The Fayetteville In Bloom committee's mission is to serve as an umbrella for all facets of the population, to share ideas, to increase awareness through education, and to improve the quality of life, keeping Fayetteville a beautiful and viable community.
[coming soon]
Throughout the year, FIB organizes and documents activities that are in line with the AIB objectives. We produce a full-color book of Fayetteville's efforts, When the AIB judges come (usually in the summer), we show them what Fayetteville has been doing. For the past few years, our efforts have been successful; Fayetteville has won national and international awards since 2002.
We are looking for information on new projects, ongoing community efforts, and anything else that will help Fayetteville In Bloom continue to make a difference in the community. Please use our contact page, or call Cindi Cope at 479 521 0934.
Fayetteville has won many awards since we began participating in the America in Bloom competitions. These awards indicate that Fayetteville is a town known for heritage preservation, environmental awareness, floral displays, and community involvement. @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { color: #0000ff } -->
2002, 2004, and 2006 - America in Bloom - National Champion for Population Category (50,000 - 100,000)
2003 - Awarded 5 Blooms - Landscaped Areas
2005 - Awarded 5 Blooms - The New Blair Green Library
2007 - Awarded 4 Blooms - Environmental Awareness
Communities in Bloom and the National Challenge is a non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility, and beautification through community participation and the challenge of a friendly competition. The program recognizes community efforts in eight categories; Tidiness Efforts, Floral Displays, Environmental Awareness, Community Involvement, Urban Forestry, Heritage Preservation, Landscaped Areas, and Turf and Ground Cover areas.
Objectives of America in Bloom are to improve the visual appeal of national and international neighborhoods, parks, open spaces and streets through the imaginative use of flowers, plants, and trees, to encourage involvement and coordinated action by citizens of all ages, municipal governments, local organizations and businesses, and to emphasize environmental awareness and preservation of heritage and culture as key parts of the program.
Put the committee member bios here.
Community involvement is the heart, if not the soul, of Fayetteville. Volunteers seem to come forward for any major community effort. It is easy to say that volunteers generously give thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of hours a year to organizations, activities and hands on projects such as the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, Master Gardener events, garden clubs, the Historical Society, Fayetteville In Bloom, municipal committees, Earth Day, Arbor Day and Curb the Clutter, to list a few.
It is clear that these partnerships provide the human, financial and physical resources needed for a thriving community. The parks and recreational facilities provided by the City come to life with the financial support of the business community and the human resources given by volunteers. These initiatives create opportunities for broader social inclusion of all residents regardless of income or cultural background.
Some of these initiatives are:
In addition to the educational opportunities at BGO, volunteers are working with the Youth Center Community Garden, harvesting produce for the Food Bank in Springdale and educating youth on where food comes from. BGO is developing a partnership with a group planning to have community gardens for both food and flowers.
Community members and businesses have truly supported the construction of the BGO site. Special mention goes to Revelle Irrigation for donating installation of the irrigation system, Don Hurlbut for constructing a water feature, Ron Troutman of Boulder Construction for finding the best affordable construction materials, Amirmoez Foster Hailey Johnson Architects for donating design fees for the Rose Arbor. Gerald Klingaman, retired UA Horticulture Professor, built the Eagle’s Nest in the Children’s garden and is an invaluable source of recommendations and innovative ideas.
The Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods was established to promote and enhance the quality, stability and vitality of the various neighborhoods in the city of Fayetteville; to provide a forum for neighborhood associations to share information, experiences, concerns, and ideas; and to help facilitate communication between neighborhoods through their associations and government agencies. Some of the efforts the council makes to improve the quality of life in Fayetteville include; recognizing businesses that make an extra effort to beautify their property in Fayetteville’s commercial sectors; holding educational and informational meetings on various topics, such as low impact development; and sponsoring community initiatives, such as Crosswalk Safety Day.
The Washington County Extension office, Master Gardeners, 4-H Clubs and local farmers hosted nearly 2,500 preschool and elementary school children at the 10th Annual Farm Friends event held on April 18 at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center. The event was initiated to show the importance of agriculture to Washington County. Master Gardeners talked about composting allowing, the students to feel the compost and watch the worms at work.
FGNS is open to anyone with an interest in any aspect of flowers, gardening or nature. They raise money through an area-wide garden tour in June. The money is divided evenly between the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks and the Laurin Wheeler program series. In eleven years FGNS has given over $27,000 to the Botanical Garden. Each year FGNS program chair contacts speakers from all around the country to speak on varying topics. Ken Druse, this year’s main speaker, will give two talks in October. This year’s programs also include: China’s Three Gorges Dam Project on the Yangtze River, Hellebores by Barry Glick, Habitat Gardens: Working with Nature, Gourds: prehistory, mythology, botanical info, Lesser known trees and shrubs for NWAR landscapes, Blue Springs Mending Medicine Trail and Preservation of Indigenous Plants in Eureka Springs, Trees and Shrubs for Year-Round Interest, and Vascular Flora Project of Arkansas.
