Trees

Glendale will offer a free desert-tree care workshop at 10 a.m. April 13 at The Tree Trail. [Submitted]

Posted: Saturday, March 30, 2013 12:30 pm

Learn how to care for desert trees at workshop

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Glendale will offer a free desert-tree care workshop at 10 a.m. April 13 at The Tree Trail, adjacent to Glendale’s Main Library at 5959 W. Brown St.

The interactive workshop will give residents an overview on planting, pruning and watering, which will include an informational session followed by hands-on demonstrations at the Tree Trail.

Attendees will learn information on desert tree care, and have the opportunity to explore the entire garden to gain landscaping and gardening ideas.

The Conservation Sustainable Living Program offers classes and workshops throughout the year, in addition to conducting educational programs in elementary schools.

The next class offered will be the Simple Savings Energy Class on April 20 at the Glendale Main Library.

In addition, residents can pick up free landscaping publications at the library, or download them from the city’s website at  www.glendaleaz.com/WaterConservation.

Both events are free, but registration is required.

Contact Joanne Toms at 623-930-3535 or via email at jtoms@glendaleaz.com. More information on all of the city’s environmental activities can be found online at www.glendaleaz.com/green.

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Saturday, March 30, 2013 12:30 pm.

YORK — A group of York County business leaders are frustrated by what they perceive as the Board of Supervisors’ reluctance to tighten county spending when business executives have had to make cuts.

The group of nine York residents have compiled suggestions of how the county could save millions and reduce the real estate tax rate. The problem, they say, is that the supervisors are unwilling to meet with them to hear those ideas.

Group member George Clark estimated the business people have identified a minimum of $5 million in potential cuts. The reductions include eliminating a $500,000 sidewalk project on Victory Boulevard, selling $1.5 million in recently purchased land and ending funding to the Williamsburg Regional Library, for a savings of $536,553.

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Clark, who is a partner in Kersey, Sealey, Clark Associates Insurance Consultants, estimated the county could save between 10 percent and 20 percent on health insurance costs by offering a “modern plan” that encourages healthy living to reduce premiums.

Other suggestions include outsourcing services like landscaping, information technology or janitorial services, consolidating the county and schools vehicle maintenance facilities and lengthening school bus routes.

The group is upset over a proposal to raise the county’s real estate tax rate for the second year in a row. The proposed 2014 budget includes a plan to raise the tax rate 2.3 cents, increasing the rate from 74.15 cents per $100 of assessed value to 76.45 cents. Last year the Supervisors approved a tax rate increase of 8.4 cents. For a homeowner with a house valued at $250,000, a 2.3-cent tax hike would increase their taxes by $57.50.

Although the Board likes to say the county has one of the lowest tax rates in the area, group member Greg Garrett asserts that because of higher property assessments, net taxes per York County home are higher than those of neighboring Hampton, where the tax rate is $1.04.

“York county has less fire needs, less police are needed and York County doesn’t pay for its own road maintenance,” Garrett said. “You don’t need to have more real estate taxes per house than Hampton or Newport News.”

The proposed 2014 budget of $131.2 million is up $4 million over the current 2013 spending plan and includes a $2.3 million increase to the York County School Division and $1.7 million in new county expenses, including $725,000 for a 2 percent pay raise for employees.

York County Administrator James McReynolds did not include any significant budget reductions in the budget. The Supervisors have asked McReynolds to provide details about what could be cut to avoid raising taxes. Those cuts would equal about $2 million.

The Supervisors have also discussed giving the schools less new funding and exploring potential health insurance savings for both the county and the schools.

Board chairman Walt Zaremba, who has received an email of the group’s budget cuts, said he has heard from several members of the group in the past and that at least half of their ideas are “well worn suggestions.”

Zaremba said some members of the group, specifically Garrett, who has challenged county policies for years, are not interested in listening to the Supervisors’ positions.

In an email to Garrett, Zaremba declined an invitation to meet with the group, but encouraged it to “be as unbiased, impartial and objective in its review so that resulting comments might, to whatever extent, be usable.”

