Damn Interesting » Space Radio: More Static, Less Talk

Damn Interesting » Space Radio: More Static, Less Talk

Ten trillion stars for every man, woman, and child...

Amazing.

don't waste water

Tamarac City Commissioner Patte Atkins-Grad was miffed last Thursday when Broward officials met to discuss the region's water shortage -- at a breakfast meeting where many people never touched their glasses of water.

''This is a water summit, and it irritates me to see all this wasted water,'' she told the crowd.

Atkins-Grad has encouraged restaurants in Tamarac to stop serving water to diners unless they ask for it.

Speakers talked about the need for Broward cities to work together to find additional sources of water, including waterless urinals and treating salty water.

But no one talked about the cost. Chip Merriam, deputy executive director of the South Florida Water Management District, has said in the past that the price to develop new sources of water could cost billions.

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How about we 1. limit development, 2. encourage native plantings 3. discourage car washing, golf, waste 4. save the everglades.

oh and drink yo water.

Spectacular image!

Awe-inspiring.

No foresight

Ailing oak tree saved from developer's chop

An oak tree set to be razed received a stay of execution Tuesday -- to the chagrin of a Coconut Grove developer.

Posted on Fri, Nov. 09, 2007

BY DAVID SMILEY

dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com

In Coconut Grove, things can get a little emotional when it comes to trees. That's why activists turned up at a city of Miami hearing Tuesday to fight for a scraggly oak that stands in the way of a developer's driveway.

Anthony Rubino, whose duplex in the 2800 block of Shipping Avenue remains off the market because the tree has prevented him from laying a driveway and sidewalk, wants to raze the oak, located on the public right-of-way.

But the city denied his request, leading Rubino to appeal to the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board Tuesday, where in a scene reminiscent of a daytime courtroom drama, Rubino went toe to toe with activists over the fate of the tree.

The developer, who says he initially wanted to relocate the tree, provided years' worth of pictures of the tree and testimony from arborist Lisa Hammer that said the tree ''is in fair condition at best'' and should be removed.

''I'll relocate it now if you want me to,'' he told the board. ``I'll do it, but it will die.''

But the TreeWatch Committee of the Cocoanut Grove Village Council and the Tree-Man Trust countered that the tree is sick because of construction-related damage -- which Hammer disagreed with -- its death is hardly imminent and besides, driveways are overrated.

Miami's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board agreed.

Members voted 5-2 that the tree should stay.

''The duplex should have been designed to accommodate the tree where it is,'' said Board member Gerald Marston.

Rubino said he was given the runaround by politically connected activists who used their influence to pressure city officials into saving the tree.

Public Works Assistant Director Francis Mitchell said the tree must be removed but he could not issue a permit because he would lose his job if Liliana Dones of TreeWatch and Jim McMaster of the Tree-Man Trust disagreed, Rubino wrote in his appeal.

Mitchell would not comment on the statement after the meeting.

''I don't have the power to have Francis Mitchell fired and neither does Jim, but we're very flattered,'' Dones said Friday.

Mitchell told the board that Rubino had left out the tree's location on site plans when the duplex and driveway designs were approved.

Rubino said the omission of the tree's location was an oversight.

The developer, who last year received permits to remove two trees from the property, said he didn't pull a permit for the oak because he wanted to see how the tree would fare before deciding to remove or relocate it.

That got him into hot water with Board Chairman Timothy Barber.

'We don't want people to do the `wait and see,' '' he said.

Marsten said Rubino was playing a shell game.

''It seems to me you were proposing to plant that tree in front of someone's front door and have them remove it,'' he said.

On Friday, Rubino said he wishes now that he had removed the tree when he first bought the property and was disappointed that the issue became more about the circumstances surrounding the tree removal than about the actual health of the tree.

''I'm disappointed it went that way because it took the focus off the tree and the facts of [Hammer's] report,'' he said.

Rubino said his tree woes comes at a time when Grovites are outraged at the federal government, which last September cut down a number of trees at the Grand Avenue Post Office. The post office was fined $10,000 by Miami's Code Enforcement. As of Friday, the fine had not been paid.

Arborist Pierre Sands said people should treat trees as if they were a dying relative.

''I take it personally,'' he said.

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It's nice to see people fighting so hard for trees. I love the old oak trees in Coral Gables and the Grove. Too bad the developer didn't use more foresight.