NEWTON — The City of Surrey is actively taking steps to make Newton a safer community, according to Mayor Dianne Watts.

At the Newton Recreation Centre on Saturday, Watts addressed the concerns of hundreds of area residents at the Newton Community Association’s (NCA) second neighbourhood forum. She detailed how the city has made changes to prevent crime, poverty and drug use, among other issues, in the area.

While politicians were barred from the NCA’s January meeting to make room for concerned citizens, Saturday’s forum gave the mayor, council, local MLAs and MPs the opportunity to respond to those initial issues.

“At the last meeting…we heard very clearly a number of items from the community of what they’d like to see done,” said Watts, noting that city staff attended the inaugural forum.

“Some of the issues were around lighting, pruning, foot patrols, bike patrols, landscaping, the assistance phone, additional CCTV camera, parking, signage, security guards, community policing office extended hours – all of that’s done, all of that’s implemented.”

The mayor’s address Saturday followed her recent announcement of the city’s “relentless” crime-reduction plans, as laid out by the task force she started last November in response to the record-setting number of homicides in Surrey. Those plans include hiring 24 police officers over the next two years and creating a 20-member community safety foot patrol and six-cop bike squad at the district police stations.

Surrey RCMP Chief Supt. Bill Fordy said the community police office around the corner from the recreation centre has extended its hours to 10 p.m. nightly. TransLink director Barry Forbes added that the transit authority is working to increase security at the Newton Exchange bus loop.

Watts discussed safety upgrades and expansions the recreation centre and Newton Athletic Park, development through the Build Surrey program and the city’s teamwork with the province to establish a local community court – all efforts, she said, to solve ongoing problems in the community.

“We all have a vested interest (in Newton),” she said. “This meeting really gives us all an opportunity to come together, to share information, to share ideas.”

– With files from Tom Zytaruk

© Surrey Now

MONTREAL – Bryan Versteeg hasn’t stopped drawing ever since he got his first crayons and left marks all over the walls as a child — all the while dreaming of someday living in space.

He still remembers that sketch books and drawing pencils were the predominant gifts on his fifth and sixth birthdays.

So began the career of the 38-year-old Calgary space artist who’s becoming known for his futuristic out-of-this-world illustrations.

“I’ve always been seeking out the future of engineering,” Versteeg said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Over the years, he has been inspired by magazines like Popular Science, which he collected during the 1980s and 90s. The monthly magazine has been well known for its concept drawings of flying cars and interplanetary spaceships.

“It’s a great way to look into the future,” he added.

Warp forward to Versteeg’s recent illustrations of what a human habitat on Mars would eventually look like. His Mars One conceptual designs have appeared in thousands of articles on the Internet.

Versteeg started working on the Martian space habitat after he was approached by the founders of the Mars One Foundation, which is planning a one-way mission to the red planet.

In December, the non-profit organization selected 75 Canadians to enter the second round of the mission’s selection process. The 43 Canadian women and 32 men were among 1,058 candidates selected.

Versteeg said he agreed with the Mars One approach, which involved sending up to six landers to the Martian surface before shipping up any humans.

They would include two living units, two life-support systems and two supply units.

“If you’re going to be putting a permanent base there, you want to make sure everything is working before people get there,” Versteeg said.

“I really believe in Mars settlement and colonization as a foothold for human beings on another planet.”

Versteeg has worked in the graphics industry for more than 20 years, as a conceptual artist in the architectural and engineering fields.

In 2011, he founded Spacehabs.com in order to focus on the conceptual visualization for space exploration.

Versteeg is also a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.

One of the other projects he has been working on for about two years is his “Kalpana One” Space Station.

It’s named after Kalpana Chawla, one of seven astronauts killed when U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart while returning to Earth in February 2003.

“Kalpana One” is Versteeg’s idea of what living in outer space could actually look like.

“The interior of the space station is basically a space for about 10,000 people,” he said.

“I designed the golf courses and the football fields, the farms, the recreation spaces and ponds and landscaping — it was probably 50 projects within one project.”