Zaremba, in an interview, said generally he welcomes comments from constituents on the budget.

“I think the board is willing and open to listen to suggestions that have a basis behind them, a rationale that makes sense, that’s not just let’s slash a program,” he said.

Supervisor Tom Shepperd said he is working with a group of about 15 constituents in his district to scour the budget as a way to talk with citizens. Shepperd said he has fielded questions about spending for things like vehicles or county positions, but “no one has said ‘Wow, that’s a big budget.'”

Shepperd said he is concerned that the business leaders’ group has a political agenda.

“Some members of the group want to try to control an elected government body,” he said. “I want to participate with people that I believe have a sincere interest in trying to help us make our budget work better.”

Both Zaremba and Shepperd said all citizens can pitch their ideas on the budget in emails to the supervisors or during the public comment period at their meetings. The county also has a call-in line for messages.

Group member Chuck McGee said the York County Republican Committee is organizing an April 11 budget forum and is inviting the Supervisors and county administrator as well as School Board members and school officials.

Jeffrey Morris hopes the group will inspire other county residents to ask questions about how their tax dollars are being spent.

Budget input

Want to comment on the proposed 2014 York County budget?

Leave a message at 890-3220

Email a comment to bos@yorkcounty.gov

Comment at the regular Board of Supervisors meeting on April 16

A public hearing on the 2014 budget will be held April 25.

Residents of Dardanelle have said the city has a lot to offer — friendly people, its location on the river and proximity to Mount Nebo — but not a vibrant downtown. Not yet.

Angie Sims said she founded The Renaissance Front Street Restoration three years ago to improve the downtown area.

It’s slow going, but she and her committee members are determined.

“When I started this, my goal was to fix up Front Street, our downtown, right there on the river, and also to bring more people to Dardanelle and Front Street,” she said.

Sims, who registered the nonprofit organization in February 2011, has spearheaded events such as an art walk, cook-offs, the Dog Daze Festival and a talent show.

The Renaissance Front Street Restoration, which has 15 to 20 active members, has $5,000 in its bank account, Sims said.

Two more fundraisers are scheduled in April.

The third annual Rummage for The Renaissance will be held from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 11, 12 and 13 on Arkansas 22, and donations are being collected.

Rockin’ on the River, a free outdoor music event, will be held from 5-8 p.m. April 20 in the Front Street gazebo on the river. The Renaissance will sell barbecue dinners, Sims said.

“We’re trying to bring in money to not only fix up Front Street, but to hold events to bring people to Dardanelle, and we can introduce them to our businesses around town,” Sims said.

The downtown was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Sims said the

Renaissance group has gotten support from not only Dardanelle officials, the chamber and civic clubs, but the chambers of commerce of nearby cities, including Russellville.

Dardanelle Mayor Carolyn McGee said residents will soon see improvements in downtown.

She said the city received a federal 80-to-20 matching grant through the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to improve sidewalks, add lamp posts and install new landscaping.

The highway department is providing $200,000, and the city will chip in $50,000, which was budgeted for the project, McGee said.

She said the highway department has to “sign off on it” first.

The work will begin on Quay Street and continue south on Front Street, she said.

“It’s going to be great to get all that done,” McGee said. “It’s a good atmosphere.”

That’s not all McGee has planned.

The Front Street gazebo grounds, next door to City Hall, were full of blooming jonquils last week.

“We’re going to be revamping all this,” she said, standing in the adjacent parking lot.

McGee said city treasurer Betty Smith drags water hoses across the property to water the plants.

The mayor said the city will pay for the installation of an irrigation system and plant shrubs.

It’s not all about looks, of course. Sims and McGee said more businesses are needed downtown.

Sims owns two buildings, and both are rented, she said.

Debbie Moudy of Dardanelle was eating lunch one day last week at Tarasco’s on Front Street.

She said the downtown could be improved.

“I’ve really enjoyed Savanah’s, and I enjoy this restaurant, and I wish there were more things here,” she said.

Three restaurants on Front Street draw regular crowds. It is home to banks, the post office and other businesses, but most of the buildings are vacant.

