Local Places – Page 41

Old Homosassa Sidewalks 60% Plan

February 9, 2015February 8, 2015 by KTgreen

This post is for my friends, neighbors and anyone else that enjoys driving through Old Homosassa’s tree canopied streets.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I received an email regarding the proposed sidewalks on Yulee Drive.

From Fritz P. Smith,

“As discussed at the Yulee Drive Sidewalk Townhall Meeting conducted on July 31, 2014, a set of 60% complete plans will be available for review at the Citrus County Homosassa Library, 4100 South Grandmarch Avenue, Homosassa, FL 34446, beginning Monday, January 26, 2015 until Friday, February 13, 2015. Please direct any questions or requests for additional information to Walt Eastmond at 352-527-5446 or Walt.Eastmond@bocc.citrus.fl.us.”

Terry and I went to the library on Friday to check out the 60% completed plans.

Sidewalk Plans It took us a little while to understand the plans but once we caught on, we were able to follow the sidewalk route from Old Homosassa all the way out to 19. It followed exactly the route that was covered in the meeting back in July.

Then Terry and I started studying the Old Homosassa area. In the section where the old sidewalk ends through the area just past the Sugarmill Ruins, seven oak trees will be removed.

Seven very large oak trees. The very oak trees that provide our beautiful canopy.

I want the sidewalk but not at the expense of these trees.

Just to make sure we had it right, we went to the park area and checked out the trees.

If I understand the plans correctly, these are the two trees across from Bressler Ct.

Bressler Ct.

Page 4. The area right across from the Sugarmill Ruins.

By counting the other trees on this page, these are the three trees being removed.

Old Mill Tavern And a closer view of those trees.

Sugarmill trees

Page 5. The sidewalk goes to the other side of Yulee Dr. No trees are marked to be removed.

I would love to have sidewalks. But not at the expense of these trees.

These photos might be difficult to understand. If you haven’t checked out the plans at the library please do this week, they will only be there until this Friday, February 13. Let Mr. Eastmond know how you feel.

**** February 9, 2015

This is an update to my post from February 8, 2015, I have sent the following email to Walt Eastmond and our Commissioner Ron Kitchen

My husband and I went into the Homosassa Library on Friday to check out the 60% plans for the sidewalks in Yulee Drive. Then we followed up with a stop at the Sugarmill Ruins on Sunday to understand where the new sidewalk would run.

We have two concerns.

First, seven large oak trees are designated on the plans to be removed in the section where the existing sidewalk ends and just past the Sugarmill Ruins. These trees provide the beautiful canopy over Yulee Drive and are irreplaceable. The sidewalk will need to go around the trees.

Second, the crossing from the existing sidewalk to the other side of Yulee Drive is on a very dangerous curve. Drivers will not be able to see the pedestrians as they make the crossing. When we stopped at the Sugarmill Ruins yesterday, traffic was non-stop. The crossing needs to be moved closer to the Sugarmill Ruins. There is plenty of room after Breville Ct. and before the ruins.

We live behind Old Homosassa in the Mason Creek area. We have been here for over eleven years and are active members of our community. I have a blog with a focus on Citrus County and have made a short post which further explains the tree issue. There are some photos of the trees that will be removed that will clarify our concern.

Looking forward to having sidewalks but these two issues must be addressed.

Sincerely,

Kathy and Michael Green

Mr. Eastmond responded within 20 minutes:

Good morning Mrs. Green – Thank you for your interest in the Yulee sidewalk project and taking the time to review the 60% plans and the site. We appreciate your comments and will forward them to our consultant preparing the plans.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional comments/concerns.

Sincerely,

Walt Eastmond

Transportation Project Manager

Engineering Division

And Commissioner Kitchen sent an email an hour later,

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Green,

Thank you for your concern for our community and for your well thought out comments. I am sure we will take what you say into consideration as the county continues with the planning process.

