Published: Thursday, May 29, 2014, 12:46a.m. Updated 6 hours ago

As expected, the Buffalo Township Planning Commission and its supervisors on Wednesday gave Freeport Area School District's $33.1 million middle school building project the green light.

Anticipating the township's approval, the Freeport Area School Board awarded $27.6 million in contracts for the project Wednesday.

Massaro Construction was given the general construction contract.

The school is being built behind the Freeport Area High School off South Pike Road (Route 356) in Buffalo Township. It will house about 500 students in grades 6 to 8.

Groundbreaking is expected in mid-June, and the district hopes to open the school in fall 2015.

Project architect HHSDR Architects Engineers and its contractors have been working with Buffalo Township's planning commission and engineer since December in an effort to resolve stormwater plan deficiencies and correct numerous items that did not meet township ordinances.

They met our ordinances; that's all we wanted them to do from the beginning, said planning commission chairwoman Regan Cordier.

Issues that had been sticking points for months were resolved in a few weeks after the planning commission on May 7 delayed forwarding a decision onto supervisors mainly due to problems with the site's stormwater management plan.

Someone must have had an epiphany to get everything done, said Supervisor John Haven.

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Freeport Area approves middle school contracts after OK from Buffalo Township

hide captionThe WarkaWater gathers water from fog and condensation. Named after an Ethiopian fig tree, it consists of a 30-foot bamboo frame and a nylon net. It was invented by an Italian firm and three of them are shown here in an Ethiopian village.

The WarkaWater gathers water from fog and condensation. Named after an Ethiopian fig tree, it consists of a 30-foot bamboo frame and a nylon net. It was invented by an Italian firm and three of them are shown here in an Ethiopian village.

When Italian designer Arturo Vittori and Swiss architect Andreas Vogler first visited Ethiopia in 2012, they were shocked to see women and children forced to walk miles for water.

Only 34 percent of Ethiopians have access to a reliable water supply. Some travel up to six hours a day to fetch some or, worse, resorts to using stagnant ponds contaminated by human waste, resulting in the spread of disease.

Worldwide, a whopping 768 million people two and a half times the U.S. population don't have access to safe drinking water. So just imagine if we could just pull water out of thin air?

That's what Vittori and Vogler asked once they saw the magnitude of problem and vowed to take action. Their firm, Architecture and Vision, has since come up with WarkaWater, a majestic palm-like structure that may look like something you'd see in a modern art museum but it's been designed to harvest water from the air.

WarkaWater, which is named after an Ethiopian fig tree, is composed of a 30-foot bamboo frame containing a fog-harvesting nylon net that can be easily lowered for repairs and to allow communities to measure the water level.

Collecting water through condensation is hardly a new technique, but the creators of WarkaWater say their tree-inspired design is more effective, maximizing surface and optimizing every angle to produce up to 26 gallons of drinkable water a day enough for a family of seven.

Many Failed Attempts By Aid Groups

Western organizations have been working to provide clean water access in Africa for decades, so WarkaWater joins a very long list of earlier attempts. So far, high-tech solutions, like the once-promising Playpump (a hybrid merry-go-round water pump), have failed, mostly due to high costs and maintenance issues.

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A Simple, Elegant Invention That Draws Water From Air

The Lake Winnipeg Basin Stewardship Fund provides financial and technical support on projects or activities having concrete, demonstrable results to reduce pollutants, and in particular, nutrient loads entering Lake Winnipeg. Round 7 projects, detailed below, represent the most recent projects to receive approval for funding.

Environment Canada administers the Fund with support from a Technical Review committee and a Public Advisory Committee.

Project Name: Bow River Phosphorus Management Plan Implementation: Floating Island Pilot Project Project Recipient: Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Environment Canada Contribution: $100,000 Description: The Bow River Phosphorus Management Plan (BRPMP) seeks to reduce phosphorus per capita from mechanical wastewater treatment plants and lagoons. This project will support the installation and testing of the BioHaven Floating Treatment Wetland in pilot lagoons within the watershed. If expected results are achieved, levels of phosphorus in wastewater effluent being discharged to the Bow River will be greatly reduced.

