Looking for Volunteers & Recommendations

Scott Smith, one of our newly elected Highland City Councilmen, will soon be pushing for the City Council to begin "traveling council meetings" where they will go out to all neighborhoods, sit down with the citizens, and start a communication process. He has also requested some "brainstorming" to see how he (they) can help in the open space neighborhoods (see post labeled "Brainstorming"). These meetings will be open for everyone, but he is looking to have some key representatives from each area to advocate for these developments in the future. It would be beneficial to have several representatives from the Highland Hills, Chamberry Fields, and Mercer Hollow subdivisions involved. If you are interested or interested in recommending someone, please send your name or the name of the person you are interested in recruiting to openspace@q.com.

Brainstorming

We now have a great opportunity to start "brainstorming" about ways that we can work with open space concerns. Send your ideas, suggestions, comments, complaints, vetting, questions, thoughts, gripes, hopes, dreams, plans, etc. etc. to openspace@q.com and this information will be compiled and sent to our new Mayor and City Council in an un-edited format. This will give them an opportunity to see what hasn't been working, what has, and ways that we think they can make things continue or improve upon.

Scott Smith, one of our new Highland City Councilmen, has requested that we write down our concerns, ideas, suggestions, etc. for our open space areas. He is also looking for solutions to the problems that we have encountered in the past. This is a great opporunity for us to brainstorm as a neighborhood and let them know what problems we see and the solutions we feel would work. This information will be sent to them from all three of our open space developments in the Highland Hills area. While a lot of the open space developments are very different and have very different concerns, the compiling of information from this specific area in one large group will give them an idea about specifics in each open space area.

So, have fun brainstorming new ideas, give input about things that have worked well, get your thoughts "off your chest", vent, whatever you want, just make sure to make your voice heard! The more comments, negative or positive, the better idea they will have about what has worked and what will need to be done. The person publishing this blog does not offend easily, so feel free to say whatever you want. Just make sure to say it. Again, send this to openspace@q.com.

Get Out and Vote!

Don't forget to get out and vote this Tuesday, November 3rd! Our polling location is at Ridgeline Elementary as we are voting district HI04. If you have not registered to vote, you can take your ID and 2 current utility bills to your polling location when you go to vote and they will update your registration. If you have any additional questions, you can check out the official Highland City website at http://www.highlandcity.org/.

The Detention Pond

The chronic flooding that has been occuring in the detention pond/Chamberry Park was one of our big petition items. City Council passed with a unanimous vote 5-0 this evening, Tuesday, October 6th, to fund the improvements necessary to fix the chronic flooding issues. This "fix" will provide an increased slope to the area, increasing the grade from 1/2 % where it currently is at to a 2 1/2% grade. Because of this, it will preclude any future city soccer to occur at this location, but it will allow this area to be utilized by the neighborhood without the intrusion of "soggy socks" or the health risk associated with swampy areas. It is possible/likely that the grade may not be that noticable to those that utilize this area, according to the city engineer. Good news! The city engineer will now review the information to determine the best course of action based on the late start in the season. Improvements may begin next week, or in the best interest of appearance, it may be postponed until the spring. We'll keep you posted.

Chamberry Park, as identified by the city, is a park as well as a detention basin. So what is a detention basin? A detention basin is a lower area that is designed to temporarily hold a certain amount of water to drain out to another location. This is very important to us in this location because we are in a critical run-off area. Also, with our clay soil that causes water to run off more quickly than sandy or loamy soil, it is very important for our area to have a place for this rapid runoff of water to accumulate thereby avoiding flooding in other areas. This detention basin is intended to hold this runoff, however, it should be draining shortly after rain/run-off. Fixing the slope, as well as the sunken areas, should eliminate the flooding issue we see now.

Wow! A big thanks to our city council and city engineer for allowing this to move forward!

Playground Grand Opening!

Come join our neighborhood at the Playground Grand Opening, Monday, October 5th at 5:30 p.m. in the Ithica open space/park. Come join in the fun of the grand opening of our new neighborhood playground and open space improvements. Bring your family and friends.

Please plan on bringing chairs and/or blankets. This will be a pot luck event, if you can bring something, please contact Jenny B. (info in the flyers). BBQ's will be available.

Open Space Residents Meeting

Last week we had our open space resident's meeting. During this meeting we discussed the timeline of events, what the city has done or has committed to do, what the city has not committed to do yet, our need to develop our own "Open Space Vision", the Tree Commission project in April 2010, and the importance of the upcoming city elections.

