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.

Most aldermen see no reason to celebrate TWICE

 
Absent aldermen see no need to celebrate ‘overbudget’ project
BY MARSHA L. MELNICHAK Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/68569
http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat§ion=News&storyid=68569
Only one of Fayetteville’s eight City Council members attended the grand opening of the West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant Thursday, although all their names are on the engraved plaque by the office doors.
Some who didn’t attend said it was because of the project’s cost overruns and time delays.
Brenda Thiel, Ward 1, listened to the shared accolades and added her own at the grand opening.
“ I’m just really excited for this day. I think this is a fantastic facility, and it’s been a long time coming. I certainly wanted to be here for this great day, ” Thiel said.
Her ward mate, Adella Gray, also had good things to say about the plant.
“ I’m very excited about that plant, and I just think it’s a showplace for Northwest Arkansas, ” said Gray, who is in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.
Ward 2 council members, Nancy Allen and Kyle Cook, were not as exuberant in their praise for the plant.
“ It was a long road, ” said Cook, who could not attend because of his work.
“ I think the delays and extra costs are a bummer. That’s a little frustrating; but once we got a grasp of it, everything went pretty good, ” Cook said. “ Getting to that starting point was incredibly frustrating. ”
Allen could have attended but chose not to do so.
“ I didn’t attend the ceremony because, while I’m pleased the plant is open, a $ 63-million overrun plus a sewer rate increase in the near future didn’t seem worthy of celebration, ” Allen said.
When voters approved a. 75-cent sales tax increase to repay up to $ 125 million in bonds in 2001, they expected the project to be completed in 2005 at a cost of about $ 120 million.
The Wastewater System Improvement Project was described as a $ 186. 5 million project in a handout at Thursday’s event, about $ 60 million above early estimates.
The new $ 63-million West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant is one part of the overall project.
Mayor Dan Coody, who is running for a third term as mayor, has repeatedly argued that the first estimates were just estimates, not bids and that once management of the project came “ in house ” and bids were taken, the project stayed on track for time and money.
Ward 4 Alderman and mayoral candidate Lioneld Jordan is not convinced.
“ First of all, I’m glad that the project has gotten complete, and I’m glad it’s up and running for the citizens. And I’m glad it’s at last finished. However, it’s difficult for me to come out and celebrate a ribbon-cutting when something is three years late and $ 60 million over, ” said Jordan.
“ I know the line has been, ‘ Since the city took it over. ’ Well, I thought the city was in charge of it to begin with, ” said Jordan.
He added, “ We’re not on budget, and we’re not on time. We’re three years late and $ 60 million over, and there’s no other way around that. I find it difficult to go out and cut a ribbon and say everything’s ‘ hunky-dory ’ when it’s not. ”
Shirley Lucas, Ward 4, said she didn’t attend because she went to the ribbon-cutting.
“ I just kind of thought this was probably a photo op session for the mayor since he’s running for re-election and that was his show, ” said Lucas, who was getting her home ready for company during the grand opening.
“ I thought they don’t need me for another ribbon-cutting out there; I cut the first time, ” she said.
Bobby Ferrell, Ward 3, also didn’t attend the grand opening. He said he’d been to enough “ final” celebrations.
“ I don’t think we ought to be spending staff time and money on continuing celebrations of an overbudget, overdue plant. Where we ought to be focusing right now today, I mean today in caps, is on the problems we are confronted with on hauling off our biowaste. ” He was referring to the recent, unexpected notification from an Oklahoma landfill that it would immediately stop receiving the city’s biosolid waste, which is produced during the wastewater treatment process.
Ward 3 ’s Robert Rhoads did not reply to a request for comment.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Sewage-treatment grand opening seems redundant; wetland mitigation area the beauty spot of the operation

The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Sewer Plant Open

By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- It's enough concrete to pour a 4-inch slab covering more than 60 acres. The dirt excavated for the new Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant could cover an acre and mound to 98 feet. Some 40 miles of pipe worm their way underground.