Project Name: Riparian Health Improvements Through Grazing Management Improvements Project Recipient: Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society) Environment Canada Contribution: $78,900 Description: This project aims to improve the grazing management practices of cattle producers in the Oldman River and Battle River watersheds. The project is a mix of educational and stewardship activities, designed to increase knowledge, while developing detailed grazing management plans and implementation strategies. Riparian health assessments will be used to identify issues and determine the solutions required. The installation of exclusion fencing, alternative watering systems and the planting of native trees and shrubs are among the Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) to be implemented.

Project Name: Moose Jaw River Integrated Excessive Water Management Plan Project Recipient: Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards Inc. Environment Canada Contribution: $45,000 Description: This project will implement beneficial management practices (BMPs) such as buffer strips, alternative water systems and livestock exclusion fencing. Six projects will be showcased through stakeholder meetings and newsletters as examples for local producers. Hydrology reports will be developed for approximately five sub watersheds and consultations with stakeholders will be conducted in order to develop an Excessive Water Management Plan for the Moose Jaw River watershed.

Project Name: Promotion of Buffer Strips and Riparian Area Health Assessments for Agricultural Land within the Carrot River Watershed Area Project Recipient: Carrot River Valley Watershed Association Environment Canada Contribution: $4,000 Description: This project will deliver riparian area awareness workshops and educational materials to the residents of the Carrot River Watershed. Riparian Health Assessments will be utilized to identify areas that are stressed and determine solutions for problem areas within the watershed. Newsletters, brochures and workshops will be used to highlight the importance of riparian area health, riparian area health assessments and the usage of buffer strips.

Project Name: Turtle Mountain Conservation District Ecological Goods and Services Program Phase 1 Project Recipient: Turtle Mountain Conservation District Environment Canada Contribution: $41,000 Description: Phase 1 of the Ecological Goods and Services Program will create an inventory of drains, wetlands (Class 2-5), and water storage areas that are present within the Elgin Creek-Whitewater Lake sub-watershed. A series of workshops will be held to assist with information gathering and to promote the Ecological Goods and Services Program concept. The information gathered in Phase 1 will be analyzed to determine the feasibility of moving forward with the Ecological Goods and Services program.

Project Name: Cattle and Creeks: Local Solutions Toward Basin Results Project Recipient: Upper Assiniboine River Conservation District Environment Canada Contribution: $25,000 Description: The primary objective of this project is to restrict the access of livestock along the tributaries of the Assiniboine River and as a result protect stream banks and improve water quality. Key elements of this project include the installation of riparian fencing and alternate watering systems, as well as the development of pasture management plans. Pre and post assessments of each project site will be completed and implementation plans will be developed to monitor progress.

Project Name: Reducing and Utilizing Nutrients in Tobacco Creek Model Watershed Project Recipient: Deerwood Soil and Water Management Association Environment Canada Contribution: $90,000 Description: This project will construct and evaluate a consolidated network of water retention structures throughout the Tobacco Creek Model Watershed. The structures will create, preserve and conserve a minimum of 30 acres of wetlands and are designed to retain nutrients and limit spring runoff to reduce downstream flooding. Modified and existing designs of small dams, retention ponds, wetlands and ditches will be evaluated for flood control, nutrient remediation and farmer acceptance.

Project Name: South Central Eco Institute Project Recipient: South Central Eco Institute Environment Canada Contribution: $27,000 Description: The South Central Eco Institute (SCEI) is a data collection program that provides students with the opportunity to work with Conservation District partners in the research and monitoring of a variety of phosphorus reduction and overall watershed improvement projects. SCEI represents a network of partnerships between the academic community, community development representatives, conservation districts and eco-environmental agencies. Each Spring and Fall, students and staff are provided with the training and equipment necessary to collect water quality data.

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The Lake Winnipeg Basin Stewardship Fund

TACOMA, Wash. Ever since Mount St. Helens' cataclysmic eruption 34 years ago this month, scientists have been tracking the volcano's explosive energy to better understand how Washington's most active volcano works.

