All City Council members were present, including Mayor Cluck, as well as representatives from the City Planning Department. Residents both for and against the plan got their chance to speak and present their arguments to the Council, before it went to a final vote. Passionate remarks included a variety of concerns about the cost of the plan, land infringements, cyclist safety, improving the health of residents, increasing transportation options, business development, parking restrictions, city growth, and more.

After approximately two hours of discussion, City Council members offered some closing commentary before casting their votes. Member Mel LeBlanc voiced his reasons why he was against the plan, stating that he didn’t see the need to allocate tax dollars to what seemed to be a “recreational” activity. Member Sheri Capehart clarified some of the estimated costs for both on- and off-road bike paths, indicating that far less money would be needed to complete on-road modifications than off-road changes. At-large Member Robert Shepard made a motion in support of the plan, and offered thoughtful remarks on its evolution over the last two years and the Council’s efforts to include as much public input as possible. In addition, Shepard spoke to the general state of debate in our society today, commenting that the value of coming together to achieve mutual compromise seems to be not only lost, but heavily discouraged.

(You can hear audio from the public hearing by clicking on the link at the end of this article.)

In the end, votes were cast and, by a 5-4 margin, the Arlington City Council approved the Hike & Bike Plan. Members Capehart, Wilemon, Wolff, Shepard, and Bennett voted “Yes”, while Mayor Cluck and Members LeBlanc, Rivera, and Patrick voted “No”.

What are your thoughts on this plan, and its recent approval? Is the plan too overreaching or does it not go far enough?

How would you like to see Arlington grow?
What are the things that make a city great in the first place?


MP3 Download of 6/28/11 Arlington Public Hearing
(*Note: This is a partial recording, capturing most but not all of the hearing. The author of this post begs your forgiveness and understanding: she arrived late to the meeting, as she was stuck getting her air conditioning fixed. Being summer in Texas, it was a critical repair! Enjoy….)

More than 4,700 fifth graders in the Arlington ISD will use pedometers and other tracking tools to record every step they take throughout the summer in the “Let’s Move With the Mayor” program. The top three steppers, to be announced in September, will win two Six Flags tickets.

Other elementary schools in North Texas are also getting involved in the Let’s Move campaign with everything from summer programs to activities with professional football players. Learn more in this REAL School Gardens‘ blog post, written by Arlington Alive‘s own Wendy Mazur!

What are you doing to keep active this summer? Share your ideas with us!

Special Olympics Texas athletes will compete in variety of sporting activities, including track and field, basketball, gymnastics, soccer, cycling, and tennis.

Opening Ceremonies will kick things off on Friday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m. at UTA Maverick Stadium, featuring the Parade of Athletes, the reciting of the Athlete Oath, and the lighting of the Olympic Torch. A Victory Dance will close out the festivities on Saturday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m., also at Maverick Stadium.

For a complete schedule of the competitions and related events, visit the SOTX website here. Come support these incredible athletes! All events are free and open to the public.

Can you help out? Volunteers are also needed for a variety of duties! View shifts and events, and register to volunteer here: http://www.sotx.org/get-involved/volunteer/summergames

SOTX 2011 Summer Games | May 26-29, 2011
University of Texas at Arlington (map) | Arlington, TX

Good luck to all of these talented athletes! We are tickled that Arlington is continuing to host these games. Now let’s just hope Mother Nature will be kind to us with the weather!

Barton will be in Arlington next Monday, April 18th at Boles Junior High School. The meeting will start at 6pm in the cafeteria.

A complete list of Barton’s appearances is provided below.

Have questions or concerns on a particular issue? Town halls are a great opportunity to discuss such topics with your Congressional representative and fellow community members. Attend, participate, and let your voice be heard!

Saturday – April 16th

Mansfield
Noon to 1pm
Mansfield City Council Chambers
1200 East Broad Street
Mansfield, TX 76063

Waxahachie
2pm to 3pm
Ellis County Courthouse
Main District Courtroom
101 West Main Street
Waxahachie, TX 76165

Corsicana
4pm to 5pm
Corsicana Government Center
City Council Chambers
200 North 12th Street
Corsicana, TX 75110

Monday – April 18th

Arlington
6pm to 7pm
Boles Junior High
Cafeteria
3900 SW Green Oakes Blvd.
Arlington, TX 76017

With that news comes some peace of mind, knowing that when I use city H2O to water my vegetable garden I am at least treating it to the best in Texas. But I try to use city water as little as possible, thanks to three new rain barrels in my back yard. These barrels collect the run-off from my roof, and have filled up very quickly with our recent downpours of the past couple weeks.

