that, Creel was sold. She passed her certifications in 2000 and went from there. But it wasn’t a simple task. Creel said she delivers about four to five babies per month and most come in the same week.
“ They don’t like to be born in the nine-to-five hours, ” she said laughing.
Creel now has an apprentice of her own, Maria Chowdhury, and together they run the Birthroot Midwifery organization in Fayetteville. Creel has delivered more than 250 babies.
One family even flew Creel to Japan to help them out. She said she’d helped the mother give birth to her first child, and that when she was contacted by the family to help them deliver the second child, she began her normal nine-month monitoring process. Unfortunately, the father’s job transferred the family across the Pacific Ocean late in the term, and the traditional Japanese midwife would not take such a late-term newcomer.
“ So they called me and asked me if I would fly out, ” Creel said.
There were a few clients she was looking after, but Creel said she could help if those babies came quickly, which they did. Suddenly she found herself on a plane to Japan.
“ I traveled for 36 hours, and when I got off the plane and saw (the mother’s ) face, I said to her, ‘ I got here just in time, ’” she said.
Ten hours later the baby was born.
Creel’s journey has not been without difficulty. Three years ago in July, she lost her second child, Elleya, to a sudden infection. Creel left midwifery for 14 months and debated even coming back to the profession. She called her decision to come back the dividing point in her career. She said when she first became a midwife she felt love and joy for the experience. After her tragedy Creel said she could really see what drove her to do what she does and be who she is. She can even remember one of the first births she delivered after she came back.
“ The mother was siting on the toilet backwards. She looked at me, and she calmly said, ‘ I’m having really strong contractions, ’” Creel said. “ Then she quickly stood up and gave birth to a beautiful baby. It was really overwhelming. Coming back to work and getting to be part of another positive life experience was a good thing. ”
Creel’s family often gets the brunt of her profession. She said long days with birthing mothers leave her kids with their father to cook for them. She said when her oldest daughter, now 13, hears her mom leave in the night she stops her and asks for cooking ideas once her dad’s standard two-meal rotation is over.
“ Apparently breakfast for dinner gets old, ” Creel said with a laugh.
Creel said other tough parts about her on-call job include missing school events, birthdays and family get-togethers, but her husband said that’s just something the family works through.
“ It’s part of our family life, ” Richardson said. “ If our babies were still nursing when she left, I’d have to go find out where she was and bring the nursing baby. ”
Aside from the hectic nature of the job, Richardson said he’s nothing but proud of his wife.
“ I think she just has a complete understanding of the process of birth, ” he said. “ It’s her gift. ”
Creel said midwifery has just taken over who she is. She said her house is right next to her office, and the profession has taught her to be a strong, resolved woman. She enjoys every second of it.
“ Getting to know the families and getting to witness the birth of the family, it’s positive pain working towards a positive experience, ” Creel said. “ Being fully present for your life experiences, whether they are joyful or painful, is the most fulfilling way to live. ”
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Monday, September 1, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/68701/
Apositive aura glows around Jennifer Creel. This is a woman who’s spent her existence bringing new life into the world. This is a woman whose passion is empowering other women in the birthing process. Most of all, she’s a woman who wants women to have the choice to give birth the natural way.
“ I see myself as a protector of natural birth, ” Creel said.
Creel was born in Dalton, Ga., and spent most of her childhood and teenage years in Franklin, Tenn. It wasn’t until college that she found herself in Fayetteville. In 1993 she came to the University of Arkansas to play soccer and major in zoology.
“ I was a goalie, ” she said. “ It was short lived. ”
Creel found out she was pregnant with her first daughter in 1995 and made the decision to move home to have the baby. It was nine months later that she had her first experience with childbirth at a hospital in Nashville.
“ I felt like I was completely informed. Of course, when you don’t know all your choices, you have no options, ” she said.
Overall, Creel described the birth of her daughter Greenley as a very painful experience with echoing negative effects on her body. Creel said she felt like she had no control over the decisions the doctors made, what medications they gave her and what procedures they did during labor.
At that point, Creel’s new life began.
She joined the Northwest Arkansas La Leche League, a support group for breastfeeding mothers and after discussing her childbirth experience with a few other new mothers she found that there was an underlying connection.
“ A lot of them had home births, ” she said. “ They didn’t have the same feelings of pain or loss of control. ”
Creel went back to the UA and started to research the concept of home birth. She found that a lot of countries, especially Scandinavian ones, preferred home birth to hospitalization, which pushed her further towards her ultimate decision.
While at school finishing her zoology degree, Creel had another realization. She said she was a single mother, and she just didn’t see herself working away in a laboratory.
“ It didn’t have much contact with people, which I love so much, ” Creel said.
In 1998 during her last semester at the UA, she started an apprenticeship with the Arkansas Midwives School and Services. During the two-year program, Creel married Curt Richardson and eventually had her own home birth.
“ It was just an awesome experience, ” she said. “ I was able to do it uninhibited. It really solidified in my mind that I could facilitate empowering safe births for families. ”
Creel said the program wasn’t easy. In fact, she said the very first home birth she attended, she beat her mentor to the scene and was worried that she’d have to deliver the baby on her own.
“ I was 22; (the mother ) was in the bathroom. When I walked in, she looked at me very calmly and said, ‘ The head is right here, ’ and then she showed me, ” Creel said with a chuckle.
After that, Creel was sold. She passed her certifications in 2000 and went from there. But it wasn’t a simple task. Creel said she delivers about four to five babies per month and most come in the same week.
“ They don’t like to be born in the nine-to-five hours, ” she said laughing.
Creel now has an apprentice of her own, Maria Chowdhury, and together they run the Birthroot Midwifery organization in Fayetteville. Creel has delivered more than 250 babies.
One family even flew Creel to Japan to help them out. She said she’d helped the mother give birth to her first child, and that when she was contacted by the family to help them deliver the second child, she began her normal nine-month monitoring process. Unfortunately, the father’s job transferred the family across the Pacific Ocean late in the term, and the traditional Japanese midwife would not take such a late-term newcomer.
“ So they called me and asked me if I would fly out, ” Creel said.
There were a few clients she was looking after, but Creel said she could help if those babies came quickly, which they did. Suddenly she found herself on a plane to Japan.
“ I traveled for 36 hours, and when I got off the plane and saw (the mother’s ) face, I said to her, ‘ I got here just in time, ’” she said.
Ten hours later the baby was born.
Creel’s journey has not been without difficulty. Three years ago in July, she lost her second child, Elleya, to a sudden infection. Creel left midwifery for 14 months and debated even coming back to the profession. She called her decision to come back the dividing point in her career. She said when she first became a midwife she felt love and joy for the experience. After her tragedy Creel said she could really see what drove her to do what she does and be who she is. She can even remember one of the first births she delivered after she came back.
“ The mother was siting on the toilet backwards. She looked at me, and she calmly said, ‘ I’m having really strong contractions, ’” Creel said. “ Then she quickly stood up and gave birth to a beautiful baby. It was really overwhelming. Coming back to work and getting to be part of another positive life experience was a good thing. ”
Creel’s family often gets the brunt of her profession. She said long days with birthing mothers leave her kids with their father to cook for them. She said when her oldest daughter, now 13, hears her mom leave in the night she stops her and asks for cooking ideas once her dad’s standard two-meal rotation is over.
“ Apparently breakfast for dinner gets old, ” Creel said with a laugh.