Timeline of events:

• 8/4/09 - our petition outlining 19 issues was presented to city council.
• 8/14/09 - a letter from the city was received indicating they would meet with us.
• 8/27/09 - meeting with the city administrator and director of public works where a detailed list of 42 issues was presented with 79 pictures illustrating problems

What the city has done/committed to do:

1. Ithica Park - fix turf issues, install playground (BONUS!), replace dead trees, extend sidewalks
2. Chamberry Park/Detention basin - permanently fix flooding (requires city council approval due to the funding)
3. Argo Circle Park - install sidewalk, add access to playground
4. 11800 N. Open Space - fix sod in several areas, add crosswalk for Cyprus and 6150 W.
5. various areas - replace dead/inappropriate trees, add curb ramps to access trails, install park benches (BONUS!), more attention to sod issues

What the city has NOT committed to do now:

• install pavilions
• install sod east of Highland Hills trail (behind Athena and Jupiter Circle) - a previous city council ruling has already been made
• extend trails - Cyprus to Lausanne, Fish Pond Trail (west of substation), extend power line trail (north of substation)
• fix the Highland Hills entry sign (this is residents responsibility - bids are currently being acquired)

Our Open Space Vision:

• Several items were discussed and input was given. Some of this information will be taken to the Planning Commission to allow us to provide input on the parks prioritization task they are working on. Other items were discussed and ways that we can accomplish achieving our open space vision. Brett B. shared with us a power point presentation of our "Open Space Vision".

Tree Commission:

• 55 trees will be planted along 11800 North. This project will require 2 eagle scout candidated, multiple volunteers, and some help from the city public works department. A detailed power point of the trees to be planted was shared. Also, a few suggestions for additional trees and placement in the neighborhood was discussed.

City Elections:

• Hot issues are open space management/development and ridding of, fiscal conservatism, and downtown development.
• make sure to study the issues and get out and vote! Our area will be directly affected by the decisions that the city council and mayoral candidates make. Early voting begins October 20th (beat the crowds), general election day is November 3rd. What vision do you want to see your open space and city take?

Wow!

There has been a great deal of maintenance and public works traffic in our neighborhoods over the past few weeks. A lot of progress has been made towards improving trails, park and open space areas, and maintenance items addressed. All that Highland City can do at this time should be completed within the next 3 weeks. Our city has really put forth a great deal of effort to getting things done. Make sure to stop by and tell them thank you! If you don't get the chance to personally say "thanks", you can always send an email to Jody@HighlandCity.org. She will make sure to forward those thank-you's to the right group of people involved in getting things done. Wow! Isn't it looking great!

City Council Elections

Just a reminder to get out and vote tomorrow, Tuesday, September 15th. City Council currently does not have anyone that resides in an open space development. This could be important to have good representation for issues that have and will continue to be addressed in regards to open space. Three candidates running for City Council reside in open space developments, Roger Dixon, Brent Wallace, and Tim Irwin. 2 of the 3 remaining candidates have big changes in mind for open space. If you would like to learn more about the candidates and what they have to say about open space as well as other city related issues, please visit the official city website at HighlandCity.ORG. Also, you can ask any of your friendly neighbors who have been working with open space about the candidates. If you need more information from what is posted, please send your request to the email address at the bottom of the page and additional information will be forwarded on to you. Thanks for getting involved! Together we can make a difference!

Planning for Park and Trees

We will be having a neighborhood meeting at the Vick's home on Wednesday, September 23rd starting at 6:30. Come share your ideas on a mini park and tree planting along 11800 North. This will be a great opportunity to give some input on what you would like to see the Planning Commission consider for recommendations to the City Council on a park in our neighborhood as they take on the task of park prioritization. Also, this will be a fun opportunity to learn about some beautiful trees that we get to plant around the entrances to our neighborhoods. Come give your ideas and input on beautifying our neighborhoods together! Please RSVP to the email you received if you plan to attend and, if you want, bring a treat to share. If there is a large number of people planning to attend, the location may change.

Remember, we do not have a park yet, just a playground. The city is in the planning process for future parks. This is just to give input on what you would like to see in the future when Highland can budget for it. The tree project, however, is a go! This will happen in April 2010!

Potential Ithica Park Layout

This image is a potential rendition of what the Ithica Park/Open Space could look like. Please refer to the Park and Playground post from September 2nd for more details. This is only a rendition of an open space vision. We are not getting pavilions at this time. We will need to continue to work with the Planning Commission and City Council to receive funding approval for park completion.

Progress!

