Your Neighborhood | Your News
Message from President Ziegler
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Hey CPNAer's

Hope you have been enjoying all the wild flowers down in Crowley Park especially along North Spring Dr. With all the rain we have had, the wild flowers seem to have lasted longer than previous years. Just wanted to let you know that, KDC (City Line developer) has agreed to help with the funding to put in a flower garden in front of the monumental sign at the corner of Jupiter and Renner. That should make Renner and Jupiter more attractive. Just another accomplishment of the Crowley Park Neighborhood Association - one of many accomplishments.

If you did not make it to the International Food Festival you missed an opportunity to enjoy some palate pleasing foods. Had delicacies from the middle east to the Celtic-Cherokee potato salad. Nobody left hungry. The baklava was plentiful and very delicious....thanks to all the chefs and culinary artists. An excellent opportunity to meet new friends that you never knew you had.

Trying to reach out to seek some help with the CPNA, as there are many opportunities to volunteer and help out. In the words of President John F. Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” you could help with the Neighborhood association by involving yourself in something larger than yourself. Your involvement will make you feel better and you will meet new friends that you never knew you had. 
Suggestion for involvement: come to the next board meeting on Monday night June 10 6:30PM at 2305 Blackberry - all are welcome.

Next activity!!! The 4th of July parade will be held on July 4th at 9:00am. The start is at the south pavilion and it will finish at the north pavilion. Everyone come on down. Decorate yourself, your wagon, your baby carriages, and bring your kids, your dogs, your mother and your mother-in-law. BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Your most humble president of CPNA,
always looking for the next president..
Terry Ziegler

P.S. Where do you find a cow with no legs??? Right were you left it.
New Crowley Park LANDSCAPING PROJECT
The CPNA is kicking off a campaign to add some floral beds at the corner of Jupiter and Renner and at Lookout and North Spring. Watch the video.
UPCOMING EVENT
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View this 4th of July Video
4th of July Celebration & Parade
July 4th | 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Meet at Crowley Park, North Pavilion

Join us for the annual 4th of July parade and celebration. We'll have a parade, we encourage everyone to dress up. Winners will be selected and prizes awarded. Additionally we'll have cold treats, activities, and prizes for the kids.

Let us know you are coming by messaging Lee Townbridge at lee@rogershealy.com .
CROWLEY NEWS
Get Your Exercise On!

Hi neighbors, I just finished my regular exercise routine at Heights Recreation Center and begin to wonder. Why am I doing this 5 days of the week? Just what are the benefits am I getting from all those hours of aerobics, leg stretches, weights, and sauna? 
 
According to a recent Internet article, the benefits are numerous. You may want to continue or begin a simple exercise routine.

Staying active can keep you feeling and looking your best — at every stage of your life. An active lifestyle is especia lly important for  senior health  because regular exercise can help prevent heart disease,  diabetes , and certain forms of cancer, and it can also reduce pain associated with arthritis. By improving balance, flexibility, endurance, and strength, older adults can stay healthier longer.  The National Institute on Aging  is a great resource for learning more about the exercise benefits for seniors. Just remember to c heck with your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.
 
Exercise benefits much more than just the body — you can also improve your mental and   emotional health  by maintaining an active life. And if you have fun while you’re being active, chances are you’ll want to continue participating in that activity. Join a walking group so you can exercise and socialize at the same time, listen to music while you garden or work outside, call a friend and take a water aerobics class together, or join an organized club or sport. Stay active, stay involved, and you’ll stay heal thy!
 
If you’re considering getting more exercise, here are 7 exercise routines worth trying::
 
Work In Aerobics, Build Muscle With Squats, Raise Your Arms for Upper Body Strength, Curl Those Biceps, Practice Push-Ups, Give Leg Raises a Go, Stretch Your Lower and Upper Body
 
Remember: You may want to talk to your doctor before starting: And after starting, have some fun!


Horace Satisfield
CPNA Vice President
 
P.S. Heights and Huffines Recreation Centers - Annual Membership; Fees and information
Richardson residents – Seniors 55+= $35

Individuals are required to purchase a membership to use the Recreation Centers, and to present their membership card each time they enter the facilities. Memberships are valid at both centers. A senior level membership purchased at Heights/Huffinses, is also valid at the Senior Center, but a Senior Center membership is not valid at Heights or Huffines.                     