Creel said other tough parts about her on-call job include missing school events, birthdays and family get-togethers, but her husband said that’s just something the family works through.
“ It’s part of our family life, ” Richardson said. “ If our babies were still nursing when she left, I’d have to go find out where she was and bring the nursing baby. ”
Aside from the hectic nature of the job, Richardson said he’s nothing but proud of his wife.
“ I think she just has a complete understanding of the process of birth, ” he said. “ It’s her gift. ”
Creel said midwifery has just taken over who she is. She said her house is right next to her office, and the profession has taught her to be a strong, resolved woman. She enjoys every second of it.
“ Getting to know the families and getting to witness the birth of the family, it’s positive pain working towards a positive experience, ” Creel said. “ Being fully present for your life experiences, whether they are joyful or painful, is the most fulfilling way to live. ”
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
Friday, August 29, 2008
Diverse plants and wildlife call World Peace Wetland Prairie home on August 29, 2008
Please click on images to ENLARGE photos of butterflies and flowers and tall grass on August 29, 2008, on World Peace Wetland Prairie.
First and second photos above feature a monarch butterfly nectaring on native thistles on World Peace Wetland Prairie. Native thistles are NOT outlawed and are exceptionally valuable to butterflies, bees and numerous species of birds.
The following two photos (below) feature Centaurea Americana, the American basketflower, surrounded by Demaree's gaura or Gaura demareei, and Dematree's gaura is seen up close in the fifth photo.
Gaura demareei above.
A small, pale butterfly rests on tall grass in the sixth photo (below).
Florida lettuce above (Latuca floridana) above.
First and second photos above feature a monarch butterfly nectaring on native thistles on World Peace Wetland Prairie. Native thistles are NOT outlawed and are exceptionally valuable to butterflies, bees and numerous species of birds.
The following two photos (below) feature Centaurea Americana, the American basketflower, surrounded by Demaree's gaura or Gaura demareei, and Dematree's gaura is seen up close in the fifth photo.
Gaura demareei above.
A small, pale butterfly rests on tall grass in the sixth photo (below).
Florida lettuce above (Latuca floridana) above.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Blast from past: Reasons for protecting wetland not common knowledge among politicians
Posted 8/29/04 on www.aubunique.com
First posted on http"//www.aubunique.com in 2004
Coody finally keeps promise but doesn't stay long
Aubrey's Notebook:
Mayor's Request Would Have Council Ignore Task Force Report
Recommends Putting All Tree, Trail Money Into One Purchase
Mayor Dan Coody visits Town Branch watershed August 23, 2004, fullfilling a promise made in March.
It seems that Mayor Dan Coody is in a big rush to get the Fayetteville City Council to ignore the recommendation of the city's Tree and Trail Task Force and use the full remaining $100,000 from the Steele Crossing lawsuit settlement to acquire 2.44 acres of mostly steep woodland on South West Avenue from renowned architect Fay Jones.
The reason is that there is a deadline to act on the offer to Fay Jones. If that deadline were extended, then maybe there could be a bit more discussion.
I agree that Jones' property must be protected. He bought it more than 35 years ago and has kept it in nearly pristine condition ever since.
I admire and respect Fay Jones for protecting the land all these years and believe he should be paid properly for it. However, both parcels are important and environmentally sensitive and must be protected for their conservation value. There has to be a way to acquire and protect both areas. Such places are disappearing rapidly inside Fayetteville and all over Northwest Arkansas.
Many people who have known me a long time realize that I can't imagine how anyone could disturb Jones' parcel and can't really understand why this progressive city hasn't gotten further in developing ordinances that would protect steep slopes, woodland and wetland.
I believe that the city of Rogers got several steps ahead of us with its recently passed storm-water regulations, which require a bit more than ours.
The wonderful thing is that Fayetteville still has many creeks, while Rogers and Springdale have ditched and paved many of theirs. Rogers is trying to restore a portion of the Osage Creek through the city to something similar to the meandering stream it was originally, after many years as a giant, paved ditch.
The situation reminds me of the rush in the 1980s and 90s to channelize a magnificent bayou through Little Rock!
I read that some portion of that cypress-lined stream is now under public protection. I floated and waded much of it before the Gazette closed in 1991. I caught a lot of bass but ate none of them!
Springdale has a plan to UNCOVER a portion of Spring Creek downtown to become a part of its revitalized downtown. Those cities recognize their mistakes and are trying to re-create part of what was destroyed at great cost. Basically, we need to provide stronger regulation of stream riparian zones and the adjacent wetland areas.
This brings us back to the topic at hand. The Tree and Trail Task Force decided in the fall of 2003 to try to buy the 2.46 acres of wetland prairie off S. Duncan Ave. An appraisal came in lower than the developer expected, but the task force was under the impression that public money could be used only to pay the appraised price, thus the members suggested that Mayor Coody try to negotiate. Negotiation stalled because the developer needed more than the appraised price to cover his losses.
At the developer's request, I met with the mayor in his office and invited him to walk the Town Branch watershed with me. He was busy in March but said he would come out later in the spring.
Dan finally spent 45 minutes or so with me in the Town Branch watershed Aug. 23, 2004, but I wasn't able to share with him all the reasons that this prairie wetland deserves city protection.
The nice thing was that the mayor got to see a DRY wetland prairie, something that would have been impossible in spring or early this summer. Some of the wettest land had dried and cracked in the few places where the vegetation was exposed.\
There was a small spot where one of the neighbors had mowed a path into the 2-acre wetland prairie off S. Duncan between 11th and 12th streets and knocked over three or four chimneys created by Ozark burrowing crayfish. I tried to explain that these are not the stream or swamp crawdads of the south that I knew in Louisiana or Dan knew growing up in southeast Texas.
These are crawdads that live in the aquifers under the prairies and partially wooded wetland areas paralleling the streams in many places in the Ozarks. They are also known as Osage burrowing crayfish, if one searches online.
Yes, some are big enough to eat! If you toss them into the creek they will try to find their way back to the prairie!
Such prairies as the acreage around our home, including our yard, absorb water and allow it to drain into the aquifer.
When the ground dries out as it finally did in mid-August this year, that land is ready to soak up several inches of rain when it comes. That was what I was trying to explain to Dan Coody. The floods of late April and early July occurred after the wetland prairie areas in Fayetteville, especially in the watershed of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River, were holding all the water they could because of almost daily rain.
The failure of stormwater detention ponds designed to slow runoff from newly roofed and paved areas contributed to the worst muddying of Beaver Lake since the dam was built in the 1060s. Smallmouth bass can be expected to fail to reproduce in the streams affected by the siltation. Many less well-known species will be in the same situation. Life thrives in clear water running over clean rock.
Engineering can't replace that natural storm-water protection. Protecting every vegetated acre that can be protected is the only key to keeping a bit of Northwest Arkansas as it was when I first lived here in the '60s.
There will be grant money to help restore such areas not only to protect people such as some of my neighbors whose home flooded three different nights in 2004 but also to provide habitat for birds and other wildlife and to offer wildflowers and other natural beauty.
Anyone who has studied our Web site, http://www.aubunique.com , can imagine how many hours Lauren and I spent last year documenting just a few species of native flowering plants and typical prairie grass on the 2 acres behind our home, the part of the 2.46 acres that was approved by the city planning commission for 36 apartment units in May 2003. In June 2003, the Corps of Engineers issued the developer a permit for the site.\
However, James Mathias, the developer, agreed to delay development to give our neighborhood's Town Branch Neighborhood Association time to buy the land for preservation. In May 2004, his development permit was renewed for another year and he agreed again to delay work on the project to give us more time.
