PLACE Forum

COLUMN BY LISA BROUILLETTE: Auburn’s past has a direct influence on its future
First published in the Opelika-Auburn News, Feb. 20, 2009. http://placeforum.org

ACTION ALERT: House vote on Grocery Tax Bill likely this Thursday!
The grocery tax bill is likely to go to the House floor for a vote Thursday, February 26! Your help is needed to get this important piece of legislation passed!
There are four easy things you can do to help:
* First, please make sure to e-mail your representative before Thursday. Click here.
Consider e-mailing Gov. Bob Riley, who opposed last year’s version, and encourage him to support the new compromise. Click here.
* Also consider calling the House switchboard at (334) 242-7600 and leave a message asking your representative to vote yes on HB 116.
* Encourage your friends and family to do the same by forwarding them this e-mail.
This information provided by Alabama Arise www.alarise.org.

CAMPUS COMMUNITY ASKED TO CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
The AU Office of Sustainability is writing a campus-wide report on sustainability. While they do know many of the activities on campus, they want to have as comprehensive a list as possible. If you are engaged in any activities or projects that might be regarded as promoting sustainability, please send an e-mail to sustain@auburn.edu. Examples of things they will be including are: campus energy saving projects, the solar car and solar house, biofuels research, LEED buildings, Tiger Transit, and the campus bike network.

AU WOMEN’S STUDIES AWARDS LUNCHEON- RSVP DEADLINE THIS FRIDAY, FEB. 27
MONDAY, MAR. 2, 11:45 am – 1:30 pm — AU WOMEN’S STUDIES AWARDS LUNCHEON: Held in Ballroom B, at AU’s Hotel & Dixon Conf. Center. Lecture is free & open to the public, however the luncheon costs $23 and seating is limited. Please RSVP no later than Feb. 27 by phone 844-1974 or online at http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/womens_studies/ .
Keynote speaker, Dr. Marjorie Spruill, Professor of History, Univ. of South Carolina, a former Auburn resident, will speak on “Women’s Rights and Family Values.” Spruill is an expert in Southern women’s history. She was a consultant for the movie, *Iron Jawed Angels* (starring Hilary Swank). In addition, she is editor of the acclaimed anthology, “VOTES FOR WOMEN’” (which accompanied the PBS film of the same name), the author of, “NEW WOMEN IN THE NEW SOUTH: THE LEADERS OF THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN STATES”, and editor of four additional books. Copies of Dr. Spruill’s books will be available for purchase and signing after the luncheon. For more information, call 844-1974 or 844-6647 or go to: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/womens_studies/events/index.html

UPCOMING TOWN HALL MEETINGS / LEE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
March 2, Monday Beauregard High School, 6 to 8 PM CST
March 2, Monday Loachapoka High School, 6 to 8 PM CST
March 3, Tuesday Beulah High School, 5 to 7 PM CST / 6 to 8 PM EST
March 3, Tuesday Southern Union CC-Opelika campus, 6 to 8 PM CST
March 5, Thursday Smiths Station High School, 5 to 7 PM CST / 6 to 8 PM EST
Bring your ideas to these open meetings to gather input for the first ever Lee County comprehensive plan. The meetings will be open to all who live and/or work in Lee County (both in cities and in unincorporated areas). Attend a meeting that is most convenient to you. All meetings will be two hours long. More info: Wendy Swann at 334-737-3674, wswann@leeco.us or visit the project web site: www.leeco.us/masterplan/.

Opelika Citizens Planning Academy begins Monday, Feb 23
Held in the Administration Building, Planning Commission Chambers at 700 Fox Trail. (Main entrance located on Jeter Street across from Greater Peace Baptist Church).
The City of Opelika’s Planning Department has designed, and is offering, a “Citizens Planning Academy” for interested persons in the Opelika area. The academy is open to all Opelika residents and will consist of six (6) sessions held on Monday afternoons from 5:00 pm -6:00 pm. Classes will be held on February 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
During the training period, participants will learn how different departments, developers, and individuals interact in the planning process. Participants will also learn about the upcoming City of Opelika Comprehensive Plan update and other ongoing projects such as Celebrate Alabama and expansions/new commitments to our two industrial parks.
Other topics include:
1. Planning in Opelika (Requirements and Responsibilities of the Planning Department). 2. The Roles and Responsibilities of Opelika’s Planning Related Boards (Planning Commission, Board of Adjustment, Historic Preservation Commission).
3. Updates to the Comprehensive Plan.
4. The Role of Other City Departments in Planning.
5. A Professional Transportation Engineer’s View of Transportation Planning in Opelika.
6. Discussion of topics on Historic Preservation, Community Development, Zoning Enforcement and Building Inspections. Citizens interested in participating in the academy are encouraged to apply by February 16, 2009.
More info, including registration: contact Rachel Dennis, Opelika Planning Department at 705-5156.

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MONDAY, FEB. 23, NOON – 4:00 PM — CIVIC ENGAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM
Held at AU’s new Student Center, rooms 2216 & 2218. Open to all.
The College of Liberal Arts Civic Engagement Symposium will be an opportunity for faculty and students to learn more about civic engagement initiatives and projects happening within the college. Barb Bondy, associate professor of art, will speak about documenting civic engagement activities for tenure and promotion. Community partner organizations will be in attendance to talk about their perspectives of civic engagement and what needs they currently have for civic engagement projects. Students will also be presenting their civic engagement projects in an interactive format. Information will also be available about the Community and Civic Engagement Summer Academy and College of Liberal Arts Engaged Scholars Program and student organizations. For more information, contact Brigitta Brunner at brunnbr@auburn.edu.

MONDAY, FEB. 23, 3:00 PM – LECTURE: EVOLUTION OF THE MIND
Held in AU’s Rouse Life Sciences Bldg, room 112. Free & open to all.
Speaker: Lewis (Bud) Barker (Psychology Department)
This event is part of a semester-long celebration of Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species by Natural Selection.” The Darwin Celebration is sponsored by AU’s College of Science and Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts, and the Outreach Committee of the Department of Biological Sciences. Its purpose is to present Darwin’s ideas and their impact on diverse disciplines for general audiences in a friendly, clear, accurate, non-proselytizing way.

MONDAY, FEB. 23, 3:00 PM — LAND RESTITUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Held in AU’s Student Center, room 2223. Open to all.
Speaker: Bernadette Atuahene
The Africana Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts will host Bernadette Atuahene, a professor of International Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Atuahene will present a lecture, “Getting Back What’s Ours: Land Restitution in South Africa.” More info: Patience Essah at essahpa@auburn.edu.

MONDAY, FEB. 23, 3:00 – 6:00 PM — THE BIG SWAP / AU OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
Held in AU’s new Student Center, room 2227. Open to all.
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Got something you’re tired of but just can’t throw out? An awesome item of clothing that you don’t wear anymore? One too many books on your floor? Why not bring it along to The Big Swap and pick up something in exchange? For every item you bring, you get to take one home. The only criterion is, please, no junk. The Big Swap is sponsored by the Office of Sustainability.

MONDAY, FEB. 23 — LEE COUNTY COMMISSION   www.leeco.us
4:00 pm — work session / 6:00 pm — regular session
Held in the commission chambers, Opelika Courthouse, 215 S. 9th Ave, Opelika. Open to all.
Agenda includes:
5. Awards, Presentations, Proclamations or Other Recognitions:
a. Resolution Honoring Albert Chambers
6. Reports from Staff:
a. Report on 9-1-1 Lee Road Signs – Neal Hall
7. CONSENT AGENDA:
a. Minutes of Commission Meeting January 26, 2009
b. Ratify and Approve Claims
c. Bid #8 Portable Satellite Equipment – Deedie Matthews
d. Bid #9 Picked-up Bituminous Treatment – Neal Hall
8. OLD BUSINESS:
a. Board of Education Bond Issue – Bob Young
b. Domestic Violence Intervention Center Emergency Grant-Lisa Stephens/Lisa Sandt
c. Solid Waste Public Hearing & Disposal Contract with Waste Away – Judge English
Public hearing to express views, orally or in writing, as to the contract for disposal of solid waste between the Lee County Commission and Waste Away Group Inc. The proposed contract is for 3-years, with renewal options for a total of 5 years. Additional info may be obtained by contacting the Environmental Services Director, Jack Marshall, 334.745.9835. All pertinent documents are available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Environmental Services Office, 1111 Auburn Street, Opelika.
d. Board Appointment Policies and Procedures – Judge English
e. Potential District 5 Road Funding – Commissioner Harris & Neal Hall
f. Water Board Funding – Commissioner Harris
g. Federal Appropriation Requests – Wendy Swann
9. NEW BUSINESS:
a. Request to Accept Lee Road 513 – Willie Taylor
b. Travel Approval to NACo Legislative Conference in Washington, DC- Commissioner Harris
c. 1st Reading Various Board Appointments – Judge English
d. Approve Gates Subdivision for County Maintenance – Neal Hall
e. Joint Recycling Grant Proposal – Jack Marshall
10. Discussion Items. 11. Adjourn

MONDAY, FEB. 23, 4:30 PM – GORDON SHERMAN LECTURE / Thomas R. Wilkey — The Art and Science of Elections: Lessons from a Forty-Year Career
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Art Museum. Free & open to all. Reception follows.
The Gordon Sherman Lecture for the 2008-09 academic year, delivered by Thomas R. Wilkey, is “The Art and Science of Elections: Lessons from a Forty-Year Career.” A reception will follow. On Tuesday, February 24, he will participate in a luncheon for MPA students at noon. Thomas Wilkey has served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission since 2005. He has worked in the field of elections administration for over 35 years. He is a founding member and former President of the National Association of State Election Directors’ (NASED). From 1992 to 2003, he was the Executive Director of the New York State Board of Elections. The lecture is sponsored by the master of public administration program in the College of Liberal Arts and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. For more information, contact Brigitte Demasi at demasbl@auburn.edu or 844-6123.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 12:15 PM – The New Face of Sexual Oppression: Is Healing Possible?
Held in AU’s new Student Center, room 2216. Free & open to the public.
Dr. Mujah Shakir is an affiliate of the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care. She is a doctoral candidate with the California Institute of Integral Studies, Humanities Transformative Learning & Change, San Francisco, California. Her dissertation is an oral history project that deals with the impact of the Tuskegee syphilis study on the lives of contemporary women living in Tuskegee and Macon County. She is also a diversity trainer and group facilitator who has worked with community groups for many years on social justice issues, and is Assistant Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, Occupational Therapy College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Tuskegee University. Co-sponsored by the AU Women’s Studies Program and the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. More info: call 844-1974 or 844-6647; http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/womens_studies/events/index.html

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 12:30 PM – KIPLINGER EDITOR TO ADDRESS AU WOMEN’S PHILANTHROPY BOARD LUNCHEON
Held in the Hotel at AU. Luncheon tickets $25 for students; $35 for others.
Reservations are required, are issued on a first-come, first-served basis, and are not confirmed until payment is received. For reservations, contact Sidney James Nakhjavan at 844-9199 or wpbchs1@auburn.edu.
The College of Human Sciences’ Women’s Philanthropy Board will host its annual winter board meeting and luncheon, featuring Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. The activities will also include two concurrent career builder and networking for life workshops featuring various Women’s Philanthropy Board members and other professionals. Bodnar, who will discuss “Money Smart Strategies: Everything you need to know to Achieve a Lifetime of Financial Security,” is a nationally recognized expert in the field of children’s and family finances. A Business and Professions Expo will feature board members before and after the luncheon. More info: http://www.humsci.auburn.edu/wpb/files/bodnar_feb09.pdf

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 3:00 – 6:00 PM — PUBLIC MEETING: FEMA FLOODPLAIN MAPS & FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY UPDATE
Held in the City of Auburn Meeting Room, 122 Tichenor Avenue. (entrance on side of building, behind Cheeburger Cheeburger.) Open to all.
State officials will host this Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) community coordination meeting for the City of Auburn. Lee County is in the process of updating its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Floodplain Maps and Flood Insurance Study. The City of Auburn’s FEMA Floodplain Maps and Flood Insurance Study will also be updated as part of the countywide map modernization project. Printed copies of the proposed maps are available at the Development Services Building, 171 N. Ross Street. Maps will be available for public review Monday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Additional information about the FEMA project, and an Interactive Map which will help you determine if your property is located within FEMA’s proposed flood plain, is available online at www.auburnalabama.org/fema.
Additional info: City of Auburn Public Works Dept at 501-3000 or webpw@auburnalabama.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 3:00 pm — OPELIKA PLANNING COMMISSION
Held at 700 Fox Trail, Opelika Public Works bldg. Open to all.  www.opelika.org
Agenda includes:
A. PLATS (preliminary and prel. & final) – Public Hearing
1. Hillcrest S/D, First Addition, 1 lot, Frederick Road, Airview Heights Church, P/F approval
2. Smith-Murphree No. 2 S/D, First Addition, 1 lot, Airport Road, Robert G. Young, P/F approval
3. Clifford Heard S/D, 2 lots, Cunningham Drive, Clifford L. Heard, P/F approval
4. East Point Crossing S/D (formerly Stonegate S/D), 38 lots, Argo & Sons, LLC, P/F approval
B. CONDITIONAL USE
5. Jim Parker Family Properties, LLC, Frederick Road, C-3, GC-1, Construct Microtel hotel
6. Sonam Consulting, Gateway Drive, Construct Huddle House restaurant
7. Jesus Favela, 1706 Frederick Road, C-2, GC-2, Construct Durango Mexican restaurant
C. OTHER BUSINESS
8. Nancy Willingham, 13 Samford Avenue, C-3, GC-2, Review temporary conditional use permit approved on June 24, 2008