The Illinois River Watershed Partnership is a diverse group of men and women who directly affect the water quality of the Illinois River. This group is holding itself accountable by striving to improve the water quality of the Illinois River through personal endeavors and through the education, the encouragement and the positive reinforcement of fellow Illinois River Watershed residents. We are not a politically charged organization, but rather a group that works at the grassroots level with other organizations to seek changes in environmental issues for the betterment of our region. We look beyond the river banks and see the future and how the Illinois River will support our lives into the next centuries. This spring the IRWP has used ad campaigns to encourage soil testing, picking up pet waste in an effort to reduce harmful substances to run-off into streams.
The Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association (FNHA) was formed in 2003 to promote conservation of natural areas in and around Fayetteville. Our organization has over 500 members and has contributed to preserving a 97-acre tree covered hillside and a 2-acre urban wetland as natural City parks. We committed to contributing $300,000 toward the purchase of part of the hillside park, and to date $200,000 has been given to the City. We expect to fulfill the commitment by July, 2007, when a stone and timber pavilion near the eastern entrance to the Park is completed. The pavilion was designed by FNHA vice-chair Karen Rollet-Crocker in the 1930’s style, which was used by the CCC to construct pavilions in our National Parks.
St Joseph Park was proposed by the Washington-Willow Neighborhood Association in May 2006. The former Catholic school, church and rectory were recently renovated to form condominiums. The park will be between the former rectory and school. The one-acre park will be refuge for area residents who hope to hold one-act plays, and concerts in the area.
Neighborwoods, founded by the Friends of Fayetteville, is a sub-committee of Fayetteville’s Tree and Landscape Committee and partner with the Parks and Recreation Division of the City. The committee continues to plant trees, shrubs and flowers around Fayetteville and always looking to educate at the same time. Recently a home school group participated in an Earth Day event on Frisco Trail by planting wo flowering shrubs, lilies and wildflower seeds. The home school group is adopting the spot and will water the area. These plantings not only beautify the area but reduce the maintenance by city staff.
Old Navy provided 15 volunteers for Earth Day and Butterfly Day at the Botanical Garden. (Five even drove from Fort Smith for the event.) Alex Gonzales, manager, wants to plant the generosity seed with the young and encourage them to make a lasting difference within their community, maintaining the old values where your neighbors are there for you. Local management encourages work with children but they have also donated time to Habitat for Humanity, Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics and HIPP, which mentors children whose parents are in jail.
The Arkansas Forestry Commission awarded a $12,000 grant to several groups to build four demonstration rain gardens in Fayetteville. The reason behind the demonstration gardens is to determine how northwest Arkansas soil conditions will affect the gardens. Partners include the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, Washington County Master Gardeners, City of Fayetteville, UA-Extension-Washington County Office, among others. Four rain gardens have been built, locations are Leverett and Happy Hollow Elementary, as well as Gulley and Walker Parks.
The Rotary Club of Fayetteville has a history of supporting community projects. Their main project over the past two years has been supporting the Rose Arbor and Garden at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. The two Fayetteville Rotary clubs have jointly funded this project at $45,000.
Over the past few years, the Rotary Club has purchased two scoreboards for the parks/recreation department at Lake Fayetteville. The softball fields are busy most of the warmer months with both children and adult teams. The club has also built the bridges that go over the creek in Gulley Park and planted trees in the median entering Fayetteville. Two years ago they agreed to fund the Kitchen at the Seven Hills Transitional living complex which is scheduled to open this summer.
Japanese students from Kanto Gakuin University plant flower bulbs in the courtyard. The students were in the area for a three week English study and travel program.
Leverett Elementary School dedicated a hexagon bench built around a hackberry tree. Neighborhood resident Louise Mann suggested the dea and financed the construction to beautify the area. Volunteers also added new soil and grass. The PTO has plans to complete other andscaping projects in the playground area. Landscaping has also been completed in the front of the school.
Vandergriff Elementary celebrated their Certified Monarch Waystation with a ceremony on October 13th. Monarch Waystations is a program of Monarch Watch; they provide a habitat for monarch butterflies as well as host plants for monarch caterpillars. The Waystation was a joint project of Vandergriff and the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks.
The UA Community Design Center, in collaboration with Marty Matlock, a professor with the Ecological Engineering Group was awarded $464,000 from the Arkansas Resources Commission funded through the EPA. The money will be used in planning and designing the Habitat for Humanity Neighborhood of 30-50 homes. The project will be designed to capture stormwater runoff through hard civil infrastructure, such as curbs and gutters, we will use wet meadows, bioswells and infiltration features. Using stormwater gardens will cut the cost of the street in half. The plants will cleanse the rainwater.
The Washington County Day of Caring was held April 19 with more than 300 area volunteers from NWA businesses, including Tyson Foods, Harps Food Stores, Procter & Gamble, Bank of Arkansas, ARVEST, First Federal Bank, NWA Times/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and others. The volunteers completed 92 projects in Washington County, while Benton County and Ft. Smith Area United Ways simultaneously held their local Day of Caring. Area city parks were cleared of litter, non-profit agencies received help with planting new flowers, bushes, and weeding and trimming existing greenery at their 41 locations. Senior centers, including the Fayetteville Senior Center, and Heritage Towers, received a colorful “face-lift”. All projects were completed within the one Day of Caring through more than 1500 volunteer hours!