It was one of the most ambitious municipal public works projects Fayetteville has  undertaken.
As construction winds down a few days prior to the scheduled completion date in October, builders and city officials are already looking to the future.
"In 40 years, it'll be really interesting to see what's here," David Jurgens, Fayetteville's wastewater director, told a crowd of about 100 gathered under a tent Thursday for the facility's grand opening.

"My prediction is when we fly over Fayetteville in 40 years, the biggest green spot is going to be this site," Jurgens said, as a warm humid breeze drifted under the tent. The close, fetid smell of sewer was strangely absent.

Jurgens was calling attention to more than 25 acres of wetland adjacent to the three-acre site. The area was set aside for creating a natural prairie and savannah. In the couple years since the Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary project began, some 350 species of animals and plants have been spotted in the area, said Bruce Shackleford, president of Environmental Consulting Operations.

The wetland area is only part of the $186.5 million sewer project. With the new facility, Fayetteville's sewer capacity jumped from 12.6 to 21.2 million gallons a day. It was a $60 million phase of the project. In addition to the Westside site, the project brought upgrades to the Noland Sewer Plant and 13 new or renovated lift stations, Jurgens said.

But when the project was launched 10 years ago, it was not quite the behemoth it became in cost or scope.

The Westside treatment plant was a $47.6 million project expected to be up and running in 2005. But almost from day one, the project's costs have been over budget. Initial bids came in above the $60 million cap the city had in place.

By 2006, officials learned the full nature of not only the increased costs to what was on the drawing boards, but the $12 million in needed lines and lift stations strangely left out of the original proposal. The original financing plan for the project was a 3/4 percent sales tax the voters approved in 2001. When it became clear the tax would not raise enough money to complete the ballooning project, in 2006 the voters were asked to extend the 3/4 percent sales tax to 2018 -- a $42 million bond package -- to cover the continued rising cost of the plant. According to official estimates at the time, if the voters would have rejected the tax, sewer rates would have risen 30 percent.

Since 1998 increased operation costs have tracked water and sewer rates steadily up. In 1998, the cost for the first 2,000 gallons of water and using the smallest sized meter brought the water and sewer bill to $16.72, according to city documents. By 2008, residential customers were paying $19.57 for the same service. These prices are for Fayetteville residents and do not include sales taxes.

Officials associated with the project blame a lack of communication and blind faith in those in charge as the reason for the debacle.

"There should have been a more open process during this whole thing," said Lioneld Jordan, a Fayetteville City Councilman who serves on the water and sewer committee.

"I'm glad that it's come to fruition, but it's three years late and $60 million over budget," Jordan, a candidate for mayor, added.

For his part, Mayor Dan Coody said communication could have been better.

"The fault that I find in myself here is that -- no matter what we would have done, we could not have changed the cost of steel and cement and that sort of thing -- but we could have communicated that better to the public," Coody lamented.

"It would not have changed the outcome, but it would have changed the expectation," he added.

And in retrospect, Coody has openly acknowledged that not only the city, but his office somewhat dropped the ball on the sewer project.

With re-election approaching, the mired sewer plant could be an albatross for the mayor.

"Because a lot of this is political," Coody reflected. "The easiest thing to do is to blame the mayor for this."

And that seems to be what at least one of his opponents is doing.

"The buck has to stop at the mayor's office," Jordan said. "We put a lot of faith in the management team. We put a lot of faith in the senior staff. And we put a lot of faith in the administration," Jordan said.

Coody maintains he was not always given good information on the project he inherited when he took office in 2001. Original cost estimates were done in 2000.

"I wasn't told that when I took office," Coody said.

Projects taken on by the city today get closer scrutiny, he said.

"We adjust for inflation. We put a realistic timeline with it. And we adjust according to what we think the economy might be doing," Coody said.