Thank you again,

Ron Kitchen

I feel better about the planning process but we should still stay on top of the issue!

Friday Meanderings

February 6, 2015 by KTgreen

Just want to apologize to all my northern friends before I start rambling about my garden problems. You’ve have had so much SNOW this year and you are still digging out. (But let me ask–why do you still live there?)

Here in central Florida, it’s time to start planning the spring vegetable garden.

Time to till up the soil, fertilize, decide what exactly will be planted.

But not for me. I’ve decided that my two raised vegetable beds in my back yard are done. Kaput. Set to be flattened. The damn squirrels have won. So many squash blossoms have been “squirreled away”. So many tomatoes have been bitten or chewed.

Besides the squirrels, there is the shade canopy. We have a lot of big trees that are just getting bigger and not much sun is hitting those beds anymore. (Not complaining, I love each and everyone of those trees.)

The few organic tomatoes that I actually got last year would have been a lot cheaper at the most expensive organic market.

And besides all of those reasons, it’s a lot of physical labor and my back has decided that it just wants to work on flowers. Gotta do what the back says!

I’ll continue growing herbs. Rosemary, oregano, and chives never die. I’ve probably had the original plants for over five years. I’m putting parsley and dill in pots and placing them in the few sunny places in the yard. I’m not much of a cook but parsley and dill are very rewarding to me because I love the butterflies.

Butterflies in the Garden, Eastern Black Swallowtail — Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar, full grown larvae, on parsley.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Eggs — Swallowtail Butterfly Eggs on dill.

In the Garden, Eastern Swallowtail — Swallowtail on parsley. So pretty. Looking forward to their return when it gets a little warmer.

And now that you have looked at these pretty pictures, I need to ask….

Have you been looking at my “project 365” photos? I’m taking a pic every day and posting them. It’s been a challenge. I’m always taking pictures–but taking a good picture that I feel is “post worthy”? Not so easy. And then there are the days that I take a lot of really GOOD photos. And can only use one.

Today is day 42! We are going out and about today so I should have a photo to post that isn’t from the back yard!

Besides taking lots of pictures, I’ve been busy in the community. Wednesday as a volunteer at the animal shelter, the first Monday night of the month at the Homosassa Civic Club plus a few monthly meetings for Old Homosassa Preservation Society.

Speaking of the Old Homosassa Preservation Society, our next meeting is Tuesday at 5:30 at the Homosassa Civic Center. This is a big one. We bought the tower. Now we have to get the money together to preserve the tower and other historical places in Homosassa. BE THERE! Or send us a bucket of money. I’m okay with that.

And then there’s the acoustic music group that I joined last year.

We meet at the Coastal Region Library in Crystal River and we finally have a regular schedule. The first and third Monday of every month from 2 to 4:30. Acoustic musicians, singers, and listeners are all invited.

And after looking at that picture you might think you need to be a senior citizen to be in this group. NOT SO! Eleven-year-old Jimmy has stopped in during our last two sessions. He is a beginning guitar player. He doesn’t stay long but he seems to enjoy hanging out with us while he’s there! (oh no, do you think he might be looking for a foster-grandparent?)

If you want to join us and have questions, give Paula Bateman a call at 260-316-4099. Otherwise, just come on over!

And now what’s going on this weekend?

Well, first there’s the Best Friend Expo at the Citrus County Auditorium on Saturday. This is your chance to meet all of those pooches and kitties that need a home.

I’m still pondering the water issues in Florida so Terry and I are attending the “Florida’s Springs and the Sustainability of the Floridan Aquifer” at 10 am on Saturday at the Ellie Schiller Education Center in Yankeetown.

There’s a car show on 44 between Inverness and Floral City.