With the few wooded and prairie acres to the north between 11th and 6th streets along the Town Branch west of Hill Avenue slated for development and the many acres being developed on the west arm of the Town Branch west of Razorback Road, such small parcels of prairie wetland become increasingly important in storm-water protection along the Town Branch and in preventing further siltation of Beaver Lake.
I can't possibly share a lifetime outdoors with others well enough to make them understand why I care about these things. But Stormwater II regulations spell out the federal rules. Links to those rules may be found on this Web site.
Over and over, I have been told by employees of the Corps of Engineers and national and state environmental agencies that "your city can make stronger rules."
They KNOW that the federal rules are a weak compromise.
The bulk of the Wilson Spring prairie wetland is doomed to be developed. The part that remains can help educate the public about the value of such places in the Illinois River watershed.
Our neighborhood wetland prairie offers similar value as a demonstration area for owners of parcels small and large in the White River watershed. It was never plowed by the farmers in the first half of the 20th century and it was never built upon when the land was subdivided in the 1950s. The reasons are obvious.
Aubrey James Shepherd
Fayetteville, AR © 2003, 2004, 2005
Site design by Lauren Hawkins' LDHdesign
First posted on http"//www.aubunique.com in 2004
Coody finally keeps promise but doesn't stay long
Aubrey's Notebook:
Mayor's Request Would Have Council Ignore Task Force Report
Recommends Putting All Tree, Trail Money Into One Purchase
Mayor Dan Coody visits Town Branch watershed August 23, 2004, fullfilling a promise made in March.
It seems that Mayor Dan Coody is in a big rush to get the Fayetteville City Council to ignore the recommendation of the city's Tree and Trail Task Force and use the full remaining $100,000 from the Steele Crossing lawsuit settlement to acquire 2.44 acres of mostly steep woodland on South West Avenue from renowned architect Fay Jones.
The reason is that there is a deadline to act on the offer to Fay Jones. If that deadline were extended, then maybe there could be a bit more discussion.
I agree that Jones' property must be protected. He bought it more than 35 years ago and has kept it in nearly pristine condition ever since.
I admire and respect Fay Jones for protecting the land all these years and believe he should be paid properly for it. However, both parcels are important and environmentally sensitive and must be protected for their conservation value. There has to be a way to acquire and protect both areas. Such places are disappearing rapidly inside Fayetteville and all over Northwest Arkansas.
Many people who have known me a long time realize that I can't imagine how anyone could disturb Jones' parcel and can't really understand why this progressive city hasn't gotten further in developing ordinances that would protect steep slopes, woodland and wetland.
I believe that the city of Rogers got several steps ahead of us with its recently passed storm-water regulations, which require a bit more than ours.
The wonderful thing is that Fayetteville still has many creeks, while Rogers and Springdale have ditched and paved many of theirs. Rogers is trying to restore a portion of the Osage Creek through the city to something similar to the meandering stream it was originally, after many years as a giant, paved ditch.
The situation reminds me of the rush in the 1980s and 90s to channelize a magnificent bayou through Little Rock!
I read that some portion of that cypress-lined stream is now under public protection. I floated and waded much of it before the Gazette closed in 1991. I caught a lot of bass but ate none of them!
Springdale has a plan to UNCOVER a portion of Spring Creek downtown to become a part of its revitalized downtown. Those cities recognize their mistakes and are trying to re-create part of what was destroyed at great cost. Basically, we need to provide stronger regulation of stream riparian zones and the adjacent wetland areas.
This brings us back to the topic at hand. The Tree and Trail Task Force decided in the fall of 2003 to try to buy the 2.46 acres of wetland prairie off S. Duncan Ave. An appraisal came in lower than the developer expected, but the task force was under the impression that public money could be used only to pay the appraised price, thus the members suggested that Mayor Coody try to negotiate. Negotiation stalled because the developer needed more than the appraised price to cover his losses.
At the developer's request, I met with the mayor in his office and invited him to walk the Town Branch watershed with me. He was busy in March but said he would come out later in the spring.
Dan finally spent 45 minutes or so with me in the Town Branch watershed Aug. 23, 2004, but I wasn't able to share with him all the reasons that this prairie wetland deserves city protection.
The nice thing was that the mayor got to see a DRY wetland prairie, something that would have been impossible in spring or early this summer. Some of the wettest land had dried and cracked in the few places where the vegetation was exposed.\
There was a small spot where one of the neighbors had mowed a path into the 2-acre wetland prairie off S. Duncan between 11th and 12th streets and knocked over three or four chimneys created by Ozark burrowing crayfish. I tried to explain that these are not the stream or swamp crawdads of the south that I knew in Louisiana or Dan knew growing up in southeast Texas.
These are crawdads that live in the aquifers under the prairies and partially wooded wetland areas paralleling the streams in many places in the Ozarks. They are also known as Osage burrowing crayfish, if one searches online.
Yes, some are big enough to eat! If you toss them into the creek they will try to find their way back to the prairie!
Such prairies as the acreage around our home, including our yard, absorb water and allow it to drain into the aquifer.
When the ground dries out as it finally did in mid-August this year, that land is ready to soak up several inches of rain when it comes. That was what I was trying to explain to Dan Coody. The floods of late April and early July occurred after the wetland prairie areas in Fayetteville, especially in the watershed of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River, were holding all the water they could because of almost daily rain.
The failure of stormwater detention ponds designed to slow runoff from newly roofed and paved areas contributed to the worst muddying of Beaver Lake since the dam was built in the 1060s. Smallmouth bass can be expected to fail to reproduce in the streams affected by the siltation. Many less well-known species will be in the same situation. Life thrives in clear water running over clean rock.
Engineering can't replace that natural storm-water protection. Protecting every vegetated acre that can be protected is the only key to keeping a bit of Northwest Arkansas as it was when I first lived here in the '60s.
There will be grant money to help restore such areas not only to protect people such as some of my neighbors whose home flooded three different nights in 2004 but also to provide habitat for birds and other wildlife and to offer wildflowers and other natural beauty.
Anyone who has studied our Web site, http://www.aubunique.com , can imagine how many hours Lauren and I spent last year documenting just a few species of native flowering plants and typical prairie grass on the 2 acres behind our home, the part of the 2.46 acres that was approved by the city planning commission for 36 apartment units in May 2003. In June 2003, the Corps of Engineers issued the developer a permit for the site.\
However, James Mathias, the developer, agreed to delay development to give our neighborhood's Town Branch Neighborhood Association time to buy the land for preservation. In May 2004, his development permit was renewed for another year and he agreed again to delay work on the project to give us more time.
With the few wooded and prairie acres to the north between 11th and 6th streets along the Town Branch west of Hill Avenue slated for development and the many acres being developed on the west arm of the Town Branch west of Razorback Road, such small parcels of prairie wetland become increasingly important in storm-water protection along the Town Branch and in preventing further siltation of Beaver Lake.
I can't possibly share a lifetime outdoors with others well enough to make them understand why I care about these things. But Stormwater II regulations spell out the federal rules. Links to those rules may be found on this Web site.
Over and over, I have been told by employees of the Corps of Engineers and national and state environmental agencies that "your city can make stronger rules."
They KNOW that the federal rules are a weak compromise.