This summer, the scientists will be the ones setting off the explosions.

Using techniques developed by the oil industry, researchers are preparing to set off explosive charges buried in two dozen 80-foot-deep wells drilled around the mountain. They'll record the seismic energy of the explosions on thousands of portable seismometers placed by an army of volunteers traveling by car, on foot and on horseback.

Their goal is to see with greater clarity the details of how molten rock, or magma, makes its way to St. Helens' crater from the area where tectonic plates collide and the magma is created, some 60 miles beneath the surface.

"We've been looking at what's beneath the volcano through very fuzzy glasses," said Seth Moran, a seismicity expert with the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington. "This still won't give us anything like 20/20 vision, but it should make things quite a bit clearer."

The explosive experiments, or "active imaging events," scheduled for this summer are one part of a battery of multidisciplinary imaging experiments collectively called iMUSH for "Imaging Magma Under St. Helens." Together, they constitute what researchers say is the one of the most complete and ambitious series of imaging experiments ever conducted on any volcano in the world.

The $3 million project, funded mostly by the National Science Foundation, is headed by Kenneth Creager, a University of Washington professor of earth and space sciences.

The explosive research, which will use about $1 million of the total, is being conducted by a research team from Rice University, headed by earth science professor Alan Levander.

Along with UW, Rice and the USGS, participants include teams of researchers at Oregon State University in Corvallis, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York and Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule of Zurich.

In addition to the explosive testing, specialists in other disciplines are preparing for experiments using enhanced receptors for naturally occurring seismic activity. They'll also examine the magnetic and electrical properties of rock deep beneath the volcano, which scientists say is a useful guide to identifying magma.

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Looking beneath Mount St. Helens

By BRAD RICH

Tideland News Writer

After months of discussion and behind-the-scenes activity, there was finally a visible sign of things to come last week at the troubled drainage ponds in front of Cape Carteret Baptist and Presbyterian churches.

Dr. Lexia Weaver, coastal scientist for the N.C. Coastal Federation in nearby Ocean, said surveyors were out in a canoe, taking depth and other measurements necessary to develop the cleanup plan.

The goal, Weaver said Thursday, is to have two or three possible design concepts ready for consideration by the two churches by the end of May. Once a plan has been chosen, work can begin to return the ponds to their wetlands function as storm water retention and filtration areas.

A conservation easement allows the churches to install benches, walkways, bridges, plantings and other amenities that would make the pond areas suitable for worship and other passive uses, but still maintain the former pond sites as natural areas capable of handling the significant storm water runoff from the properties and other hardened surfaces, such as adjacent N.C. 24.

Longstanding problems with the ponds were exacerbated in November 2012 when a water control structure failed and the water drained into Deer Creek. Cape Carteret officials contacted the federation to see what could be done, and the organization suggested that the ponds be turned into wetlands.

The state Division of Water Quality had surveyed the larger pond but said it would not take responsibility to help restore it. The state DOT also declined to help, despite having four pipes that bring water into the pond from N.C. 24. The Army Corps of Engineers said that the pond predated its permitting process, but if the Corps become involved in fixing the pond, a permit would be needed before any work is done.

At one point, all involved envisioned seeking a 60-40 percent state grant, meaning the two churches would each have to supply 20 percent of the project bill. The town agreed to act as a fiscal agent for the grant, but would assume no fiscal responsibility or liability for the project itself; the churches costs were expected to be $20,000 to $25,000 each, and a total cost of $200,000 or so was envisioned.

That was a viable solution, but because of the high cost to the churches, was not optimum. And even that fell through when the federation learned that the project no longer qualified for the federal Environmental Protection Agency grant.

Link:
Cape Carteret pond work underway

Ruidoso engineer John Shaw sits on the rail that blocks the entrance to the Mescalero Lake dam, which he helped build in the early 1970s, as a centerpiece for a new tourism complex being created by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. (Dianne Stallings Ruidoso News)

Newcomers to the Ruidoso area often hear the story of a fearless Wendell Chino, who led the Mescalero Apache Tribe for more than 40 years until his death in 1998, and how he defied federal and state officials to create Mescalero Lake.

