All invited to Green Infrastructure meeting at 7 p.m. today

AN INVITATION --

( Fran Alexander sent this reminder earlier in the week. Please plan to attend.
('ve tacked on her great colunn in the Times on June 1.)

Jim Bemis
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Council



This council has been formed to include as many areas of concern and advocacy as possible that emerged from the Fayetteville Forward Summit held March 31- April 4.

“The Fayetteville Forward Summit was an open, inclusive, participatory event that brought forth the best ideas and heartfelt desires for the community, building on existing work, and connected these efforts to create a compelling vision for the future of our community. The result of this summit has established a foundation for economic development - moving the City of Fayetteville Forward for a sustainable future.” [see www.accessfayetteville.org for more info—click on “Fayetteville Forward” ]

Identified as the main categories under which most issues could be placed were: Economic Incentives; Transportation & Light Rail; Green Economy; Healthcare; Public Education; Creative Economy; Citizen Empowerment & Volunteers; Historic & Heritage; Local Food; Inclusion; and the one I’m writing you about: LAND USE AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE.



THIS IS AN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE FIRST MEETING OF



THE COMMITTEE ON

LAND USE AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE,

JUNE 4, (Thursday), 7 PM, Rm 111*

City Hall (113 W. Mountain)

We want your interest, passion, knowledge, input, ideas, etc. in how we can bring together all the ingredients necessary to make land use and green infrastructure policy a reality for our city.

This is an open meeting and anyone interested is invited. Please pass this invitation on to others, who may want to join our discussions. [*Room 111 is on the Mountain St. entry level—go through the door on the left and behind the center staircase and look for a sign to this room.]



Fran Alexander
Land Use & Green Infrastructure Committee Chair
442-5307
frana@nwarktimes.com
(Please call or email if you can not attend but want to be involved or have questions.)


AND MORE IN THE WAY OF EXPLANATION-----------

May 27, 2009

Hi Everyone--

As you may or may not know, I have managed to –yet again—open my mouth and commit to another enviro job. This one should be fun, however.

Mayor Jordan held the Fayetteville Forward Economic Summit a couple of months ago to begin an economic plan for the city. At that summit, various areas of interest were nominated as the main issues that different people felt should be on the table. I waited and waited, but no one was mentioning the environment so finally I burst out with “land use ---the physical-land-and-how-it-functions kind of land use!” It seemed, at least to me, the obvious impact that the environment has on the economy was not so obvious to others there.

After a variety of categories were selected, those interested most in a particular subject met to discuss their notions of economic impact and the directions they felt their topics should take. At our “land use” table, Bob Caulk of the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Assoc. spoke about the organization’s work on a green infrastructure plan for Fayetteville and a few small surrounding towns. They have done extensive work identifying, mapping, and collecting data on many pieces of the land use puzzle which could lead to an “enduring green infrastructure.” Check them out at : http://www.fayettevillenatural.org/ and click on “What’s Happening.” With their great beginning to build upon, we need to find and justify ways of going forward to make land use planning a daily reality in all aspects of how we utilize water and land.

A week ago, the mayor asked me to be the representative for land use and green infrastructure on his council comprised of about a dozen people, whose fields of interest range from economic incentives and job growth to healthcare, education, historic preservation, etc.

I’m in the process this week of contacting everyone I can think of who might be willing or wanting to join into this discussion and to put in their 2cents worth (or considerably more worth in suggestions, directions, connections, networks, knowledge, etc.). I have no desire to reinvent the wheel, but to try and bring together the parts we know about and then fill in the gaps.

Because land use is such a huge topic, I hope to divide the research and work into 3 parts:

Define: Land Use/ Green Infrastructure(GI) & Identify local examples

Develop: Policies to put Land Use Planning & Green Infrastructure in place

Describe: Economic Impacts of Land Use & Green Infrastructure

As you can see, this is a pretty ambitious undertaking. If you, or anyone you can recommend, might want to help in any capacity with this project, please let me know. The first meeting invitation is attached (June 4, Thurs. 7pm, City Hall).

