Plants and markets

• Tasty Tuesday, 10 a.m. to noon every Tuesday in the courtyard at New Port Richey Library, 5939 Main St. Local organic growers sell seasonal produce and plant-based goods. The library also offers a seed exchange, where gardeners can “check out” heirloom, genetically pure seeds from the library’s seed catalog to start an organic garden. (727) 853-1265.

• Fresh Friday Night Market, 5 to 9 p.m. the first Friday of the month at Railroad Square in downtown New Port Richey (on Nebraska Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Adams Street). The eclectic market includes vendors selling produce, plants and specialty foods such as fish, meat, cheese, baked goods, jelly and jam, honey, nuts, coffee, ethnic food, light refreshments, and arts and crafts. (727) 842-8066; nprmainstreet.com.

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• Fresh Market at Wiregrass, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the first Saturday of each month at the Shops at Wiregrass, 28211 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel. Features produce, Florida-grown plants and locally made jams, salsas, seasonings and sauces, plus the works of local artists. (813) 994-2242; tampabaymarkets.com.

• Suncoast Co-op hosts a farmer’s market featuring local in-season produce, candles and locally made products from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 4131 Madison St., New Port Richey. The co-op also accepts orders for fresh, locally grown, chemical-free produce. Register at suncoastco-op.com to place your order; orders may be picked up during the market, between noon and 2 p.m. (727) 271-2754.

• Hernando County Farmers Market runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at 2450 U.S. Highway 19, Spring Hill. (352) 232-4241; hernandocountyfarmersmarket.webs.com.

• Spring Hill Garden Club’s Plant Nursery is open for plant sales from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Mondays at 1489 Parker Ave., off Spring Hill Drive (four-tenths of a mile from U.S. 19). Local plants for sale; people may also visit the nearby Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, the “best-kept secret in Hernando County,” which is open daily from sunup to sundown. (352) 683-9933; naturecoastgardens.com.

Seminars

• Fertilizing to Protect Water Quality, 10:30 a.m. today at Spring Hill Branch Library, 9220 Spring Hill Drive. Overfertilization can adversely impact local springs, estuaries, the aquifer and rivers. Learn when, what kind and how much fertilizer to use to keep your landscape healthy and protect our water resources. For information, call (352) 540-6230 or email sdurell@co.hernando.fl.us.

• Rain Barrel Workshop, 5:30 p.m. today at Hernando County Extension Office, 1653 Blaise Drive, Brooksville. Save water by installing a rain barrel to provide water to plants and vegetables. Rain barrels also protect water bodies by allowing polluted runoff to be filtered through the soil instead of flowing directly to waterways. $65 per person. Participants will take home a 65-gallon rain barrel. Pre-registration is required by calling (352) 540-6230.

• Colorful Container Gardens, 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. Create a cheerful container garden with your favorite plants that will last through winter. Join for ideas and demonstration. Register online for the free seminar at pasco.ifas.ufl.edu. For information, call Pasco County Cooperative Extension at (352) 518-0156.

• 10 Important Landscape Design Rules, 10:30 a.m. Nov. 14 at West Hernando Library, 6335 Blackbird Ave., Brooksville. Participants will be introduced to components of landscaping in a Florida-friendly way. It will cover soil type, topography, existing vegetation and more. Call (352) 540-6230 or email sdurell@co.hernando.fl.us.

To submit garden calendar events, contact Arleen Spenceley at aspenceley@tampabay.com.

CROSSVILLE —
The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce wants to run and operate the The Crossville-Cumberland County Gateway to the Big South Fork Visitors Center once the building is complete and ready to be opened to the public.

The building and grounds committee agrees.

The building is just off Cook Rd. adjacent to Roane State Community College off the Genesis Rd. exit from I-40 and can be seen from the interstate.

Several people representing the Chamber attended Tuesday’s Building and Grounds Committee meeting and presented a letter with a sample resolution expressing interest in running the BSF Visitors Center.

Brad Allamong, president and CEO and Ashley Allen DeRossett, senior vice president of the Chamber, discussed several ideas with the committee.

“We see this as an opportunity to take advantage of to help keep visitors in the area and encourage them to spend money in the area at local businesses,” Allamong said.

Ashley Allen DeRossett explained the Chamber wrote the grant for $25,000 for parking, sidewalks and landscaping at the new building. She further explained they would staff the center with one full-time manager five days per week.

She also said the National Park Service would supply a part-time employee at 16 hours per week, or two days, allowing the center to be open seven days per week.

“You have to be open seven days per week in order to be listed on the blue signs on the interstate. This would also be supported by volunteers, who would be trained. The National Park Service would also provide some of the training,” DeRossett said.

She also explained the center could make revenues, but it would have to go back into the operation of the center.

“This could greatly offset expenses and the budget for the center,” DeRossett said.