But what we are REALLY looking forward to is the Open House at La Casa of Mason Creek. I’ve posted dozens of photos of this place over the years. We watched it being built and even took a little “self-guided” tour. It’s been on the market forever and someone finally bought it! The new owner has turned it into an event venue and vacation rental. The open house will include many local vendors that want to turn your wedding or event into something extraordinary. The open house is from 3 – 7. Oh yes, I’m taking my CAMERA!

Just another morning in Perfect — La Casa of Mason Creek from the canal side

The weather is supposed to be beautiful here in sunny Florida so we will out on the road getting lots of pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Friends of Crystal River NWR Annual Meeting

January 27, 2015January 27, 2015 by KTgreen

Friends of Chaz meeting

I had planned on having this post up yesterday. After all, the meeting was Sunday. I like to be current.

That Tarpon Springs post that I did put up on Monday could have been put up anytime.

But I’ve been pondering.

The meeting is open to the public. There were about 80 attendees–yes I counted them. And I’m going to just guess that I was the youngest person there other than the speakers and a few other guests. And I’m not exactly young. (Which is kind of fun because in most other places we’ve lived I’ve been the oldest person.)

But that’s just the way it is in Citrus County. We have an older population with many retirees and most of them volunteer. Which is a really great thing about living in Citrus County.

But I digress,

The annual meeting ran like meetings are supposed to run with motions and seconds and inductions.

Kimberly Sykes spoke on the status of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Andrew Gude, refuge manager, was scheduled to do all that but he was detained in Key West, or Miami, or some other airport with a airplane problem. So he called his assistant at 12:45 and filled her in on what she should talk about at 2:00. And she did a great job.

She told us a lot of statistics but I thought the most interesting was that over 19 days there were 19,000 passages into Three Sisters Springs. A passage is a person, manatee, or boat going in or out. The highest day was 2,300 on December 27. I’m guessing that was holiday traffic and there were probably more people going in and out than manatees. But that seems like way too many “passages” into that small area.

Otherwise, things are going great at Three Sisters Springs. A few setbacks but mostly going forward with improvements.

My pondering is about what the featured speaker had to say about nitrates.

Chris Anastasiou, Ph. D.

I’ve cut back on fertilizing–hey I live really close to all that water. I have a responsibility! I’m not running my sprinkler system unless it’s an absolute dire need. We have a relatively new drainage field for our septic tank. I have rain barrels! There’s more but I can’t think of all of it right now.

And our waterside communities–both Homosassa and Crystal River–have been pulling septic tanks and replacing them with a central sewage system.

Crystal River is in a project to send reclaimed water to Duke Power plant so they can use the water for their energy needs.

Swiftmud is creating an area at Lake Linda for parking lot run off to divert the water from running into the bay.

Hey, we are all working really hard to save our springs!

Last year the speaker was John Moran, a Florida photographer, and he showed slides of many of our state’s springs from when he first started taking pictures in the 70s and compared them with the same springs now. It was a very emotional presentation.

The featured speaker this year, Chris Anastasiou, Ph. D. a chief scientist and the leader of the Springs Team of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD) had a lot of information and I can’t possibly relate it all to you. His presentation was entirely scientific.

What struck me was a slide that showed that nitrates are highest at the spring vent. As it flows out to the Gulf of Mexico, the nitrates are diluted. It takes seven days for a drop of water from the vent to make it to the Gulf.

And there are all kinds of bad things blamed on nitrates. Nitrates grow plants and cause greening which accounts for the prevalence of lyngbya and other invasive plant species.

And that’s what I’m pondering.

The spring vents come from the aquifer. And does that mean that the aquifer is already full of nitrates?

So this is my conclusion from Dr. Anastasiou’s presentation. And I could be getting this all wrong. Please let me know if I am…..

The steps that our waterside communities are taking are great. But all of our inland communities need to step it up. Cut back on the fertilizer and other chemicals. Cut back on the water usage.

Because it’s not up to the waterside communities. The entire state needs to take part in saving our springs.

Oh there’s more. But I’m still pondering.

And I’m wondering, what do you think?