HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992 - 1995 - Hardee Park Tree Planting.-.
September 22, 1992
Mayor Lonnie Powell
City of Sebastian
City Hall
1225 Main Street
Sebastian, FL 32958
RE: DESTRUCTION OF LAKE HARDEE PARK
Dear Mayor Powell:
The City of Sebastian recently told residents they were going to make use of a grant in order to
plant trees and enhance the park. What they did not tell us was their plan to destroy the habitat
of the park and lake in order to "enhance" the park.
This park was home to a multitude of rabbits, so tame and trusting of their human friends that
you could almost touch them as you walked along the trail. Almost all of the underbrush, where
the rabbits lived, has now been destroyed.
In addition to the rabbits, a multitude of birds nested in this thick underbrush. I had observed
red birds, a pair of red headed woodpeckers, and other small birds.
The City, however, did not stop with the underbrush. They went into the lake and cut the tall
aquatic grasses, I had observed a family of otters who used to play among this grass, which no
longer exists. A Blue Heron and White Egret fished the grassy area regularly. In fact, the grass
was home to Bass, some quite large.
The lake is home to many turtles and fish who are dependent upon the oxygen in the lake. The
City has stripped the banks to the bare ground and the afternoon rains have now washed heavy
amounts of dirt into the lake. The other morning I witnessed a heavy film on the lake, a
combination of dirt and heavy algae bloom. I am concerned the next victims will be the fish and
turtles.
I would not have objected to some clearing to make the lake more visible for other residents to
enjoy. This could have been done in a manner which balanced the desires of the City of
Sebastian, while protecting the natural inhabitants of the park, who unfortunately cannot speak
for themselves.
-11
485 Ponoka Street
Sebastian, Florida
388-9764 Home
728-4447 Work
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decision on the base will be made
of
the
.0j,
.Id pack if eombinedWithian lndumtrlal jfatk,, eould1
mestead, 4atintulate the Hofsibmtefid ecorltlal ,�, x w
erred to ; ` Everyone
sympathizes with Duty r tate'a hurtli
afore the ' vlctlntm; blit We are not alone hi taehig economic
rmanent, justment,to it leaner military dstabllshmeut:
with an federal government should h6t Waste the taxpal
de's jobs money on pointless eonbtrootibn when the Penta
is disposing o[ exooss real estate across the baud
sAboutt�ee
3111Clin toeliminate, the quadrennial pitfils" wrang
J.S. else- that surrounds debates. The panel Was eetabW
hen, was in 1987 with tha.backing of both parties: its co.br
his week _men are Frank Fahrenkopt, foi•nier head of the
publican "National • Committee,`•and 'Paul I!
the care- .former head of'Ahe Democratic National Com
i artisan tee. ..
broader Under the commission's plan, the candid
ur years Would appear in a setting close to a true debate.
r advan-_ encounter would be conducted by a mingle shod
WhAt'the city did hot tell us Was `
` Ito plan to destroy the habitat of
!`'the park'and take to "enhObe".;.
;.the park
'Thim pAf *M home td aintUK144
de of rabbits, mo tame and trust: •
Ing of their. human friends that;
YOU
6oulfl BtmoAt toU6h th'edt ae'
you walked Along the trail A1- i
�.mbet'All of the underbfumh where
the rabbits lived hag h0i✓ bden de -
birds
lah'."I
iifit "?The: city,'";'
howeobrii- did
MO. -
The not btap With
the ' : under_
'rms,apprvacn:wou,u vvervumnsuing ua Luc us o..-.
ror three; backs of i•eoanf pfealdential debates. Those were !Aqudtic
ec-prebi= _more like complicated dual prose conferlinces h6Id greases. i bbs6t�led d iafhiiy of bt%,:
ted, con* before a panel of journalists who consumed much of'.; term Who Used to play amodg'.tbib
its more, the allotted time and often Jumped from one pre:' grass, which no' longer"exists. A')
`t' his pared question to the next without'Eollowitlg up.ad- blue heron and White egrdt flahed'
ebate equately on previous answers: This Jormat also the grassy area regularlyAi1 fact,,.
ce recon- would better provide for unadorded; face4c4ade ex- the grass wa9,hometo b"s,bome.
:ernattve char es, vin v6term a unique . rhmI to 02i"quite
uite lar a •r';;
could be g gi g 9 bpf>b ty 9 g
:he Bush -up the two candidates and their competing ideas; The lake is home to mI tur
yle cam, s .In the past 80 years, debates haV6 become A staple ties and fish whb arm dependent
more in= of U.S. presidential campaigns. More than any other on the oxygen in.the lake. Tho bity,:
Id issue 'forum, they help;define the'emeehbe of 'the' eholee 'ham titripped the banks to the bare
than to faded by voters: ground and the afterhoon 1 rains
• As the •trailing contender,' the prebident d&ld have how washed heavyatnounte,
viaed by make good use of debates to get his message across, of dirt into the lake. on Wednes-.