Local engineer John Shaw, who directed construction on part of the dam that formed the lake, said while Chino certainly possessed enough drive and ambition for his tribe to go head-to-head with government officials, the project was federally funded and routinely inspected as it went up in the valley off Carrizo Creek. Besides his memories and a still-clear grasp of details true to his engineering training, Shaw also possesses a publication distributed by the tribe that he secured when he arrived in 1972, touting a new tourism complex. The booklet opens with a photograph of Chino, who appears to be in his early 50s.

"He was quite a gentleman," Shaw said. "I worked with him and built two of the parking lots at the old Inn."

A section of the booklet states that the tribe was in the process of developing one of the finest tourism complexes in the United States to be called the Cienegita Resort Hotel, named after a stream that runs through the area. Cienegita means "marshy place" in Spanish.

"This multi-million tourism triad will consist of the largest ski area in the Arizona-New Mexico southwest, a resort hotel beside an 18-hole golf course and 100 surface acre lake, and a dude ranch and hunting lodge," the booklet states. "This complex will provide the terminal tourist from the Midwest, a year-round variety of activities centering around the best facilities available."

The resort had been on the tribal planning boards since 1962. Numerous studies were completed and seven small dams to protect the large dam were completed, along with core drilling and geohydrological investigations, according to the publication.

"The resort, golf course and large dam will be under construction in the very near future," it said, adding that the dude ranch was to be named the Rinconada Dude Ranch and Hunting Lodge for bird and big game in a 10,000-acre game preserve. The total tourism complex would occupy more than 30,000 acres of virgin land and scenery. Ruidoso's population was listed as 4,000.

Shaw said he worked for the Arkansas Highway Department almost 10 years during summer, college and later after graduation from the University of Arkansas, overseeing construction of Interstates 30 and 40 in central Arkansas. He then was hired by Dick Rowand, owner of a new company, who wanted him to be his engineer in the Little Rock area, overseeing five or six projects.

"One Thursday he said he wanted me to go to New Mexico with him that next Monday," Shaw said. Being single at the time in 1972, abrupt trips were no problem,

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Engineer recalls building Mescalero Lake Dam

Homeowners enjoy being near ponds and streams, but having those bodies of water near residences sometimes comes at a terrible price.

Early last week, a 9-month-old girl drowned after her stroller somehow rolled into a retention pond at a West Chester Twp. subdivision. Now many area residents are wondering who is responsible for incidents that occur in such bodies of water and why subdivisions need such structures in the first place.

In a June 2001 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court of Ohio ruled owners were responsible for injuries to trespassing children in cases where the the injury was caused by an artificial condition on the property.

A swimming pool is the most common example of an artificial condition that could lead to injury, according to the Ohio State Bar Association.

A landowner is not automatically responsible for injuries to trespassing children, but can be found liable by a judge or jury if the harmed party can provide six separate conditions, according to the association.

Ohio courts would likely look at a pond in a different light, said Anthony Castelli, an area attorney who focuses his practice on personal injury cases.

Lets say people are fishing in a pond, theyre not going to make everybody fence their pond, Castelli said. Its an open and obvious condition thats not an unreasonable risk because everybody knows that water can create a problem.

For a factor to be attractive nuisance cases, it must first entice a child onto the property. Retention ponds dont fit that description, he said.

The general consensus regarding such bodies of water is that young children should be tended to by their parents and that older children should already appreciate the danger involved, Castelli said.

In the situation that (occurred last week), the child wasnt enticed, so its not an attractive nuisance, he said. If I was going to try to go after anybody, I would find out, number one, how did the people in charge of this baby carriage lose control or could you find that whoever built that (retention pond) built in negligently.