More than a half dozen of the downtown buildings are owned by Margie Jones, 79, and her son, Dwight Jones, 38.

Margie operates River Front Antiques on Front Street in one of their buildings, and the space next door is full of antiques, too.

She said her son isn’t interested in selling any of the buildings.

“He wants to fix them up,” she said.

Margie said her son is “slow as Christmas,” adding with a laugh that he was born on Christmas Day.

Dwight said he is committed to restoring the buildings he and his mother own.

“We do have plans for quite a few of them,” he said.

“I have historic people who have looked at them. I’m for a restoration and completely restored downtown area,” Dwight said.

He said he would like the buildings’ architecture to represent the 1880s to 1940, and he wants to use historically appropriate colors.

“I don’t believe in doing anything halfway,” he said.

McGee said most of the family’s buildings are sitting idle, although there have been people interested in buying or leasing them.

Dwight said he will lease his downtown buildings after he renovates them.

“Absolutely,” he said.

Among the businesses he would like to see are boutiques and a bakery shop/cafe.

“To be honest, we need to open up another antique store,” he said.

Dwight said he has been working on the family’s properties.

“I have the Benjamin Franklin store all cleaned up and the old Savanah’s,” he said.

Savanah’s restaurant first opened in one of the Joneses’ buildings, Dwight said.

He said to help get the business off the ground, they gave the original owners a few months’ free rent with their lease.

The restaurant is now on the river side of Front Street.

The Joneses are not members of The Renaissance Front Street Restoration.

“We’ve been busy doing so much stuff,” Dwight said. “We support The Renaissance or any type of club to support this.”

The Joneses said they were glad to hear about the grant the city received.

“[Renovation] takes time, and honestly, some of the things we were waiting on was the streetscapes, the sidewalks.”

In 2012, several of the Joneses’ properties, including downtown buildings, were scheduled for public auction at the Yell County Courthouse because of delinquent taxes. Dwight said he paid the taxes and kept the buildings.

“Really, our heart is into restoring [the downtown property]. I’ve spent a small fortune, … and I will see it through, without a doubt,” he said.

It can’t happen too soon for Sims and her group.

“We encourage people to join us. My main thing, I want to hear their output. I want to hear their input. I want to hear their ideas,” she said.

Meetings of The Renaissance Front Street Restoration, which are open to the public, are held at 6 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at City Hall.

“What I say is, ‘Help bring Dardanelle back to life,’” Sims said.

For more information, call Sims at (479) 886-3567.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

Niche Publications Senior Writer Tammy Keith
can be reached at 501-327-0370
or
tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

Posted by Michael Wrobel in B I/O G on March 29, 2013 | Comments

• Montreal’s new Rio Tinto Planetarium will open April 6. Photo Michael Wrobel

• Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum was on hand to greet visitors. Photo Michael Wrobel

• The planetarium’s permanent exhibition was still under construction during the open house on March 16. Photo Michael Wrobel

• A mock-up of the planetarium shows the building’s unique green roof and landscaping. Photo Michael Wrobel

• The old Zeiss opto-mechanical star projector that was used in the old Dow Planetarium, now on display at the new location. It was used for 45 years and consisted of more than 150 projectors. Photo Michael Wrobel

Follow @michael_wrobel

When the Montreal Planetarium shut down in October 2011, stargazers were undoubtedly disappointed.

But the closure was only temporary. And on April 6, the wait will finally be over. The newly renamed Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium will reopen in a new, purpose-built location at the Olympic Park.

The planetarium made the move for two reasons: to group all of Montreal’s natural science museums in one area, and to provide visitors with a fresher, more immersive experience.

The Olympic Park is already home to the Biodome, the Botanical Gardens and the Insectarium. They will now collectively form, with the new planetarium, what has been dubbed the Space for Life—the largest natural science museum complex in Canada.

“The mission of Space for Life is to reconnect humankind and nature,” said Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, executive director of the museum complex.

He promised that visitors will reconnect not only intellectually, but emotionally, thanks to the new planetarium’s two theatres. Brunelle said one of the theatres will be reserved for artistic productions, featuring shows that explore “metaphors and ideas inspired by astronomy.”