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 4:00 PM — ART LECTURE / ROBERT R. TAYLOR AND TUSKEGEE: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN ARCHITECT DESIGNS FOR BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Free & open to the public.  www.jscm.auburn.edu
Speaker: Dr. Ellen B. Weiss, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery.
Ellen B. Weiss will consider the work and career of architect Robert R. Taylor, an M.I.T. graduate who spent his career at Tuskegee designing buildings, developing campus infrastructure, supervising construction, and heading the boys’ industrial department with its twenty some trades divisions. Weiss will seek to deepen understanding of Booker T. Washington’s educational vision by examining the design and construction history of the campus. Weiss is Favrot Professor of the History of Architecture at Tulane University.
— The New Perspectives lecture series is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in Auburn University’s College of Liberal Arts and the Alabama Humanities Foundation, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The series is co-sponsored by the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, the Access and Community Initiatives unit of the Office of Diversity of Multicultural Affairs, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Auburn University and the Department of Art. After premiering in Auburn, the lectures will be offered in selected locations around the state. For dates and more information, go to www.auburn.edu/cah or call (334) 844-4946.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 5:00 PM – SOUL FOOD BAZAAR
Held in the ballroom, AU’s New Student Center Ballroom. Open to all.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 7:00 pm – AUBURN BIKE COMMITTEE www.auburnalabama.org/cycle/
Held in the conference room, Development Services Bldg, 171 N. Ross St. Open to all.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 7:00 PM — SAVE FREDONIA TOWN MEETING
Info: www.savefredonia.com
In response to the Chamber County Commission’s dissolution of their town charter, and established “to protect our rights as citizens of this community, and . . . make sure that our historic, rural town remains exactly the way it is,” the “Free Fredonia Community” was established by a large group of the town’s citizens committed to saving their hometown — Fredonia, Alabama. In addition to this town meeting, they will be holding various fundraisers, including one on April 18. For more info, including an event schedule and news articles, and/or to make a donation to their cause, go to www.savefredonia.com. Free Fredonia Community, Post Office Box 71, Five Points, AL 36855-0071, info@savefredonia.com.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, NOON – GREEN LUNCH / Sustainability Overview
Held in AU’s new Student Center, room 2218. Free & open to all.
Speakers: Matt Williams, Program Manager and Lindy Biggs, Director, AU Office of Sustainability
http://www.auburn.edu/projects/sustainability/newsletter/020909.html#anchor_0

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, 4:00 PM — New lecture series on multicultural understanding begins at Auburn University Feb. 25
Held in AU’s new Student Center, room 2223. Free & open to all. Reception to follow.
The first lecture in the new “Stone Lecture Series for Multicultural Understanding, Equality and Justice” will feature Cecile Coquet-Mokoko, a professor of American Culture and African American Studies at the University of Tours, France. She will present “Biracial Couples in France and the United States.” The lecture series is supported with an endowment funded by Janet and John Stone. A lectureship will be awarded annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to, or are conducting research in, the areas of cultural and racial understanding, equality and justice. More info: http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/758

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, 5:00 PM – WAYNE GREENHAW / DAVIS DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
Held in the auditorium, AU Hotel and Dixon Conf Center. Open to the public.
Alabama writer and prize-winning journalist Wayne Greenhaw will give The Neil and Henrietta Davis Distinguished Lecture presented by Auburn University’s Department of Communication and Journalism. The Davis Lecture Series was established in 1996 to honor the late Neil O. and Henrietta W. Davis and to encourage excellence in journalism. The series features distinguished journalists who can inspire students to follow the spirit and the principles embodied in the couple’s life and work. Greenhaw and Donnie Williams co-authored “The Thunder of Angels: The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the People who Broke the Back of Jim Crow,” which was published by Chicago Review Press in the fall of 2005. Born in north Alabama, Greenhaw has published 21 books of fiction and nonfiction. As a columnist and reporter, he has published hundreds of articles in regional, national and international publications including The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Reader’s Digest and The Writer. He has also written for stage and television and worked as an editor and writing teacher. For more information, visit the news release http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/730.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, 7:00 PM – ENVIRONMENTAL MOVIE: THE QUEEN OF TREES
Held at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (AUUF), 450 E. Thach. Free & open to all. Organic cookies provided.  www.auuf.org
Ordinary fig trees provide food and shelter for a multitude of species, small and large, and constitute an ecosystem all on their own. Fig trees have a special relationship with a tiny wasp (fig wasps or chalcids) that pushes its way into the green fig to pollinate the tree. Each species of fig tree has its own very special type of wasp. The filmmakers are taking us on an extraordinary journey to show us this symbiotic micro-cosmos and how every tiny aspect of life is truly interconnected. How can we make decisions to alter aspects of nature without understanding the implications that can have dramatic effects on the greater ecology? The documentary is very beautifully made (60 min). Don’t miss it!

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 through SATURDAY, FEB 28 – AU THEATRE / Into The Woods
Held on AU’s Telfair Peet Theatre Mainstage.
Performances: Feb. 25-28, at 7:30 PM
Tickets: 844-4154 (12-3 M-F) or http://media.cla.auburn.edu/theatre/boxoffice/index.cfm
“Careful the things you say, children will listen.”
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s masterful take on the Brothers Grimm and what happens after “happily ever after.” Weaving a number of Grimm’s fairy tales including “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Cinderella,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White” and “Rapunzel,” together with an original tale involving a childless baker and his wife, “Into the Woods” explores both the joys and the consequences of getting what you wish for. It’s a story about parents and children, winning and losing, and finding the courage to face up to life’s challenges secure in the knowledge that no one does so alone.

THURSDAY, FEB. 26, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm — CLEAN WATER PARTNERSHIP / TALLAPOOSA RIVER BASIN-WIDE MEETING
Held in the training room, Montgomery Water Works & Sewer Board, Mont. Free & open to all. Lunch provided. RSVP by Feb. 24 to: Dawn Stephens; Tallapoosa River Basin Coordinator; (334) 850-4429; dstephens1015@yahoo.com.
This is the quarterly meeting of the Tallapoosa River Basin Clean Water Partnership. All interested stakeholders are urged to attend and get involved! http://www.cleanwaterpartnership.org/alabama-river-basins/tallapoosa/ [PLACE editorial note: Our area is in the Lower Tallapoosa River Basin. This meeting includes that area, as it covers the entire Tallapoosa River Basin.]

THURSDAY, FEB. 26, noon – ART MUSEUM / A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC www.jscm.auburn.edu
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Free & open to all.
Enjoy lunch in the museum café or a walk through the galleries on Thursdays while the lovely sounds of local musicians echo through the museum. Sponsored by the Auburn Chamber Museum Society www.auburnchambermusic.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 26, 7:30 pm – AU THEATRE / Into The Woods (see details above)

FRIDAY, FEB. 27 – SUNDAY, MAR. 1 — 4TH ANNUAL UNIVERSITY HUNGER SUMMIT / Ending Hunger . . . Yes We Can!
Auburn University hosting fourth annual University Hunger Summit
Held at AU’s Hotel & Dixon Conference Center.
Conference registration is $100 and includes all meals from Friday evening through Sunday lunch. For more information, including a schedule of events and an online registration form, go to http://www.universitiesfightingworldhunger.org/2009summit.
Auburn University, on behalf of Universities Fighting World Hunger, will host the fourth annual University Hunger Summit. Partnered with the United Nation’s World Food Programme, Universities Fighting World Hunger is a coalition of more than 80 higher education institutions around the globe committed to implementing short-term grassroots approaches and long-term academic solutions to ending hunger. Among the attendees will be university students, faculty and administrators, as well as hunger activists from around the country. Summit highlights include keynote addresses by Congressman Spencer Bachus of Alabama; Jonathan Blum, Vice Chairman and President, Yum! Brands; and Alan Jury, Director of U.S. Relations, United Nations World Food Programme. The summit will also feature award-winning student initiatives focused on developing high-impact solutions to ending hunger and poverty; a panel of domestic and international humanitarian aid professionals; models for implementing and maintaining a grassroots student hunger initiative; disciplinary approaches to ending hunger; and journalistic techniques for conveying a hunger message.
—Lead sponsor for the summit is Yum! Brands. Yum!, the world’s largest restaurant company, is the parent organization of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The company recently pledged to raise and donate $80 million over the next five years to help the World Food Programme and other agencies provide 200 million meals for hungry school children in the developing world. Co-sponsors are the Alliance to End Hunger, the World Food Programme and Auburn University.

FRIDAY, FEB. 27, 7:00 pm – GNU BREW / POET MARVYN PETRUCCI
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay Street. Ph: 334-821-5550. Free & open to all. www.thegnusroom.com
Poet Marvyn Petrucci will read from his recently published chapbook, Pardon Me, Madam. Marvyn has read at the Gnu’s Room on several occasions and is always entertaining. NOTE: The Gnu’s Room offers a full line of coffee, expresso & teas.

FRIDAY, FEB. 27, 7:00 – 8:30 PM — COPLAND HOUSE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE www.jscm.auburn.edu
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Admission is free but seating is limited. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
The Copland House Chamber Ensemble is the acclaimed resident ensemble at Aaron Copland’s landmark New York home, now restored as a unique creative center for American music. The ensemble’s concerts take listeners on lively journeys across the musical landscape, imaginatively uniting past and present, American and non-American. The Copland House Chamber Ensemble has been engaged by some of America’s foremost concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Brandeis University, Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, Yaddo, and the Caramoor International, Cape Cod, and Bard Music Festivals. Special thanks to the Lethander family for sponsoring the evening’s performance.

FRIDAY, FEB. 27, 7:30 PM – MAGIC SHOW
Held at the AU Hotel and Conference Center. House opens at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door. No admittance after the show begins.

FRIDAY, FEB. 27, 7:30 pm – AU THEATRE / Into The Woods (see details above)

SATURDAY, FEB. 28 – ARBOR DAY CELEBRATION / CITY OF AUBURN www.auburnalabama.org
Details: TBA

SATURDAY, FEB. 28 — 4TH ANNUAL UNIVERSITY HUNGER SUMMIT (see details above)

SATURDAY, FEB. 28, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM – SPREAD THE GNU’S: BUY LOCAL / Fundraising benefit
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay St, Auburn. All are invited to attend!  www.thegnusroom.com
This fundraising benefit will feature a variety of community-based entertainment including music, poetry and prose readings, artists and actors, as well as a silent auction, bake sale, t-shirt sale, wine tasting and much more. All proceeds will go toward helping the Gnu’s Room keep its doors open for the community and to continue promoting literacy and the arts.
PLACE editorial note: The Gnu’s Room, a great local bookstore, tea & coffee café, & arts venue, is in danger of closing. In an effort to forestall this, friends of the Gnu’s Room have organized this benefit. Want the Gnu’s Room to stay open? Then join the fun on Feb. 28!

SATURDAY, FEB. 28, 7:30 pm – AU THEATRE / Into The Woods (see details above)

SATURDAY, FEB. 28, 7:30 PM – MAGIC SHOW
Held at the AU Hotel and Conference Center. House opens at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door. No admittance after the show begins.

SUNDAY, MAR. 1 — 4TH ANNUAL UNIVERSITY HUNGER SUMMIT (see details above)

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CITY OF AUBURN / CONSTRUCTION PROJECT STATUS REPORTS (updated weekly)
PUBLIC WORKS: www.auburnalabama.org/pw/status.asp
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: www.auburnalabama.org/wrm/status.asp
CITY OF AUBURN SURVEY – The City of Auburn’s annual citizens survey is underway. See details at 2009 Citizen Survey Underway. http://www.auburnalabama.org/news/2009/ocm020209.asp

CITY OF AUBURN Board Vacancies
• Metropolitan Planning Organization – Citizens Advisory Committee: Five vacancies will be filled at the March 3 City Council meeting.
• Commercial Development Authority (CDA): Two vacancies will be filled at the March 3 City Council meeting.
• Mental Health – Mental Retardation Board: Two vacancies will be filled at the March 24 City Council meeting.
• Library Board: One vacancy will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
• Historic Preservation Commission: Two vacancies will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
Citizens interested in serving are encouraged to contact their City Council member or notify the City Manager’s Office at webocm@auburnalabama.org or 501-7260.
Information on the city’s boards and commission is available online at http://www.auburnalabama.org/BoardsandCommissions/Boards.aspx.