ARVEST Bank of America Bank of Fayetteville Bank of the Ozarks First Federal First Security Bank Harp’s/Price Cutter HARRT Jones Center for Families J.V. Manufacturing Kitchen Distributors, Inc. Kohl’s Marketing Drive Morgan Stanley Morning Star Ranch NTI NWA Times Ozarks Electric Prairie Grove Telephone Pratt & Whitney Procter & Gamble Signature bank/Fayetteville Leadership Simmons First Tyson Foods-Randall Road Cornish UPS Wash. Co. Juvenile Detention Center Wash. Co. Sheriff’s Office Sue Van Bebber Lonnie Copps Gay Harp
The University of Arkansas Horticulture Club holds an annual plant sale in the spring open to all. Horticulture students grow the plants and use their proceeds for scholarships within the department and for improvements to the greenhouse. Horticulture students are available the day of the sale for questions. Plants include perennials, annuals, fruits and vegetables.
In 2006 the Mayor and City Council approved the addition of a Sustainability Coordinator to city staff for the 2007 budget. He began in May 2007 and his position will be funded by the reduction in utility costs for the city. He has begun evaluating the city’s energy use and current environmental and sustainable programs to increase efficiency and make policy recommendation to the Mayor and City Council. A Sustainability Team was formed to assist the Sustainability Coordinator and includes one staff member from each division. Once the initial city evaluation has been completed and new efficient practices are in place, his focus will include the city at large and development.
Adopted in July 2006, City Plan 2025 is a comprehensive land use document that targets six goals:
City Plan 2025 encourages development within existing infrastructure while discouraging sprawl, auto-dependency and further impacts on global climate change. The Plan emphasizes traditional town form with walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that are available to people of diverse incomes and backgrounds. It also advocates the protection and preservation of the unique natural environment in the Ozark Hills. This emphasis maintains the irreplaceable natural resources, recreational opportunities and overall quality of life associated with living in Fayetteville.
The primary challenge involved educating citizens on the positive impacts of increased density and traditional neighborhood form. Five months of public outreach and education culminated in a 10-day charrette, resulting in the participation of over 700 citizens.
Dense, mixed-use communities reduce vehicle miles, which not only decreases GHG emissions and improves air quality ity-wide, but also helps to avoid emissions that would have occurred with conventional growth. The Plan’s emphasis on tree planting and preservation also provides greater carbon sequestration, mitigates urban heat islands, and reduces energy consumption.
The Plan is the first in Arkansas and one of the first in the United States to incorporate a Sector Map and Future Land Use Map (FLUM), which both utilize the SmartCode to depict desired development patterns. The Sector Map utilizes public input as well as topographic and land use data to identify Controlled Growth Areas, Intended Growth Areas, Restricted Growth areas and Infill Areas.
FLUM provides a spectrum of density and intensity of desired development through a careful analysis of current development and envisioned development patterns. These designations are form-based, which focus on use, and include: Natural Areas, Rural Areas, Residential Neighborhood Areas, City Neighborhood Areas, and Urban Center Areas.
Finally, the Plan includes corridors for mass-transit in case future population growth demands this service.
The Plan designates approximately 11,000 acres or 20 percent of the planning area as natural areas. These designations protect riparian corridors and target areas identified as having significant biodiversity, high numbers of native plant species, connections to large habitat areas and potential for walking trails.
Resulting developments will provide housing for a mixed-income community with amenities such as trails, sidewalks and tree-lined streets that encourage residents to walk or bike to popular destinations. Two initial developments are participating in the US Green Building Council LEED-ND Pilot Program as well. These close-knit communities encourage neighborly interaction, inspire community involvement and create a sense of security and well-being, thus improving the overall health of the community.
Planning Staff has developed a number of long range sustainability policies in the recent past. Most of the work done so far has focused on generally accepted smart growth and sustainability policies. I have summarized relevant projects and code amendments with a link or a description of where the adopted policy can be located.
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The City adopted a hillside development ordinance in April of 2006. This ordinance was the culmination of 4 years of Staff work with 2 Task Forces and a paid consultant. The tremendous growth pressure in the region spurred interest in creating a hillside development policy which would allow property owners to develop slopes while implementing best management practices to reduce negative environmental impacts. Implementation of the HHOD was achieved by amending various chapters of the UDC including, 161 Zoning, 167 Tree Preservation, 169 Physical Alteration of Land (Grading), 170 Stormwater Management, and 172 Parking and Loading. An illustrative HHOD Best Management Practices Manual was also developed and adopted. The HHOD BMP addresses environmentally conscious implementation policies which were not approved or codified but were acknowledged as important for people to understand, and hopefully implement on their own. The final component of the HHOD is a boundary map developed with the assistance of the U of A GIS Dept.
Major points of the HHOD UDC Amendments are:
Reductions of the required building setbacks in order to create a larger building envelope. This allows landowners to locate structures in the most appropriate locations, i.e. areas of less slope/benches, adjacent to the street on the downhill side, preserving significant natural features or trees, etc.
Amendments to the Tree Preservation ordinance were designed to preserve existing tree canopy on individual lots at the time of construction. This is the first instance in which the City has required tree preservation on single family lots. An abbreviated tree preservation plan is required before obtaining a building permit. The owner/builder has to show the trees being preserved and is required to fence the tree preservation area off to insure that it is not disturbed by equipment or compressed due to materials storage. The percentage of canopy to be preserved is dependent on the zoning. For example, a single family lot in a RSF-4 zoning district is required to preserve 30% of the existing canopy on the lot. A C-1 zoned piece of property is required to preserve 25%, etc.
