Captain Peter to Speak at FHNA Picnic Sunday at 5:30

Captain Peter, District 3 Commander, Durham Police Department will attend the FHNA Fall Picnic from 5:30 pm until 6:15 pm.  He will address the recent spat of break-ins we have been experiencing in our neighborhood and will provide suggestions as to what we as individuals and as a neighborhood can do to reduce these intrusions.

Mindy Solie, our neighbor and Co-Coordinator for PAC3, will accompany Captain Peter and will explain the importance of the PAC3 organization to our community.

Captain Peter and Mindy are responding to a last minute request from FHNA and several of our neighbors to address crime prevention.  In particular Captain Peter is taking time away from his family to visit with us……so, please attend…..please arrive by 5:30 pm…..and please encourage your neighbors who may not be on the list serve to both attend Captain Peter's presentation and the picnic.

Fall Picnic Sunday Sept. 13th 5pm

Come one, come all the annual Forest Hills Fall Picnic!

Sunday September 13, 2009
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Park Picnic Shelter

The FHNA will have plenty of Dillard's BBQ and soft drinks on hand. Please bring a dessert (odd numbered households) or side dish (even numbered households) to share. 

Event will occur RAIN OR SHINE.

Thanks to Park Clean-up Volunteers!

On Saturday, August 15, eight students/parents/coaches from the DSA and North Carolina School of Science and Math cross country teams showed up to work alongside eight Forest Hills residents for a total of 16 volunteers. We removed 17 bags of garbage, styrofoam, and a wheel/tire that would have eventually made their way into Lake Jordan and our drinking water supply.

We also made significant progress on removing/eradicating the invasive ragweed that had been overtaking the no-mow zone of the park. The effort has significantly reduced the infestation.

Thanks go out to all of the volunteers who participated in our Forest Hills Stream/Park clean up. We are thrilled that the cross country team and their supporters asked to be invited back to the next clean-up day.

Interested in participating next time? Look for emails from the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association announcing opportunities to help keep our park clean, safe, and pleasant.

Photos from top: 1. Volunteers collected 17 bags of garbage; 2. and 3. Cross country team volunteers use "grabbers" from Keep Durham Beautiful to pick up trash; 4. Neighbor Brian Murray uses a machete to whack some ragweed; 5. Neighbor Sioux Watson's dog Izzie finds a new friend to toss tennis balls while Sioux does park clean-up.

Forest Hills Sign Update

By Aaron Cain

This article appears in the August 2009 FHNA newsletter... 

At the neighborhood spring picnic, the Forest Hills Sign Committee revealed the chosen design for our upcoming neighborhood sign (see below).  It was met with a great deal of enthusiasm by the more than 100 residents in attendance.

 In addition, a location for the sign has also been chosen, which will be near the corner of East Forest Hills Boulevard and University Drive.  Final details are still being worked out regarding placement so the sign is in as prominent a place as possible while  not interfering with the City’s plans to install a sidewalk on the east side of University Drive.

 Sign committee members are currently working through the City’s permitting process with both the inspections and parks departments so that construction of the sign may begin.  We are hopeful that we can have the sign up at or soon after the fall picnic in mid-September.

Forest Hills Park Bridge Update

By:  Aaron Cain

This article appears in the August 2009 FHNA newsletter... 

Forest Hills Park will soon be receiving a foot bridge on the east side of the park.  The bridge has been approved and permitted, and city engineers are in the process of completing construction drawings.  We anticipate construction of the bridge in October, but that date is not confirmed.  

Retiring in Place in Forest Hills

By Bob Otterbourg

 The following article appears in the August 2009 FHNA newsletter...

     I need your help!

     At July’s FHNA board meeting, I was asked to assemble a study group to examine ways the Forest Hills neighborhood could offer volunteer services to its retirement-age residents as well as other residents such as young mothers with children or someone who has broken a leg and is a temporarily invalid.

     Sue and I have been living on Beverly Drive going on 17 years. We enjoy every aspect of living here, but as we have aged we have become concerned about how we will handle living in a multi-storied home. Instead of relocating to one of several Continuing Care Retirement Communities serving this area, such as the Forest of Duke, we have elected to “retire in place.” This said, we are presently taking our carport and converting it into a first-floor bedroom and bath.

     The renovation takes care of our residential needs, but what happens if either of us or any other older residents are not able to drive a car and has a doctor’s appointment or needs to pick up groceries or drug products? The same question might apply to a mother with young children at home who is sick at home and needs someone to get her to the doctor’s office.

      This volunteer concept is not new. To be sure, there are a number of franchised organizations that will perform household errands or chores at a fee. More important, other communities in the U.S. have set up volunteer services. There is no reason that Forest Hills should not be able to put together a volunteer service. As such we would need men and women to volunteer as drivers or to perform some basic and simple household chores – change a ceiling light fixture, or repair a leaky faucet.

      The first step is to form a study group to put together an action plan to present at the FHNA board meeting at its September 14 session.

     To participate in the study group, give me a call at (919) 489-9591 or send an email to rkotter@aol.com

 

 

 

       

      

 

 

Durham Street Tree Inventory/Canopy Analysis

By Alex Johnson, Durham Urban Forestry Manager

The following article appears in the August 2009 FHNA newsletter...

Trees provide a lot to us as residents of Durham.  Just what it is they do for us is sometimes hard to assign a value to.  This makes it hard to justify spending the money needed to maintain an urban tree canopy, especially when other issues clamor for scarce resources.

The good news is that there is a way to estimate the value of an urban forest.  Thanks to a partnership between the Davey Resource Group and the US Forest Service, there is a suite of software called i-Tree that works in conjunction with a set of tools developed specifically for inventorying and evaluating the value, condition, and canopy density of an urban forest.

Last year, the city of Durham received a grant from the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources to conduct a survey of Durham’s street trees. This involves taking a random sample of street segments amounting to 3% of the city’s overall “grid.”

Starting this past May, volunteers have come forward to be trained in collecting data along roadside rights-of-way.  Since then, they have been counting, measuring, identifying, and evaluating the health and maintenance needs of trees on city property as well as taking note of places where trees are absent but could be planted were there resources available to do so.  When all of the data come in, we will be able to provide the city with the following information:

·       Species composition of the urban forest

·       Age/condition distribution of city trees

·       % canopy coverage citywide

·       Number of vacant planting sites

·       Number of trees in need of maintenance

·       Benefits of city trees

o   Stormwater runoff

o   Air quality / carbon sequestration

o   Energy conservation / cooling

The overall “cost/benefit” analysis will provide proof that having and maintaining urban trees is a wise investment.  Many thanks to the volunteers that have come forward from Forest Hills to help out!  There is still much more to do, so if you are interested in participating, please contact me directly: Alex Johnson, Urban Forestry Manager, at alexander.johnson@durhamnc.gov or 560-4197, extension 275.

Note from FHNA President:  Four Forest Hills residents have volunteered and assisted Alex Johnson in the Durham tree survey:  Barbara Braatz, Carsten Rist (featured above), Norris Cotton, and Tracy Mancini