A lot has happened since we presented our requests to the Highland City Council. Here is some of the progress:

• The Ithica Park/Open Space, has had all of the dead trees replaced, weeds taken down several times and sprayed with weed killer, it has been seeded several times, and is looking much better. It will take some time for this to develop a thick turf, but it is making progress.
• Patchy grass and sunken sod around drainage grates along 11800 north are being repaired at this time. Additional patchy grass areas and missing sod along Cyprus Drive will be addressed within the next few weeks.
• Surveyors have come out to evaluate the flooding and poor drainage in the detention area/Chamberry Park. This is a work in progress, but they are reviewing it at this time.
• Leveling of open space just south of the power station has been seeded and the turf is starting to come in nicely.
• A number of dead trees have been removed and trees will be planted along 11800 North. This will happen in the spring through volunteer efforts and with help from the city to balance out the north and south sides of the road and to beautify the entrances to our neighborhoods.
• The sidewalk along Cyprus Drive at the edge of Argo Circle Park should be completed within the next few weeks and crosswalks added for school children crossing Cyprus Drive.
• More curb cuts and trails/incomplete trails will be completed to connect the trails throughoug the neighborhoods.
• A number of small maintenance issues have been addressed and have been completed or are in the process for completion.

Some projects that are still being evaluated and will require some more work are:

• The Highland Hills entrance sign letters on Athena Drive
• Natural vegetation/wild flowers along Highland Hills Trail (Jupiter-Athena trail)
• Potential park and/or park amenities
• Future trail and undeveloped open space completion

There has been some great progress made and a significant amount of time spent in trying to complete these projects by the city and the contracted property service company. Efforts will continue to be made to follow up with completion of these projects. If you would like to send your thanks to city employees for all of their efforts in this progress, you can send them to Jody@HighlandCity.org and she will forward them on to the proper people.

Park and Playground

The Planning Commission will take some time to review the information on Highland City park recommendations. There are pros and cons of developing Chamberry Park into a neighborhood park. After the Planning Commission makes its recommendations on land acquisition and park completion to the City Council, the City Council may or may not approve. Because of the current economic state, this could be a long process. While this process may be long, and we may or may not get an official park, we have been promised a playground. This is a decent sized playground and there are a few recommendations that the city suggested for placement. While Chamberry Park was originally designed to have a "tot lot" in the north-east corner, this has been discouraged by the city engineer. The chronic flooding in the detention area (Chamberry Park) would be difficult to work around when placing a playground. The two suggestions for placement were the Ithica Open Space or Argo Circle Park. Replacing Argo Circle Park's playground does not mean that we would be able to keep the small playground that is currently there. It would also be costly to remove this and add the new larger one. Because we do not want to lose the smaller tot playground, and for cost effectiveness, Ithica Open Space made the most sense. In the hope that a park can be completed some day, the most ideal location for the playground placement is in the center. This would allow for the playground to be central to possible future park amenities. The city is currently analyzing this location and it is anticipated that it will be in place by spring. This was unexpected and exciting news! Please make sure to send your thanks to Highland City for their gracious offer of this playground. Any thank you's can be sent to Jody@HighlandCity.org . She can then send them on to the appropriate people.

Getting Involved and Being an Informed Voter

As many of you are aware, elections for 2 Highland City Council positions and Highland City Mayor will be held on November 3, 2009. Early voting begins September 3, 2009, and the primary election will be held on September 15, 2009 for City Council only. This can be a very important election for our neighborhood as to how the Open Space Development agendas and parks are addressed. Many of the candidates are aware of the issues and concerns with Open Space Developments, and each has their own ideas for addressing these issues. Find out for yourselves and become informed. Make your vote count.

A "Meet the Candidates Night" will be held at Highland City Hall Thursday, September 3rd at 7:00 p.m. This will be sponsored by the Highland Elementary PTA. If you want to submit questions for the City Council Q & A debate portion of the evening, please email gina@highlandcity.org and she will add them to the list. If you cannot make this night to hear from the City Council candidates, you can contact Gina with Highland City and she can get you a recording on disk for review. The mayoral candidate debate will be held on October 22nd.

Two of the Planning Commission members are currently running for City Council positions. Brent Wallace, Vice Chairman, and Roger Dixon, Commissioner, have both been actively involved in addressing Highland Hills and Chamberry Fields Open Space and parks concerns. They both live in Open Space Developments. Brent has been very actively involved for implementing some vital changes for his neighborhood. Roger has some great ideas about forming a neighborhood Architectural Committee.

Each of the candidates will be contacted specifically about their ideas for resolving Open Space concerns and parks and a brief summary by the candidate will be placed on the blog for your review. There are many other issues in the city at this time and know that Open Spaces and parks are only a few. We are not supporting any particular candidate, but we are encouraging you to get involved, ask questions, and make an informed decision on your vote.

Parks and the Planning Commission

Last night, Tuesday, August 24th, the Highland City Planning Commission was given charge to review the city park construction priorities. This was identified because this is a good time for construction and land acquisition. However, the city has very limited funds at this time, so park prioritization is in order. There were several parks identified, Chamberry Park (Athena Park water retention basin) being one on the prioritization list for review. For a full listing of the parks to be reviewed, you can download the Planning Commission agenda for August 25th, and they are identified from page 61 to 65. Page 62 gives a list of parks and their corresponding numbers are listed on the maps to follow.