The bulk of the Wilson Spring prairie wetland is doomed to be developed. The part that remains can help educate the public about the value of such places in the Illinois River watershed.
Our neighborhood wetland prairie offers similar value as a demonstration area for owners of parcels small and large in the White River watershed. It was never plowed by the farmers in the first half of the 20th century and it was never built upon when the land was subdivided in the 1950s. The reasons are obvious.
Aubrey James Shepherd
Fayetteville, AR © 2003, 2004, 2005
Site design by Lauren Hawkins' LDHdesign
A new proposal by the Bush/Cheney Administration would gut the law that protects polar bears, wolves and other endangered species
CREDO Action from Working Assets is proud to bring you an urgent alert from our friends at Defenders of Wildlife.
The Bush administration has announced a new proposal that would gut the Endangered Species Act — one of America's most important environmental laws. Now Defenders of Wildlife needs our help to preserve the vital checks and balances that protect our polar bears, wolves and other imperiled animals.
I urge you to read the message below from Defenders of Wildlife's president, Rodger Schlickeisen, and take action today to save our endangered species.
Michael Kieschnick
President, CREDO Mobile
Emergency Action
A new proposal by the Bush/Cheney Administration would gut the law that protects polar bears, wolves and other endangered species.
Urge your Representative and Senators to help stop the Bush/Cheney plan to gut the Endangered Species Act.
Dear Wildlife Supporter,
With less than 160 days left in power, the Bush/Cheney Administration has launched an unprecedented backdoor assault on America's endangered species!
Don't let them get away with it. Urge your Representative and Senators to do everything in their power to stop the Bush/Cheney Administration's eleventh-hour assault on America's wildlife.
For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected wildlife at risk of extinction. Now the Bush/Cheney Administration wants to eliminate vital checks and balances that are crucial to protect our polar bears, wolves and other imperiled wildlife.
Please help protect endangered animals from the Bush/Cheney Administration's attack. Take action now.
Announced earlier this week, the Bush/Cheney proposal would severely limit scientific review by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service of projects that could harm imperiled wildlife. And it would explicitly limit the ability of these expert agencies to consider how greenhouse gas emissions from such projects could impact polar bears, wolverines and other wildlife that may go extinct due to global warming.
Instead, agencies proposing projects such as highways, dams, mines, oil or gas drilling and virtually any other activity would be allowed to decide for themselves whether a project is likely to impact any of the nearly 1,400 species currently protected by the Endangered Species Act — without the crucial independent review now provided by scientific experts at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Many of these agencies do not even have biologists or other qualified staff to make such a determination.
Even worse, the new regulations would impose a brief 60-day review period for agencies, making it even less likely that anyone involved in the process will have the time or expertise to fully evaluate the potential harmful effects of a given project on sensitive wildlife or the habitat it needs to survive.
Help stop the Bush/Cheney Administration's assault on protections for our endangered species. Please take action now.
There are less than 160 days left in the Bush/Cheney Administration — and even less time for your Members of Congress to act. Please take action now to help stop the Bush/Cheney Administration's last-minute attempt to eliminate effective protections for the wildlife that you and I love.
Sincerely,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
P.S. Two years ago, Defenders of Wildlife led the fight that stopped Congressional legislation that would have gutted the Endangered Species Act. Now we need your help to stop the Bush Administration from trying to do the same thing. Please take action now!
The Bush administration has announced a new proposal that would gut the Endangered Species Act — one of America's most important environmental laws. Now Defenders of Wildlife needs our help to preserve the vital checks and balances that protect our polar bears, wolves and other imperiled animals.
I urge you to read the message below from Defenders of Wildlife's president, Rodger Schlickeisen, and take action today to save our endangered species.
Michael Kieschnick
President, CREDO Mobile
Emergency Action
A new proposal by the Bush/Cheney Administration would gut the law that protects polar bears, wolves and other endangered species.
Urge your Representative and Senators to help stop the Bush/Cheney plan to gut the Endangered Species Act.
Dear Wildlife Supporter,
With less than 160 days left in power, the Bush/Cheney Administration has launched an unprecedented backdoor assault on America's endangered species!
Don't let them get away with it. Urge your Representative and Senators to do everything in their power to stop the Bush/Cheney Administration's eleventh-hour assault on America's wildlife.
For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected wildlife at risk of extinction. Now the Bush/Cheney Administration wants to eliminate vital checks and balances that are crucial to protect our polar bears, wolves and other imperiled wildlife.
Please help protect endangered animals from the Bush/Cheney Administration's attack. Take action now.
Announced earlier this week, the Bush/Cheney proposal would severely limit scientific review by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service of projects that could harm imperiled wildlife. And it would explicitly limit the ability of these expert agencies to consider how greenhouse gas emissions from such projects could impact polar bears, wolverines and other wildlife that may go extinct due to global warming.
Instead, agencies proposing projects such as highways, dams, mines, oil or gas drilling and virtually any other activity would be allowed to decide for themselves whether a project is likely to impact any of the nearly 1,400 species currently protected by the Endangered Species Act — without the crucial independent review now provided by scientific experts at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Many of these agencies do not even have biologists or other qualified staff to make such a determination.
Even worse, the new regulations would impose a brief 60-day review period for agencies, making it even less likely that anyone involved in the process will have the time or expertise to fully evaluate the potential harmful effects of a given project on sensitive wildlife or the habitat it needs to survive.
Help stop the Bush/Cheney Administration's assault on protections for our endangered species. Please take action now.
There are less than 160 days left in the Bush/Cheney Administration — and even less time for your Members of Congress to act. Please take action now to help stop the Bush/Cheney Administration's last-minute attempt to eliminate effective protections for the wildlife that you and I love.
Sincerely,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
P.S. Two years ago, Defenders of Wildlife led the fight that stopped Congressional legislation that would have gutted the Endangered Species Act. Now we need your help to stop the Bush Administration from trying to do the same thing. Please take action now!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monarchs mating now produce generation that goes to Mexico in October
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/AboutFall.html
Monarchs migrate south in fall
Please don't mow or cut your milkweed. If the leaves are being eaten away, that means that a new generation of monarch butterflies will be appearing in time to migrate to Mexico in October and return in spring to produce next year's monarchs. Their caterpillars must have some species of milkweed to survive on!
PLEASE CLICK on image to ENLARGE photo of a pair of monarch butterflies mating in the Town Branch neighborhood on August 26, 2008. The flower is a rose of sharon bush, a favorite of many pollinators and, when allowed to grow strong and at least 6 feet tall provides nesting habitat for cardinals and other species of songbirds in Northwest Arkansas. Although nonnative, it is a valuable and harmless species, especially outside a bathroom or kitchen window because bird nests in these bushes may be easy to watch from indoors without disturbing parents or baby birds This plant is on Don Hoodenpyle's property and is only 150 feet from the stream. Hoodenpyle has a south American native milkweed in the vicinity and the caterpillars resulting from the mating of these two monarchs are likely to eat the leaves of the milkweed and be ready to head southwest in October.
Monarchs migrate south in fall
Please don't mow or cut your milkweed. If the leaves are being eaten away, that means that a new generation of monarch butterflies will be appearing in time to migrate to Mexico in October and return in spring to produce next year's monarchs. Their caterpillars must have some species of milkweed to survive on!