ANONYMOUS REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Want to report info on ADEM, environmental violators or other environmental issues, but prefer to do it anonymously? You can do it via this website: http://www.enviro-lawyer.com/Contact.html.

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Thanks for your interest and support.
PLACE Forum

Email: placeforum@gmail.com

Web: http://placeforum.org/blog/

Feb. 23, 2009

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by Lisa Brouillette
[First published in the Opelika-Auburn News --  February 20, 2009]

Two of Auburn’s few remaining historic buildings — the Auburn Railroad Depot and the Ogletree-Wright-Ivey House — appear to be in danger of what is sadly but descriptively termed “demolition by neglect.” Both have strong historical, cultural and architectural significance.

The Ogletree-Wright-Ivey House sits at the intersection of Drake Avenue and North Gay Street and is “one of two surviving domestic structures owned and occupied by the original settlers of the village of Auburn.”

The Depot on Mitchum Avenue, in addition to its transportation role, “became a centerpiece of social, business and political culture. It has been the venue for many farewells, goodbyes, invasions, rivalries and celebrations.”

Recently both have been nominated for the Alabama Historical Commission’s “Places in Peril” designation. It is given to historically and/or architecturally significant structures that are in danger of demolition, either by intention or neglect. Such recognition could spur protection and preservation of these important landmarks in our cultural landscape.

Thanks are due to those who researched and nominated these structures. They include local resident and Alabama Historical Commission member Dr. Ralph Draughon Jr., the Auburn Historic Preservation Commission and Auburn Assistant Planning Director Carl Morgan. The Auburn Heritage Association and the Auburn Preservation League also lent their support.

Auburn’s history is still unfolding, heralded in the last few decades by expansion and development.

Unfortunately these factors have hastened the demise of many historic buildings, pressured our neighborhoods, substantially changed our area’s physical landscape, reduced our forestland cover, and loaded our streams with sediment.

The result is an informed public concern about the quality of our city’s growth and development.

A current focus of that concern is West Pace Village on Shell Toomer Parkway. Many regard it with skepticism and concern. I’m one of them.

Auburn City Council members’ recent comments about this project also show clear concerns and a consensus: no financial help from taxpayer dollars unless the project meets high standards secured by enforceable, legally binding agreements.

Further, they say there’ll be no such agreement until the developer presents sufficiently detailed marketing and development plans.

That’s a wise position and one likely to meet with taxpayer agreement.

So far, though, as shown by his actions, it has not met with the developer’s agreement.

His property still isn’t annexed into the city. The requested plans haven’t been presented. The proposed tax district and tax-sharing agreement have expired.

The developer could resolve this and raise his credibility with three simple actions.

Annex into the city. Willingly follow its regulations. Be a good neighbor to adjacent landowners.

We’re waiting, Mr. Developer. The next move is yours.

Lisa Brouillette is a community activist, editor, and writer. Contact her at placeforum@gmail.com or visit her website http://placeforum.org

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PLACE editorial note: Mark your calendar! Gnu’s Room fundraising benefit!   The Gnu’s Room, a great local bookstore, café, & arts venue, is scheduled to close soon, possibly at the end of this month. In an effort to forestall the closing, some friends of the Gnu’s Room have organized the benefit listed below.  Want the Gnu’s Room to stay open? Then join the fun on Feb. 28!

UPCOMING EVENT:
SATURDAY, FEB. 28, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM — SPREAD THE GNU’S / Fundraising benefit
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay St, Auburn.  All are invited to attend!
This fundraising benefit will feature a variety of community-based entertainment including music, poetry and prose readings, artists and actors, as well as a silent auction, bake sale, wine tasting and much more. All proceeds will go toward helping the Gnu’s Room keep its doors open for the community and to continue promoting literacy and the arts.

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ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATES:

These four items are excerpts from the Alabama Conservationist, an e-newsletter of Conservation Alabama (www.conservationalabama.org). Check out their site and its many new features.

Legislature starts with energy The Alabama State Legislature started their annual session with lots of energy last week. For two years, a Joint Legislative Committee on Energy Policy has been meeting and developing proposals for moving the energy agenda forward in Alabama. During the first week of the session, several bills from the energy package passed out of House committees. This week, a handful of the bills were passed by the full House. The energy bills include research around biofuels and fossil fuel energy, tax rebates for energy efficiency, and a sales tax holiday on Energy Star appliances. Conservation Alabama is watching these and other conservation-related legislation on our weekly Conservation Hot List. Beginning Monday and each week when the legislature is in session, you can see a summary of legislation we are following on our website.

Felker resigns from EMC Dr. Kathleen Felker, a radiologist from Huntsville, resigned from the Alabama Environmental Management Commission in January. Her resignation comes 18 months before her term expires. She was appointed by Governor Bob Riley in 2005 after a successful campaign by the ADEM Reform Coalition to push for gender and geographic diversity on the Commission.  With Felker’s departure, that leaves one vacant seat and two other expired terms on the EMC. Scott Phillips’ (water well-driller) and Ken Hairston’s (attorney) terms expired on September 30, 2008, but Riley has yet to name replacements. If neither are reappointed, that would mean less gender, racial, and geographic diversity on the EMC, making the Commission devoid of anyone from Mobile, Huntsville, and Birmingham.

Quarry quandary With the resignation of Dr. Felker from the EMC, quarry warriors are wondering whether or not they will have a champion on the issue at the EMC.   Last fall, Felker pushed the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to study quarries and what the department can do to address citizen concerns and complaints. This was the first major movement by the Commission to address this issue. At the December meeting of the EMC, Director Trey Glenn provided preliminary results of the department’s study and the Commission voted for Director Glenn to proceed with further study for the April 17 meeting of the EMC.  While it is uncertain if ADEM and the EMC will proceed on the quarry studies, Conservation Alabama is working with state legislators to again introduce a bill that would give county governments the ability to approve or deny the siting of quarry based on certain criteria. While there are some issues ADEM can address on quarries, ultimately citizens must have a voice in what is happening in their communities.

The Alabama Conservationist blog is back! (And other web fun) After nearly a year hiatus, the Alabama Conservationist blog has returned to the web.  You can get more in-depth reports about the legislature each Friday when Jeff Martin gives his recap. During the week, Lindsay Waits and Adam Snyder will talk about the upcoming week and more analysis of legislation and other pressing conservation issues of the day. We have received several requests over the past few months to get the blog revved up again, and we are happy to oblige.  We’ve established a Facebook page and you can follow us on Twitter.  Please contact us if you have any questions or ideas about how we can stay better connected with you.

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The following items excerpted from the AU Office of Sustainability e-newsletter. See the full newsletter at:
http://www.auburn.edu/projects/sustainability/newsletter/020909.html#anchor_0

Alabama Water Watch Workshops
Alabama Water Watch is offering a series of workshops starting February. The workshops will be conducted in Upchurch Hall, Auburn University and participants can receive a certificate which carries Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credit with the university.
For more details on the workshops visit: Alabama Water Watch . To pre-register go to: Workshop registration or contact Rita Grubb at Ph: 334-844-4785.

Water Conservation Tools & Toolkits
Alabama Clean Water Partnership is offering free water conservation tool kits for residents of Alabama. Just visit the website below and receive the following:

• Leak Detection Tablets
• Toilet Displacement Bag
• 5-minute Shower Timer
• Lawn Watering Gauge
• Drops and Watts” information booklet from Legacy, Partners in Environmental Education
• Rain Gauge

Auburn sits at the intersection of the Chattahoochee and Tallapoosa River watersheds. Information required for application form. Clean Water Partnership free toolkit

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GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE / SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT
A former EPA leader touts the advantages of using green infrastructure for sustainable wastewater management
G. Tracy Mehan, III, former assistant administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, spoke before the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Mehan currently is an environmental consultant at The Cadmus Group, Inc.
The date was Feb. 4 and the topic was sustainable wastewater management.
Portions of his testimony, which he said reflect only his views, follow:
Let me start by describing the results from a study done in the area of source water protection (SWP), a concept derived from the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act but analogous to the concept of watershed protection under the Clean Water Act.
The Land
The idea behind SWP is to prevent contamination of drinking water supplies as part of a multibarrier approach which includes treatment. Increasingly, land conservation is seen as a fundamental part of source water protection. In fact, funds for land purchases can be obtained from the State Revolving Loan Funds for drinking water.
A study of 27 water suppliers conducted by the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) in 2002 found that more forest cover in a watershed results in lower treatment costs. For every 10 percent increase in forest cover in the source area, treatment and chemical costs decreased approximately 20 percent.
Almost 50 to 55 percent of the variation in treatment costs can be explained by the percentage of forest cover in the source area.
In other words, the natural infrastructure, if you will, is a least-cost approach to protecting water quality that can generate multiple benefits such as habitat, carbon sequestration, and aesthetics. Utilizing such green or natural infrastructure means less hard or gray infrastructure and reduced energy intensity, too.   . . . .
To read the full article, go to: http://www.wwn-online.com/articles/70731

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MEETINGS & EVENTS : WEEK OF FEB. 16, 2009

MONDAY, FEB. 16, 3:00 PM – LECTURE: SOCIAL DARWINISM
Held in AU’s Rouse Life Sciences Bldg, room 112. Free & open to all.
Speaker: Guy Beckwith (AU History Department)
This event is part of a semester-long celebration of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species by Natural Selection.” The Darwin Celebration is sponsored by AU’s College of Science and Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts, and the Outreach Committee of the Department of Biological Sciences.  Its purpose is to present Darwin’s ideas and their impact on diverse disciplines for general audiences in a friendly, clear, accurate, non-proselytizing way.

MONDAY, FEB. 16, 7:00 pm – LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF EAST ALABAMA / PUBLIC TRANSIT IN LEE COUNTY AND ALABAMA
Held at the East Alabama Health Resource Center. Open to all.  Refreshments provided.
Topic: Public Transit in Lee County and Alabama.
Speakers: Lisa Sandt and Nancy Ekberg.
Lisa Sandt, Director of Planning and Economic Development for Lee-Russell Council of Governments (LRCOG),  will describe the Lee County options. Sandt is responsible for overseeing programs in the areas of grant writing and administration, transportation planning, small business loans, emergency management and community planning, public transit and coordinated transportation.
Nancy Ekberg will discuss public transit  from the state perspective.  Ekberg, a LWV Birmingham board member and former LWV of Alabama board member, serves on the Steering Committee of the newly formed Alabama Transit Coalition as well as the Black Belt Action Committee’s Transportation Committee. She is also currently the Communications Chair for Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform (ACCR) and Chair of the Birmingham Region for ACCR Inc. She reminds us,” As we all know, transportation, or lack of it, can be traced back to this 1901 Constitution.”

MONDAY, FEB. 16, 7:30 PM – FREE CONCERT:  THE TASMAN STRING QUARTET
Held in AU’s Goodwin Hall.  Free & open to the public. Reception to follow concert.
The Tasman String Quartet, New Zealand’s youngest full-time professional chamber ensemble, will perform a free public concert in conjunction with the quartet’s month-long residency, Feb. 15 through March 15, in the Department of Music in Auburn’s College of Liberal Arts. Quartet members will serve as guest faculty and also give performances and workshops in schools and communities including Huntsville, Tuskegee, Opelika, Mobile, Gorham’s Bluff at Pisgah and the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. More info: http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/711.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, NOON – JAMES W. PORTER / Butterflies and Climate Change in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica
Held in AU’s new Student Center, room 2222. Free & open to all. Tropical moth/butterfly collection on display at the talk.
Speaker: James W. Porter, Meigs Professor of Ecology, UGA
Renowned ecologist James Porter will talk about the work he does with student researchers on butterflies and the effects of climate change in Costa Rica. On display at the talk will be an extensive collection of unique and exquisite tropical Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) from high elevation cloud forests. Porter, who received his PhD from Yale, has spent his career studying the ecologies of the Floridian and Caribbean coral reefs, as well as the cloud forests of Monteverde, near UGA’s Costa Rica campus. An expert on the effects of climate change on wildlife, he has testified before Congress five times, most recently on the effects of global warming on coral reefs.  In addition to their study of butterflies in Costa Rica, his group also discovered one of the rarest swallowtails in the world in a newly reforested area. The discovery, he said, “is giving Costa Rican conservationists hope that their ambitious carbon sequestration program will protect some of the rarest wildlife on the planet as well as the earth’s atmosphere.”  http://www.auburn.edu/projects/sustainability/newsletter/020909.html#anchor_0

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, 4:00 PM –   ART LECTURE / P.H. POLK’S IMAGES OF ALABAMA
Held at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Free & open to the public.
Speaker: Dr. Amalia K. Amaki.
Dr. Amaki will discuss the life and work of photographer Prentice Herman Polk, who was both a studio photographer and the official Tuskegee University photographer for 50 years. His camera captured campus and community life as well as visiting dignitaries and local residents in hundreds of images. His work is a singular record of place and the Southern experiences of African Americans from the late 1920s until the early 1980s. Amaki is a professor of art history and curator of the Paul R. Jones Collection at the University of Alabama. The event is part of the annual New Perspectives lecture series, sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities the College of Liberal Arts.  More info: http://www.auburn.edu/cah or call 844-4946.