Originally posted here:
Retention ponds regulations limited in Butler County

Commack, New York (PRWEB) April 07, 2014

Blue Ribbon Pools, the premier provider of custom pool installation and service to the Suffolk and Nassau Communities, is advising Long Island pool owners to plan on having their pools inspected for residual damage due to the unseasonably harsh winter weather in the first months of 2014.

Every year, families across Long Island deal with the typical Northeast winter weather with thoughts of the coming summer and passing time in the family pool. Pool owners that have either in ground and above ground pools need to keep in mind that there might be damage occurring that could result in costly repairs if unaddressed. Pools that have been properly prepped for the winter will still have water in them as it is advised to partially drain pools to account for expansion due to freezing but also to prevent water from getting into the skimmer and pipes that make up the circulation system of the pool. Additionally, all pipes in the pools system should have been properly pressure cleaned to remove excess water.

Unfortunately, even these steps will not help when the temperatures dip as low as they have. As water freezes and expands, it could tear linings of above-ground pools. In-ground pools can experience issues not just by the freezing of the remaining water in the pool but also from ground water freezing and causing the foundation around the pool lining to distort. Underground pool tubing and pipes, like those used in in-ground sprinkler systems, can also be affected adversely and damaged when moisture present in the ground freezes and expands. For all of these reasons, homeowners with pools should schedule an inspection by a professional pool service company like Blue Ribbon Pools.

The team at Blue Ribbon Pools has the knowledge and expertise to look for damage and issues where homeowners might not know to look. Additionally, they have equipment that allows for inspection of pipes and hoses that are underground, able to identify issues that need to be addressed prior to opening the pool for summer. While there is no predicting that damage will definitely occur due to the extreme weather that Long Island is experiencing in the early months of 2014, having an inspection will confirm the pools' condition and allow for issues to be addressed before heavy use in summer months turn a minor issue into a costly, major issue for homeowners.

Blue Ribbon Pools is the premier customer pool design and installation company on Long Island. Along with new pool installations, Blue Ribbon Pools can also renovate existing pools, replace linings and install covers as well. For customers who want a custom pool for their backyard, Blue Ribbon can not only work to design and install pools but also custom water features to further enhance the overall installation. Among the water features that can be added are water falls, streams, ponds and sheer descents to name a few.

Learn more about pool openings and closings by reading information provided by Blue Ribbon Pools.

http://www.longislandpoolsltd.com/long-island-pool-covers.html

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Blue Ribbon Pools Offers Complimentary Estimates Because the Harsh Winter Weather Requires Structural Inspection of ...

It's officially spring. We're deep into pothole season, which, like other holiday seasons, seems to grow longer every year. This pothole season could be the longest yet. Potholes are out of control. The Chicago Department of Transportation said last month that pothole complaints have tripled in the past year; and since New Year's Day alone, the city has filled more than 350,000 potholes. And because, according to CDOT, which assumes there are at least five unreported potholes for each reported pothole, their conservative estimate of the number of potholes remaining is, well, about 60,000 potholes.

At the very, very least.

Now, take into account that Chicago has merely 30 pothole crews, only a few of the which work weekends, and the pothole epidemic stemming from the apocalyptic winter of 2013-2014 should be resolved ... um, uh ...

But wait: In Chicago, one man can make a difference. And that man is Jim Bachor, professional artist, stay-at-home dad and former corporate branding executive. He has an elegant solution. Not an efficient solution.

But it looks terrific, and is pretty near genius. (Are you listening, MacArthur Foundation?)

About a year ago, Bachor began filling potholes with a clever 16-by-24-inch mosaic, modeled on the design of the official Chicago flag but with the word "Pothole" through the center.

Think functional graffiti. Or cheeky public art.

The mosaic slides into a pothole, Bachor cements it in place. Boom, done: A "Pothole" where a pothole sat.