“There’s a strongly reflective floor, you sit on beanbags and Adirondack chairs, there’s a [musical] score by Philip Glass. […] You have the impression that you’re taking off. You really have the impression that you’re in the middle of this cosmos, that you’re really part of it. And that’s the whole idea, to reconnect by science, by education, but [also] by emotions.”

Brunelle said that the sense of awe people get when they look at the stars might inspire them to look at their role on the planet in a new way.

“I think we need to re-find our place in nature, a place really inside, in the middle of it […] and then we’ll be less intrusive to this planet, hopefully,” he said. “Looking at the stars is a nice way to feel the humility towards this planet that I think we should [feel more often].”

Montreal multidisciplinary artists Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon were in charge of the museum’s artistic direction, and the planetarium’s website promises “a breathtaking meeting of technology, art and science.”

A new permanent exhibition, Exo: Our Search for Life in the Universe, will be interactive and digital, complete with projections and multimedia games.

Visitors will be able to “travel through the solar system” or “operate a robot on the surface of Mars,” as well as view part of the planetarium’s collection of 300 meteorite pieces, according to the museum’s website.

The building itself follows strict LEED environmental standards. Rainwater collection and the use of drought-resistant plants in the building’s landscaping will mean that drainage into municipal sewers will be reduced by 60 per cent, and there are also plans to minimize water consumption.

The planetarium also has a green roof that will absorb heat and reduce the building’s impact on the urban heat island. The building’s outdoor lighting complies with tough standards regarding light pollution.

Over 95 per cent of waste materials during construction were “saved from going to landfill through sound environmental management,” according to the planetarium’s website.

The media and the general public were given a preview of the new planetarium during an open house held March 16. A line formed outside the building, and Mayor Michael Applebaum was on hand to greet visitors as they entered.

“This [museum complex] is changing the way people think in their lives,” said Applebaum. “How do we incorporate nature in our daily lives? And how are we able to reduce our footprint? This is what is being done here with Space for Life.”

“When people come to see this facility, they’ll realize that it’s an incredible investment. This is part of the leg for the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal. […] This is a new facility, and it’s a facility, of course, that will be recognized throughout the world when we talk about nature and space. This is really going to be an attraction for the city of Montreal.”

Montreal’s original planetarium was opened in April 1966, ahead of the Expo 67 international exposition. From 1966 until its closure, some 6 million people passed through its doors.

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By Karen Billing

What will be the impact of One Paseo on traffic in the community? With mitigation city engineers say it will be minimal. Some believe that. Others do not.

City traffic engineers Farah Mahzari and Labib Qusem were called upon March 28 to answer the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board’s list of 25 detailed questions regarding their One Paseo traffic study. The board voiced concerns that the traffic study was “inadequate” in assuming there were few significant unmitigatable impacts despite an extra 24,000 average daily trips (ADT) on Del Mar Heights Road that currently sees an ADT of 40,000 cars. The engineers said that Kilroy Realty’s $6 million in roadway tweaks — such as road “lengthening,” new turn lanes, synchronized traffic lights and new traffic signals — will keep traffic conditions on the roadways status quo.

“We believe that the traffic study conforms to the traffic study manual, they’re mitigating all of their impacts, they’re not re-classifying any roadways and there’s no community plan amendment required (for the roads),” Mahzari said. “We, the city, cannot design the project or give them ideas, obviously you as a board can make recommendations. We can only look at the project proposed and make sure they meet all the guidelines and mitigate all their impacts and we think that they’ve done that.”

Mahzari said that without the project, driving eastbound on Del Mar Heights from Carmel Canyon Road takes 5.8 minutes to get to I-5, and it takes 6.3 minutes to make the trip westbound.

With the project, she said, overall only one-and-a-half minutes is being added to an eastbound commute and 1.2 minutes added to the westbound trip because most of the impacts will be mitigated. After One Paseo is built, with all the mitigations complete, she said it will take 7.3 minutes to go eastbound on Del Mar Heights from Carmel Canyon to I-5 and westbound it will take 7.5 minutes.