TUESDAY, FEB 17, 4:30 PM – SENATOR SHELBY LEE COUNTY VISIT / PUBLIC COMMENT-Q&A
Held in the Auburn City Council Chambers, 141 N. Ross St. Open to the public. Public comment period to follow Sen. Shelby’s comments.
Info:  http://www.auburnalabama.org/news/2009/ocm021009.asp
Senator Richard Shelby (R – Ala) will join the residents of Lee County for a county. The visit is open to the public and members of the media are encouraged to attend. During his visit, Senator Shelby will discuss his legislative agenda for the 111th Congress as well as important issues facing the nation and the State of Alabama. Following his remarks, Senator Shelby will open the floor to questions and comments from citizens in attendance. For more information, contact the Office of the Auburn City Manager at 501-7260.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, 4:30 PM – LEE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COORDINATING COMMITTEE
Held at the old Johnson Gallery building located behind the County Courthouse in Opelika. Open to all.  Info: Wendy Swann, Governmental Relations Coordinator, Lee County Commission, (334) 737-3674, wswann@leeco.us. More info: http://www.leeco.us/masterplan/

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, 6:00 – 9:00 PM  — JCSM Dinner and a Movie
6:00 – 7:30 pm / dinner
7:30 pm / movie
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Film showing is free & open to all. Reservations & fee required for dinner prior to film.  www.jcsm.auburn.edu
Member of the Club: A New Orleans Cinderella Story with Phoebe Ferguson, director.
This documentary tells the story of a debutante who has been groomed to be a New Orleans Mardi Gras Queen since she was an infant. Member of the Club uses the story of Marisa Mitchell to explore black social clubs of the South, as well as issues of race, class and the powerful desire of an American family to belong.
—The Museum Cafe is offering a delicious dinner before the film. Dinner will be $15 per person and will be served from 6-7:30 pm. Reservations are required. Please call the Museum Cafe at 334.844.7016 or 334.844.3085 to make your reservation.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, 6:30 PM – LEE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COORDINATING COMMITTEE / Facilitator Training Session
Held at the old Johnson Gallery building located behind the County Courthouse in Opelika. Open to all.  Info: Wendy Swann, Governmental Relations Coordinator, Lee County Commission, (334) 737-3674, wswann@leeco.us.  More info: http://www.leeco.us/masterplan/

TUESDAY, FEB. 17  – OPELIKA CITY COUNCIL www.opelika.org/
6:30 pm – work session / 7:00 PM – regular meeting
Held in the council chambers, 204 South 7^th Street, Opelika.  Open to all.
Work session agenda: http://www.opelika.org/Default.asp?ID=170
Regular session  agenda: http://www.opelika.org/Default.asp?ID=169

TUESDAY, FEB. 17 – AUBURN CITY COUNCIL
Committee of the Whole:  6:55 pm / Regular meeting: 7:00 pm
Held in the council chambers, 141 N. Ross St.. Open to all. Agenda & full packet: www.auburnalabama.org/agenda/
Agenda includes:
6. AUBURN UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS.
7. CITIZENS’ COMMUNICATIONS.
8. CITY MANAGER’S COMMUNICATIONS. City Manager Duggan.
a. Announcement of Board Vacancy. Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board. One Position. Six Year Term Expires March 31, 2015. Appointment at the March 24, 2009 Meeting.
9. ORDINANCES.
a. Traffic Control Signs and Devices. Establish Stop Signs, Speed Limit Signs, and Yield Signs. Barkley Crest Subdivision (5), Tutton Hill Subdivision (5), East Lake Phase 2 Subdivision (7), and Solamere Subdivision (9). Repeal Ordinance No. 2592 adopted January 20, 2009. Unanimous Consent Necessary.
10. RESOLUTIONS.
a. SGA Representatives. Mike Geeslin and Haviland Milling. Commendation.
b. Auburn Arts Association and Auburn Downtown Merchants Association c/o Auburn Chamber of Commerce. Close City Streets. SummerNight Art Walk and Sidewalk Sale.
c. Industrial Development Board. Weidmann Plastics Technology North America, Inc. 204 Enterprise Drive. Tax Abatement Extension.
d. Agreements and Contracts. Authorize Mayor and City Manager to Sign.
(1) Agreements.
(a) Environmental Services Department. Waste Away Group, Inc. Solid Waste Disposal Services. Lowest Responsible Bidder. Public Hearing Required.
(b) City of Auburn, Auburn University, Cleveland Real Estate Investments and Scott Land Company, Inc. Bent Creek West Sewer – Phase II Project.
(2) Contracts.
(a) Public Works Department. D & J Enterprises, Inc. Hamilton Road Resurfacing Project. $28,652.
(b) Water Resource Management Department.
(1) Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Inc. Professional Engineering Services for Surveying, Design and Bid Services. Choctafaula Interceptor Sewer Phase II Project. Amendment 1. $23,200.
(2) Public Resources Management Group, Inc. Professional Services. Wastewater Rate Study. Amendment 1. $11,700.
(3) Civil Design and Consulting, Inc. Professional Engineering Services. Bent Creek West Sewer – Phase II Project. $17,930.
e. Drainage and Utility Easement and Corrective Drainage and Utility Easements. Choctafaula interceptor Sewer Phase II Project. Acceptance and Settlement forValue Lost.
(1) Lance Carroll and Rita Jeannine Eddins. 575 Talheim Drive. Drainage and Utility Easement. Settlement of $174.24 for Value Lost.
(2) Corrective Drainage and Utility Easements.
(a) Henry C. and Shirley G. Helmke. 400 Kuderna Acres.
(b) Martha T. Rogers. 500 Kuderna Acres.
11. OTHER BUSINESS.
12. ADJOURNMENT.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, 7:00 PM – UNITY STEP SHOW EXPO
Held on the concourse of AU’s new Student Center.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18, 7:30 – 9:00 AM – LEE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COORDINATING COMMITTEE / Facilitator Training Session
Held at the old Johnson Gallery building located behind the County Courthouse in Opelika. Open to all.  Info: Wendy Swann, Governmental Relations Coordinator, Lee County Commission, (334) 737-3674, wswann@leeco.us. More info: http://www.leeco.us/masterplan/

WEDNESDAY, FEB, 18, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM  — AUBURN BEAUTIFICATION COUNCIL (ABC)
Held at the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, 714 E. Glenn Ave. Open to all interested in keeping Auburn beautiful. Lunch is provided.  http://www.auburnbeautification.org/

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18, NOON — AUBURN HERITAGE ASSOCIATION BOARD (AHA)
Held at Pebble Hill (Caroline Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities).
Members are encouraged and invited to attend.  www.auburnheritage.org

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18,  6:00 pm  –  LEE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CLUB
Held at the Elks Club, 1944 Opelika Road.  All are welcome.
6:00 pm — buffet dinner ($9.00; tax and tip included)
6:50 pm – Program:  Jim Spearman Executive Director, Alabama Democratic Party.
Jim Spearman is the Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party.  He will speak  on the use of the Internet and computerized voter files in campaigning.
Jim has served as Executive Director since 2005.  In addition, he is serving in his third term as Vice Chair of the Alabama Democratic Party for County Affairs.  Jim is a native of Lamar County, Alabama, in northwest Alabama and where he learned the Democratic values that guide him in his everyday life and his public service.  He served as Chairman of the Lamar County Democratic Executive Committee for 18 years.  His service to the Alabama Democratic Party led to him being named as the 2004 political director for the Alabama for Kerry Campaign and also in that capacity for Gen. Wes Clark in 2003 and early 2004.  In 2004 he was honored with a lifetime membership in the Alabama Young Democrats. Jim is a graduate of Auburn University with degrees in Political Science and Health Administration and is a rabid Auburn fan.  He is active in various civic groups, First United Methodist Church of Vernon, and president of Spearman & Associates.

THURSDAY, FEB. 19,  9:30 am – 1:30 pm  — WORKSHOP:  Woody Biomass / Alabama’s Renewable Energy Source Workshop
Held at the CHS Building, 204 E. 19^th Street, Jasper, AL.
Info: Katherine Patton at 205/384-0606 or 387-1879 or kpattonwalkersoil@gmail.com
Agenda:
09:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:20 Welcome / Steve Cauthen, Executive Director, Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Districts,
10:20 – 10:40 Introduction of Topic / Charles Holmes, Chairman, National Association of Conservation Districts – Forestry Committee
10:40 – 11:20 Mega Trends in Forestry / Jim Jeter, BMP Coordinator/Hardwood Specialist, Alabama Forestry Commission,
11:20 – 11:40 Break
11:40 – 12:00 Logging Debris Utilization / Daniel Hogue, Forester, American Forest Management,
12:00 – 12:20 Biomass Co-Firing Process / Cindy Ragland, District Ranger, Talladega National Forest
12:20 – 12:40 Wood Chips to Electricity / Mark Hall, Regional Agent, ACES
12:40 – 01:00 Pre-Commercial Thinning / Tim Albritton, State Staff Forester, USDA-NRCS Cost Share Assistance
01:00 – 01:20 Open Discussion / Dorman Grace, Chairman, Walker County Soil &Water Conservation District
01:30 Biomass Session adjourns / Katherine Patton, DAC, Walker County Soil & Water Conservation District
Special Event:  1:35 Champion Tree Dedication American elm (On site at 1608 5th Ave. in front of Diane’s Formal Affair)  All are invited!
This workshop is hosted by the Walker County Soil and Water Conservation with grant funding from the Bradley/Murphy Forestry Natural Resources Extension Trust grant.

THURSDAY, FEB. 19, noon – ART MUSEUM / A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Free & open to all.
Enjoy lunch in the museum café on Thursdays while the lovely sounds of local musicians echo through the museum. Sponsored by the Auburn Chamber Museum Society.

THURSDAY, FEB. 19, 4:00 pm – AUBURN WATER WORKS BOARD
Held in the Water Resource Management Conference Room, 1501 West Samford Avenue (Shug Jordan and West Samford). Info: 501-3060.
The Board meets on the 1st Thursday after the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

THURSDAY, FEB. 19, 4:00 – 5:00 PM —- U.S. REP. MIKE ROGERS / CONGRESS ON YOUR CORNER - Meet & greet with citizens
Held at the Piggly Wiggly, 1515 2nd Avenue, Opelika. The public is invited to attend.
Citizens are encouraged to come “meet and greet” with Rogers to voice your concerns.
http://www.opelika.org/Default.asp?ID=16&action=view&nid=355

THURSDAY, FEB. 19, 4:00 pm — OPELIKA PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION
Held at 700 Fox Trail, Opelika Public Works bldg. Open to all. www.opelika.org
Agenda includes:
A.    PLATS (preliminary and prel. & final) – Public Hearing
1.     Hillcrest S/D, First Addition, 1 lot, Frederick Road, Airview Heights Church, P/F approval
2.     Smith-Murphree No. 2 S/D, First Addition, 1 lot, Airport Road, Robert G. Young, P/F approval
3.     Clifford Heard S/D, 2 lots, Cunningham Drive, Clifford L. Heard, P/F approval
4.     East Point Crossing S/D (formerly Stonegate S/D), 38 lots, Argo & Sons, LLC, P/F approval
B.   CONDITIONAL USE
5.    Jim Parker Family Properties, LLC, Frederick Road, C-3, GC-1, Construct Microtel hotel
6.    Sonam Consulting, Gateway Drive, Construct Huddle House restaurant
7.    Jesus Favela, 1706 Frederick Road, C-2, GC-2, Construct Durango Mexican restaurant
C.  OTHER BUSINESS
8.  Nancy Willingham, 13 Samford Avenue, C-3, GC-2, Review temporary conditional use permit approved on June 24, 2008

THURSDAY, FEB. 19, 6:00 – SAVE OUR SAUGAHATCHEE (SOS) / Alternative sources of water… A better approach
Held in AU’s Comer Hall auditorium, 2nd floor (stairs only; not handicapped accessible).
All are welcome. Refreshments served at 6:00 pm; program begins 6:30 pm.
Speaker:  Scott Kubiszyn, from Nature’s Tap http://naturestap.com in Birmingham.
Mr. Kubiszyn will discuss water conservation, how citizens can be part of the solution,and how Nature’s Tap can assist them. While many parts of the country and the world have an approaching water crisis, we have shunned centuries-old and natural practices of collecting water and using it at the source. In the process we are damaging our watersheds, stealing from our water tables, consuming tremendous amounts of energy, and using unnecessary resources. Come hear about practical solutions and new technologies that are emerging to reuse greywater and capture rainwater and stormwater as alternative sources of water for our non-potable needs. Find out how a local school is planning a rainwater harvesting system that will act as a community demonstration site, while reducing the school’s dependence on potable water, and reducing runoff and nonpoint source pollution into the creek that runs right behind the school through a partnership involving the school, Nature’s Tap and SWaMP. Event sponsored by Save Our Saugahatchee (S.O.S.) and the Saugahatchee Watershed Management Plan (SWaMP, a watershed project funded by ADEM and coordinated from the AU Fisheries Department). Info: Eric Reutebuch (334-844-1163; reeutem@auburn.edu) or Wendy Seesock (seesowc@auburn.edu).