All the projects since then have been coming in right on -- or under -- budget," Coody added.

The original bid documents also left out key residual projects like paving Broyles Road and needed lift stations. It was an $11 million oversight, said the mayor.

"And I can't really answer why they weren't (in the bid documents,)" Coody said.

"When people say 'cost overruns,' what they really mean is that the cost is more than what it had been estimated in 1998," Coody said.

In the 1990s, the rule-of-thumb for constructing a waste-water treatment plant was $4 a gallon. That number is closer to $6 a gallon today, Coody said.

The project took a substantial turn in 2005 when the city learned the extent of the cost overruns.

In June 2005 the city council relinquished its contract with Burns & McDonnell, the firm hired to manage the project and oversee the design and bidding process.

"Burns & McDonell was hired to make sure the project went smoothly, stayed on time and on budget," Coody said.

Burns & McDonnell said the project was on time and on budget until February 2005 when city officials were told there was no way to build the plant in the 12 to 18 months.

"I didn't know that," Coody explained.

After dismissing Burns & McDonnell the project moved in-house under the leadership of wastewater director David Jurgens.

In July 2005 Jurgens took over the operation of the wastewater department after the resignation of Bob Davis, who stepped down after being arrested on charges of public intoxication. Davis had spent less than five months in the post. He had taken over after Greg Boettcher left for a job in Florida.

Jurgens has been credited as a skilled juggler keeping multiple construction contracts on track -- some halting, some moving forward. It's Jurgens' steering that kept the project progressing, allowing it to be completed nearly six months before its October 2008 completion date. The plant began treating sewerage in May 2008.

But more importantly, the new sewer plant -- under Jurgens' guidance -- has stayed on budget.

"We are watching every single penny, literally," Jurgens said recently, recalling the missteps in the sewer plant project.

"We took a hit, absolutely," Jurgens reflected. "We solved the problem, and we moved forward."

"But is it all a completely happy story? No, it's not," he added.

By The Numbers

• 21.2: Millions of gallons that Fayetteville's new wastewater system will be capable of handling daily.

• 115,000: Estimated population the new system will be able to service

• 32,300: Cubic yards of concrete installed

• 31: Miles of new pipelines

• 28: Major construction contracts

Source: staff report

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

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!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ward One meeting views project planning in Beaver Lake watershed

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

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.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Ozark Regional Transit funding subject of news conference at 3 p.m. in front of the Town Center south of the square

Press Conference

Mayor to Address Ozark Regional transit Funding

Fayetteville, AR – Mayor Dan Coody will hold a press conference at 3:00 today in front of the Fayetteville Town Center on Mountain Street. The purpose of the conference is to address City of Fayetteville funding for Ozark Regional Transit. Phil Pumphrey, Executive Director for ORT, will join the Mayor.


###



CONTACT:
Susan B. Thomas, Ph.D.
Public Information & Policy Advisor
479-575-8302
sthomas@ci.fayetteville.ar.us



City of Fayetteville
City Clerk's Office
113 W. Mountain
Fayetteville, AR 72701
479-575-8323

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Technical plat-review committee to consider six projects at 9 a.m. Wednesday August 13, 2008

THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS 113 W. Mountain St
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Telephone: (479) 575-8267


AGENDA FOR A MEETING OF THE TECHNICAL PLAT REVIEW COMMITTEE
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2008 AT 9:00 a.m.
Room 326, City Administration Building

ITEMS FOR TECHNICAL PLAT REVIEW:

1. LSP 08-3073: Lot Split (RAHM / LEWIS AVENUE, 404): Submitted by ALAN REID for property located at 1240 N. LEWIS AVENUE. The property is zoned RSF-4, SINGLE FAMILY - 4 UNITS/ACRE and contains approximately 1.22 acres. The request is to divide the subject property into two tracts of 0.40 and 0.82 acres. Planner: Dara Sanders