PLEASE CLICK on image to ENLARGE photo of a pair of monarch butterflies mating in the Town Branch neighborhood on August 26, 2008. The flower is a rose of sharon bush, a favorite of many pollinators and, when allowed to grow strong and at least 6 feet tall provides nesting habitat for cardinals and other species of songbirds in Northwest Arkansas. Although nonnative, it is a valuable and harmless species, especially outside a bathroom or kitchen window because bird nests in these bushes may be easy to watch from indoors without disturbing parents or baby birds This plant is on Don Hoodenpyle's property and is only 150 feet from the stream. Hoodenpyle has a south American native milkweed in the vicinity and the caterpillars resulting from the mating of these two monarchs are likely to eat the leaves of the milkweed and be ready to head southwest in October.
Free weekly cover and story and photos on Town Branch neighborhood's 2004 effort to protect watershed
Please click on image to ENLARGE and read.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Links to learn about and discuss Jim McGinty's candidacy for Fayetteville board of education at-large seat
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Ward One meeting views project planning in Beaver Lake watershed
The desiginated Fayette Junction area is south of the Town Branch neighborhood starting at 15th Street. Old maps actually show Fayette Junction as including the southwest portion of the Town Branch neighborhood along the railroads that historically joined in that area.
Please click on images to ENLARGE:
In the top photo, the Stonebridge Meadows project is shown with north to the right and west at the top. The project is near the West Fork of the White River and drains to the stream.
In the second photo, developer Hank Broyles has turned the concept drawing to put north at the top. Dead Horse Mountain Road runs north and south along the left side in this photo.
Fayetteville City Council members Adella Gray (left) and Brenda Thiel listen to presentations by the developer after hearing an explanation of the city planning division's rationale for its proposed master plan for the Fayette Junction area of south Fayetteville in the third photo. A series of meetings has been scheduled in south Fayetteville to familiarize residents with the concept and to hear public comment.
Please click on images to ENLARGE:
In the top photo, the Stonebridge Meadows project is shown with north to the right and west at the top. The project is near the West Fork of the White River and drains to the stream.
In the second photo, developer Hank Broyles has turned the concept drawing to put north at the top. Dead Horse Mountain Road runs north and south along the left side in this photo.
Fayetteville City Council members Adella Gray (left) and Brenda Thiel listen to presentations by the developer after hearing an explanation of the city planning division's rationale for its proposed master plan for the Fayette Junction area of south Fayetteville in the third photo. A series of meetings has been scheduled in south Fayetteville to familiarize residents with the concept and to hear public comment.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Ward One meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 18, 2008
Please click on image to ENLARGE.
There will be a Ward 1 Meeting - Monday, August 18, 2008
6:30 PM Room 326, City Administration Building
The Fayette Junction Complete Neighborhood Plan will be discussed as well as any other issues regarding Ward 1.
Julie McQuade
Neighborhood Coordinator
City of Fayetteville
Planning Division
479-575-8253
125 W. Mountain Street
Fayetteville AR 72701
www.accessfayetteville.org
Fayette Junction master plan material on city Web site.
There will be a Ward 1 Meeting - Monday, August 18, 2008
6:30 PM Room 326, City Administration Building
The Fayette Junction Complete Neighborhood Plan will be discussed as well as any other issues regarding Ward 1.
Julie McQuade
Neighborhood Coordinator
City of Fayetteville
Planning Division
479-575-8253
125 W. Mountain Street
Fayetteville AR 72701
www.accessfayetteville.org
Fayette Junction master plan material on city Web site.
Why isn't this a rain garden instead of a raised garden?
Please click on IMAGE to ENLARGE view of a raised island flower garden with rain water standing around it. There are thousands of such expensive, wasteful "unsustainable" put-and-take flower gardens in Northwest Arkansas. City planning regulations should FORBID such abominations.
A raingarden in the same spot would be created BEFORE the lot was covered with red dirt for paving, using the natural soil found in all the former prairie areas such as along Fayetteville's Martin Luther King Boulevard. Paving would be sloped to allow water to flow into these gardens instead of into storm drains. This would allow these original-soil patches to harbor native species of grass and wildflowers that would NEVER require watering. The excess water could soak through to the natural aquifer and be cleansed by the soil and plants. In dry periods, the plants would become dormant but revive when moisture returns. Landscape architects and planners know how to do these things. Why are they not required by law?
Someone might suggest that cars would drive into the ground-level or depressed garden spots. But a simple barrier a few inches off the ground instead of a concrete curb would prevent this and would not cost any more than a curb.
A raingarden in the same spot would be created BEFORE the lot was covered with red dirt for paving, using the natural soil found in all the former prairie areas such as along Fayetteville's Martin Luther King Boulevard. Paving would be sloped to allow water to flow into these gardens instead of into storm drains. This would allow these original-soil patches to harbor native species of grass and wildflowers that would NEVER require watering. The excess water could soak through to the natural aquifer and be cleansed by the soil and plants. In dry periods, the plants would become dormant but revive when moisture returns. Landscape architects and planners know how to do these things. Why are they not required by law?
Someone might suggest that cars would drive into the ground-level or depressed garden spots. But a simple barrier a few inches off the ground instead of a concrete curb would prevent this and would not cost any more than a curb.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Monarch butterflies visit World Peace Wetland Prairie to lay eggs on milkweed so that caterpillars can eat and grow
Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of monarch butterfly August 10, 2008, on World Peace Wetland Prairie.
Please click on link to ENLARGE tall-green milkweed, Asclepias hirtella, at World Peace Wetland Prairie on August 10, 2008.
Please click on link to ENLARGE tall-green milkweed, Asclepias hirtella, at World Peace Wetland Prairie on August 10, 2008.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Zinnea with bee on World Peace Wetland Prairie eastside peace circle garden
Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of bee on zinnea at World Peace Wetland Prairie on August 7, 2008.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Sustainable yard committee offers sanity to code-enforcement decisions
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Fayetteville Wants Neat Yards, Sort Of
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/08/05/news/080608fzsustainableyards.txt
By Skip Descant
The Morning News
FAYETTEVILLE - The finer points of lawn maintenance, such as hairstyles or fashion, is anything but cut and dry.
Which is why one of Fayetteville's newest city-organized committees - the Sustainable Yard Maintenance Committee - is working to draft an ordinance to give the code enforcement department clearer direction regarding which front yards need a visit from the lawn mower and which ones can remain somewhat unkempt.
"Some of those naturalized landscapes look very nice and we don't want to prohibit that," said Bernie Kurz, who works with the Washington County Extension office and serves on the sustainable yard committee.
"Some people have really nice vegetable gardens in their front yards - not a lot - but a few," said Lisa Netherland, who serves on the committee. "And then other people will have these beautiful English cottage gardens."
City code doesn't particularly allow for some of these natural landscape schemes. Once grass gets taller than eight inches, property owners can be cited by the city, said John Coleman, Fayetteville sustainability coordinator, and the Sustainable Yard Maintenance Committee chairman.
But with the committee in the early stages - Tuesday was its third meeting - a large part of the work involves sifting through and defining the proposed ordinance language.
For example, what's the difference between "noxious plants" and "evasive plants." Luckily, half of that job has already been done. State law identifies the following non-native plants as noxious and are banned: purple loosestrife, giant salvia, water Hyacinth and Japanese blood grass.
Clearly defining what qualifies as controlled nature and what's simply neglect will be up to the committee as it slogs through these types of discussions in the coming weeks before the draft gets legal review and ultimately hits the front steps of the city council.