The Physical Alteration of Land (Grading Ordinance) was amended to mirror the Tree Preservation changes. All lots in the HHOD are required to do a grading plan illustrating the location and the extent of grading to be done to the site. The maximum amount of grading on a lot allowed matches the minimum amount of tree canopy required to be preserved. The tree preservation fencing is used as the line of demarcation for the extent of grading allowed. The City allows the owner/ builder to use the same site plan for both grading and tree preservation. The overall intent was to minimize the amount of cut and fill on a lot.
The Stormwater Chapter was amended to encourage stormwater BMP’s to reduce runoff such as rain gardens, permeable pavers, cisterns, etc.
The Parking and Loading chapter was amended to allow a maximum of 30 spaces per parking pad in the HHOD. Additionally, the City will require a minimum undisturbed area of 15 feet between parking pads. The intent is to screen parking areas with existing tree canopy and to minimize the amount of cut and fill to create parking pads. Excessively large parking areas are not permitted.
The method which planning uses to measure building height has been amended to encourage structures to “step” up the slope at a height below the tree canopy line (45’).
The Master Street Plan was amended to allow for narrower street cross- sections to be used in the HHOD. All utilities are required to be located along the street so that utility easements do not disturb and de-forest large portions of the back of residential lots.
The HHOD BMP Manual was designed to educate land oners and developers on sustainable development practices on steep slopes. The main points included are:
Encourage the use of creative storm-water management practices for single family homes such as rain gardens, cisterns, pavers, etc.
Encourage street layout to go horizontal to the slope.
Encourage homes to be placed near the right of way to minimize the driveway lengths and disturbance on the hillside.
Encourage traditional methods of dealing with auto parking such as tuck under garages, bridged driveways, on-street parking, etc.
Encourage home-owners to have small building footprints, especially on areas of severe slope.
The Hillside-Hilltop Overlay District data was generated from Fayetteville’s 2004 LIDAR data. The City of Fayetteville used 3D Analysis Software by ESRI to identify areas that were 15% slope and greater, plus all Hilltop areas. The U of A Center for Advanced Spatial Technology assisted the City in developing the model for this analysis.
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In 2005 the City went through an extensive 10 day planning charette with the help of Dover-Kohl and Associates to develop a vision for the future of the downtown area. A vision document, proposed zoning code and map, and a proposed architecture manual were drafted. In 2006 the City adopted the DMP Zoning Districts recommended as part of the Dover-Kohl Plan. The DMP calls for appropriate and balanced urban intensity to increase development downtown where infrastructure exists. As the downtown continues to fill in, it will reduce some of the development pressure felt on the City edge, which typically culminates in sprawl.
The City was active in acquiring railroad right-of-way which was no longer in use to develop the Frisco Trail from 6th St. to Dickson St. Currently, this trail provides a pedestrian and bicycle route through the center of downtown. Once completed, this trail section will be part of the Master Trail Plan “spine”, connecting south and north Fayetteville together in a linear corridor.
The DMP Zoning Code is important in understanding how urban form impacts the human and natural environment. The four adopted downtown zoning districts; Downtown Core, Main Street Center, Downtown General and Neighborhood Conservation, prescribe the densest and most intense development in the Core with lesser density and intensity in the more traditional residential areas. Street trees provide greenspace in the highly developed areas with a gradual transition to yard space in the least developed areas. Correspondingly, building mass and bulk is highest in the core with less intensity in the transitional areas.
The City has been actively turning one-way streets back to two-way streets in an effort to slow vehicular traffic and increase connectivity. One-way streets encourage speeding. Two way streets with four way intersections lead to slower vehicular speeds and increased pedestrian safety and comfort. Many of these street cross-section conversions also have enough street width for parallel parking on the street, another traffic calming measure.
The Transportation Department is currently working on replacing irregular and damaged sidewalks in much of the downtown area. This work is being funded through the City’s TIF district, which was formed to remove the blighted Mountain Inn Hotel site in preparation for redevelopment.
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UA Extension Office organized a group of interested parties in a trip to Kansas City to learn about Rain Gardens. Participants learned the basics of building rain gardens, why they are important to the environment and toured some large and small rain gardens.
A free screening of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” gave many local residents a new outlook on global warming. Admission for the film was granted on a first-come, first-served basis and funds for the screening came from a group of business owners, at least one politician, members of Audubon Arkansas, the Sierra Club and the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology. Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody spoke to residents before the movie and encouraged them to take a stand on environmental issues. While the issue of global warming is complex, most attendees said they walked away feeling uplifted rather than overwhelmed. After the movie, local residents gathered outside the theater to discuss ways they could reverse global warming with local activist groups.
Fayetteville’s Long Range Planning Division offered a “brown bag screening” of the PBS documentary “Chicago: City of the Big Shoulders” in August 2006. The hour-long program focuses on Chicago’s sustainability. Sustainability in city planning refers to planning efforts that attempt to take care of today’s needs without compromising natural resources and species for future generations. The documentary was shown as a “timely follow-up” to Fayetteville’s adoption of its City Plan 2025.