THURSDAY, FEB. 19, 7:00 – 8:0 PM — AN EVENING WITH DR. MICHAEL ERIC DYSON
Held in AU’s new Student Center Ballroom. Free & open to all.
Hailed as one of the nation’s most inspiring African Americans, Michael Eric Dyson has been credited with revitalizing the role of the public intellectual with the fervor of an ordained Baptist minister.  Infusing intellectual thought with popular culture, Dyson focuses on topics of interest to the public.  He eloquently melds scholarly insight with the phenomena of contemporary culture, emphasizing their interconnectedness and force in shaping our society.   Dyson bridges gaps between generations, connecting civil rights identity to hip-hop culture while  forging links between older and younger Americans, especially black Americans. As a cutting edge historian, he educates the general public on the significance of hip-hop, not only in understanding black culture, but American culture as well. With his powerful voice, Dyson reaches beyond race,  addressing the universal commonality of American concerns.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20, 10:00 – 11:30 AM — PROJECT ON CIVIC REFLECTION http://www.civicreflection.org/
Held via conference call and online.  Free & open to anyone interested.
RSVP by Feb. 18 to receive conference call instructions; contact Mark Wilson at 334-844-4948 or mwilson@auburn.edu.
Are you interested in helping your community talk more comfortably about values, think more deeply about choices, and respond more imaginatively to pressing needs? Join this online introduction to the Project on Civic Reflection with director Dr. Elizabeth Lynn. The meeting will take place via conference call and online at https://connect.auburn.edu/cah.  For over ten years, the Project on Civic Reflection has helped civic groups build capacity, commitment and community through discussion of short readings from a variety of genres — classic and modern — as a means of reflecting on basic questions at the heart of their giving, service and leadership.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20, 10:00 AM – ALABAMA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION (EMC) – Rulemaking committee
Held in the Alabama Room (Main Hearing Room), ADEM Building, 1400 Coliseum Boulevard , Mont. Ph: 334-271-7706. Open to all.
Agenda includes:
1. Consideration of minutes of meeting held on January 9, 2009**
2. Discussion and consideration of resolution to recommend to the full Commission for adoption – The Committee will discuss and consider the following resolution to recommend to the full Commission for adoption: Should a Commission member request the Director to take any action, the Director shall immediately notify the Commission’s Chair for direction with regard to resolution of the matter.  The Chair shall report the disposition of the matter at the next regularly-scheduled Commission meeting.
3. Discussion and consideration of Commission rules of conduct to recommend to the full Commission for potential rulemaking – The Committee will discuss a compilation of comments from Commission members on standards of conduct for the Commission and consider recommending rules of conduct to the full Commission for potential rulemaking.
4. Other business
* The Agenda for this meeting will be available on the ADEM website, www.adem.alabama.gov, under EMC Information and Calendar of Events.
** The Minutes for this meeting will be available on the ADEM website under EMC Information.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20, 11:00 AM – ALABAMA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
Held in the Abama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) Building, Alabama Room (Main Hearing Room), 1400 Coliseum Boulevard, Mont. Ph: 334-271-7706. Open to all.
Agenda includes:
1. Consideration of minutes of meeting held on December 12, 2008**
2. Report from the Director
3. Report from the Commission Chair
4. Report from the Rulemaking Committee
5. Consideration of adoption of proposed amendments to the Division 3 – Air Regulations –    The Commission will consider proposed amendments to the Division 3 – Air Regulations.  The Department proposes to amend ADEM Administrative Code Rules 335-3-5-.06, 335-3-5-.07, 335-3-5-.11, 335-3-5-.13, 335-3-5-.14, 335-3-8-.16, 335-3-8-.17, 335-3-8-.18, 335-3-8-.21, 335-3-8-.23, 335-3-8-.25, 335-3-8-.30, 335-3-8-.32, and 335-3-18-.01, and delete Rules 335-3-21-.01, 335-3-21-.02, 335-3-21-.03, 335-3-21-.04, 335-3-21-.05, 335-3-21-.06, and 335-3-21-.07.  The Department held a public hearing on the proposed amendments on December 10, 2008.
6. Consideration of adoption of proposed addition to the Division 6 – Water Quality Regulations (NPDES-Related Matter) – The Commission will consider the proposed addition of a new chapter 335-6-13 – Financial Assurance Requirements for Privately-Owned Sewage Treatment Systems.  The purpose of adding this new chapter to the division 335-6 Code is to prevent the discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage by certain privately-owned sewage treatment works lacking adequate resources to operate, maintain, repair or upgrade the treatment works or sewage collection system.  The Department held a public hearing on the proposed amendments on January 7, 2009.
7. Consideration of adoption of proposed amendments to the Division 14 – Hazardous Waste Regulations –     The Commission will consider proposed amendments to the Division 14 – Hazardous Waste Regulations.  The Department proposes to amend ADEM Administrative Code chapters 335-14 chapter 335-14-1 to 335-14-8, 335-14-11, and 335-14-17.  The Department held a public hearing on the proposed amendments on December 11, 2008.
8. Utilities Board of the City of Andalusia v. ADEM, EMC Docket No. 08-06 (NPDES-Related Matter) – The Commission will consider a “Joint Motion to Dismiss of the Utilities Board of Andalusia and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management” in this appeal concerning the Utilities Board of the City of Andalusia, Andalusia Riverside Wastewater Treatment Facility, NPDES Permit AL0055417, Covington County.
9. Other business
10. Future business session
* The Agenda for this meeting will be available on the ADEM website, www.adem.alabama.gov, under EMC Information and Calendar of Events.
** The Minutes for this meeting will be available on the ADEM website under EMC Information.

SATURDAY, FEB. 21, 2:00 – 6:00 PM —- GEE’S BEND QUILTERS / BOOK SIGNING & QUILT DISPLAY
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay Street, Auburn.  Free & open to all. www.thegnusroom.com
The Gee’s Bend Quilters have a new book featuring many of their unique folk art quilts. Quilts will be on display during the signing along with other art pieces. www.geesbend.net

SATURDAY, FEB. 21, 2:00 PM — CURSES, CONJURE & JOHN THE CONQUEROR: Folk Magic In Alabama
Held at the Auburn Public Library. Free & open to all.  Speaker: Dr. Alan Brown

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UPCOMING EVENT:
TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 3:00 – 6:00 PM — PUBLIC MEETING: FEMA FLOODPLAIN MAPS & FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY UPDATE
Held in the City of Auburn Meeting Room, 122 Tichenor Avenue.  Open to the public.
Lee County is in the process of updating its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Floodplain Maps and Flood Insurance Study. The City of Auburn’s FEMA Floodplain Maps and Flood Insurance Study will also be updated as part of the countywide map modernization project. State officials will host a Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) community coordination meeting for the City of Auburn.
Printed copies of the proposed maps are available at the Development Services Building, 171 N. Ross Street. Maps will be available for public review Monday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Additional information about the FEMA project, as well as an Interactive Map which will help you determine if your property is located within FEMA’s proposed flood plain, is available online at www.auburnalabama.org/fema. You may also contact the City of Auburn Public Works Department by phone at 501-3000 or by e-mail at webpw@auburnalabama.org for answers to your questions.  Additional information regarding the study and the public meeting is available in the February 2009 issue of Open Line and on the City’s website at www.auburnalabama.org/fema. More info: City of Auburn Public Works Department at 501-3000.

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CITY OF AUBURN / CONSTRUCTION PROJECT STATUS REPORTS (updated weekly)
PUBLIC WORKS: www.auburnalabama.org/pw/status.asp
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: www.auburnalabama.org/wrm/status.asp
CITY OF AUBURN SURVEY – The City of Auburn’s annual citizens survey is underway. See details at 2009 Citizen Survey Underway. http://www.auburnalabama.org/news/2009/ocm020209.asp

CITY OF AUBURN Board Vacancies
• Metropolitan Planning Organization – Citizens Advisory Committee: Five vacancies will be filled at the March 3 City Council meeting.
• Commercial Development Authority (CDA): Two vacancies will be filled at the March 3 City Council meeting.
• Mental Health – Mental Retardation Board: Two vacancies will be announced at the February 17 City Council meeting and will be filled at the March 24 meeting.
• Library Board: One vacancy will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
• Historic Preservation Commission: Two vacancies will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
Citizens interested in serving are encouraged to contact their City Council member or notify the City Manager’s Office at webocm@auburnalabama.org or 501-7260.
Information on the city’s boards and commission is available online at http://www.auburnalabama.org/BoardsandCommissions/Boards.aspx.

ANONYMOUS REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Want to report info on ADEM, environmental violators or other environmental issues, but prefer to do it anonymously? You can do it via this website: http://www.enviro-lawyer.com/Contact.html.

** ** ** ** **

Thanks for your interest and support.
PLACE Forum

Email: placeforum@gmail.com
Web:  http://placeforum.org/blog/

Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009

Comments Off

ACTION ALERTS:
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM BILL TO BE INTRODUCED
This Tuesday, Feb. 10, a Joint Resolution to Let the People Vote – to call a Constitution Convention to rewrite the 1901 Alabama Constitution — will be introduced by Speaker Pro Tem Demetrius Newton in the House of Representatives and by Senator Ted Little.
What can you do? Call your state representative and state senator today while they are in their home district or call them at the State House office and ask them to support the resolution to Let the People Vote on the question of calling a Constitution Convention. Contact information for your individual legislator can be found at www.legislature.state.al.us. Please also forward this information to your friends and family and ask them to call their legislators as well. The Joint Resolutions are the same as the bills that have been offered by the sponsors for the past three years. More info: http://www.constitutionalreform.org/

PHYSICIAN PAYMENTS SUNSHINE ACT REINTRODUCED
On January 22, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) reintroduced the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (S. 2029) requiring all drug, biologic and medical device manufacturers to report gifts and payments made to physicians. These “transfers of value” would then be registered in a national and publicly accessible online database. . . . contact Senators Shelby (202-224-5744, senator@shelby.senate.gov) and Sessions (202-224-4124) and ask them to cosponsor S. 2029.
Excerpted from a Columbus Ledger-Enquirer letter-to-the-editor written by John Frandsen. To read the entire letter, go to http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/172/story/594705.html.

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MONDAY, FEB. 9, noon- AUBURN PLANNING COMMISSION PACKET MEETING (AGENDA DISCUSSION)
Held in the conference room, Development Services Bldg, 171 N. Ross St. Open to all.
Agenda & full packet: www.auburnalabama.org/pc/agenda.asp
[Planning Commission regular meeting on Thursday, 5:00 pm, see details below.]
Agenda includes:
CITIZENS’ COMMUNICATION
OLD BUSINESS
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Stonewood Farm Subdivision, Redivision of Lots 65-70 PL-2009-00025
Applicant: Jones and Minear Homebuilders, LLC
General Location: East of North College Street and north of East Farmville Road
Zoning District: Development District Housing (DDH)
Action Requested: Revised final plat approval for a 6 lot conventional residential subdivision
2. Stonehaven at The Preserve PL-2009-00066
Applicant: Stonehaven Development L.L.C. and Maxwell Engineering and Land
Surveying, Inc. for The Preserve, L.L.C. (Jerry Johnson)
General Location: Within The Preserve PDD, adjacent to The Preserve Phases 1A and 1D and east of Conservation Drive
Zoning District: Planned Development District (PDD) with Development District Housing (DDH) underlying
Action Requested: Revised final plat approval for a 24 lot conventional residential subdivision
[PLACE editorial note: Approx 18 lots in this plat are subject to the following comment by city staff re: possible sewer backflow issues: All lots with finish floor elevations that are not at least 12-inches above the nearest manhole rim elevation shall be individually identified on the plat as having potential backflow issues. Note 10 should read as follows: "The indicated lots have potential backflow issues due to the finish floor elevation being less than 12-inches above the nearest upstream manhole rim elevation. These lots are required to have backflow prevention devices installed on the customer's service line. The property owners, successors and assigns for each lot of record as indicated shall be fully responsible for the maintenance and repair of this backflow prevention device and shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the City of Auburn for any backflows that occur due to improper maintenance, use, repairs or omittance of this device".]
NEW BUSINESS
3. Charleston Place Subdivision, Redivision of Lots 43-49 PUBLIC HEARING PL-2009-00028
Applicant: Hope W. Shannon
General Location: On the west side of Carolina Court
Zoning District: Development District Housing (DDH)
Action Requested: Preliminary plat approval for a 4-lot performance residential subdivision (lot consolidation of 7 lots into 4 lots)
4. Charleston Place Subdivision, Redivision of Lots 43-49 PL-2009-00029
Applicant: Hope W. Shannon
General Location: On the west side of Carolina Court
Zoning District: Development District Housing (DDH)
Action Requested: Final plat approval for a 4-lot performance residential subdivision (lot consolidation of 7 lots into 4 lots)
5. Tuscany Hills Subdivision Amenity Lot PUBLIC HEARING PL-2009-00026
Applicant: McIntyre Building Company
General Location: 107 Tuscany Hills Drive
Zoning District: Development District Housing (DDH)
Action Requested: Recommendation to City Council for conditional use approval for a subdivision amenity (swimming pool and restroom facility)
6. Donahue Crossing Church PUBLIC HEARING PL-2009-00031
Applicant: C&S Investments, LLC
General Location: 1667 Shug Jordan Parkway, Suite 400 and 1661 Shug Jordan Parkway, Suite 501
Zoning District: Planned Development District (PDD) with Comprehensive Development District (CDD) underlying
Action Requested: Recommendation to City Council for conditional use approval for an institutional use (church and classrooms)
OTHER BUSINESS. CHAIRMAN’S COMMUNICATION. STAFF COMMUNICATION.