"That's how this all started," said Coleman. "We don't have solid language of what constitutes a managed yard."
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Fayetteville Wants Neat Yards, Sort Of
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/08/05/news/080608fzsustainableyards.txt
By Skip Descant
The Morning News
FAYETTEVILLE - The finer points of lawn maintenance, such as hairstyles or fashion, is anything but cut and dry.
Which is why one of Fayetteville's newest city-organized committees - the Sustainable Yard Maintenance Committee - is working to draft an ordinance to give the code enforcement department clearer direction regarding which front yards need a visit from the lawn mower and which ones can remain somewhat unkempt.
"Some of those naturalized landscapes look very nice and we don't want to prohibit that," said Bernie Kurz, who works with the Washington County Extension office and serves on the sustainable yard committee.
"Some people have really nice vegetable gardens in their front yards - not a lot - but a few," said Lisa Netherland, who serves on the committee. "And then other people will have these beautiful English cottage gardens."
City code doesn't particularly allow for some of these natural landscape schemes. Once grass gets taller than eight inches, property owners can be cited by the city, said John Coleman, Fayetteville sustainability coordinator, and the Sustainable Yard Maintenance Committee chairman.
But with the committee in the early stages - Tuesday was its third meeting - a large part of the work involves sifting through and defining the proposed ordinance language.
For example, what's the difference between "noxious plants" and "evasive plants." Luckily, half of that job has already been done. State law identifies the following non-native plants as noxious and are banned: purple loosestrife, giant salvia, water Hyacinth and Japanese blood grass.
Clearly defining what qualifies as controlled nature and what's simply neglect will be up to the committee as it slogs through these types of discussions in the coming weeks before the draft gets legal review and ultimately hits the front steps of the city council.
"That's how this all started," said Coleman. "We don't have solid language of what constitutes a managed yard."
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Neighborhood's namesake stream offers relief from 100-degree heat
Please click on link to Enlarge photos of boys enjoying city stream about 200 yards south of Sixth Street, the Martin Luther King Boulevard, which is adjacent to the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on August 3, 2008.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Build a rain barrel, help reduce erosion in the watershed and water plants free
Beaver Water District To Conduct Rain Barrel Building
Workshops July 26th at Fayetteville Farmers Market
For immediate release: July 15, 2008
Beaver Water District will conduct three rain barrel building workshops at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 26th, at the Fayetteville Farmer's Market on the downtown square in Fayetteville. Those participating will learn how to build a rain barrel and leave with step-by-step instructions. Additionally, barrels built that day will be given away in a drawing to those who attend. Rain barrels are a water conservation tool. Positioned under a gutter of a home, a rain barrel will capture runoff during rain events. Water may then be used to water the lawn and flowers. For more information, e-mail Amy Wilson, Director of Public Affairs for Beaver Water District at awilson@bwdh2o.org.
Audubon Arkansas also will be on the Fayetteville Square that day with a stream table conducting demonstrations showing how erosion occurs in a watershed setting and how this impacts the watershed and receiving streams and lakes. Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Beaver Water District’ s mission is to serve our customers in the Benton and Washington County area by providing high quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state regulatory requirements in such quantities as meets their demands and is economically priced consistent with our quality standards. For more information, visit www.bwdh2o.org.
Amy L. Wilson, Director of Public Affairs
Beaver Water District, P.O. Box 400, Lowell, AR 72745
awilson@bwdh2o.org; 479-756-3651
“Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes – one for peace and one for science.” -- John F. Kennedy
Workshops July 26th at Fayetteville Farmers Market
For immediate release: July 15, 2008
Beaver Water District will conduct three rain barrel building workshops at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 26th, at the Fayetteville Farmer's Market on the downtown square in Fayetteville. Those participating will learn how to build a rain barrel and leave with step-by-step instructions. Additionally, barrels built that day will be given away in a drawing to those who attend. Rain barrels are a water conservation tool. Positioned under a gutter of a home, a rain barrel will capture runoff during rain events. Water may then be used to water the lawn and flowers. For more information, e-mail Amy Wilson, Director of Public Affairs for Beaver Water District at awilson@bwdh2o.org.
Audubon Arkansas also will be on the Fayetteville Square that day with a stream table conducting demonstrations showing how erosion occurs in a watershed setting and how this impacts the watershed and receiving streams and lakes. Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Beaver Water District’ s mission is to serve our customers in the Benton and Washington County area by providing high quality drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state regulatory requirements in such quantities as meets their demands and is economically priced consistent with our quality standards. For more information, visit www.bwdh2o.org.
Amy L. Wilson, Director of Public Affairs
Beaver Water District, P.O. Box 400, Lowell, AR 72745
awilson@bwdh2o.org; 479-756-3651
“Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes – one for peace and one for science.” -- John F. Kennedy
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, on World Peace Wetland Prairie at 1121 S. Duncan Avenue in the Town Branch neighborhood in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of swamp milkweed on south end of World Peace Wetland Prairie.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Butterflies love coneflowers at World Peace Wetland Prairie
Please click on image to Enlarge photo of butterfly on coneflower at World Peace Wetland Prairie's Elleya Richardson Memorial Butterfly Garden.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
American basket flower (Centaurea Americana) blooming on World Peace Wetland Prairie and other unmowed places throughout northwest Arkansas
Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of American basketflower made on July 10, 2008.
American basketflower photos and description˜
American basketflower photos and description˜
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Government protection of wetland pathetic
EPA Enforcement Is Faulted
Agency Official Cites Narrow Reading of Clean Water Act
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, July 8, 2008; A06
An official administration guidance document on wetland policy is undermining enforcement of the Clean Water Act, said a March 4 memo written by the Environmental Protection Agency's chief enforcement officer.
The memo by Granta Y. Nakayama, EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, was obtained by the advocacy group Greenpeace and released yesterday by two House Democratic committee chairmen. It highlights the confusion that has afflicted federal wetland protections since a 2006 Supreme Court decision.
That 5 to 4 decision, known as Rapanos v. United States, held that the Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded its authority when it denied two Michigan developers permits to build on wetland, but the court split on where the Corps should have drawn the line on what areas deserve protection.
A plurality made of up Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. proposed an across-the-board reduction in the Corps' regulatory role, but Justice Anthony M. Kennedy -- who cast the deciding vote -- called for a case-by-case approach in deciding how the government should proceed. That left the ruling open to interpretation.
In his memo to Benjamin Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water, Nakayama wrote that the document the agency issued in June 2007 to guide regulators' decisions under the Rapanos decision is having "a significant impact on enforcement." Nakayama and his staff concluded that between July 2006 and December 2007, EPA's regional offices had decided not to pursue potential Clean Water Act violations in 304 cases "because of jurisdictional uncertainty."
Much of the controversy centers on what sort of waterway and accompanying wetland should qualify for protection. The administration's guidance instructs federal officials to focus on the "relevant reach" of a tributary, which translates into a single segment of a stream. In the memo, Nakayama argued that this definition "isolates the small tributary" and "ignores longstanding scientific ecosystem and watershed protection principles critical to meeting the goals" of the Clean Water Act.
Chairmen Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee and James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent a letter yesterday to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson saying they have "grave concerns" about the way the agency is implementing the Clean Water Act.
The two noted that Nakayama concluded that in all, the Supreme Court decision and the subsequent guidance document "negatively affected approximately 500 enforcement cases" in nine months. They also questioned why EPA's Grumbles did not raise the issue when he testified before Oberstar's panel less than three months ago.