The Sierra Club took a group of area residents on a hike Saturday to talk about the condition of the Clear Creek watershed. The hike served as an opportunity to discuss streamology and the condition of Clear Creek in an effort to get people interested in learning about urban streams.
In an effort to educate the community on watershed issues, the League of Women Voters of Washington County purchased and donated a series of six manuals on small urban watershed management to the Fayetteville Public Library. Published by the Center for Watershed Protection, the manuals focus on a variety of urban watershed issues that provide common-sense, practical methods individuals and community groups can implement to protect, restore and repair water sources locally.
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The Fayetteville Alternative Transportation and Trail Master Plan was adopted by City Council in 2001 and includes 129 miles of paved multi-use trails and 163 miles of on-street linkages within the City of Fayetteville. The goal of this Master Plan is to “establish alternative modes of transportation and active recreation as an integral part of daily life.” The process of creating the master plan included three public workshops where over 100 participants marked their desired trail routes on a map. Those corridors were evaluated and incorporated into the final plan. This master plan is used extensively to evaluate trail corridors during planning review and as the City of Fayetteville actively builds new trails.
Fayetteville Alternative Transportation and Trail Plan offers recommendations for improving community access to outdoor resources and community destinations by developing a network of off-street multi-use trails and on-street linkages. The purpose of the Master Plan is to address the needs of
the citizens and visitors related to transportation, recreation and economic pursuits that can be addressed through a comprehensive alternative transportation and trail system. With the rising gas prices and threats of climate change, the trails will also provide safe alternative routes to get around the City without relying on the automobile. The Plan addresses policies, programs and physical improvements that should be implemented to improve alternative transportation opportunities throughout the community. It was developed by the City of Fayetteville in association with the Sidewalk and Trails Committee and the citizens of Fayetteville.
The majority of the trail corridors identified on the Fayetteville Alternative Transportation and Trail Plan follow along urban creeks and waterways. As we develop trails along the creeks we will use the opportunity to remove trash and restore the natural habitat of the creek. In addition, the trail will provide a public eye on the creeks, as well as provide educational opportunities. The trail corridors also provide an opportunity to incorporate trees and plantings along the city property adjacent to the trail. By including wildflowers and other low maintenance plants adjacent to the trail, the mowing responsibility can actually be reduced and the trail users have a much nicer experience. A recently example of this is along a Scull Creek Trail near Appleby Street. Plantings have also been incorporated into Frisco Trail near Center Street. The city of Fayetteville encourages private businesses and citizens to become partners in the development and enhancement of the trail system.
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In 2005, Mayor Dan Coody and City Council created an 8 member in-house trails construction crew as part of the Transportation Division and allocated funds to purchase equipment to exclusively build trails and implement the Alternative Transportation and Trails Master Plan. In addition the Trails Coordinator position was incorporated into the Engineering Division to provide in-house trail design, right-of-way acquisition and construction observation. Since the reorganization, the rate of trail construction has increased dramatically and by using City staff for design and construction, the trails are constructed with the most efficient use of tax payer funds.
In September of 2006 the trails program received a significant boost when voters approved a 2.1 million dollar bond issue exclusively for trails. This bond money will be used for the City’s highest priority trail, Scull Creek Trail. This trail is the most important trail for the City of Fayetteville because of its central location and connectivity with many businesses, parks and neighborhoods. In its entirety, Scull Creek Trail will be 4 miles in length – connecting from Mud Creek Trail and following Scull Creek south to Wilson Park. From Wilson Park, Scull Creek Trail will become Frisco Trail and continue .6 miles south along the Arkansas-Missouri Railroad across Dickson Street to the Walton Arts Center parking lot where it will meet up with the new section of Frisco Trial dedicated on August 24th 2006. Because of the strong north-south connectivity, Scull Creek Trail and Frisco Trail will create the backbone for the city-wide trail network while connecting residences, parks and businesses with the University of Arkansas and Dickson Street. Numerous other trails, including Clabber Creek Trail and Town Branch Creek Trail will extend east and west from this backbone to create an interconnected network of trails. The first 3⁄4 mile section of Scull Creek Trail, was completed by the trails construction crew in December of 2006, and we are currently working on an additional 1 mile section.
In addition to Scull Creek Trail, many other trails have been completed through in-house. The trails program including the following:
St. Paul Trail 0.78 miles
Frisco Trail Extension 0.2 miles
Scull Creek Trail 0.7 miles
Shiloh Trail 0.8 miles
Town Branch Creek Trail 0.4 miles
Clabber Creek Trail 0.7 miles
Lake Fayetteville Trail 1.2 miles
For a total of 4.78 miles .
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The Fayetteville City Tree and Landscape Committee celebrated Earth Day with a planting of hydrangeas and lilies on Frisco Trail with a group of home school students. The students were joined by Matt Mihalevich to learn about the Fayetteville Trail System and Sarah Patterson, Urban Forester. The children were told about the importance of trees and shrubs. The children were also told how to water the shrubs and are going to do so over the spring and summer.
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The following are some of the efforts by the Building Services Division in order to promote a sustainable operation:
Published articles in the city newsletter promoting energy conservation.