mel[: But to voters. That's why'it would serve his tntereata,''am
ihould be well as Clinton's, to come to terms on a format. If `day,' I witnessed A heavy: film'on
the candidates fall to:do so, the real loser Will be the the lake, a combleatton' 6f dirt..,
precisely democratic process and heavy algae blobrCI ft eon;
cerned the next vfctti bWill be
/� %� �y the fish and turtles A ""
L BO.oks EXary%'�er. t d I would not to m lts th e
1r! 1.l some clearingvisible
to make the
'•' < VVV V ' ) a• :. more visible Eor other "amidst
'No. Burned? No The, Norma Hlsit,, for ,constant "clef'"enjoy. This. could havo been
Board directed .that "The epee to the act act." After e6nsid• in a manner, that balaflbed-th
Summer" be moved from oration by a review .Committee,'' afreb of the city, while pr6te
i grade to the sixth grade: the book was inoved from : the the natural Inhabitants _ of
`AW, this was a victory for . middle school library to the high park, who "llfifortunately; bt
ces of darkness and a de• school library: speak forthemadIves r s;t
the forces of light. It was The yahoos woh ih a Minneapo - Bonnie Smet2eY X a.'
the 144 Instances of re= :Its suburb, when a parent objected Sebastian
"or restriction" of reading. 'to "Just .as Long 'Am We're To;
al. In Palm Bay, -the par- gether" by Judy Blume. In the Apathy. o 13100
` a child. in elementary . novel, a girl calls 6 boy "the blabs h
�bjebtedtoabookthatcon- --hole." A AvVleW-'�committee in RaWng,.7axes
"illustrations of condom found the book "more appropriate
'he book was moved to a. to junior high/middle school age
of the library in which students, and recommended that
nay be checked out by par- the book be shifted from the al-
io wish their children to. ementary school to'the'thiddle'
,em. Another win for the school. "where it relhainb on the
shelf.,,
Many of the " Attlibks"'reported.
by PFAW are .platnly 96ofy. In
one Instance, a parent regadded a
�l deep -breathing eketeise fn phybi-
to
The two evontngs allettod tb thea
public tri 8xprebm.thefr:views reg':
lating tb Indian ItiV6r: County'b,.
fiscal 1998' budget Ar'6 bver',and
the pbople' havo' bpokon. That is;':
the people. the voters haVe eledted'
to office, have spoken, slid With,
closed ears have once sgaid In,'
ere our taxes. Why not? only
my wife and I, in adds loft to a'
` t Hkfy,'.the `64fe'Ahd"i et
"tended A plague presentation of E
the Murphy Brown award for
9ingle mothers. The recipient, a
'Ms. Hubbard, is attending
classes to polish her skills in
family planning.. She confessed
that this was.hard to do while I
raising a family of four. Fortu- t
hately, her boyfriend, who is un- c
employed,, is helpfng net. c
--on the way homd,the Wife and. I
Y stopped In at Goodybtu•ger for t
a snack. A man and his wife and
t*o children were ordering be. s
fore us: They were ordering four
Supreme tfoodybutger Specials. 1
His wife told him, one without
onions and pickle, one without, c
ketchup and one with lots of 1
mustard. After some discussion, 1
two small friea. one medium and f
one large, Were ordered. Finally; 1
the drinks were ordered, consls-
ting of Coke, diet Coke, coffee I
ah4.thdt was Small, medium and,; I
large;`>wltfi of Without cream,-)
l
sugar orEquat. - , ' I
I noticed at this point the than
was acting bddly and he started
twitching. Then, when he was I
asked whether the order was for
here or to. go, he uttered a loud
scream,"Dectsione!Decisions!" +
He then' leaped over the coun- 1
ter and belied the startled clerk . I
-by the throat. When the police I
and ambulance came, he was -
..cufled In a fetal position crying.
On the way home, thy wife, '
Who sometimes makes odd re-
marks, said; "Well at least in In-
dian RiVer County we don't have
to make decisions on voting. We
always have conservative Re- +
publicans who will always save 1
us money no matter who is
elected." +
Arthur L. Bailey ]
Vero Beach '
.Re -Run Election
As Non -Partisan' ;
With reference to the letter I
litibllahed. Sept. 18 from John E.
Sullivan regarding the denial of
Voting rights because of party
Affiliation, I heartily agree.
I felt completely stripped of
my rights in not being able to
have a final say in who Was
eledted to any seats needing to
be filled simply because there
was he Detnocratie opposition.
These seats should have been
non-partisan or only filled dur.
Ing'the genoral election when
any registered voter could vote
for them.:
Not being particularly savvy
in politics, I decided this year to
make it a point to be well- -
- eu[can gdod gmden C&
Sebastian. gbuda -
x October 8, 1992
Hon. Mayor Lonnie Powe Z l
Sebastian City Hall At L2 O
1225 Main Street �d
Sebastian, Florida 32958 -�
Dear Mayor Powell:
Members of the Pelican Island Camden Club are writing to you about the
tree planting program at Hardee Park. We have been watching with great
interest the removal and planting of trees there.