"This sudden reduction in enforcement activity will undermine the implementation of the Clean Water Act and adversely affect EPA's responsibility to protect the nation's waters," the congressmen wrote. "Yet instead of sounding the alarm about EPA's enforcement problems, the agency's public statements have minimized the impact of the Rapanos decision."
In response to a question about the congressional inquiry, EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said in an e-mail: "We will be reviewing the new request and will work with the chairmen to provide information on our enforcement program."
Eric Schaeffer, who used to head EPA's civil enforcement division and now heads the Environmental Integrity Project, an advocacy group, called Nakayama's memo "very significant. It lays out very clearly why you can't enforce one of the most important parts of the Clean Water Act."
EPA officials are not the only ones growing frustrated with the confusing legal interpretations of the Rapanos decision. Robert B. Propst, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, wrote in a Nov. 7, 2007, decision that he was reassigning a wetland case "to another judge for trial. At least one of the reasons is that I am so perplexed by the way the law applicable to this case has developed that it would be inappropriate for me to try it again."
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
Stormwater Management Total Stormwater Management Service Design, Repair & Maintenance www.apexcos.com
Agency Official Cites Narrow Reading of Clean Water Act
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, July 8, 2008; A06
An official administration guidance document on wetland policy is undermining enforcement of the Clean Water Act, said a March 4 memo written by the Environmental Protection Agency's chief enforcement officer.
The memo by Granta Y. Nakayama, EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, was obtained by the advocacy group Greenpeace and released yesterday by two House Democratic committee chairmen. It highlights the confusion that has afflicted federal wetland protections since a 2006 Supreme Court decision.
That 5 to 4 decision, known as Rapanos v. United States, held that the Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded its authority when it denied two Michigan developers permits to build on wetland, but the court split on where the Corps should have drawn the line on what areas deserve protection.
A plurality made of up Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. proposed an across-the-board reduction in the Corps' regulatory role, but Justice Anthony M. Kennedy -- who cast the deciding vote -- called for a case-by-case approach in deciding how the government should proceed. That left the ruling open to interpretation.
In his memo to Benjamin Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water, Nakayama wrote that the document the agency issued in June 2007 to guide regulators' decisions under the Rapanos decision is having "a significant impact on enforcement." Nakayama and his staff concluded that between July 2006 and December 2007, EPA's regional offices had decided not to pursue potential Clean Water Act violations in 304 cases "because of jurisdictional uncertainty."
Much of the controversy centers on what sort of waterway and accompanying wetland should qualify for protection. The administration's guidance instructs federal officials to focus on the "relevant reach" of a tributary, which translates into a single segment of a stream. In the memo, Nakayama argued that this definition "isolates the small tributary" and "ignores longstanding scientific ecosystem and watershed protection principles critical to meeting the goals" of the Clean Water Act.
Chairmen Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee and James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent a letter yesterday to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson saying they have "grave concerns" about the way the agency is implementing the Clean Water Act.
The two noted that Nakayama concluded that in all, the Supreme Court decision and the subsequent guidance document "negatively affected approximately 500 enforcement cases" in nine months. They also questioned why EPA's Grumbles did not raise the issue when he testified before Oberstar's panel less than three months ago.
"This sudden reduction in enforcement activity will undermine the implementation of the Clean Water Act and adversely affect EPA's responsibility to protect the nation's waters," the congressmen wrote. "Yet instead of sounding the alarm about EPA's enforcement problems, the agency's public statements have minimized the impact of the Rapanos decision."
In response to a question about the congressional inquiry, EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said in an e-mail: "We will be reviewing the new request and will work with the chairmen to provide information on our enforcement program."
Eric Schaeffer, who used to head EPA's civil enforcement division and now heads the Environmental Integrity Project, an advocacy group, called Nakayama's memo "very significant. It lays out very clearly why you can't enforce one of the most important parts of the Clean Water Act."
EPA officials are not the only ones growing frustrated with the confusing legal interpretations of the Rapanos decision. Robert B. Propst, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, wrote in a Nov. 7, 2007, decision that he was reassigning a wetland case "to another judge for trial. At least one of the reasons is that I am so perplexed by the way the law applicable to this case has developed that it would be inappropriate for me to try it again."
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
Stormwater Management Total Stormwater Management Service Design, Repair & Maintenance www.apexcos.com
Friday, July 4, 2008
Downtown General zone? Why not Neighborhood Conservation?
Please click on image of native-stone house and giant catalpa trees uphill from Spout Spring Branch in south Fayetteville, Arkansas. This lot and adjacent blocks in the area would be zoned Downtown General rather than Neighborhood Conservation if the Walker Park Neighborhood Master Plan is not revised.
When I advocated closer study of geography and existing homes in the Walker Park neighborhood before the rezoning plan is approved, I was thinking of many places.
Here is the intersection at the far northeast corner of the Walker Park master plan and it is in blue on the concept plan as "downtown general." I was wrong about that being Mary Carr's house, which is a block north on Huntsville.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO PROTECT In this photo:
Riparian zone of Spout Spring Branch starts part way down this lot this corner lot or it certainly starts in the adjoining lot. Any disruption of soil or anything else on this property would be within what should be the no-build zone to protect the Beaver Lake Watershed and would imperial the quality of the stream.
GIANT catalpa trees are pretty common in this part of town but are being taken down regularly. Here here are examples worth saving.
Native stone houses are disappearing rapidly in this part of town and here is an example worth saving. I know, it isn't of as high quality as the one removed from the land of the late Ray Adams on S. School Ave. to make way for Advance Auto, but it is a wonderful dwelling and of historic value.
Mill Ave., of course, is the extension of E. South Street leading northeastward from the narrow block that was discussed by Tony Wappel in the council meeting this past Tuesday.
Enjoy the holiday!
When I advocated closer study of geography and existing homes in the Walker Park neighborhood before the rezoning plan is approved, I was thinking of many places.
Here is the intersection at the far northeast corner of the Walker Park master plan and it is in blue on the concept plan as "downtown general." I was wrong about that being Mary Carr's house, which is a block north on Huntsville.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO PROTECT In this photo:
Riparian zone of Spout Spring Branch starts part way down this lot this corner lot or it certainly starts in the adjoining lot. Any disruption of soil or anything else on this property would be within what should be the no-build zone to protect the Beaver Lake Watershed and would imperial the quality of the stream.
GIANT catalpa trees are pretty common in this part of town but are being taken down regularly. Here here are examples worth saving.
Native stone houses are disappearing rapidly in this part of town and here is an example worth saving. I know, it isn't of as high quality as the one removed from the land of the late Ray Adams on S. School Ave. to make way for Advance Auto, but it is a wonderful dwelling and of historic value.
Mill Ave., of course, is the extension of E. South Street leading northeastward from the narrow block that was discussed by Tony Wappel in the council meeting this past Tuesday.
Enjoy the holiday!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
July is buttonbush month in Northwest Arkansas wetland areas and along streams and ditches
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE PHOTO of Buttonbush inflorescence on World Peace Wetland Prairie on June 2, 2008.
I have been asked why I discourage people from using radical clearing methods on wetland prairies, especially small parcels and urban parcels such as World Peace Wetland Prairie.
One of the main reasons is that some prairie and wetland native species need to grow tall and strong and not be cut bank or burned off if they are to reach their full potential.