Spring Wildflowers
 
You should see the results of the fall wildflower planting starting in April. Parks and Recreation crews began planting wildflowers along roadsides and in city parks (including our wonderful Crowley Park), natural areas and medians late in September. All total - 34-36 acres of wildflowers were be planted last Fall. 
 
The wildflower planting program began in the early 1990s and has been beautifying Richardson ever since. Some of the best places to view spring wildflowers are City Hall, Crowley Park and east of Cityline. The Cityline planting will be new this year and will be viewed from Renner Road. 
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What are you Thankful for Today?

It has been a hectic day like many that have passed. Surviving to lunch was a great accomplishment. I am standing in line at the local burger joint. All day long I have been looking for a topic to be thankful for, little did I know I would find the topic here.
Waiting in line my mind drifts from thought to thought. Asking myself, what am I thankful for today?

Patience has never been one of my strong characteristics. As I stood there in line the people in front of me were ordering a simple burger and they were testing those patience. The conversations sounded something like this, "we want a hamburger, no make that a turkey burger can we have cheese, no maybe we want grilled chicken". 

This went on for several painful minutes. It wasn't just the burger either. From there the type French fries, or sweet potato fries and then to the drink water, tea or coke-a-cola? When they finished ordering my topic became clear.
I am thankful to not agonize over simple decisions. "I'll take the cheese burger, regular fries and a coke please".

What are you thankful for today?

Tim Marvel
10 Seconds Daily
City of Richardson Sidewalk Maintenance

The city of Richardson assists residents with sidewalk maintenance in several ways:
 
  • Limited sidewalk improvements are often performed in conjunction with Pavement Rehabilitation and other Capital Improvement Projects
  • Richardson’s Neighborhood Vitality Program assists residential neighborhoods with sidewalk maintenance for contractors familiar with Richardson’s construction specifications and permitting processes. Contractors wishing to be added to the reference list can contact Capital Projects at 972-744-4280.
  • The City waives the Miscellaneous Concrete Rehabilitation Permit Fee when sidewalk improvements are performed at the property owner’s expense.
 
A citywide residential sidewalk rehabilitation needs inventory was performed in 2003. The city was divided into 27 sidewalk rehabilitation regions, and each region was then ranked according to the identified sidewalk rehabilitation needs. The 2006 Bond Program funded rehabilitation for the 11 regions shown in green on the map, which were all completed by the fall of 2009. The 2010 Bond Program authorized funding for the next 11 regions that were completed in 2015, the remaining five regions will be funded from the 2015 Bond Program. Once work begins in a region, all qualifying rehabilitation is made, It is not necessary for the homeowner to notify the city of defects. Homeowners will be notified approximately five to ten days in advance of sidewalk improvements being performed at their location.
 
NOT all sidewalk defects qualify for improvements. Vertical Separations (Trip Hazards) exceeding on inch or Surface Spalling exceeding 40% of a panel’s surface are the minimum criteria required to qualify for rehabilitation when funding is available.
Crowley Park Update
Thanks to our GREAT neighbors who have been so generous to contribute to the Shade the Trail program, we have REACHED OUR GOAL OF 100 TREES planted in Crowley Park, with emphasis along the trail around the park!! And we are still going, to make Crowley Park even more beautiful!! This spring 12 m ore trees will be planted along Lookout Dr, between the parking lot and the sidewalk. In years to come, we will have shade along the sidewalk on Lookout and the parking lot!! Also notice the trees blooming along the tree line of the park – Dogwood, Red Buds, and Mexican Plum trees have also been planted as part of the Shade the Trail program!  Please see our donation form to contribute to this wonderful program!

SHADE THE TRAIL PLAQUE
A plaque to commemorate the Shade the Trail Program is being planned for the corner of Honeysuckle and Blackberry. Plans are in the making!!

CROWLEY PARK SIGN (at Lookout and North Spring Dr)
Our wonderful Richardson Parks department is landscaping the area around the Crowley Park sign at Lookout and North Spring. Native grasses and possibly some salvia are some of plants that will be planted to beautify the signage area!

BALL FIELDS
The backstops on the ball fields on Lookout have been replaced! YAY!