A sample resolution states the Chamber would provide professional management services and subcontract the necessary professional staffing/operations and management support of the center.

Both Allamong and DeRossett cited the Chamber’s experience in successfully operating its office on Main St., which serves as a visitor center for the county, training experience for tourism staff and economic development backgrounds and working with volunteers, which would be vital to the new center.

“I have no objection to subcontracting it out to the Chamber, providing an agreement is reviewed by our attorney and they follow every condition required by the grants,” Carmin Lynch, 9th District commissioner, said.

Cumberland County Mayor Kenneth Carey Jr. said he had met with Chamber officials and they fully agreed they would follow and meet the conditions.

“How does the mayor feel? What’s his opinion?” Lynch asked.

“I think the Chamber is more poised to operate the center and it’s the purpose of their business. I think they’d do a much better job operating it than the county could do. It’s my recommendation they should be the ones to run the center,” Carey said.

Harry Sabine, 1st District commissioner, moved to recommend to the full county commission the Chamber be the ones to operate the visitors center and Mayor Carey get with county attorney Randal Boston to work up the agreement between the two and to prepare it before the next county commission meeting.

Joe Koester, 5th District commissioner, supported the motion and it was unanimously approved.

A letter was also provided to the committee from city of Crossville Manager David Rutherford, expressing the city has no objection to the county subcontracting the operation of the visitors center to the Chamber.

The city of Crossville and Cumberland County have agreed to split operation costs of the facility.

Earlier in the meeting, Skip Freitag of Freitag Construction gave a report on the progress of the visitors center. Freitag said paving at the center should begin next week and that most of the exterior stonework was up and the gas lines and electric were roughed in and there have been no change orders needed up to this point.

“We have a few rain days built in. We will be pushing it. I’m trying to keep everything (jobs) I can in the county. I have a few concerns because there have been some delays with having to use DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises),” Freitag said.

The center should be complete sometime in December.

Paul Brum and Garner Stoll are distant memories at City Hall these days, but their legacies serve as a reminder of the stark differences between city engineers and planners.

Brum, who served a long stint as Oklahoma City’s public works director until he died a few years ago, was all business. He rose through the ranks at the public works department and, as with his predecessors, the priorities seemed clear: pave the roads, get traffic moving as fast as possible and don’t worry about trees — people don’t like them anyway.

Stoll, meanwhile, was a bit the revolutionary when he was hired as planning director in 1993.

He arrived from Boulder, Colo., itself a relatively progressive community when it came to planning. Stoll encountered resistance when he suggested redevelopment of the urban core could be assisted by going beyond repaving of streets, and instead going with a more elaborate design with landscaping, street furnishings and other amenities aimed at creating a sense of place.

When Stoll suggested cutting down on city investment in infrastructure in fringe areas to slow sprawl, one city councilman, Jack Cornett, didn’t just want to see Stoll fired. He unsuccessfully sought to abolish the planning department. The effort failed by one vote.

Stoll’s ideas persevered, though his career in Oklahoma City came to an end a dozen years ago when he sought to give planning a bigger role in the city’s operations via a revised master plan.

Now, planning is still perceived by City Hall observers as taking a backseat to public works. Witness the process under way for the hiring of an architect for a planned $120 million park in Core to Shore.

The park is hailed as the key to sparking development in the blighted area between the Oklahoma River and downtown. Mayor Mick Cornett has called it the city’s chance at establishing its version of Chicago’s Millennial Park or Houston’s Discovery Green.

A week before Christmas, the public works department sent a notice to firms that subscribe to the city’s bidding list that it was seeking an architect for the park. Responses were due in early January.

Sixteen firms responded. Of those, four were selected by a committee as finalists to be interviewed for a final recommendation of hiring to be made to the city council. One of the firms, Hargreaves Associates, has the advantage of having prepared a master plan for the park in advance of the MAPS 3 campaign that provided it with funding.

The other three firms are Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, James Corner Field Associates and Design Workshop. All four firms have impressive experience in designing urban parks.

Imagine the questions that can be posed to these competing firms. A city planner won’t get a say in the hiring. Nor will a vote belong to anyone in the city’s park department.

Instead, three of the five votes belong to engineers working for the city: Wenger; his boss, Assistant City Manager Dennis Clowers; and MAPS 3 program manager David Todd, who answers to Clowers and Wenger. All three men report to City Manager Jim Couch, also an engineer.

The two remaining votes belong to downtown property owner Fred Hall and architect Anthony McDermid.

Engineers aren’t without valuable experience and expertise. But when asked why the selection committee is stacked with city engineers, and doesn’t include people with backgrounds in planning and parks operations, the answer wasn’t an argument against diversifying the group or in defense of the engineers’ expertise.

Instead, Clowers cited a policy governing the selection committees that dates back 25 years. It’s being done, he essentially said, because that’s always the way it’s been done.