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Grant could provide start to arboretum
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| By: Mark J. Crawford, Editor |
April 23, 2009 |
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(L-R) Dorothy Bartlett and Kathy Still collected a pile of trash from the wetland site.
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The Starke City Commission is submitting a forestry grant that would fund the first step in a larger tree-related project.
Jim DeValerio, agriculture extension agent for Bradford County is preparing the grant application.
There are multiple categories for funding, but the option to plant new trees was the option chosen. The trees would be planted at the Edwards Road Recreation Park.
DeValerio revisited with the board plans to create a walkable corridor along Alligator Creek stretching to Rowell Lake, which would include an arboretum, a nature park and a nature trail. He called it the Alligator Creek Parkway.
The arboretum, a botanical garden devoted to trees, would be developed at a small wooded area in the southwest corner of the recreation park on Edwards Road.
Footpaths through the arboretum would be planned and constructed, and desirable specimens would be planted alongside the existing plants and trees. The specimens would be identified and labeled, and provide a new and educational attraction to Edwards Road park.
The trees that would be purchased with funds from the grant would provide a start for the arboretum. Planted throughout the park, which consists of ball fields, playgrounds and is the future site of a new recreation facility for the city, the trees would impart screening and shade for the complex.
Identifying the trees would give residents an opportunity to see and evaluate multiple tree species in a single location, according to the grant application. Residents will be able to see the proper installation and maintenance of trees in an urban setting and understand how they contribute to quality of life.
Once the new recreation building is built, it could also serve as a site for future workshops on urban forestry.
The city could receive around $10,000, providing a match, which can be made in in-kind services.
Paul Still of the Bradford Soil and Water Conservation District has already been using grant funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and volunteer help to remove invasive, nonnative plants from the area.
If awarded the new forestry grant, there should be enough money for around 30 plants. Cedars, oaks, elms, hollies, and even pecan and persimmon trees are among those that would be considered.
Starke has recently earned the designation Tree City USA, and has formed a tree board to protect trees and promote urban forestry.
Volunteers needed for plant grant
The Bradford Soil and Water Conservation District received funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundations to develop an invasive plant control program for Bradford County.
The $17,600 grant will cover the costs to hold invasive plant identification workshops and treat invasive plants along the Alligator Creek west of U.S. 301.
Special workshops will be held for farmers to inform them about tropical soda apple, a serious invasive plant, that is appearing in pastures and hay fields.
Funds are available to supply farmers with herbicide and a backpack sprayer to treat small areas of Tropical Soda Apple before it spreads.
Volunteers are needed to help begin mapping invasive plants throughout the county. It is critical to know what invasive plants are present and where they are if a plan is to be developed to control them.
Invasive plants are a concern because they can spread and take over large areas by out-competing native plants.
There are more than 15 invasive plant species along Alligator Creek. The creek work will provide an opportunity for volunteers who like to work outdoors make a significant impact on restoring a unique wetland area.
There are plans to turn this area into a nature park where visitors learn about wetland plants or just have an enjoyable experience in nature.
Volunteers have already started working on the Alligator Creek. They cut the tops off ardisia plants so the red berries could be composted and not spread any further.
Ardisia is a very attractive 1 to 2 foot tall dark green plant with bright red berries. It is a good example of a very attractive plant used in landscapes that can spread and take over acres of wetlands as its seeds are carried by water to new locations.
If you would like to volunteer to map invasive plants, work along Alligator Creek or would just like information about invasive plants you may have on your property, you can contact Paul Still at (904) 368-0291, or e-mail stillpe@aol.com.
In other business:
* The commission approved on final reading an application by William T. and Barbara Ann Norman to amend the future land use designation of less than an acre of property on Grand Street by changing it from commercial to residential.
* Rather than risk another failed attempt to receive grant funds for a ladder truck, Fire Chief Tom Rowe asked the Starke City Commission about pursuing funds to replace the department's 30-year-old fire engine. The department would be seeking a grant for around $275,000 versus the $600,000 it would have to ask for the ladder truck, so the city would more likely be awarded funds.
* The Department of Environmental Protection had still not funded work orders for the environmental clean up of the Starke power plant site. The city did manage to get its funding score raised, but it was still below the funding threshold, meaning the city will continue to wait while other priority projects receive the money they need to proceed.
* A new pole attachment fee with Embarq was approved, which calls for increasing fees paid to the city through May 2012 at which time the contract will be renegotiated. Per the new contract, the city will receive $15.50 per pole beginning June 1, $16.50 per pole next June and $17.50 per pole beginning June 1, 2011.
Thompson said the company also paid the city $50,000 it owed in pole attachment fees accumulated over the past five years.
Currently there are 783 poles involved in the agreement, making the agreement worth another $40,000 to the city over the next three years.
* There have been multiple requests for annexation and Brown suggested the city establish and application fee to cover the city's legal and other associated costs.
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©Bradford County Telegraph 2009
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