There are many great reasons to collect rainwater — it’s free of salts and other harmful minerals, it does not have to be chemically treated, it reduces erosion, and it helps prevent flooding (which is of particular interest to me, as my backyard becomes quite the pond in heavy rains!). Using collected rainwater also helps lower water bills, and aids the effort to conserve ever-depleting water supplies. All good stuff.

But how good this stuff really is hit home this past weekend, when I was filling up a watering can with water from the rain barrel. I found myself paying extra attention to how tightly I turned off the spout, being careful to not spill or waste even a drop. I checked for leaks, and quickly fixed any I spotted. How funny, I thought: This water is “free” to me. I do not pay for it like I pay for what comes out of my tap. And yet it seems so much more precious that I am incredibly conscious of how I use it and how quickly I consume it. As we know in this part of Texas, rain comes sparingly. So my opportunities to harvest it will be few, and I better get the most out of what I do collect!

How much we value any given thing is strongly tied to our mindsets. I was raised like most others to conserve household utilities (electricity, water, etc.) because, as so many adults had reminded me, “money doesn’t grow on trees.” Turn off the lights when you’re done using them!…or…Don’t take all day in the shower!  But while conserving still helps the pocketbook, there are other, possibly more important, reasons to do so. By understanding what we value and why, along with considering new ways of doing our everyday “consuming”, we evolve our mindsets to entertain new and great possibilities.

The Big Thirst, a new book by investigative reporter Charles Fishman, explores how we currently process and use water, and how we can have “smart water” in the future. He says “We use purified drinking water to flush our toilets and water our lawns. That doesn’t make any sense….There will be different kinds of waters for different uses. And water itself will get smart.” Fishman discusses how various cities with water shortages have reinvented and improved water consumption. He also profiles companies like IBM who have reconfigured facilities to make better use of water. These cities and companies took action by thinking about how they were using water, by changing how they approached consumption, by changing their mindsets. The results are impressive.

Fishman has been making the media rounds discussing the topic, including Fresh Air and Marketplace. Text and audio interviews are available. Please give them a read/listen, and share your thoughts with us.

Making sure my rain barrel is leak-free doesn’t bare nearly the same positive impact as rerouting water supplies at a major manufacturing plant. But changing mindsets, whether on large scales or small, does lead to remarkable benefits. When we each do our own part — when we each collect a few gallons of rainwater — we not only save more of that “best drinking water in Texas” for our beverages, we also improve our own lives and the lives of those around us….human and plant life alike!

Check out these other resourses to get plugged in:

• City of Arlington Municipal Volunteer Office
• Arlington Y
• Arlington Museum of Art
• Arlington Memorial Hospital
• Arlington Public Library

Plenty of other opportunities exist to volunteer, so find your niche, and give back!

Residents wait their turn to speak about Arlington's Hike & Bike Master Plan.

The overall goal of Hike & Bike is to create a comprehensive system of both off-street trails and on-street facilities that improve how residents traverse across Arlington. The plan hopes to not only increase opportunities for a wide variety of recreational activities, but also offer more alternative modes of transportation.

Key features of the Hike & Bike Master Plan include:

• A 99-mile network of striped bike lanes on roads to connect cyclists and pedestrians to key destinations such as parks and schools. This includes converting 28 lane miles now designated for automobiles to be specifically used for bicycles.
• 56 miles of paved shoulders, widening outside lanes and other improvements to make it safer for cyclists.
• Adding 118 miles of off-street trails beside roadways or through parks.
• The plan is long-range, estimated to take 30-40 years to fully complete.
• Estimated costs include $15 million to repair sidewalks, $118 million to construct off-street bike trails, and $500,000 – $800,000 for on-street bike paths.
• Adoption of Hike & Bike by City Council does not designate funds to the project. Funding would be allocated through a separate process.

Proponents of the plan argue that it will increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians, improve roadway efficiency by reducing the number of drivers on the road (they’d be biking instead of driving), and offer opportunities for residents to live healthier more active lifestyles. They also believe implementation of such a plan will make Arlington more competitive in the region as well as more attractive to prospective residents.