While this was not open for public hearing, Argo Circle Park and Chamberry Park were well known by the Planning Commission. This was because of your great emails to the Planning Commission members, as well as the pictures, petition, power point presentations, and personal grounds tours by some of the Planning Commission members. Because of the extent of review that is required for prioritizing parks, the Planning Commission has requested more time to review the information, acquire cost projections, review neighborhood demographics (i.e. number of kids in the neighborhood), and tour all sites for future parks. This will be addressed again at future Planning Commission meetings and will be a long process towards park completion.

With Argo Circle Park being considered a Mini Park, the city considers this as completed. We are currently in the process of trying to work with the city to bring trails to the playground and possibly install benches. This may be a difficult process, but we will keep working on it.

Chamberry Park (Athena water retention area) is listed on the Highland City's Existing and Future Parks map as a neighborhood park. We are working with the Planning Commission on bringing this open flooded area (water retention basin) to meet Highland City's Development Code specified guidelines for a neighborhood park.

Keep working on sending those great emails. The Highland City Council and Highland City Planning Commission's email addresses can be found on the city's website at http://highlandcity.org/. You can then follow the link on the left for city government elected and appointed officials.

Trees for 11800 North

The Highland City Tree Commission has received approval from the city forester to move forward with planting trees along the north side of 11800 North and entry streets to the Highland Hills development. This planting project will occur on Arbor Day 2010, the last Saturday in April. The Tree Commission is currently writing to obtain grant money to fund this project to be added to a small budget the commission has to work with. This money, along with multiple volunteers, Eagle Scout candidate, and city public works employees, will help to carry out this project. If you would like to participate in planning the layout of the trees, plan to attend a neighborhood tree planting planning meeting within the next month. Meeting details will be coming soon. During this meeting we will plan the design/layout of the trees, select trees, review how the tree commission planting projects are carried out, as well as update you on additional progress we are seeing with our open space improvements. This should be a fun and educational meeting and give our neighborhoods an opportunity to work together on beautifying our area.

Looking for Suggestions

A list is being gathered on all maintenance, landscaping, and development issues to take to the city in the next few weeks. Detailed information is needed on any areas of concern so that each item can be addressed individually and a course of action identified. If you have specifics, or something you would like to see done, please forward your suggestions to the email posted at the bottom of the page. These items will be compiled on a spreadsheet and we will look at ways to resolve them. Resolution to individual issues will be reviewed with the city. However, as a neighborhood we can resolve some of these issues together through a service project, an Eagle Scout project, Young Women's project, and neighborhood involvement. With this being open space, we will need so seek city approval before proceeding on any projects. Have fun, be creative, and enjoy the opportunity to improve our open spaces together!

Getting Started

Our petition was presented to the Highland City Council Tuesday, August 4th, and we had a good turnout representing residents from the Chamberry Fields and Highland Hills developments. Issues requiring immediate attention addressed in the petition included:

• Ithica Dr. Park near completion then "let go" with dying trees, no grass, and lots of weeds
• Poor maintenance of island to Chamberry development
• Missing sod on parkstrips entering open space trails
• Dying grass entering park just east of Ithica
• Poorly maintained grass along trails, primarily Westfield Road trails
• Weed field at entrance of Highland Hills extending to Athena Park
• Chronic flooding in Athena Drive Park
• Incomplete resolution of flooding north of Athena Drive Park
• Missing letters on Highland Hills development entrance sign
• Dead and dying trees throughout the development

Issues to be addressed in the future included:

• Open space park on north-west corner of Lausanne and Ithica, open space trails throughout Chamberry Fields development, and any other un-landscaped areas not yet prepared
• Lack of deciduous and/or evergreen trees and shrubs along Westfield Road entrances to the Highland Hills development
• Lack of trail or sidewalk in Argo Circle park for school children and access to playground

From this point the mayor, city council, and planning commission will take a few weeks to review the information. We are requesting that our developments open spaces be placed on the city council agenda within 6 weeks. Currently the planning commission has all of the information presented to the city council and will be reviewing it also. We are hoping to be on their next meeting agenda. In addition to this, we are requesting meetings with the mayor and city administrator where we hope to review the information, establish an action plan, and set up some work sessions and/or neighborhood meetings.

The Highland City Council meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month. The Highland City Planning Commission meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Meeting agendas, council members, and commission members contact information can be found at the Highland City website: http://www.highlandcity.org/.

We hope to utilize this blog to keep everyone informed of the progress that is occuring in regard to our petition and open space development improvements.