The buttonbush is among the easiest to identify in this category at this time of year. The buttonbush is a sure marker of wetland when found growing in the wild. Its value to many species of wildlife is well-documented. And it is among the better native species for protecting riparian zones of streams from eroding.
Read what Texas A&M's Aquaplant Website has to say about the amazing buttonbush.
http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/emergent_plants/buttonbush.htm
WWW AQUAPLANT
Plant Identification
Bulrush
Cattail
Buttonbush
Description Management Options Other Photos
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Buttonbush is a woody shrub (3-10 feet tall) that occasionally grows into a small tree and can be found above water or in water up to 4 feet deep. It has shiny dark-green spear-or egg-shaped pointed leaves 3 to 6 inches long. The leaves are opposite or whorled in 3's or 4's along the stem. Flowers of buttonbush are easily identified by their greenish-white tube flowers in dense ball-shaped clusters about 1 inch in diameter. Seed heads are brown.
Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc. ). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called "detritus") for many aquatic invertebrates. Buttonbush seeds are occasionally eaten by ducks but the bush itself is used for nesting by many bird species.
Emergent Plant Index
Alligator Weed
American Lotus
Arrowhead
Banana Lily (Floating Heart)
Blue Flag
Bulrush
Bull Tongue
Buttonbush
Cattail
Common Reed
Cow Lily (Spatterdock)
Dollar Bonnet (Water Shield)
Floating Heart (Banana Lily)
Fragrant Water Lily (White Water Lily)
Frog's-bit
Giant Reed
Horsetail
Lizard's Tail
Maidencane
Mexican Water Lily (Yellow Water Lily) Pickerelweed
Sedges
Smartweed (Water Pepper)
Soft Rush
Southern Watergrass
Spatterdock (Cow Lily)
Spike Rush
Three-Square
Torpedograss
Waterleaf
Water Pennywort
Water Pepper (Smartweed)
Water Primrose
Water Shield (Dollar Bonnet)
White Water Lily (Fragrant Water Lily)
Willow
Yellow Water Lily (Mexican Water Lily)
Back to Top
Copyright (C) 2000-2008 Texas AgriLife Extension Service. All rights reserved.
I have been asked why I discourage people from using radical clearing methods on wetland prairies, especially small parcels and urban parcels such as World Peace Wetland Prairie.
One of the main reasons is that some prairie and wetland native species need to grow tall and strong and not be cut bank or burned off if they are to reach their full potential.
The buttonbush is among the easiest to identify in this category at this time of year. The buttonbush is a sure marker of wetland when found growing in the wild. Its value to many species of wildlife is well-documented. And it is among the better native species for protecting riparian zones of streams from eroding.
Read what Texas A&M's Aquaplant Website has to say about the amazing buttonbush.
http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/emergent_plants/buttonbush.htm
WWW AQUAPLANT
Plant Identification
Bulrush
Cattail
Buttonbush
Description Management Options Other Photos
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Buttonbush is a woody shrub (3-10 feet tall) that occasionally grows into a small tree and can be found above water or in water up to 4 feet deep. It has shiny dark-green spear-or egg-shaped pointed leaves 3 to 6 inches long. The leaves are opposite or whorled in 3's or 4's along the stem. Flowers of buttonbush are easily identified by their greenish-white tube flowers in dense ball-shaped clusters about 1 inch in diameter. Seed heads are brown.
Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc. ). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called "detritus") for many aquatic invertebrates. Buttonbush seeds are occasionally eaten by ducks but the bush itself is used for nesting by many bird species.
Emergent Plant Index
Alligator Weed
American Lotus
Arrowhead
Banana Lily (Floating Heart)
Blue Flag
Bulrush
Bull Tongue
Buttonbush
Cattail
Common Reed
Cow Lily (Spatterdock)
Dollar Bonnet (Water Shield)
Floating Heart (Banana Lily)
Fragrant Water Lily (White Water Lily)
Frog's-bit
Giant Reed
Horsetail
Lizard's Tail
Maidencane
Mexican Water Lily (Yellow Water Lily) Pickerelweed
Sedges
Smartweed (Water Pepper)
Soft Rush
Southern Watergrass
Spatterdock (Cow Lily)
Spike Rush
Three-Square
Torpedograss
Waterleaf
Water Pennywort
Water Pepper (Smartweed)
Water Primrose
Water Shield (Dollar Bonnet)
White Water Lily (Fragrant Water Lily)
Willow
Yellow Water Lily (Mexican Water Lily)
Back to Top
Copyright (C) 2000-2008 Texas AgriLife Extension Service. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Walker Park neighborhood rezoning plan to be considered by City Council tonight
Please click on image to ENLARGE.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Association for Beaver Lake Environment growing!
From: President@able-ark.org
Sent: Sat 6/28/08 12:51 PM
To: aubreyshepherd@hotmail.com
This is an e-mail from 'Able-Ark.org - Association for Beaver Lake Environment '
Message:
Hello ABLE members,
I wanted to let you know that ABLE hosted a special Town Hall Meeting for Beaver Lake Dock Owners on Monday, June 23, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to sell ABLE to Beaver Lake property owners, identify/discuss issues affecting and threatening the lake, and to increase ABLE membership. This meeting was very successful! We have signed up many new members, the meeting was standing room only, over 110 people attended!
We also had two guest speakers:
Thad Cheaney from the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers - discussed dock and shoreline issues.
Nathan Jones, VP of Power Source Solar - discussed solar applications on boat docks.
I have posted the program on the website (www.able-ark.org). Login, click on "Information Library" page, and then click on Town Hall Meetings. You will see the "Dock Owners Meeting". You will need Adobe Acrobat in order to view the program.
Thanks for supporting ABLE!
Doug Timmons
President, ABLE
Sent: Sat 6/28/08 12:51 PM
To: aubreyshepherd@hotmail.com
This is an e-mail from 'Able-Ark.org - Association for Beaver Lake Environment '
Message:
Hello ABLE members,
I wanted to let you know that ABLE hosted a special Town Hall Meeting for Beaver Lake Dock Owners on Monday, June 23, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to sell ABLE to Beaver Lake property owners, identify/discuss issues affecting and threatening the lake, and to increase ABLE membership. This meeting was very successful! We have signed up many new members, the meeting was standing room only, over 110 people attended!
We also had two guest speakers:
Thad Cheaney from the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers - discussed dock and shoreline issues.
Nathan Jones, VP of Power Source Solar - discussed solar applications on boat docks.
I have posted the program on the website (www.able-ark.org). Login, click on "Information Library" page, and then click on Town Hall Meetings. You will see the "Dock Owners Meeting". You will need Adobe Acrobat in order to view the program.
Thanks for supporting ABLE!
Doug Timmons
President, ABLE
Telecom Board's recommendation to council doesn't please administration
Please click on images to read Susan Thomas' letter and Richard Drake's letter to the Fayetteville City Council.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Hill Place student-apartment plans still changing as city engineering department works with developers
Please click on image to Enlarge.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
How much did bank lose on the Aspen Ridge project?
Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of Chambers Bank sign on Royal Oak Parkway at the north entry to the now-failed and finally defunct Aspen Ridge Townhome project site on Sixth Street/Martin Luther King Boulevard in south Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2006.
For a story on another development project gone wrong, please click the following link:
Investors sue over Chambers Bank involvement in fraudulent development scheme
For a story on another development project gone wrong, please click the following link:
Investors sue over Chambers Bank involvement in fraudulent development scheme