Versteeg’s illustrations can aptly be compared to the artwork for the iconic rotating space station in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

“They did a lot of research and they made something that was as close to realistic as possible,” he noted.

Versteeg referred to his greenery-filled “Kalpana One” space station as “2101” — 100 years after the setting of Stanley Kubrick’s science-fiction masterpiece.

“I know I’ve always wanted to live in space and so it doesn’t need to be all that incredible for me to want to live there,” Versteeg said.

“I try to create places that my wife could see herself live in.”

The futurist artist, who has been married for 10 years, began studying art and design in school at the age of 14.

He originally considered a career in architecture and learned interior design along the way.

Versteeg said a lot of research goes into his artwork and he’s always reading up on the latest cutting-edge technology.

“You try to limit yourself within the laws of physics and within existing concepts that we already understand because I really want to make sure it’s realistic,” Versteeg said.

“If a person looks at it and says: ‘That’s impossible’ right off the bat, then we’ve kind of already lost a bit of the audience.”

Catherine Hazin, director of arts and culture for the Canadian Space Society, has called Versteeg “an incredibly important Canadian artist.”

“He is really making the idea of living and inhabiting space accessible to the public,” she said in an interview. “It’s an incredibly important job that nobody has been able to do as effectively as he has until now.”

Versteeg is also one of the founders of Deep Space Industries (DSI), a company that plans to mine and utilize space resources like asteroids.

NASA is currently studying a plan to send astronauts to study an asteroid and Versteeg said DSI has been co-operating with the U.S. space agency.

“Some of the DSI guys have been consulted for NASA’s designs, but exactly how NASA is planning on doing it is up in the air,” he said.

“We have our own ideas of how we can go out and prospect and analyze and target asteroids and then return them, process them and use the resources for manufacturing.”

Versteeg has even created stunning concept illustrations of what mining in space would look like.

“I have wonderful discussions with the guys I work with at Deep Space Industries who offer incredible insight,” he said. “They kind of vet my designs and tell me what could or could not happen.”

His illustrations of space mining may not be that far from reality. DSI is facing competition from another company, Planetary Resources Inc., which also has plans to mine asteroids.

Versteeg predicted that, like Ford when the company started mass producing cars, space utilization will take off “in leaps and bounds.”

Posted: Sunday, February 16, 2014 12:00 am

Downtown design plan to be outlined at upcoming meeting

By MAUNETTE LOEKS
New Media Editor

Star Herald

City officials are hoping to hear additional input from the public as plans for a downtown landscaping project are finalized.

Consultants from Dropseed Studios, of Omaha, were in Scottsbluff on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 to gather public input and ideas as the City of Scottsbluff continues downtown revitalization efforts. Business owners and residents were able to visit with consultants and participate in open houses as the consultants gathered information to use for a design.

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Sunday, February 16, 2014 12:00 am.

Click photo to enlargeWhen 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass appointed contractor and builder Kevin McKenny to the county Planning Commission this week, talk turned to his Downtowner motel in Eureka.

Bass said her decision was based on McKenny’s extensive community service, which outweighs his delayed renovation of the run-down Eureka motel, but if progress isn’t made, she will ask him to step down.

”I would hope that people can focus on the wealth of experience Kevin brings to the commission, with the understanding that he has work to do in other areas,” Bass said.

McKenny has a long history of public service in Humboldt, working on several county and Eureka boards, including 26 years on the Humboldt Community Service District board of directors and three terms on the county Local Agency Formation Commission.

”I’m very familiar with being on boards and commissions,” McKenny said. “I would like to think that when I’m on a commission, I am there for the people. Historically, that’s the way it’s been.”

Along with his government experience, McKenny has nearly 40 years of building and construction experience in the county and a master’s degree in civil engineering from UC Berkeley.

McKenny said his renovation and rehabilitation project at the Downtowner has had difficulty getting off the ground. After acquiring the motel, located on F and Eighth streets in Eureka, in late 2005, McKenny said he has had trouble getting his design review application through the review process in the city’s planning division.