Two years ago, the members had a very modest tree planting program of
our own there, using our own monies, and planting memorial trees. it
is therefore, with pride, that we can say that a number of them have
survived thus far. Soil in the park, where our project was held, Left
much to be desired, as it was hardpan, taken from Lake Hardee many years
ago. For a tree to survive, it meant many hours of hauling water from
the Lake by buckets, and watering the trees several times a week by some
of the members.
We were dismayed to see the beautiful, native wax myrtles removed. We
feel the queen palms, an exotic, to be a poor choice for our city. Some
of our members,.including the writer, planted these trees in our own yards,
and lost them to the freezes several years ago.
Therefore, may we suggest that you consider replanting the borders of the
Lake with the native wax myrtles? They make•excelZent cover for the birds
and animals of the park, they are hardy, and with some ,judicious trimming
make beautiful trees.
We are always pleased when our City is able to add trees to our area, and
hope that one day in the near future, we might become known as a "Tree
City".
Our best wishes,
Sincerely,
-- An
o
Bettie Bock, President
Pelican Island Carden Club of Sebastian
a.
Renee A. Cointevo=
Civic Beautification Chairman
City of Sebastian
1225 MAIN STREET 13 SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 32958
TELEPHONE (407) 589-5330 o FAX (407) 589-5570
M E M O R A N D U M
TO: BRUCE COOPER
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
FROM: DAN ECKIS(p
CITY ENGINEER/PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
DATE: DECEMBER 7TH, 1993
REFERENCE: HARDEE PARK TREES IN HOUSE SERVICES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As of September 23, 1992, I have been tracking the man hours
spent by Public Works to water the trees at Hardee Park. At the
time of this memo the Public Works personnel have spent 528 hours
and we have contracted 57 hours to Fischer and Sons to water the
trees. Using a rental rate of $35.00 per hour for the use of a
water truck with an operator it would indicate that the City has
provided $20,475. for in kind services for the above referenced
project.
Please note that this does not include additional services
provided by other vendors for fertilizing and tree trimming or
miscellaneous services that were carried out by your department.
Hopefully this will suffice to your satisfaction.
I
J
City of Sebastian
1225 MAIN STREET o SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 32958
TELEPHONE (407) 589-5330 o FAX (407) 589-5570
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: April 5, 1994
TO: Joel L. Koford,
City Manager nn
FROM: Kay O'Halloran,•
City Clerk
SUBJECT: Hardee Park Trees/Condition
Now that we are enjoying daylight savings time more working
people are walking Hardee Park in the evenings.
It has come to my attention that two large oaks have been on the
ground for approximately six months and the oak tree seedlings
are sprouting bushes as opposed to being trimmed.
I have just returned from a cursory walk around Hardee Park and
have observed dead trees that are tagged; however, in the interim,
a few more trees have met their demise and should be tagged.
Please see the attached memo from Engineering/Public Works to
Community Development . It is my understanding these two
departments were (or are) working together and the successful
bidder was to replace the trees. I do not know, at this time, the
status of the replacement of the trees in the park.
I appreciate your attention to a matter that may seem mundane to
some.
KO:js
attachment
I
FM
CFA
SBA
Floi iala Depaa•tinent of Arria•ulture & Consunxea• See-viee5
13013 CRAWFORD, Coonnissiunea-
May 5, 1995
Mr. Dan Eckis
City Engineer
City of Sebastian
P.O. Box 780127
Sebastian, FL 32978-0127
Dear Mr. Eckis:
P6.41 :r Respond To:
Division of Forestry
3125 Conner Boulevard
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1650
It is our hope that the 1991 Small Business Administration
Tree Planting grant award of $20,000.00 and your up front match of
$7,978.85 has enhanced the beauty and environmental quality of your
community. Two years have passed since your March 18, 1993
Certification of Compliance for SBA #55. To comply with your legal
agreement between the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
and the City of Sebastian, your annual project status report must
be submitted to our office as soon as possible. At this point, the
second annual report is overdue and your timely response will be
appreciated.
We are interested in the continued success of your tree
planting project, so if there are any questions, I can be reached
at (904) 488-6358.
Sincerely,
BOB CRAWFORD
COMMIS ONE OF AGRI LTORE
J64nn Phillips
Forestry Programs Administrator
Division of Forestry
THE CAPITOL • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0800
City of Sebastian
1225 MAIN STREET ii SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 32958
TELEPHONE (407) 589-5330 0 FAX (407) 589-5570
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: May 16, 1995
TO: Bruce Cooper, Community Development Director
FROM: Richard Votapka, Public Works Director /oft/
SUBJECT: Letter from Joann Phillips, Florida Dept. of Forestry
in Reference to Hardee Park
I recently received the attached letter from Joann Phillips,
Forestry Programs Administrator, Division of Forestry, concerning
the submittal of the Certification of Compliance for SBA #55. Linda
Kinchen informed me that the letter pertains to the "Tree Planting
Grant Award" for Hardee Park and that you are handling this matter.
Therefore, I am sending you the letter so you can respond
accordingly to Joann Phillips.
hardee