Those against Hike & Bike claim traffic congestion will increase as driving lanes would be removed or narrowed to accommodate bike lanes. They also question how in-demand such a plan really is, suggesting that far fewer than 1% of residents currently bike and/or would utilize bicycles and bike lanes to make their daily commutes. Concerns were also raised that the Hike & Bike plan would attempt to implement other alternative transportation projects like light rail, an idea that was voted down by Arlington citizen in the recent past.

Among those who attended Thursday’s town hall was Bike Friendly Arlington, a group of plan supporters who distributed yellow t-shirts and buttons, offering their view on the proposal. A large group against the plan, S.O.S (Save Our Streets), was also present, with several members participating in the open-mic forum. Hundreds of residents of all ages offered their questions and opinions, reflecting a wide variety of political views, business backgrounds, lifestyles, and concerns.

We invite you to learn more about the Hike & Bike Master Plan by checking out the some of the resources linked to below. We’ve also provided a link to download an mp3 of Thursday’s entire town hall meeting.

We encourage you share your opinions on the proposal, the town hall meetings, and other related aspects here with us and with each other, as well as with the Arlington City Council. Please contact them with your questions and concerns, so they can properly gauge where Arlington residents are on this issue.

Now….discuss!

Resources:

• City of Arlington Hike & Bike Master Plan webpage
• Hike & Bike brochure (PDF download)
• Greenways, Inc. project page for Arlington, TX
• Bike Friendly Arlington
• S.O.S. Save Our Streets
• City Council Contact Information
• MP3 Download of Town Hall Meeting – Thursday, March 31, 2011


Local media coverage:

• Star-Telegram February 3rd
• Star-Telegram March 27th
• Star-Telegram March 29th
• UTA Shorthorn April 3rd


For Perspective, Cycling Discussions in Other Cities:

• Burlington, VT
• Chicago, IL
• Los Angeles, CA

Of the 74 schools REAL School Gardens has partnered with so far, Arlington is proud to host five of them: Wimbish Elementary in north Arlington, Veda Knox and Goodman in the central part of the city, and Foster and Fitzgerald Elementary schools to the south.

The interactive map below indicates the location of these Arlington schools that are REAL School Garden partners. Mouse over each marker on the map to see a thumbnail of that school’s garden. Or click on the school link to the left to learn more about that school.

Available at all Arlington Public Library branches now through August 2011, the program aims to help parents develop important early literacy skills in their children, the kind that lead to later success in school.

With “My First Library Card”, parents can check out books and attend story-time programs with their children (0-3). Keep your Frequent User Card up-to-date with each visit or book check-out, and you’ll be entered into a monthly prize drawing to win baby-friendly items.

For more details on the “My First Library Card” program, as well as to apply online, visit the Arlington Public Library website: http://arlingtonlibrary.org/kids/mflc

A complete calendar of all kid-oriented events at the library can be found here:
http://arlingtonlibrary.org/kids-calendar

On March 28, 2011, the Junior League will host their 9th Annual “Tee It Up For Charity” golf tourney at the Shady Valley Golf Club in Arlington. Money raised through this tournament helps fund various JLA activities, which aid Arlington non-profits and the greater community through providing tens of thousands of volunteer hours, education, and more. This year’s projects and grants benefit the AIDS Outreach Center, All Star Equestrian Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County, the JLA Back–to–School Fair, and the University of Texas at Arlington’s Smart Hospital, among others.

Here’s the skinny on “Tee It Up For Charity”:

When: Monday, March 28, 2011
Where: Shady Valley Golf Club, 4001 West Park Row, Arlington, Texas 76013

Schedule:
Four-person handicap scramble (maximum of 144 players)
11:30 a.m. Registration, Lunch and opening of Silent Auction
1:00 p.m. Shotgun Start

Tickets:
Registration (by March 15) — $125 per player, $450 per team
Late Registration (after March 15) — $150 per player, $550 per team
Price includes: cart, green fees, range balls, goody bag, lunch, beverages and ticket to 19th Hole Dinner.

For tickets, contact golf@jlarlington.org or 817.277.9481.
You can also register on the Junior League’s website.

To learn more about the Junior League of Arlington, visit http://www.jlarlington.org/.