2. LSP 08-3076: Lot Split (VICTORY COMMONS, 560): Submitted by TRACY K. HOSKINS for property located at 731 S. RAZORBACK ROAD, S OF 6TH STREET. The property is zoned I-1, HEAVY COMMERCIAL/LIGHT INDUST and contains approximately 3.04 acres. The request is to divide the subject property into two tracts of 2.31 and 0.73 acres. Planner: Jesse Fulcher

3. FPL 08-3077: Final Plat (TWIN SPRINGS ESTATES PH. II, 318/357): Submitted by LEONARD & MARY GABBARD for property located at DOUBLE SPRINGS RD., 0.8 MI S OF MT. COMFORT ROAD. The property is in the Planning Area and contains approximately 5.57 acres. The request is to review a final plat with 23 single family dwellings. Planner: Andrew Garner

4. PPL 08-3072: Preliminary Plat (TWIN CREEKS VILLAGE, 172): Submitted by MCCLELLAND CONSULTING ENGINEERS for property located at THE NE CORNER OF GREGG AVENUE AND VAN ASCHE DRIVE. The property is zoned C-1, NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL and contains approximately 20.71 acres. The request is for a commercial subdivision with 6 commercial lots. Planner: Jesse Fulcher

5. R-PZD 08-3071: Planned Zoning District (BRIDGEDALE PLAZA, 569): Submitted by JORGENSEN & ASSOC for property located at THE SE CORNER OF HUNTSVILLE ROAD AND RIVERMEADOWS DRIVE. The property is zoned RSF-4, SINGLE FAMILY - 4 UNITS/ACRE AND R-A, RESIDENTIAL AGRICULTURAL and contains approximately 15.95 acres. The request is to review a zoning and land use only application for 113 residential units and 17,500 sq. ft. of non-residential space. Planner: Dara Sanders

6. SIP 08-3070: Site Improvement Plan (NORTHWEST ORTHODONTICS, 372): Submitted by JORGENSEN & ASSOCIATES for property located at 3119 E. Mission Blvd. The property is zoned R-O, RESIDENTIAL OFFICE, and contains approximately 0.80 acres. The request is to review a site plan for a new professional office containing 4,523 sq. ft. Planner: Dara Sanders


All interested parties may appear and be heard at the public hearings. A copy of the proposed amendments and other pertinent data are open and available for inspection in the office of City Planning (575-8267), 125 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. All interested parties are invited to review the petitions. Interpreters or TDD for hearing impaired are available for all public hearings; 72 hour notice is required. For further information or to request an interpreter, please call 575-8330.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Waste Management to Dedicate Arkansasʼ First Landfill-Gas-to-Energy Plant

WASTE MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE

Waste Management to Dedicate Arkansasʼ First Landfill Gas to Energy Plant and
Announce New Partnership with Audubon Arkansas

Senator Blanche Lincoln, Governor Mike Beebe and Congressman Vic Snyder Scheduled to Attend Event


State and local leaders will join Waste Management executives on Tuesday, August 12, 9:30 am at the Two Pine Landfill to officially dedicate Arkansasʼ first and only landfill gas-to-energy plant. This plant is part of Waste Managementʼs sustainable commitment to Arkansas as well as North America, unveiled this past October as part of Waste Managementʼs 2020 plan.
Additionally, Waste Management officials will announce a new first-of-its-kind partnership with Audubon Arkansas.