Lowered the setting of the City Administration Building’s (CAB) water heater unit.
Lowered the setting of the CAB’s boiler unit.
Replaced the incandescent bulbs with compact florescent bulbs in CAB.
Replaced existing with more efficient ballast in light fixtures (this effort is ongoing).
Refurbished the skylight in CAB.
Purchased insulating blinds for installation in CAB (in selected areas).
Tested use of lower energy vending machines in CAB.
Scheduled refurbishment of elevator in CAB that will install efficient pumps and motors and digital controls.
Utilized sustainable systems in the construction of several new city buildings.
Received a grant to retrofit a fire station with a solar water heater.
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Collect recyclable materials used within each of the fire stations.
Glass
Aluminum and steel cans
#1 & #2 plastic
newspaper
cardboard
Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL bulbs
Collect nickel/cadmium rechargeable batteries used for portable radios, hand lights, thermal imagers and other various equipment and instruments used by the department. These are turned over to Smith’s Two-Way for recycling.
Purchase and use “green” cleaning liquids.
glass cleaner
degreaser
multipurpose cleaner
Collect printer ink cartridges and turn in for recycling
Preparing to ues bio-diesel in most fire apparatus
Soybean-based foam insulation
Soybean-based foam insulation
Environmentally friendly framing system
Occupancy sensors for lights
Waterless urinals
CFL light fixtures
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Fueling Station under construction to convert over 50% of City vehicles to B20 Bio-diesel blend by end of second quarter 2007.
Gasoline electric hybrid vehicle on order for Police Park Patrol, replacing mid-size gasoline SUV.
Additional hybrid sedan on agenda for replacement in 2007.
One of four lead U. S. Cities and two commercial companies participating with Hybrid Truck Users Forum in development of heavy hybrid refuse collection truck. Project is in RFP stage.
Replacement of shop lighting under review.
Efficiency upgrades to shop heating and ventilation under review.
The University of Arkansas Community Design Center, in
collaboration with Marty Matlock, a professor with the Ecological
Engineering Group, has been awarded a grant of $464,000 from the
Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, funded by
the Environmental
Protection Agency. The money will be used in planning and designing
the neighborhood, which will include
30 to 50 Habitat for Humanity
houses on eight acres. McClelland Consulting Engineers and the city
of Fayetteville are also
partners on the project.
The houses will be built with green principals, using solar
orientation and cross currents within the house to ventilate and
cool
it. A sustainable neighborhood planned for Habitat for Humanity
employs the concept of “shared streets”. Instead of capturing
stormwater runoff through hard civil infrastructure, such as curbs
and gutters, the project will use wet meadows, bioswells
and
infiltration features.
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Maple Hills Garden Club hosts monthly meetings in member homes. Educational topics include learning about the trail system in Fayetteville, Butterfly Gardening and fundraisers for worthy organizations including the Botanical Garden, Cancer Support Home and UA scholarships. Maple Hills also sponsors work days at the Clinton House Museum and the Cancer Support Home. Over 400 bulbs including daffodils were planted at the Cancer Support Home. Daffodils are the symbol of hope for cancer patients.
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National Arbor Day Tree City USA for 12th year. This status is awarded to communities that have an active urban forestry management plan.
Tree planting initiative of 150 trees a year in public spaces and right-of- ways.
Tree Preservation and Protection Ordinance that requires a percentage of a site’s tree canopy to be protected and preserved to ensure that the City has a healthy and diverse forest. Canopy lost below this percentage is replaces as either new trees or monies in a fund for tree planting within the City of Fayetteville public areas and right-of-ways.
Landscape Regulations Ordinance requires street trees for all new projects that develop on/or create a new public or private street in the City. This Ordinance also requires trees within parking areas to shade the impervious surfaces. Dry stormwater facilities require a planting of trees, shrubs, and grasses to promote phytoremediation.
Parkland Dedication Ordinance requiring all new developments to dedicate greenspace for either a developed park or natural area. The City of Fayetteville currently has 32 of which are developed.
In 2006, Fayetteville Park System included 255.98 acres of natural area and 2,436.41 of developed park.
Many of the parks are left as natural areas. Mount Sequoyah, approximately 100 acres, is owned by the City of Fayetteville and exists as completely native and natural space for citizens, students, and visitors to enjoy.
2006 developed a tree and sod farm to supply plant material for small projects. Irrigation is pumped from the White River.
Dog waste stations are provided in many of our parks to discourage the increase of nitrogen in the watershed.
Pesticide Policy in place with an Environmental Concerns Committee overseeing activities.
2007 Lights of the Ozarks on the downtown square will experiment with LED Christmas lights.
All park projects requiring lighting meet City of Fayetteville lighting ordinance with complete cut off and shields to reduce light pollution.
Walker Park Tennis Court Lighting project (underway) using a new luminaire system that cuts spill by half or more, creating more energy efficient product.
Outdoor Adventure Camp: Summer camp focuses on getting children active in the environment. Sessions include biking, kayaking, and environmental education.
Annual Arbor Day Celebration of Trees provides free trees and shrubs to Fayetteville citizens. Organized and sponsored by Parks and Recreation and Tree and Landscape Committee Members. 2007 Arbor Day provided 1200 containerized trees and 300 shrubs.
