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Well
that was a short lived bit of excitement. We were asked by the
County to jump through hoops to notify everyone about the scheduled
burn. We did. It didn't happen. First it was too dry,
now it's too wet. Two burns were put off. One burn took
place, ours is now put off indefinitely!!!!! Once again Vero Lake
Estates is disregarded. Contact your County Commissioners if you
too are becoming impatient with the political treadmill we have been on.
The children and families of VLE have waited long enough for
improvements to our Park.
wdavis@ircgov.com,
jflescher@ircgov.com
gwheeler@ircgov.com
pobryan@ircgov.com
sbowden@ircgov.com
***Newsflash***
After
18 months of effort to see the dream of a VLE Park become a reality, we
are finally moving on to the next phase. During the week of
July 21st we will
have a controlled burn at the Park. This is the beginning of creating
not only a lush wildlife habitat, but also a child life habitat.
The
following are excerpts and information from an email from Beth Powell,
Conservation Lands manager, IRC.
Anyone who is smoke sensitive
should plan to spend the day either inside with the air conditioning on
or plan a day out, in another area. Because we have had so much rain,
the pine needles and leaves on the ground are very wet and will cause a
lot of smoke. Moms and Dads, talk to your children about the importance
of staying out of the area until further notice as there will be prep
work before and clean up after the burn.
Beth Powell, Conservation Lands
Manager, will be on site and can even do a talk with the kids the day
before the burn if people want to have a pre-burn meeting.
"Division of Forestry will be knocking down the snags within the next
few days or early next week before the burn and doing some other prep
burn work - everyone should stay out of the area completely until
otherwise notified. Mop-up will be done on Thursday the 17th.
Mop-up is another way of saying that they will be putting the fire out
and covering up smoking snags, etc. and just making sure that any embers
are completely put out."
“We
have a great opportunity to educate the VLE area about the importance of
making sure their homes are safe from fire – we have rain now, but we
all know that it doesn’t take much to dry out quickly. VLE is in a pine
flat woods type area that has a lot of vacant lots that may be overgrown
– it’s important that homeowners maintain a buffer around their homes
that protect them from fire. That isn’t to say that they can’t have
shade or pine trees, but there are some things that they should do, like
make sure that pine needles and leaves don’t accumulate on their roof,
etc. So, if we have an opportunity to increase folks knowledge base I
think it’s great – If you want me to come out and give a talk, just let
me know – my schedule is very flexible right now!!!”
"Also, we had
thousands of plants donated from a local nursery - so as soon as the
fire is over and you guys schedule a work day, we can begin
planting some live oaks and other plants that would be suitable in that
area. I told you that we've had more than rains from the heavens
lately."
So
there you have it!! VLEPO has been working hard for you. If you are
not a member you should show your support and become one, or renew you
old membership so we can continue our efforts. A lot is going to happen
at your Park over the next several months. Let’s wrap around this and
make it a true community project that we can all be proud of for years
to come.
Sincerely,
Susan,
President, VLEPO
Janet Wood,
Chairwoman, Park Committee |