I really want to hear from you. Phone: 479-442-5307, fax: 442-2433; email: frana@nwarktimes.com. THANKS !!!! FRAN





-----------------------------------------------------Column from June 1, NWA Tims
CROSS CURRENTS: Basic foundations
Fran Alexander frana@nwarktimes.com

Posted on Monday, June 1, 2009

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/77040/

Every so often in life, along comes an opportunity that tempts us to put in our two cents worth on things about which we care a great deal. Mayor Jordan, when he was a Ward 4 alderman, listened to me moan and groan for so long about everything (from slumping hillsides and soil erosion to disappearing green space and tree loss) that I think he decided the best way to shut me up, while he is mayor, would be to make me find some solutions.

When he formed his Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Council (Whew, what a name!), he asked if I would be the rep of the Land-Use Planning and Green Infrastructure Committee, and in a weak moment, I said "OK." While I'm honored he asked me, the project reminds me of chewing on a dried apple - the more you chew, the bigger it seems to get.

So just what is land-use planning? Many folks are under the impression that it is planning what to build upon land, and that is true in part. But a good land-use plan will first examine the land's physical characteristics to determine how to best keep land functioning like it is meant to function before buildings are placed upon it.

For example, drainage is very important to property, but if one segment of a waterway is diverted, eroded or altered either up or downstream, that change can affect everyone else in that watershed. Economically, it costs a lot less to know which roles different land features are performing and to respect those elements than to risk the expense incurred when Mother Nature runs rampant, and we get floods, mudslides, hill slumping, etc. that might have been prevented.

"Infrastructure" is one of those words some of us learn only after we've had a close encounter with city hall. The prefix "infra" means beneath or under and in the case of a town, refers to its sewers, water systems, streets, bridges, highways and various utilities, all basic foundation structures that keep an urban environment running. These technical parts are what are referred to as "gray infrastructure," very different than what comprises "green infrastructure."

We've had no problem allocating trillions of dollars in our country to build our gray infrastructure. In contrast, we often have to have fundraisers and beg-on-bended-knee to salvage pieces of green space. Considering that the green surrounding us provides our air, water and the soil that grows our food, this cavalier treatment of what is truly a basic foundation is getting us in a world of hurt.

I like this explanation by Mark Benedict and Edward McMahon in "Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st Century," in which they call this greenness, "the ecological framework needed for environmental, social and economic sustainability - in short, it is our nation's natural life-sustaining system. Green infrastructure differs from conventional approaches to open space planning because it looks at conservation values and actions in concert with land development, growth management, and built infrastructure planning."

Fortunately in Fayetteville we have many of the puzzle pieces ready to be fit together to create a land use/green infrastructure plan. The Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association has worked for several years researching the physical features of Fayetteville and some of the smaller surrounding towns. They have histories, maps, studies and research ready and being used to illustrate an enduring green network. Land-use planning is also part of Fayetteville's 2025 Plan, and there are several ordinances, such as one about Low Impact Development (LID), either in existence or being developed that are the tools needed to protect our green support system.

The major work yet to do is figuring out what policies we want and need to put in place for connecting systems of natural areas and parks, water courses and wetlands, as well as finding ways to secure more sensitive land features. And we need to research the economic costs and benefits of having a green network in place vs. not doing anything. Obviously there is a lot of important work yet to be done.

The Land Use/Green Infrastructure Committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday, June 4 at 7 p.m. in Room 111 of City Hall (113 W. Mountain). Anyone interested is welcome, and if you have questions about this or any of the other economic council committees, contact Julie McQuade at the city at 575-8302.

"Everyone has a voice. Everyone is included," was the guiding emphasis of the economic summit and continues in the work of the mayor's economic council. There are 11 Action Areas in which citizens may want to participate. They are: Economic Incentives and Job Growth, Transportation and Light Rail, Green Economy, Health Care, Public Education, Creative Economy, Citizen Empowerment & Volunteers; Historic & Heritage Resources, Local Food, Inclusion, and Land Use/Green Infrastructure.

I think I speak for all the committees when I say we need as much help as we can get to keep moving Fayetteville forward, so please volunteer in your area of interest.

Fran Alexander is a local resident and active environmentalist.

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