NORTH PLAYGROUND
The playground equipment on the north playground in Crowley Park will be replaced in 2020, as part of the City’s Bond Program! 

BUTTERFLY GARDEN
Richardson is part of the Mayor’s Monarch Butterfly Pledge. Our Parks Department is working with us to replace some plants in existing beds by the pond with butterfly friendly plants as well as possibly a designated butterfly garden. Cost and location are currently being investigated!

LIFT STATION PROJECT
The city will begin work on the lift station area located at the corner of Lookout and Spring Lake Dr this summer, to move the lift station into the woods where it will be less obtrusive.

Lots of exciting things are happening in our park! We love our Crowley Park and continue to work with the city to keep our park beautiful for years to come! Please see the Donation F orm for Shade the Trail to see how you can contribute and make a difference!! 

For any questions, please contact me, Nancy Crowe at ncrowe3@hotmail.com .

SHARED ARTICLE
IS THIS THE END OF RECYCLING?
Adapted from an article in The Atlantic By Alana Semuels, March 5, 2019

Americans are consuming more and more stuff. Now that other countries won’t take our papers and plastics, they’re ending up in the trash. 
After decades of earnest public-information campaigns, Americans are finally recycling . But now much of that carefully sorted recycling is ending up in the trash. For decades, we were sending the bulk of our recycling to China.  But last year, the country restricted imports of certain recyclables, including mixed paper and most plastics.
 
Waste-management companies across the country are telling towns, cities, and counties that there is no longer a market for their recycling. These municipalities have two choices: pay much higher rates to get rid of recycling, or throw it all away. Most are choosing the latter.

Without a market all our stuff started to pile up and some cities are suspending recycling programs and taking these items to the landfills.

This end of recycling comes at a time when the United States is creating more waste than ever. In 2015, the most recent year for which national data are available, America generated 262.4 million tons of waste, up 4.5 percent from 2010 and 60 percent from 1985.

But the costs of all this garbage are growing, especially now that bottles, plastics and papers that were once recycled are now ending up in the trash.

One of those costs is environmental: When organic waste sits in a landfill, it decomposes, emitting methane—landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the country. Burning plastic may create some energy, but it also produces carbon emissions. And while many incineration facilities bill themselves as “waste to energy” plants, which release more harmful chemicals into the air per unit of energy than do coal plants.

And as cities are now learning, the other cost is financial. In addition to rising transportation costs, some dumps are raising costs to deal with all this extra waste; according to one estimate, along the West Coast, landfill fees increased by $8 a ton from 2017 to 2018. Some of these costs are already being passed on to consumers, but most haven’t—yet.

Americans are going to have to come to terms with a new reality: All those toothpaste tubes and shopping bags and water bottles that didn’t exist 50 years ago need to go somewhere, and creating this much waste has a price we haven’t had to pay so far.
As the trash piles up, American cities are scrambling to figure out what to do with everything they had previously sent to China. But few businesses want it domestically, for one very big reason: Despite all those advertising campaigns, Americans are terrible at recycling.

About 25 percent of what ends up in the blue bins is contaminated, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association. For decades, we’ve been throwing just about whatever we wanted—wire hangers and pizza boxes and ketchup bottles and yogurt containers—into the bin and sending it to China, where low-paid workers sorted through it and cleaned it up. That’s no longer an option. And in the United States, at least, it rarely makes sense to employ people to sort through our recycling so that it can be made into new material, because virgin plastics and paper are still cheaper in comparison.

Then there’s the challenge of educating people about what can and can’t be recycled, even as the number of items they touch on a daily basis grows. The average American spent 7 percent more on food and 8 percent more on personal-care products and services in 2017 than in 2016, according to government data .

For now, it’s still often cheaper for companies to manufacture using new materials than recycled ones.

But because companies don’t bear the costs of disposal, they have no incentive to manufacture products out of material that will be easier to recycle.

Richardson continues to collect recyclables and ALL Richardson residents can recycle there brush and bag leaves and grass clippings, which is then turned into mulch.
Residents should call the Richardson Trash phone line at 972-744-4111 for pick up. The leaves and grass clippings should be in compostable bags and placed at the front curb on Fridays.  
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