Tree and Landscape Committee is a nine-member volunteer group with representative from the University of Arkansas, business utilities, environmental positions, forestry/horticulture professionals, and citizens at large. The group’s mission is to disseminate information to the public. This could include but not be limited to, new ordinances, proper tree and plant care, and city projects.
Partnership between University of Arkansas, Arkansas Forestry Commission and City of Fayetteville to build a new parking lot utilizing bioswales. Additional parking is warranted in one of our larger and more popular parks. Staff has worked with students and Professors to develop a plan and construction documents to develop the new parking lot. The bioswales will drain the runoff from the impervious areas to revive an old pond within the park.
Red Oak Park Streambank Stabilization Project: Red Oak Park is experiencing severe erosion and sedimentation from surrounding developments utilizing the hollow within the park, for stormwater runoff. Parks and Recreation has consulted with Arkansas Game and Fish on this problematic drainage area and developed an environmentally sensitive design to incorporate rock-lined plunge pools and a wider channel to protect the park from erosion and downstream neighbors from sedimentation. Project to begin in July 2007.
Parks and Recreation has 2 greenhouses where the majority of plants are either grown from seed or propagated from existing plant.
The greenhouses utilize beneficial insects and organic fertilizers resulting in a chemical free environment.
The City Horticulturist utilizes groundcovers in an attempt to reduce the amount of mulch and to hold the soil in sloped areas.
Urban Forestry Services and Transportation share a large bucket truck, chipper, and stump grinder for tree removal. Recycling these chips reduces the amount of mulch purchased and helps provide mulch and compost to Fayetteville citizens.
Fayetteville Natural Heritage and the Nature Conservancy Ozark Highlands office partnered to identify highest priority areas in and around Fayetteville for conservation. With the rapid growth this area is seeing, areas like Mount Sequoyah are quickly being encroached upon with development. The results from this study were publicized and used by the City in the revisions to the Future Land Use Map. Parks and Recreation has a 100 year lease for a 99 acre parcel of land to the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks. This parcel is located within Lake Fayetteville Park.
The Environmental Study Center is located at Lake Fayetteville Park through a 50 year lease agreement. This structure is used by both Fayetteville and Springdale Schools for environmental education.
Beaver Water District, University of Arkansas Extension Services, Fayetteville Public Schools and City of Fayetteville working together using grant dollars awarded by the Arkansas Forestry Commission to install rain gardens in 2 parks and 2 school properties. These gardens will include educational signage for the public to learn the importance of rain gardens and some helpful steps in creating their own.
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Fayetteville has experienced high growth in recent years and is striving to maintain waste generation levels at reasonable levels. The Pay-As-You-Throw residential trash program, along with recycling and yard waste services provided by the city, is encouraging residents to examine their waste habits or pay more for trash service. Since Arkansas has no mandatory recycling laws this incentive-based program, endorsed by the EPA, is effective in raising revenues while providing a reduction in household waste collected at each residence.
The City also offers recycling programs for schools and businesses and hopes are high that increased revenues will allow the expansion of recycling services to other commercial settings in the future. The Pay-As-You-Throw trash program has resulted in a 57% curbside recycling participation rate from 18,473 residential stops. In 2006, 13,298 tons or 26,596,000 pounds of materials were collected for recycling or composting/mulch programs through City operations.
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In addition to offering curbside recycling, curbside yard waste collection is offered to all single family homes. In 2001, the City passed an ordinance prohibiting residents from placing yard waste in plastic bags in an effort to eliminate plastic bags from contaminating the finished compost. Since then the quality of the compost has vastly improved. The City collects yard waste in 30 gallon paper bags and also old trashcans with the words “yard waste” in big letters across the can.
Compost is produced in about four to six months and sold in bulk and bags throughout the year. To better market our compost, the City sends samples to a lab for a certification program developed by the Rodale Organic Gardeners Institute. The last four years worth of compost have been certified as Garden Compost. The compost is also screened to provide a quality product for our customers. In 2005, compost was made available to customers in 2 cubic foot bags. The response to this service was great, with 907 bags sold since the inception of the program.
Leaves and grass make up the most common material in our composting process. Trees are usually ground into a mulch product. In 2006, 4,436 tons of brush, 506 tons of grass, and 919 tons of leaves were dropped off at the Compost Facility. In addition 1,683 tons were collected through the curbside program.
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The City of Fayetteville has operated with a Pay-As-You-Throw residential trash program since 2000. The objective of this type of program is to reduce waste and provide a more equitable way to bill for trash service. Instead of paying a fixed fee for unlimited collection, this system requires households to pay more if they produce more trash. Paying by volume is comparable to the way most people pay for electricity and water.
The Solid Waste and Recycling Division is an Enterprise Fund and operates from the revenue it generates and doesn’t rely on City’s general fund or taxes as a means of funding. The roughly 8 million dollar budget services all commercial dumpster collections (2-yd through 8-yd and commercial carts), commercial drop box collections, residential trash collections, curbside bulky waste collections, 9 citywide bulky waste clean ups per year, curbside recycling collections, recycling drop off location, curbside yard waste collections and composting / mulching operations.