So far, he's filled only four potholes, in the Mayfair and Jefferson Park neighborhoods, not far from his home on the Northwest Side. He said he has loose plans to do several more in the next several months. But not every pothole in the city. Partly that's because he does this on this own, with his own money; each mosaic costs about $50 in marble and materials. But also, Bachor, who reinvented himself as an artist in 2012 after being laid off from his job as creative director at a Chicago advertising firm, sells ironic, pop-culture mosaics of cereal boxes and junk food for $2,000 a piece; and this summer, his sprawling, elaborate mosaic for the CTA's Thorndale station will be installed, his first public art commission. "So, the potholes are literally filler."

And yet, if the city of Chicago needed a tasteful way of addressing its pothole problem, if it needed an official Chicago pothole patch, it could do worse than Jim Bachor's slightly satirical, civic-minded "Pothole."

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Borrelli: Artist fills potholes, turns them into mosaics

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Whether you want eggs, meat, a friendly face, or a guardian animal, ducks and geese are a great choice if you want to think beyond chickens. These personable, active birds are a fantastic addition to the menagerie, and they come in a wide variety of breeds, too! Check out the Runner Duck (left), for example, with its adorable upright walking gait, or the gentle pied Twente Landrace goose from The Netherlands. Once your flock settles in and you get to know the individual personalities of your feathered friends, you'll never look at ducks and geese the same way.

Here's the great thing about ducks and geese: both are big foragers, and they love insects, slugs, snails, and other pests along with weeds. They'll happily root around to eliminate garden pests, providing a natural and free form of pest control -- and that means you don't need to feed them very much (if at all, depending on their range). They love weeds, and they're especially great at keeping ponds clear.

Plus, they both provide a source of protein and nutrient-rich eggs. Duck and goose eggs are larger than chicken eggs, and they perform extremely well in cooking, especially in baking. Furthermore, people who are allergic to chicken eggs can often eat eggs from ducks and geese. And, of course, ducks and geese are walking, waddling, and swimming sources of meat, too, for those who are interested in doing their own butchering. Both offer dark, flavorful, rich meat that's especially popular for holidays.

And about that guard animal thing: some goose breeds are infamous for being aggressive and territorial. That's not so great when they're attacking you, but it's fantastic if you want some property protection and an early warning system. A guard goose can patrol your property to deter unwanted visitors of all species, and geese can also help to protect flocks of chickens and other vulnerable birds. If your guard goose gets too aggressive, I hear roast goose with orange sauce tastes great.

If you plan on starting with babies, you need to know that waterfowl, well, like water. They need a source of fresh clean water at all times, but that doesn't mean they want to keep it that way, because they love playing and splashing around. Through childhood and into adulthood, you need to make sure your pals have ample fresh water.

When raising ducklings and goslings, consider using a plastic tote as a brooder box for easy cleanup. If you want to make your life easier, maintain two, so you have a clean one at all times to transfer the babies into while you clean their befouled nest. If you elevate the floor in your brooder box, the water can drain easily, so it won't accumulate in the bedding and make a mess. Keep your water in a dish with a block to discourage excessive play, and add feed in the opposite end of the box, with a little brewer's yeast for extra nutrition. Install a sealed pet heater safe for use in damp environments to keep them toasty.

As the birds feather out, you can move them into a protected outdoor enclosure, and when they start to reach adolescence, you can integrate them with the flock. If this is your first flock, your babies can be the first of many garden weeders, pond splashers, and treat cadgers.

You'll want a fence around four feet tall (six for light geese, who could fly over a lower fence) along with a secure shelter to lock everyone in at night. Have a Minneapolis carpenter help with the job if you're not feeling confident: it needs to be snug and tight! The shelter also needs a water supply and comfortable bedding, so make sure your shelter design is close to a water source and easy to clean. The birds will also need roosts and nest boxes to cozy up in at night.

For comfort and cleanliness, your birds need a water source they can dip their heads into to clean their beaks and nostrils. A trough with an automatic waterer can work well for this, but do yourself a favor and keep it away from food dishes or mud-prone areas! In terms of food, a small amount of rations in the evening or morning can be enough (you want to encourage your avian pest and weed controllers to do their jobs), but in spring, add a little more to the dish to encourage egg laying.

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Duck, duck, goose! raising waterfowl