Eureka’s Chief Building Official Brian Gerving said the project has gone through “various designs” over the years. After meeting with McKenny on Friday, Gerving said that the project is starting to gain some headway.

”Now he’s got a much more complete project, knows the direction he intends to go, and is really close to making that happen from a permit standpoint,” Gerving said.

As the trash, graffiti, and weeds around the disheveled motel have built up through the years, so has the frustration of neighboring residents and city officials.

Eureka Councilwoman Linda Atkins said it is a good sign that McKenny has “put in plans and is on the way to starting the project,” but she has “not seen he wants to do anything to improve the property” any time soon.

”He has gotten pressure on this before, and when it was lifted off him, he left the neighborhood in a terrible state,” Atkins said. “Maybe he’ll go around and trim some weeds and sweep up some trash, but only because he wants to stay on the Planning Commission.”

Councilwoman Melinda Ciarabellini said the motel and McKenny’s appointment are “two separate issues,” but said the council expects progress to be made by the “end of this fiscal year.”

”Our council has determined the project as something that is a top priority, and want to see some action and progress made there soon,” she said.

During Tuesday’s supervisors’ meeting, Bass said she is “very aware of the issues with the Downtowner,” and is in the process of forming a neighborhood advisory group to address the problem. The group would allow the motel’s neighboring residents to share their frustrations, as well as allow McKenny to provide details on the project and its timeline.

The group would also provide the opportunity for neighbors “to share their ideas of what measures might be taken to help minimize negative impacts” as the project moves along, she said.

”While it is important for people to be able to share frustrations, it is equally as important to provide potential solutions that would improve the situation, and the neighbors are going to have the best sense of what those measures might be,” Bass wrote in an email. “I believe their input is vitally important, and long overdue.”

Bass said she has spoken with McKenny about the issue several times, and is expecting progress to be made in the near future.

”If no action is taken to improve the conditions within six months, I will request that Kevin step down,” she wrote.

McKenny said he will make a “renewed effort” to clean up the landscaping around the property, and the permits being reviewed by the city are going through “much better right now.”

”I have heard loud and clear that people are upset about it,” McKenny said. “I apologize to the neighbors for that. The neighbors have every right to be upset.”

With this project, McKenny said he hopes to transform the run-down building into a “bungalow, lodge-style” hotel, and is also looking to “flag a hotel franchise” to operate it.

”On that block, there is a tremendous amount of architectural style that represents different time periods of Eureka architecture,” McKenny said. “We hope to add to that with the style we’ve created with this building.”

Planning Commission Chairman Robert Morris said he is “happy to have him on the county planning commission.”

”He brings a great deal of experience and awareness of the community,” Morris said.

The Eureka builder joins the commission during its extensive review of the Conservation and Open Space Element of the county’s General Plan. The entire element was sent back to the commission by the board of supervisors on Jan. 13. McKenny said it is important for the commission to take into account the history behind the element’s current form.

”We need to keep that picture in mind, when we think about making any changes,” McKenny said. “Above that, we have to really be cognizant of all the people involved, and the time that was spent getting us to this place.”

Should any changes be made, McKenny said he will take both the conservational intent of the element, as well as its practicality for potential development projects, into consideration.

”There are certain words that are chosen that will cause projects to slow down and have a difficult time getting through,” McKenny said. “I would like to put an eye toward seeing those things, and make it so that while all of the intent of the language is there, the ability to get a project through the process is there as well.”

Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504 or whouston@times-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter.com/Will_S_Houston.

SPENCER — Arnie Arsenault has spent his entire professional life building up his family’s landscaping business, A. Arsenault Sons Inc.

The company was founded by his father, Arnold Arsenault, in 1979. Arnie Arsenault has been working with the company since he was 12 years old, when he started mowing lawns for the company’s customers alongside his father.

At 18, Arnie Arsenault was put in charge of lawn maintenance, which entailed meeting with customers, handling their concerns and making sure all properties were maintained weekly. He oversaw several employees at a time.