Since implementation of the Pay-As-You-Throw program, the City has won numerous awards and accolades, including the 2003 Government Recycler of the Year and the 2005 Recycling Education Program of the Year from the Arkansas Recycling Coalition and the 2004 Meritorious Achievement Award for Recycling and Waste Reduction and the 2005 Distinguished Service Award for Recycling and Waste Reduction from Keep Arkansas Beautiful. In 2006, the program was a finalist for an award for Municipal Excellence from the National League of Cities for the Pay-As-You-Throw program.
Weekly trash collection is limited based on the size of container at the household; however, residents can place out extra bags for collection at a charge of $6 per bag. This extra charge acts as a deterrent for excess waste and, in effect, encourages them to recycle and also choose the correct container size to fit their family needs. Each resident is given four free stickers per year to use on special occasions such as holiday gatherings.
From 2003 to the end of 2006 the number of households grew by 14%, or 2,260 households, while the tonnage of residential trash has increased by 12.5% or 1,431 tons. Keeping waste amounts in check is a direct result of the Pay-As-You-Throw program and residents recycling more. In 2003 recycling tonnage was 4,678 tons and at the end of 2006, recycling tons was 5,754. This is a 23% increase in the amount of recyclables sold during this period. The Pay- As-You-Throw program is working.
The tonnage from residential trash cart collections is verified through reconciling trash billing statements from the contractor at the Transfer Station. Cherokee Nation is contracted to operate the City’s Transfer Station and weighs the trucks for accurate billing.
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Fayetteville’s recycling program accepts many different materials including: newspaper, cardboard, paperboard, magazines, mixed paper, plastic bottles #1 and #2, steel cans, aluminum cans, and clear, green and brown glass containers. Besides the curbside recycling program, a 24-hour Recycling drop off that collected 1,060 tons of recyclables in 2006 is also available.
Residential curbside recycling collection collects 68% of the material recycled in Fayetteville. Commercial cardboard accounts for 15% and the Recycling drop off 14%. The other 3% is from small collections at Government offices, etc. Curbside recycling collection has a 57% participation rate, currently encompassing 18,473 through April 2007.
In 2006, a 21% diversion rate was achieved through recycling and composting programs from all commercial and residential sources collected by the City. Residential diversion alone, achieved through composting and recycling programs, is at 51%.
Residential recycling is accomplished through separating recyclables at the source (curbside). This allows our drivers to keep recyclables free from cross contamination with other recyclables, ensuring a marketable commodity for processors and mills. Also, source separating provides an educational component to our residents by only accepting items that we can recycle, while drivers leave a tag telling the residents why we cannot recycle the item in question.
A group of University of Arkansas students have been trying to slow the effects of global warming by helping their professor install the first “green roof” on campus. The project was strictly a volunteer opportunity for students.
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Power Generator
The two megawatt power generator was installed in 2005 to allow the City to benefit from significant ongoing electrical savings and also provide back-up power for the entire plant. The City and OMI agreed to implement this solution by changing to a different rate structure and installing a large generator and switch gear to provide peak load management. During the summer when electrical demand is highest, the area electrical supply network is closely monitored. When the demand reaches a certain point, the generator operates and the plant is disconnected from the power grid. The results have been an electrical cost savings of approximately $192,000 a year.
The same systems will be installed at the Westside Treatment Plant and the new Hamestring wastewater lift station.
Portable Power Generator
The new portable generator was purchased in 2005 and installed on vehicle unit #325 (transferred from the fire department). This mobile generator unit has been used a dozen times a year during routine and non-routine power outages to minimize down times at the lift stations, therefore minimizing chances for sewer overflows.
Water Reuse
Treated effluent (after screening by newly installed straining equipment) is now used for washdown water and belt filter press cleaning in the new Biosolids Building instead of potable water. The plant’s potable water consumption was reduced by approximately two million gallons a month.
Road Cleanups
For the twelfth year, OMI supported the Curb-The-Clutter program with the clean-up of a section of Old Wire Road near Highway 265 and maintained an unofficial commitment to clean up Fox Hunter Road near the plant on an annual basis.
BlueInGreen Supersaturated Dissolved Oxygen Injector (SDOX)
OMI staff proposed the purchase of the new Supersaturated Dissolved Oxygen Injector (SDOX) to minimize pure oxygen consumption in the wastewater treatment process. Pure oxygen is added to the treated effluent in addition to mechanical aeration to ensure that NPDES permit requirement in dissolved oxygen is met. The new oxygenation technology, SDOX, restricts oxygen loss to the atmosphere such that nearly 100% of the oxygen gas fed to the system is dissolved. The SDOX, therefore, uses and wastes less oxygen, and therefore saves money and is much more environmentallt friendly. The cost saving for using this new technology is approximately $15,000 a year.
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The wastewater system improvement projects main concern is mostly doing environmental achievements with storm water control on construction sites. They developed storm water plans that include the project description and site drainage maps with erosion controls. They train all the construction companies on these plans, monitor that these companies maintain records of inspection and complete inspection after each rain event. They also obtain short-term activity authorizations from state agencies when unavoidable impacts on state water quality standards could occur from crossing streams and creeks. Most of the small jobs fall under the nationwide 404 permit. They are currently completing a wetland mitigation site of 26 acres by the new plant.