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
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."
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