In 1987, shortly after Arnie Arsenault graduated from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, his father passed away, at age 43. With the death of its founder, the company’s future was uncertain.

Arnie Arsenault’s mother, Donna Arsenault, who had worked with the company since Day-One, helped the company and family through the difficult transition. She continues to work for the company today.

Currently, A. Arsenault Sons services between 300 to 400 residential and commercial properties — mostly in Worcester County — with 12 crew members, many of whom are family.

Beyond its landscaping work, A. Arsenault Sons has several speciality franchises that help keep crews busy throughout the year.

Christmas Décor is an award-winning franchise that strings up Christmas lights on residential and commercial properties. Another franchise, Nite Time Décor, strings up lights year-round. The company has decorated trees in the front of The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester, trees around the ice skating rink behind Worcester City Hall, as well as Webster First Federal Credit Union and Spencer Bank properties.

Now in its 35th year in business, A. Arsenault Sons continues to expand and has recently added a national lawn care franchise, Weed Man, which offers environmentally friendly lawn care in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K.

In July, Mr. Arsenault began working for the franchise, which initially involved 10 days of rigorous training in Canada.

The company will begin offering its services in the spring, representing the Weed Man brand.

“The Weed Man program enhances our programs and takes us to the next level of high-quality service. It would take us years to try to accomplish what we wanted to do and reach a new degree of professionalism alone,” he said. “We have high expectations, high aspirations for the Weed Man brand.”

Throughout its 35 years in business, A. Arsenault Sons has encouraged employees to bring their ideas for improvement to the table.

“My father instilled in our company early on that we can always learn new and improved methods or ideas from our employees to help with the company’s success,” Mr. Arsenault said.

Employee suggestions have involved improving the way the company fuels vehicles, parks trailers and handles business processes.

“We have faced many business challenges throughout the years, from economic downturns, problems concerning employees, equipment, vendors and products,” Mr. Arsenault said. “All have had unique challenges, but we always seek out a solution, which is what has helped up become a stronger team.”

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MOUNT HELIX — The Mount Helix Park Foundation’s Earth Day Fair, while well attended last year, is not slated for 2014.

Because of funding challenges, the amount of staff needed and a shortage of volunteers, the event that attracted hundreds of visitors to the top of Mount Helix has been scratched, according to Mount Helix Park Foundation Executive Director Tracey Stotz.

But to help soften the ecological blow, the foundation will be sponsoring and hosting two eco-friendly talks in the next few months as part of Nature/Sustainable Living lecture series.

First up will be a demonstration from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. March 1, on how to propagate plants native to California.

Mount Helix resident Ed Piffard “will show guests how to multiply and grow their own drought-resistant, beautiful varieties of native plants for use in landscaping,” said Peggy Junker, office administrator of foundation.

Stotz called Piffard “a walking encyclopedia on natives who can tell you everything about the weed you are about to pull, its whole history, its Latin name…”

She noted that after the lectures, attendees will be invited to take a walk along the Yawkey Trail to see the park’s recent California native plant restoration project and examples of some of the plants discussed.

The second presentation features a lecture by Greg Rubin, who co-authored “The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner’s Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance” with North Park garden writer and editor Lucy Warren.

Rubin, the founder and president of the Escondido-based company California’s Own Native Landscape Design, Inc., will speak from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 17.

Stotz said that while disappointed about the absence of the fair, she said the foundation still “wants to put the park in Mount Helix Park” and show people there is “more to it than an amphitheater and a great view.”

“We want to offer events that feature nature and share ideas about sustainability,” Stotz said. “Because we are no longer sponsoring an Earth Day Fair, this is a way to get that message out.”

There is no parking at the summit, so attendees are asked to walk up from parking lots adjacent to and across from the San Miguel Fire Station at 10105 Vivera Drive in La Mesa. The hike from the fire station to the top at 4905 Mount Helix Drive typically takes five to 15 minutes.