Some planning board members and audience members were unconvinced, one resident saying it was  “impossible to believe” that with the number of trips One Paseo would generate, traffic would only be made worse by the short amount of time cited by the city traffic engineers.

Qusem said the reason why it will work is because of the mixed use program; One Paseo’s different uses will draw people in and out at different times of the day, not all out on the road at the same time. He said it would be more or less similar to what people experience today because mitigations will get it back to an acceptable level of service.

Planning Board Chair Frisco White said there is still much to review about One Paseo, as the draft environmental report looks to become final in the next few months.

“As we continue to review this project, we have to consider what is the benefit of this project to the community. That is the question we will dwell upon and research,” White said. “There’s a lot to look at beyond traffic, it’s a lifestyle issue as well.”

The meeting took about three hours and the Ocean Air MUR was filled to capacity. The hundreds in attendance became very familiar with the term “level of service” or in engineer speak,“LOS.”

LOS “D” is what the engineers aim for as an acceptable level, 35 to 55 seconds spent at an intersection.

A LOS E is considered unacceptable, with a delay of 55 to 88 seconds. Beyond 88 seconds in delay, an intersection becomes an F and there’s no limit to that failure — it’s anything beyond 88 seconds.

Del Mar Heights Road and the northbound I-5 ramp is where the traffic will get the stickiest, according to Qusem.

“That’s the biggest issue we have to work on,” said Qusem. “With that lot vacant, it’s already failing…we’re starting with a base that’s already at capacity with the vacant lot.”

In the near-term and at full build-out, the I-5-Del Mar Heights interchange area will have an LOS E. However, even if only the 550,000-square-foot office building is built on the One Paseo site, that intersection will still fail at a LOS E at the 2030 full build-out of Carmel Valley.

With the projection of the 2030 full build-out, the traffic engineers said they assume everything that has been entitled to be built in Carmel Valley has been built, including 150,000 additional square feet at Del Mar Highlands Town Center and a connection between I-5 and SR-56 and a widened I-5.

“The City staff confirmed what I have saying about Carmel Valley traffic — without One Paseo you get the Del Mar Highlands Town Center expansion (they announced it), plus the 550,000 square feet of office development with no traffic improvements,” Robert Little, vice president of development for Kilroy Realty said after the meeting via email. “With One Paseo you get mitigation (traffic solutions) that take into account both developments, thus it is smart development, resulting in a worst-case delay counted in seconds.”

Some project opponents insist that the Highlands’ 150,000 square feet was, in fact, not included in the study and board members also questioned whether 5/56 connections will be made by 2030—wondering if the roads will actually fare far worse until those improvements are made.

“Everything else we can mitigate to a level D or better,” Qusem said. “There will be no delays or similar to what you experience today. This project gives the ability to mitigate impacts where the office (the 550,000 square feet the land is entitled for) does not.”

The study says that one intersection will actually improve significantly—by installing a traffic signal at Carmel Creek Road and Del Mar Trails it gets that intersection up to a B grade.

The project’s proposed mitigation of signal synchronization will be a first for San Diego. The closest area that uses synchronization is the city of San Marcos on San Marcos Boulevard, and Mahzari said they report a 30 percent better progression of traffic. Conservatively, One Paseo is projecting a 10-to-15-percent improvement with the synchronization system, which monitors traffic by satellite, adding green time to roads that are experiencing back-ups.

Board member Anne Harvey pointed out that even if a car hit every green light on Del Mar Heights Road, the ramp meters on the I-5 are what cause back-ups and those are controlled by Caltrans and the freeway level of service.

Qusem said that the planned improvements for El Camino Real and Via de la Valle (replacing the bridge past San Dieguito Road and widening El Camino Real and Via de la Valle to four lane roads) would also help get cars off of Del Mar Heights Road in the future.

“In the future” is a stumbling block for the board, White said, because it isn’t certain when those city-driven improvements will be made.

“It’s hard to believe that widening Via de la Valle is going to shift traffic off Del Mar Heights,” board member Nancy Novak said.