What: Landfill Gas to Energy Plant Dedication and Announcement of New Partnership with Audubon Arkansas
When: Tuesday, August 12 at 9:30 am
Where: Two Pine Landfill
100 Two Pine Drive
North Little Rock, AR 72117
Who: Senator Blanche Lincoln
Governor Mike Beebe
Congressman Vic Snyder
Waste Management Executives
Arkansas Audubon Director Ken Smith
The Two Pine Landfill gas-to-energy plant is a 4.8 megawatt facility, providing power for approximately 4,500 homes in North Little Rock. Consisting of six large engines, it was constructed in 2006 and recently achieved full generation. The engines are powered by methane gas, which forms in the landfill as a result of the decomposition of waste.
Approximately two years ago, Waste Management and Audubon Arkansas began discussions regarding the development of a wildlife management plan for the Two Pine Landfill. This first-of-its-kind program between Waste Management and Audubon Arkansas has the potential to expand to other Waste Management landfills. At Tuesdayʼs event, Waste Management officials and leaders from Audubon Arkansas will unveil the vision for Two Pine Landfill.
This past April, Waste Management received the stateʼs approval to expand the Two Pine Landfill. In the coming years, Waste Management plans to build an additional landfill gas-to-energy plant in the expanded landfill area.
These two projects are part of the companyʼs environmental sustainability initiative. Waste Management has committed to the following actions by 2020: doubling its waste based energy generation from the equivalent of generating enough energy for one million to two million homes, quadrupling the number of its sites certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council to 100 as well as set aside 25,000 acres for conservation, nearly tripling the amount of recyclables it manages to 20 million tons; and reducing its vehicle fleet emissions by 15 percent and increasing fuel efficiency by 15 percent.
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America.
For more information, visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Lioneld Jordan on the Mobility Authority and its plan for an environmentally and economically disatrous bypass to the west of Fayetteville

Western Beltway Feasibility Study

July 28, 2008

Mr. Jeff Hawkins
NWA Regional Planning Commission
1311 Clayton Street
Springdale, AR 72762
Dear Mr. Hawkins:

I am writing as a citizen of Fayetteville and Washington County to express my views on the proposed feasibility study for a western beltway in western Washington and Benton County. For several reasons, I recommend that the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission not approve this amendment to the 2030 Regional Long Range Transportation Plan to fund the $820,750 study at this time.

First priority for funding any study should be given to undertaking a "Transportation Alternatives Analysis", wherein all the transportation concepts should be studied and examined in relation to each other, including improvements to I-540, state highways, city streets, mass transit buses, light rail, and walking and biking trails.

Second, it is not clear to me that the proposed western beltway that would bypass the major cities in our region would promote our shared goal of a transportation system that improves connections between and among our communities or our stated principle to encourage land development patterns that promote transportation efficiency and to support in-fill development and the concentration of new commercial and office space activity that enhance the selection of alternative forms of transportation. Our objective should be to identify transit corridors that allow higher density mixed-use areas to be served by public transit, encourage major facilities to locate along planned public transit lines, and implement "transit friendly" strategies.

Third, Fayetteville and Washington County have recently become members of the Regional Mobility Authority. This new organization should be involved in any such a major transportation decision that could preempt alternative solutions. This organization should be committed to providing a comprehensive inter-modal transportation system which most efficiently serves the human and economic needs of the metropolitan area and Northwest Arkansas region, and they should be able to consider all available options regarding such a system.

Finally, I think there has been far too little opportunity for public input on the proposed western beltway. The comment period was quite limited, and, to my knowledge, there have been no public hearings in Fayetteville that would allow our citizens to hear the arguments for the project, consider its merits relative to the alternatives, and express their opinions. They should be considered and consulted.

Sincerely,

Lioneld Jordan
1600 Arrowhead
Fayetteville, AR 72701

Monday, August 4, 2008

Miller Williams endorses Lioneld Jordan for mayor, again

Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of Jordan and Miller Williams.

Fayetteville’s best choice

As citizens of Ward 4 during Lioneld Jordan’s full tenure as our alderman, my wife and I have come to trust and respect him without hesitation. We are increasingly impressed by his knowledge of our town and region’s history and his insights into our current needs and possibilities. Our T-shirts and lapel pins say that we support him in the mayor’s race, but we wanted to say so more clearly and to the whole town.
Miller Williams
Fayetteville