MONTREAL — Bryan Versteeg hasn’t stopped drawing ever since he got his first crayons and left marks all over the walls as a child — all the while dreaming of someday living in space.

He still remembers that sketch books and drawing pencils were the predominant gifts on his fifth and sixth birthdays.

So began the career of the 38-year-old Calgary space artist who’s becoming known for his futuristic out-of-this-world illustrations.

“I’ve always been seeking out the future of engineering,” Versteeg said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Over the years, he has been inspired by magazines like Popular Science, which he collected during the 1980s and 90s. The monthly magazine has been well known for its concept drawings of flying cars and interplanetary spaceships.

“It’s a great way to look into the future,” he added.

Warp forward to Versteeg’s recent illustrations of what a human habitat on Mars would eventually look like. His Mars One conceptual designs have appeared in thousands of articles on the Internet.

Versteeg started working on the Martian space habitat after he was approached by the founders of the Mars One Foundation, which is planning a one-way mission to the red planet.

In December, the non-profit organization selected 75 Canadians to enter the second round of the mission’s selection process. The 43 Canadian women and 32 men were among 1,058 candidates selected.

Versteeg said he agreed with the Mars One approach, which involved sending up to six landers to the Martian surface before shipping up any humans.

They would include two living units, two life-support systems and two supply units.

“If you’re going to be putting a permanent base there, you want to make sure everything is working before people get there,” Versteeg said.

“I really believe in Mars settlement and colonization as a foothold for human beings on another planet.”

Versteeg has worked in the graphics industry for more than 20 years, as a conceptual artist in the architectural and engineering fields.

In 2011, he founded Spacehabs.com in order to focus on the conceptual visualization for space exploration.

Versteeg is also a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.

One of the other projects he has been working on for about two years is his “Kalpana One” Space Station.

It’s named after Kalpana Chawla, one of seven astronauts killed when U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart while returning to Earth in February 2003.

“Kalpana One” is Versteeg’s idea of what living in outer space could actually look like.

“The interior of the space station is basically a space for about 10,000 people,” he said.

“I designed the golf courses and the football fields, the farms, the recreation spaces and ponds and landscaping — it was probably 50 projects within one project.”

Versteeg’s illustrations can aptly be compared to the artwork for the iconic rotating space station in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

“They did a lot of research and they made something that was as close to realistic as possible,” he noted.

Versteeg referred to his greenery-filled “Kalpana One” space station as “2101” — 100 years after the setting of Stanley Kubrick’s science-fiction masterpiece.

“I know I’ve always wanted to live in space and so it doesn’t need to be all that incredible for me to want to live there,” Versteeg said.

“I try to create places that my wife could see herself live in.”

The futurist artist, who has been married for 10 years, began studying art and design in school at the age of 14.

He originally considered a career in architecture and learned interior design along the way.

Versteeg said a lot of research goes into his artwork and he’s always reading up on the latest cutting-edge technology.

“You try to limit yourself within the laws of physics and within existing concepts that we already understand because I really want to make sure it’s realistic,” Versteeg said.

“If a person looks at it and says: ‘That’s impossible’ right off the bat, then we’ve kind of already lost a bit of the audience.”

Catherine Hazin, director of arts and culture for the Canadian Space Society, has called Versteeg “an incredibly important Canadian artist.”

“He is really making the idea of living and inhabiting space accessible to the public,” she said in an interview. “It’s an incredibly important job that nobody has been able to do as effectively as he has until now.”

Versteeg is also one of the founders of Deep Space Industries (DSI), a company that plans to mine and utilize space resources like asteroids.

NASA is currently studying a plan to send astronauts to study an asteroid and Versteeg said DSI has been co-operating with the U.S. space agency.

“Some of the DSI guys have been consulted for NASA’s designs, but exactly how NASA is planning on doing it is up in the air,” he said.

“We have our own ideas of how we can go out and prospect and analyze and target asteroids and then return them, process them and use the resources for manufacturing.”

Versteeg has even created stunning concept illustrations of what mining in space would look like.