MONDAY, FEB. 9, 3:00 PM – DR. GEOFF HILL / EXCHANGES BETWEEN DARWIN AND WALLACE
Held in AU’s Rouse Life Sciences Bldg, room 112. Free & open to all.
Speaker: Dr. Geoff Hill, AU Dept of Biological Sciences.
This event is part of a semester-long celebration of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species by Natural Selection.” The Darwin Celebration is sponsored by AU’s College of Science and Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts, and the Outreach Committee of the Department of Biological Sciences. Its purpose is to present Darwin’s ideas and their impact on diverse disciplines for general audiences in a friendly, clear, accurate, non-proselytizing way.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10, 11:30 am – AUBURN GREENSPACE ADVISORY BOARD
Held in the city of Auburn meeting room, 122 Tichenor Ave. Open to all. http://www.auburnalabama.org/greenspace/

TUESDAY, FEB. 10 – AUBURN HERITAGE ASSOCIATION EVENTS/ HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN ALABAMA BY FRANCIS OSBORN ROBB
2:30 pm / SLIDE PRESENTATION: Shot in Alabama: A Brief Photograph History
4:00 pm / AHA MEMBERS’ WORKSHOP: Family Photographs: Solving the Mysteries
5:00 pm / RECEPTION-Cocktail party: hors d’oeuvres and cash bar; tickets: $25; $20 for AHA members.
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. www.auburnheritage.org
Seating is limited for both events. Call 844-3085 for reservations. Contact Mary Norman at pinetucket@gmail.com for tickets.
Speaker: Frances Osborn Robb, an expert in Alabama Historical Photography.
Info: Kitt Conner, kitconner@mindspring.com or 332-7911 or Mary Norman, pinetucket@gmail.com or 826.0390.
Robb’s slide presentation, Shot in Alabama: A Brief Photograph History, features photographs taken in Alabama from 1839 to modern times. Some are by photographic notables, others by local photographers and amateurs. They run the gamut from the ever-popular portrait likenesses to images of scenes and events. They reflect the dominant technologies of their eras: daguerreotypes and other cased photographs; mounted paper prints and the familiar Kodak-type prints, including some interesting curiosities.
In Robb’s 4:00 pm photographic workshop for AHA members, Family Photographs: Solving the Mysteries, she will identify members’ old photographs. This workshop focuses on dating photographs accurately: the key to identifying the people in them and connecting them to genealogical records and family history. A brief slide presentation on historic technologies and formats will be followed by a question and answer session. A display of period photograph and another of clothing, 1840-1940, will be on view before and after the presentation. Participants are invited to bring puzzling photographs for help in dating and identification.
Frances Osborn Robb is a photography and cultural historian who has given scores of presentations and workshops on historic photography. She works as a consultant to museums, libraries and archives, curates exhibitions on historic photography and is currently completing a book on the history of photography in Alabama, 1839-1941. She was curator of historic photographs for the 1995 Made in Alabama traveling exhibition, curator of Encounters: Photographs by Kathryn Tucker Windham, and curator of Science into History: Photographs by the Geological Survey of Alabama 1885-1910. She holds degrees from Birmingham-Southern College, the University of North Carolina and Yale University. Co-sponsored by the Auburn Heritage Association and JCSM.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10 – LEE COUNTY COMMISSION www.leeco.us
4:00 pm – work session / 6:00 pm – regular session
Held in the commission chambers, historic courthouse building, 215 S. Ninth St, Opelika. Open to all. Agenda will be online at http://www.leeco.us/co/agenda.html.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10, 4:00 pm – AUBURN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
Held in the Development Services Bldg, 171 N. Ross St. Open to all. www.auburnalabama.org/hpc/agenda.asp

TUESDAY, FEB. 10, 6:00 PM – LEE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Held at the old Johnson Gallery building located behind the County Courthouse in Opelika. Open to all. Agenda: business meeting. Discussion topics will include the status of the Lee County Master Plan currently being conducted by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10, 6:00 pm – AUBURN BOARD OF EDUCATION www.auburnschools.org Held in the Auburn High School multi-media room, 405 S. Dean Rd. Open to all.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 – WOMEN’S STUDIES PROGRAM EVENT / SPEAKER ON HEALTH CARE REFORM
10:30 – 11:30 am – Discussion — National Health Care Reform: Will Women’s Needs Be Forgotten?
11:45 am — lunch
1:00 pm – workshop
Held in AU’s new Student Center, room 2107. Free & open to the public.
Participants are encouraged to attend both events, but can choose to attend only one event. Both events are free and open to everyone. Students are especially invited to attend.
Held The Women’s Studies Program will host Eesha Pandit, director of advocacy for Merger Watch (http://www.mergerwatch.org/index.html), a New York based nonprofit organization, for two programs. Pandit will lead a discussion from 10:30-11:30 a.m. titled, “National Health Care Reform: Will Women’s Needs be Forgotten?” At 1 p.m., Pandit will lead a workshop geared toward community organizing strategies and training. The focus will be on getting young people involved in health care reform. The workshop will be informal and collaborative. Lunch will be served at 11:45 a.m. For info: Ruth Crocker at crockrc@auburn.edu; 844-6647 or 844-1974. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/womens_studies/events/Spring_2009.htm

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11, 1:30 PM – ALABAMA HOME BUILDERS LICENSURE BOARD
Held at 445 Herron Street, Mont. Ph: 334-242-2230. Open to all.
Agenda online:
https://www.openmeetings.alabama.gov/generalpublic/display_notice_details.aspx?agencyname=Alabama%20Home%20Builders%20Licensure%20Board%20&submissiondatetime=1/22/2009%203:45:10%20PM

THURSDAY, FEB. 12, noon – LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF EAST ALABAMA http://www.lwval.org/eastalabama/
Held at Bruno’s community room. Open to all. Brown bag lunch meeting. Topic: state and local League programs for the upcoming year.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12, noon – ART MUSEUM / A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Free & open to all.
Enjoy lunch in the museum café on Thursdays while the lovely sounds of local musicians echo through the museum. Sponsored by the Auburn Chamber Museum Society.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12, NOON – 2:00 PM – SOUTHERN GROWTH POLICIES BOARD COMMUNITY FORUM / THE BUSINESS OF SOUTHERN ENERGY: MAKING CHOICES FOR YOUR COMMUNITY
Held in the boardroom, Alabama State Council on the Arts, Mont. Open to the public. Lunch provided. To RSVP and to receive a copy of the discussion guide and directions to the forum, e-mail mwilson@auburn.edu or call 844-4946 by Tuesday, Feb. 10.
The results of this forum will be used in developing a policy report to be presented at the 2009 regional meeting scheduled for June 7-9 in Biloxi. Formed by the region’s governors in 1971, the Southern Growth Policies Board is a nonpartisan public policy think tank based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and provides a network for collaboration among a diverse cross-section of the region’s governors, legislators, business and academic leaders, and the economic and community development sectors. Sponsored by DesignAlabama, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities.

THURSDAY, FEB. 14, 4:30 pm – OPELIKA HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
Held in the Planning Chambers, Opelika Public Works Bldg, 700 Fox Trail, Opelika. Open to all.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12 – LEE COUNTY COMMISSION COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COORDINATING COMMITTEE
4:30 PM / Coordinating Committee meeting
6:30 – 8:30 PM / Facilitator Training Session
Held in the old Johnson Gallery building, located behind the Courthouse, Opelika.
More info: Wendy Swann, Governmental Relations Coordinator, Lee County Commission, wswann@leeco.us, (334) 737-3674.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12, 5:00 pm – AUBURN PLANNING COMMISSION
Held in the council chambers, 141 N. Ross St. Open to all.
Agenda & full packet: www.auburnalabama.org/pc/agenda.asp (See details above, Monday, noon, Feb. 9, PC packet meeting)

THURSDAY, FEB. 12, 7:00 – 8:00 PM — EAO / ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS ORGANIZATION
Held in AU’s new Student Union, room 2109. http://www.auburn.edu/student_info/eao/index.html

THURSDAY, FEB. 12, 8:00 PM – SUN BELT READING SERIES
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay Street, Auburn. www.thegnusroom.com Free & open to all.
The Sun Belt Series returns with special guests Jill Patrick, Peter Huggins and Jim Hilgartner.
Playwright and poet Jill Patrick made her Atlanta debut with the concert performance of The Prisoner, a work in which a sister visits her imprisoned brother. Her award winning one-act If I Told You I Love You Would You Believe Me? premiered in Austin in 1986 to rave reviews. She is an Affiliate writer with Working Title Playwrights and a member of the Midtown Atlanta Writers Group.
Auburn professor Peter Huggins has had over 200 poems in 100 publications, including Atlanta Review, Colorado Review, Laurel Review, Mid-American Review, New Virginia Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Southern Poetry Review, and Texas Review. He has been a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and won the Dickinson Review Prize for Poetry. Hard Facts, a book of poems, was published by Livingston Press in 1998. Two poems from that collection were nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has published two other books of poems, Necessary Acts (2004) and Blue Angels (2001), a picture book, Trosclair and the Alligator (2006), and a novel for younger readers, ages 9-13, In the Company of Owls (2008). South, a new volume of poems, is forthcoming from Louisiana Literature Press in 2009.
Jim Hilgartner has published fiction in Mid-American Review, New Orleans Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Greensboro Review, Worcester Review, Red Mountain Review, and elsewhere. Recipient of a Fellowship in Literature from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, he serves as Director of the Alabama Center for Literary Arts. (He also enjoys ninjutsu.)

FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 7:30 – 9:00 AM — LEE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COORDINATING COMMITTEE / Facilitator training session
Held in old Johnson Gallery building, behind the Lee County Courthouse, Opelika.
This committee has been formed to ensure broad-based participation of Lee County Residents in the creation of the first Lee County Comprehensive Plan. Info: Wendy Swann, Governmental Relations Coordinator, Lee County Commission / wswann@leeco.us; 334-737-3674.

FRIDAY, FEB. 13 & SATURDAY, FEB. 14 – TUSKEGEE VOLUNTEER POWER CORP SYMPOSIUM / THE ANATOMY OF RECONCILIATION, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, AND HEALING: HISTORICAL LEGACIES AND COMMUNITIES AT A CROSSROAD
Benefit banquet, 6:00 pm Saturday, featuring keynote speaker NAOMI TUTU
Held at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, Tuskegee.
View schedule and register online: http://www.tuskegeevpc.org/.
The panelists and presenters will share a wealth of information that has the potential to transform our community in many ways. The highlight of weekend will be our benefit banquet on Saturday Feburary 14th, featuring keynote speaker Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. You are invited to register for the entire two day symposium, or just to spend Valentine’s evening in a celebration of agape love and healing with TVPC. Register for all or part of the symposium on the TVPC website.

FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 4:00 PM – AU BOARD OF TRUSTEES / Trustee Selection Committee Meeting
Held at the Governor’s Office, Mont. Ph: 334-844-4866. Open to all.
http://www.auburn.edu/administration/trustees/meetings.html

FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 7:00 PM – DOC WALLER ONE-MAN SHOW / I HATE LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay Street. Free & open to all. http://www.thegnusroom.com
Multi-talented actor, Doc Waller, performs a one-man show in honor of Valentine’s Day. See his website at www.thedocwaller.com

FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 7:30 pm – SUNDILLA CONCERT FEATURING GREG GREENWAY
Held at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (AUUF), 450 E. Thach. www.sundilla.org
Admission: $10; with student ID $8; children under 12 free (and welcomed; play area provided). Light refreshments provided free of charge; you may also bring your own food or beverage (beer/wine allowed). For more info, and to hear music clips of Greg Greenway, go to www.sundilla.org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 14 – TUSKEGEE VOLUNTEER POWER CORP SYMPOSIUM / THE ANATOMY OF RECONCILIATION, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, AND HEALING: HISTORICAL LEGACIES AND COMMUNITIES AT A CROSSROAD
Benefit banquet, 6:00 pm Saturday, featuring keynote speaker NAOMI TUTU
See details above. View schedule and register online: http://www.tuskegeevpc.org/.

SATURDAY, FEB. 14, 6:00 – 8:00 PM — A MUSICAL VALENTINE
Held at The Gnu’s Room, 414 S. Gay St. Free & open to all. www.thegnusroom.com
Keyboardist/Vocalist, Errick Johnson, a member of the Auburn Knights will perform love songs for you and your valentine. Enjoy the live music along with drink specials during the performance.

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CITY OF AUBURN / CONSTRUCTION PROJECT STATUS REPORTS (updated weekly)
PUBLIC WORKS: www.auburnalabama.org/pw/status.asp
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: www.auburnalabama.org/wrm/status.asp

CITY OF AUBURN SURVEY - The City of Auburn’s annual citizens survey is underway. See details at 2009 Citizen Survey Underway. http://www.auburnalabama.org/news/2009/ocm020209.asp

CITY OF AUBURN Board Vacancies
• Metropolitan Planning Organization – Citizens Advisory Committee: Five vacancies will be filled at the March 3 City Council meeting.
• Commercial Development Authority (CDA): Two vacancies will be filled at the March 3 City Council meeting.
• Mental Health – Mental Retardation Board: Two vacancies will be announced at the February 17 City Council meeting and will be filled at the March 24 meeting.
• Library Board: One vacancy will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
• Historic Preservation Commission: Two vacancies will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
Citizens interested in serving are encouraged to contact their City Council member or notify the City Manager’s Office at webocm@auburnalabama.org or 501-7260.
Information on the city’s boards and commission is available online at http://www.auburnalabama.org/BoardsandCommissions/Boards.aspx.

ANONYMOUS REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Want to report info on ADEM, environmental violators or other environmental issues, but prefer to do it anonymously? You can do it via this website: http://www.enviro-lawyer.com/Contact.html.

=== ==== ==== === === ==

Thanks for your interest and support.
Email: placeforum@gmail.com
Web: http://placeforum.org/blog
Feb. 8, 2009

Comments Off

CORRECTION  — No Auburn IDB meeting today (Feb. 3)
There is no Auburn IDB/Industrial Development Board meeting scheduled for this afternoon. Apologies for this error.

REMINDER — TONIGHT, TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 6:30 pm
NEW FEMA FLOODPLAIN MAP INFO PRESENTATION AT AUBURN CITY COUNCIL
Held in the council chambers, 141 N. Ross St. Open to all.
Agenda & full packet:  www.auburnalabama.org/agenda
Committee of the Whole agenda includes:
FEMA MAP MODERNIZATION PROJECT. Presentation. Public Works Director Jeffery Ramsey and Assistant Public Works Director Brett Peterson.

UPCOMING MEETING: TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 3:00 – 6:00 PM — PUBLIC MEETING: FEMA FLOODPLAIN MAPS & FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY UPDATE

Held in the City of Auburn Meeting Room, 122 Tichenor Avenue.  Open to the public.    Lee County is in the process of updating its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Floodplain Maps and Flood Insurance Study. The City of Auburn’s FEMA Floodplain Maps and Flood Insurance Study will also be updated as part of the countywide map modernization project. State officials will host a Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) community coordination meeting for the City of Auburn.

Printed copies of the proposed maps are available at the Development Services Building, located in the Douglas J. Watson Municipal Complex on Ross Street. Maps will be available for public review Monday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Additional information about the FEMA project, as well as an

Interactive Map which will help you determine if your property is located within FEMA’s proposed flood plain, is available onlineat www.auburnalabama.org/fema. You may also contact the City of Auburn Public Works Department by phone at 501-3000 or by e-mail at webpw@auburnalabama.org for answers to your questions.

Information regarding the study and the public meeting is available in the February 2009 issue of Open Line and on the City’s website at www.auburnalabama.org/fema. More info: City of Auburn Public Works Department at 501-3000.

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UPDATE:  AUBURN-OPELIKA TRANSPORTATION PLAN
AOMPO Auburn-Opelika MPO 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan
Last Fall the Lee-Russell Council of Governments (LRC) gathered info from the cities of Auburn and Opelika, Auburn University, the U.S. Census and private companies to inform their 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The first of three public meetings on the LRTP was held Dec. 13, 2008.
The information (posters) presented to the public at that meeting are now available online at http://www.lrcog.com/Meeting%20Posters%201%20of%203,%202035%20LRTP.pdf.
If you have questions, or want more info about the LRTP or future public meetings, contact Keith M Bryan, Transportation Planner/GIS Coordinator, Lee-Russell Council of Governments, 334.749.5264 ext.214; keith.bryan@adss.alabama.gov.

RECENT CHANGES TO LETA PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM
The LETA public transit system underwent major service and fare changes last September, as outlined on the Lee-Russell Public Transit website.
Lee-Russell Public Transit (LRPT) / 334.749.9092 or 877.743.3739 / http://www.lrcog.com/LETA.html

Summary of changes: Starting September 29, 2008, Lee-Russell Public Transit (LRPT), formerly LETA, ELIMINATED the LETA Fixed Route in Auburn and Opelika and is only offering Dial-a-Ride services in Lee and Russell County.

WHAT IS DIAL-A-RIDE? Dial-A-Ride is the new demand response service offered by Lee-Russell Public Transit (LRPT).   This service is provided on a first-come, first-served basis.  The number of trips that are available each day will be based on designated time slots.  It is open to all general public who live in the designated service areas of Lee and Russell Counties.  More info at: http://www.lrcog.com/LETA.html
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CITY OF AUBURN SURVEY —  The City of Auburn’s annual citizens survey is underway. See details at 2009 Citizen Survey Underway.  http://www.auburnalabama.org/news/2009/ocm020209.asp
CITY OF AUBURN Board Vacancies
• Metropolitan Planning Organization – Citizens Advisory Committee: Five vacancies will be announcedat tonight’s (February 3) City Council meeting and will be filled at the March 3 meeting.
• Commercial Development Authority (CDA): Two vacancies will be announced at the February 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the March 3 meeting.
• Mental Health – Mental Retardation Board: Two vacancies will be announced at the February 17 City Council meeting and will be filled at the March 24 meeting.
• Library Board: One vacancy will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
• Historic Preservation Commission: Two vacancies will be announced at the March 3 City Council meeting and will be filled at the April 7 meeting.
Citizens interested in serving are encouraged to contact their City Council member or notify the City Manager’s Office at webocm@auburnalabama.org or 501-7260.
Information on the city’s boards and commission is available online at http://www.auburnalabama.org/BoardsandCommissions/Boards.aspx.

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Thanks for your interest and support.

Email:  placeforum@gmail.com
Web:   http://placeforum.org/blog

Feb. 3, 2009

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CITY OF AUBURN PRESS RELEASE: Special 5-Mill Referendum Results

OPELIKA TO HOLD CITIZENS PLANNING ACADEMY / REGISTER NOW
http://www.opelika.org/Default.asp?ID=16&action=view&nid=349

LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT PASSED / BOTH SENATOR SESSIONS & SHELBY VOTED AGAINST IT
BOTH Senators Sessions & Shelby voted against the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. If you wish to call them to register your displeasure with their vote,  call 202-224-3121 (Capital Hill Switchboard) and ask for either Sessions or Shelby. Tell the WOMAN who answers the phone your name, that you reside in Alabama, and that you are disappointed the Senator voted to consider women’s labor to be less important then that of men.
For background on this historic legislation and Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama woman who instigated the lawsuit which led to it, go to this NY Times archive: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/lilly_m_ledbetter/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=ledbetter&st=cse.

KATRINA DOCUMENTARY / TROUBLE THE WATER http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/
Held at the Capri Theatre, Mont.  http://www.capritheatre.org/
Film showings: FRIDAY, FEB. 6 – THURSDAY, FEB. 12 / Fri & Sat: 7:00 & 9:00; Sun – Thurs: 7:30 only
This 93 minute documentary about an aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, who show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by Katrina.

THROUGH SATURDAY, FEB. 14 – AUBURN ARTS ASSOCIATION ART EXHIBITION: FOUND OBJECTS
Held in the Art Gallery, Jan Dempsey Arts Center. Free & open to all.
The Auburn Arts Association invites you to view this exhibition — 37 works by 19 artists– using found objects, etc. You are also invited to “find” in the supermarket a non-perishable item that you feel has artistic, imaginative, appealing or humorous, etc. packaging. These items will be displayed in an assemblage during the exhibition and then donated to the Food Bank of East Alabama. Items may be brought to the Arts Center Gallery at any time. Call 501-2963 for information.

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MONDAY, FEB. 2, 3:00 PM – DR. DAVID KING / DARWIN AS GEOLOGIST
Held in AU’s Rouse Life Sciences Bldg, room 112.  Free & open to all.
All attendees will receive a nice door prize, and three lucky attendees will receive a very nice surprise gift from Darwin himself!
Speaker: Dr. David King, AU Dept of Geology
When Darwin left the University of Edinburgh, he was disgusted with geology, having taken the ‘creation geology’ class of Prof. Jameson. But at Cambridge he came under the mentorship of Prof. Adam Sedgewick, one of the founders of stratigraphic geology and spent the summer of 1831 in the field with Sedgewick learning the ways of geology.  Later in 1831, he set sail on the Beagle as the voyage’s naturalist, bringing with him the first edition of Charles Lyell’s masterwork, The Principles of Geology. This event is part of a semester-long Celebration of Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species by Natural Selection.” The Darwin Celebration is sponsored by AU’s College of Science and Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts, and the Outreach Committee of the Department of Biological Sciences.  Its purpose is to present Darwin’s ideas and their impact on diverse disciplines for general audiences in a friendly, clear, accurate, non-proselytizing way.

MONDAY, FEB. 2, 4:00 pm – AUBURN CEMETERIES ADVISORY BOARD
Held at the Dean Road Rec Center. Open to all.

MONDAY, FEB. 2, 4:00 PM – AUBURN WATER WORKS BOARD / SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
Held in the Water Resource Management Conference Room, 1501 West Samford Avenue. Open to all.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 11:30 am – AUBURN CITY COUNCIL / SPECIAL “ADJOURNED” SESSION
Held in the council chambers, 141 N. Ross St. Open to all.
Auburn citizens voted to approve the proposed package of public improvements under the Special Five Mill Referendum by a vote of 608 – 54. Unofficial results are available online at www.auburnalabama.org/5mill. Results will not be official until canvassed by the City Council during this Adjourned session.
For more information, please visit www.auburnalabama.org/5mill or contact Auburn City Hall at 501-7260.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 1:30 PM – ALABAMA BOARD OF LICENSURE FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS
Held at 100 N Union Street, Suite 382, Mont., ph: 334-242-5568. Open to all. Agenda includes:
I.             MINUTES
A.           Review Agenda and Approval of Minutes
1.            Review Meeting Agenda
2.            Approve Meeting Minutes
3.            Action items from Board meeting
II.           HEARINGS
B.           Public Hearings
C.           Formal Hearings
III.          COMMITTEE REPORTS
D.           Applications -
1.            Without personal appearance
2.            With personal appearance
E.            Law Enforcement Committee
1.      Complaints/Investigations
F.            Certificates of Authorization
1.            Engineering and Land Surveying Certificates of Authorizations
2.            Engineering and Land Surveying Certificates of Authorization with Exceptions
G.           Communications and Publications
H.           Legislative
I.             Continuing Professional Competency
J.            Finance/Personnel
K.            Land Surveying – Education & Examinations
L.            Engineering – Education & Examination
III.          OTHER REPORTS
M.          Chair’s Report
N.           Executive Director’s Report
IV.          UNFINISHED BUSINESS AND CORRESPONDENCE
O.           Unfinished Business
P.            Correspondence – action required
Q.           Information only – no action required
V.           NEW BUSINESS
R.
VI.          OPEN FORUM – Time during which anyone who may be attending meeting as a member of the public can ask questions or make comments.)
CLOSING REMARKS.  Review of Calendar.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 4:00 – 5:00 PM – ART LECTURE: DR. MARILYN LAUFER, DIRECTOR, JCSM / BUILDING A COLLECTION: TO FOCUS OR NOT TO FOCUS?
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Free & open to all.  www.jcsm.auburn.edu
Many of us grew up visiting museums with encyclopedic collections, which gave a taste of the whole of art history from an Egyptian scarab to a cubist painting by Picasso. Collections such as these are difficult to build with today’s art market. A discussion of the important role collections play in today’s museums and how we have planned for the future of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University. Laufer, who assumed the role of director of JCSM in April of 2007 after having served as interim co-director since April of 2006, has had a long career as a curator and as an educator both in museums and as a university art history professor. Her wide employment within such institutions as Saint Louis Art Museum; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA; and the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, to name a few, has given her the scope to examine the important issue of building collections within an art museum. Co-sponsored by the Auburn Heritage Association and JCSM

TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 4:00 pm  – AUBURN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BOARD (IDB)
Held in the City Manager’s Conference Room, Auburn City Hall, 144 Tichenor Ave. Open to all.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3,  5:15 pm – AUBURN PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD
Held at the Dean Road Rec Center. Open to all.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3 — AUBURN CITY COUNCIL
6:30 pm — Committee of the Whole /  7:00 pm – Regular meeting
Held in the council chambers, 141 N. Ross St. Open to all.
Agenda & full packet:  www.auburnalabama.org/agenda
Committee of the Whole agenda includes:
FEMA MAP MODERNIZATION PROJECT. Presentation. Public Works Director Jeffery Ramsey and Assistant Public Works Director Brett Peterson.
BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT. Two Positions. Incumbents: Trey Rankin-Supernumerary No. 1 and Bob Cochran-Spernumerary No. 2 (appointed as regular members). Unexpired Terms End January 20, 2011.
Regular meeting agenda:
7. CITIZENS’ COMMUNICATIONS.
8. CITY MANAGER’S COMMUNICATIONS. City Manager Duggan.
a. Announcement of Board Vacancies. Appointments at the March 3, 2009 Meeting.
(1) Metropolitan Planning Organization – Citizens Advisory Committee. Five Positions. Four Year Terms Expire March 8, 2013.
(2) Commercial Development Authority. Two Positions. Four Year Terms Expire March 15, 2013.
9. ORDINANCES.
a. Zoning. JEDD Land Company, LLC. Fred Peak (Authorized Representative). Property Located at the current terminus of the right-of-way for Richland Road (The Cotswolds). SECOND READING.
(1) Rezone from Rural (R) to Development District Housing (DDH). 311.6 Acres.
(2) Establish Planned Development District (PDD) in a Comprehensive Development District (CDD) and Development District Housing (DDH) District. 410.7 Acres.
10. RESOLUTIONS.
a. Industrial Development Board. 2458 West Tech Lane. Auburn Technology Park West. Short-Term Construction Financing. Concurrence.
b. Contracts. Authorize Mayor and City Manager to Sign.
(1) Public Works Department. Rexel DOT Municipal. Three (3) Galvanized Curved Mast Arm Traffic Signal Poles. $25,126.71.
(2) Water Resource Management Department. CH2M Hill.
(a) Amendment 2 to Task Order 12 – General Professional Engineering Services. $60,000.
(b) Amendment 3 to Task Order 1 – Professional Consulting Engineering Services. Northside Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) Improvement Project. $65,000.
c. Drainage and Utility Easements. Acceptance and Settlement for Value Lost.
(1) Auburn University. South College Street and Devall Drive.
(a) Traffic Signal and Turn Lane. Installation and Maintenance. Roadway and Utility Easement.
(b) Traffic Signal Installation. Utility Easement.
d. Boards and Commissions. Appointments.
(1) Auburn Hills/Gold Hill Plantation Improvement District. c/o Ronald T. Calloway. Six Positions. Staggered Terms.
(2) Board of Zoning Adjustment. Two Positions. Supernumerary No. 1 and Supernumerary No. 2. Unexpired Terms End January 20, 2011.
11. OTHER BUSINESS. 12. ADJOURNMENT.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 6:30 – 8:00 pm — ALLIANCE FOR PEACE & JUSTICE (APJ)
Held at the Busch Center, 508 Auburn Drive (the 2nd house behind the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 450 E. Thatch Ave). Open to all. www.peaceeagle.org

TUESDAY, FEB. 3 — OPELIKA CITY COUNCIL
6:30 pm – work session  / 7:00 pm – regular meeting
Held at 204 S. 7th St, Opelika. Open to all.
Agenda:  www.opelika.org
Work session agenda includes:
(1) -  a.  Resolution/agreement, Workers Compensation program:  Lisa McLeod
(2) -  a.  Resolution/agreement, sewer extension for Celebrate Alabama:  Walter Dorsey
(3) -  a.  Amend Text of Zoning Ordinance, request to advertise:  Jerry Kelley
(4) -  a.  Resolution/agreement, CISCO Smart Net, telephone data system: Gary Cantini
(5) -  a.  General updates
(6) -  Discuss/review CM agenda items of 2/03/09
a.       Remarks by Mayor
b.       General business
c.       Bids
d.       Resolution
e.       Ordinances
f.        Board Appointments
(7) -  Discussion
a.   New / Old Business; b.   Board appointments;  c.   Other City business.
Regular 7:00 pm session agenda includes:
5)READING OF MINUTES  —–  Council Meeting of January 20, 2009
6)   UNFINISHED BUSINESS  -
7)   REMARKS BY THE MAYOR -  Gary Fuller
8)   CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS – (Limit comments to five minutes or less)
9)   REPORT OF DISBURSEMENTS
10) COMMITTEE REPORTS
11) GENERAL BUSINESS
1.  Request for a “Walk for Autism – 2009″ at 8am on April 25 at Monkey Park.
12) AWARDING OF BIDS –  Shirley Washington         (NONE)
13)  RESOLUTIONS –  Guy Gunter
1.  Budget adjustment for Municipal Court.
2.  Special appropriation, Project Graduation – Legislative.
3.  Renew lease agreement for the Brown Center.
4.  Demolition, 1905 Hurst Street.
5.  Demolition, 1718 Bulloch Street.
6.  Demolition, 616 Marion Avenue.
7.  Demolition, 604 Martin Luther King Blvd.
14)  ORDINANCES -   Guy Gunter
1.  Amend zoning ordinance, designating portions of Society Hill Rd. as GC-2 – 2nd Reading.
15)  APPOINTMENTS -
1.  Board of Zoning Adjustments.
16)  ADJOURN

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4, 9:30 AM – ALABAMA ETHICS COMMISSION
Held in the 9th Floor Hearing Room, RSA Union Building, Mont. Ph: 334-242-2997.  Open to all.
Agenda:  In Open Session, to render Advisory Opinions requested by public officials/public employees.  An Executive Session will be held to discuss matters relating to complaints filed with the Ethics Commission and the results of those investigations.  These matters are covered by the Grand Jury Secrecy Act.  No matters will be discussed which are outside the scope of the State guidelines for the holding of Executive Sessions.  Matters discussed in Executive Session will be voted on in public.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4, 4:30 pm – AUBURN BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT / BZA
Held in the city council chambers, 141 N. Ross St. Open to all.
Agenda: www.auburnalabama.org/bza/agenda.asp
Agenda includes:
OLD BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
Annual Meeting of the Board to Elect New Officers
Variance to Section 436.01 of the City of Auburn Zoning Ordinance PL-2008-00856
Applicant: William Tolbert
General Location: 1433 Ogletree Road
Zoning District: Rural (R)
Action Requested: Variance of 100 feet to the required 150 feet between curb cuts on a collector street to allow a driveway to be located 50 feet from an adjacent existing driveway to the south
Variance to Section 707A of the City of Auburn Zoning Ordinance PL-2009-00009
Applicant: Donald Allen Development, Inc.
General Location: 331 East Glenn Avenue
Zoning District: University Service (US)
Action Requested:Variance of 5 feet to the minimum acceptable bufferyard width of 8 feet to allow a 3 foot bufferyard width along the eastern property line (adjacent to Felton Little Park) for an existing, nonconforming performance residential development
Variance to Section 707A of the City of Auburn Zoning Ordinance PL-2009-00013
Applicant: Donald Allen Development, Inc.
General Location: 331 East Glenn Avenue
Zoning District: University Service (US)
Action Requested: Variance to the requirement for a Type 1 structure (fence) along the eastern
property line (adjacent to Felton Little Park) for an existing, nonconforming performance residential development
OTHER BUSINESS.  CHAIRMAN’S COMMUNICATION. ADJOURNMENT

THURSDAY, FEB. 5, 9:30 AM – ALABAMA HOME BUILDERS LICENSURE BOARD/ SPECIAL-CALLED MEETING / Investigative Committee
Held at 445 Herron Street, Mont. (334-242-2230).

THURSDAY, FEB. 5, noon – ART MUSEUM / A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC
Held at AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Free & open to all.
Enjoy lunch in the museum café on Thursdays while the lovely sounds of local musicians echo through the museum. Sponsored by the Auburn Chamber Museum Society.

THURSDAY, FEB. 5, NOON – 8:30 pm  – NATIONAL TEACH-IN ON GLOBAL WARMING
Held in AU’s new Student Center. Free & open to the public.
Guest speakers: James McClintock and Adam Snyder.
AU’s Office of Sustainability (334.844.7777; www.auburn.edu/sustainability) is hosting the 2009 National Teach-In on Global Warming, a symposium that will focus on solutions to global climate change. Following from last year’s highly successful Focus the Nation, the 2009 symposium will include guest speakers, workshops, movies and public discussion about individual and community actions to begin affecting the changes we need to minimize climate change. The Teach-In is part of a national effort to raise awareness and to focus discussion and action now, during the first 100 days of the new administration. Auburn’s program this year consists of an afternoon of movies and engaging speakers and an evening of practical workshops.
Schedule details: http://www.auburn.edu/projects/sustainability/nti.php
For information on the national event, visit: http://www.nationalteachin.org/

FRIDAY, FEB. 6, 7:30 PM – EAST ALABAMA ORCHID SOCIETY
Held at the AU Fire Ant Lab.
The EAOS is the local chapter of the American Orchid Society, open to everyone, beginners and experts alike. We generally meet the first friday of the month to discuss various orchid related topics.  Info and directions to the Fire Ant Lab, contact Vince Cammarata, cammavx@bellsouth.net or Julia Bartosh,
bartojl@auburn.edu.

FRIDAY, FEB. 6, 7:30 pm – SUNDILLA CONCERT FEATURING JAMES LEE STANLEY
Held at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (AUUF), 450 E. Thach.  www.sundilla.org
Admission: $10; with student ID $8; children under 12 free (and welcomed; play area provided). Light refreshments provided free of charge; you may also bring your own food or beverage (beer/wine allowed). For more info, and to hear music clips of James Lee Stanley, go to www.sundilla.org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 – LOVE YOUR HEART RUN / CRANK YOUR HEART RIDE
Held in Chewacla State Park.
Info/registration: www.loveyourheartrun.com / www.crankyourheartride.com; Alison Hall, ph: 501-2940, email: ahall@auburnalabama.org
Join the Exceptional Outreach Organization and Auburn Parks and Recreation on Saturday, February 7th for the 20th Annual Love Your Heart Run and the 2nd Annual Crank Your Heart Ride. These events benefit individuals with special needs and support Special Olympics of Lee County, Best Buddies of Auburn University and other therapeutic programs. Love Your Heart Run participants may choose to run or walk either a one-mile or 10K (6.4 mile) course. The Crank Your Heart Ride will consist of a 3, 10, and 22 mile bike ride. All routes begin and end at Chewacla State Park.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7, 9:00 AM – ALABAMA DEPT OF CONSERVATION & NATURAL RESOURCES / Conservation Advisory Board
To be held at : State Capitol Auditorium, Montgomery; 334-242-3486. Open to all.
Agenda: Regular meeting of the Conservation Advisory Board.
Registration 9:00 AM until 9:30 AM
Agenda includes:
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. INVOCATION
3. INTRODUCTION OF BOARD MEMBERS
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETINGS
5. MEMBER REPORTS BY DISTRICT
6. OLD BUSINESS
7. PUBLIC HEARING
8. NEW BUSINESS
9. SELECTION OF LOCATION OF MARCH 7, 2009 ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
10. ADJOURN

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CITY OF AUBURN / CONSTRUCTION PROJECT STATUS REPORTS (updated weekly)
PUBLIC WORKS: www.auburnalabama.org/pw/status.asp
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: www.auburnalabama.org/wrm/status.asp

ANONYMOUS REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Want to report info on ADEM, environmental violators or other environmental issues, but prefer to do it anonymously? You can do it via this website: http://www.enviro-lawyer.com/Contact.html.

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Thanks for your interest and support.

Email:  placeforum@gmail.com
Web:   http://placeforum.org/blog

Feb. 1, 2009

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