Novak, who represents the neighborhood off High Bluff, had a lot of concerns about the project increasing cut-through traffic through their streets, especially near Solana Highlands School where they just worked to curb traffic with a new stop sign.

Extra turn lanes onto High Bluff are part of the traffic improvements and Novak said they just seem to be “an invitation” for cut-through traffic.

Mahzari and Qusem said that is not the case.

“We want the intersections to work. Giving extra capacity isn’t going to make cars go on High Bluff. Instead of people turning one by one they will be able to turn two at a time,” Qusem said,

“It will be faster to stay on Del Mar Highlands and El Camino Real than shortcut through residential streets,” Mahzari said. “Unless the signals aren’t working, there’s no reason to cut through residential streets.”

Mahzari said that if it does cause an impact, they could take steps to mitigate the issue.

White said that if they are waiting until phase three of the project to be built to solve a problem like cut-through traffic, it might be too late.

“The residents to the north of the project will be the most impacted so we may need this question to be more thoroughly addressed,” White said.

Board members pointed out that it may take some time for all these mitigations to be complete and the roads could reach failure level in the meantime.

Qusem said that their concerns are the reasons that projects have to be phased and that the developer won’t be able to proceed to the next building phase until the impacts are mitigated.

“That’s the point of the phasing plan, to control the project,” Qusem said.

The board also questioned whether the existing street systems will be overburdened and  cause the circulation system to not function as intended by the 1975 Community Plan.

Mahzari said that Kilroy is not proposing to reclassify the roads so the project is staying within the community plan, mitigating for everything added to the system and it won’t change the character or function of the roadways.

Harvey argued that their mitigations will change the roadways, as the community plan intended for Carmel Valley’s roads to have well-landscaped medians and to be “natural and serene to drive.”

“These mitigations will change the character of the streets entirely. When you say it won’t change the function, it wasn’t intended to function like Mira Mesa Boulevard,” Harvey said.

Mahzari pointed out that the streets do have a landscaping plan and she disagreed that the mitigations will drastically change the character of the community.

Related posts:

1. One Paseo-related traffic issues to be discussed at March 28 Carmel Valley planning board meeting
2. Carmel Valley planning board to discuss One Paseo project Feb. 27
3. One Paseo: Traffic jams for Carmel Valley
4. One Paseo meeting in Carmel Valley draws large crowd, a variety of strong opinions voiced
5. Carmel Valley community meeting on proposed One Paseo project draws crowd

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DALLAS, Texas — You want the perfect turf; the kind that makes your neighbors green with envy.

The problem is, “We have a shortage of water resources in Texas,” said Patrick Dickinson, who coordinates the urban water program at Texas AM Agrilife Research Center in North Dallas.

The center includes a model home that shows environmentally-friendly landscaping ideas. Just as they recommend you do, they ripped out two-thirds of the grass at the model home and replaced it with less thirsty alternatives.

“More natives and plants that are blooming,” Dickinson said.

And where there is grass, you won’t find a single blade of St. Augustine.

“St. Augustine has a reputation as a water hog, and it is,” Dickinson said.

In fact, he said in the summer, St. Augustine drinks more than double what Zoysia or Bermuda grass varieties do. Buffalo grass drinks even less than those varieties.

Homeowner David Wysinger is re-sodding with Bermuda.

“It’s Texas, and it’s going to get hot,” said Wysinger.

He’s resodding with Bermuda, but he admits, he thought about St. Augustine.

“I considered it,” he said. “My parents have St. Augustine. But it’s high-maintenance.”

Wysinger’s lawn has suffered through the drought in recent years. “Bald spots and dead areas,” he said. And he was limited in what he could do about it. Because of strict watering restrictions, he quit trying.

Wysinger hopes this year he can abide by strict water restrictions, and that somehow his new grass will be greener on the other side of the next few months.

Tip: Experts say if you don’t have a sprinkler or rainwater measuring device, you can put an empty tuna can in your yard when you water. When it fills up, they say that is as much water as your lawn should use in an entire week.

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