“I have wonderful discussions with the guys I work with at Deep Space Industries who offer incredible insight,” he said. “They kind of vet my designs and tell me what could or could not happen.”

His illustrations of space mining may not be that far from reality. DSI is facing competition from another company, Planetary Resources Inc., which also has plans to mine asteroids.

Versteeg predicted that, like Ford when the company started mass producing cars, space utilization will take off “in leaps and bounds.”

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The weather may be wintry but many people, especially gardeners, look forward to spring.

Two activities that begin today at Fellows Riverside Gardens at Mill Creek MetroParks are sure to plant seeds of ideas for spring gardens.

The Seed Library and the Twice-Loved Book Sale are planned in the Maxcine Antonucci Horticulture Library at the D.D. and Velma Davis Education Visitor Center.

Keith S. Kaiser, horticulture director, said the Seed Library “is a new service.”

Volunteers at the gardens packaged seeds obtained from plants in the park and their own gardens. “It’s a way of sharing and exchanging what we have in our gardens,” Kaiser said.

Visitors at the horticulture library can “check out” packs of seeds that they will plant in their gardens, Kaiser said. The return comes when those gardeners collect seeds from the plants during the fall harvest and bring them to the park for packaging. That will “restock” the Seed Library for spring distribution next year.

Kaiser said seeds for vegetables, annuals and herbs are available. There are marigolds, chives, peas, beans, morning glories and annual vines to name a few.

Some 1,200 seed packs are available and will be distributed until they are gone.

Kaiser cautioned eager gardeners not to plant too early. In Mahoning County, the frost-free date is about May 20. To grow plants from seed, they can be directly sown in the garden or started indoors then transplanted outside.

Kaiser said the Seed Library also is offered by Akron Public Library and Licking County Public Library. He’s hoping the idea takes off at the Antonuuci library at the park and becomes an annual activity.

And if you need help learning how to collect seeds from plants, the park’s book sale and library has the information. A variety of books and magazines on gardening, nature, herbs, crafts, nature photography, landscaping and cooking will be sold.

The book sale is today through Feb. 23. Hours for the Davis Center are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Kaiser said some of the books for sale come from “weeding out” the park’s library and others are donations from volunteers. Proceeds from the book sale benefit the Antonucci library.

For information on the seed library or book sale, call 330-740-7116.

Q: We live in a nice development with a homeowners association that lays out color rules and landscaping guidelines. Historically, the association has been very strict, with liens against owners who don’t follow rules. But a neighbor down the street redid his yard a year ago with non-approved plants. Nothing is being done about it. Some people complained, but most neighbors like what they’ve done. Now we want to paint our house in a lovely yellow color that’s not on the list. Should we just go for it, too?

– Nathan

A: It depends whether you’re willing to face consequences or repaint.

The general idea of a homeowners association is to provide guidance for improvements and maintenance of common areas. In a perfect world, a strong HOA has rules that help people make decisions about color, maintenance, and landscaping, and provides an easy way of telling someone their taste is unacceptable to the group.

Some people love HOAs and the guidelines they provide. Other people don’t like their creativity to be restricted and won’t buy into a neighborhood with one. It depends on what you value and your taste. You can always get creative on the inside of your home.

In your case, a weak HOA seems like a great opportunity to do what you want, as long as you don’t complain about others’ choices. But if more people start bending the rules, eventually the HOA will notice and take action.

A better solution would be to volunteer for your HOA and start a committee to evaluate existing color rules and landscaping guidelines. Maybe the existing leaders lost interest, and a lot of people also think it’s time for an update. Neighbors who care the most about the exterior appearances will also likely participate, and from there it should be a democratic process. As a committee, you’ll research ideas, create a proposal for changes to the existing guidelines, and present it to the board or the general membership for a vote.

Painting your house a different color in a collaborative way is a lot more likely to succeed for you in the long run. Let me know how it goes.

 

---

Jennifer Adams is a designer, author, and TV personality. To contact her:

AskJennifer@JenniferAdams.com

@JenniferAdams