Speed Monitoring Protects Templeton Students

Safer routes for children walking to Templeton Elementary School have topped the BPNA's agenda for years. The need was highlighted in the 2006 Neighborhood Walks with the Mayor and members of the City Council. One result of this effort is the new speed monitoring system installed in February 2007. At Grant & Hillside and at Woodlawn & Hillside, speed limit signs and monitors with built-in radar warn drivers to slow down as they approach the school crosswalks.

BPNA president Jan Sorby says, "A high-five to everyone who has worked on getting the caution signs on Hillside by Templeton for the past 7 years. It took a long time but was really well worth the work." Sorby gave special thanks to Don Porter, traffic control manager with the city of Bloomington, Justin Wycoff, of the Board of Public Works, and Mayor Mark Kruzan.


(photo source: The Herald-Times)

Davis Street Garden Guidelines

The Davis Street Garden is located on the north side of Davis Street between Grant and Palmer. The purpose of the Garden is first to beautify the neighborhood, and second to provide an opportunity for residents of the Bryan Park Neighborhood to experience gardening. It is divided into 25 allotments of 10 feet each as follows: sunny: lots #1-5, semi shade: lots #6-10,& 25, shady: lots #11-24. The allotments are available for cultivation on a first come first served basis to members of the Bryan Park Neighborhood Association, who help with communal gardening maintenance tasks, and who comply with the guidelines below. The allotments may be kept for a period of 3 calendar years. At the end of this time the allotment will be made available to the next neighbor on the list. At such time the gardener may re-enter their name on the wait list. A gardener may also choose to surrender their allotment ahead of schedule, or allow it to lapse into circulation due to non-maintenance. Requests for use should be made to the Garden Coordinator.

Guidelines for Maintenance

1. The Davis Street Garden Guidelines may be further restricted by the guidelines specified in the City of Bloomington Unified Development Ordinance.
   
2. A gardener may cultivate any plant that can be legally cultivated in the state of Indiana, and that has not been defined as an invasive species, or otherwise restricted by the UDO. A list of restricted plants may be found at chapter 20.05.058, Exhibit LA-B: Invasive Species, Species with Poor Characteristics, and Noxious or Detrimental Plants, at: www.bloomington.in.gov
   
3. Allotments must be kept mulched and weeded, and otherwise attractively maintained.
   
4. The effect of overspray, or any other form of weed and insect suppression must be restricted to the gardener's allotment only.
   
5. It is the responsibility of the gardener to bring her/his own water for irrigation.
   
6. Plants may not create shade in other allotments, or obstruct sight lines needed by traffic or pedestrians. Plants in allotments 1-4 may not exceed 48".
   
7. Gardeners under the age of 15 must be supervised by a parent, or guardian.
   
8. Please bring suggestions for improvement, questions, and concerns about use to the Garden Coordinator (Ria Collee, 336-2512, or mcollee@indiana.edu) or BPNA President (Mary Miller, mpm_miller@yahoo.com)

rev. Jan. 27, 2010

Garden Plots Now Available to Members

So many plants, too little garden space?

BPNA members can solve this perennial gardener’s dilemma by signing up for a free plot in the Davis Street Garden. The garden consists of 25 plots of land, each 10 feet square, along the north side of Davis St. between Grant and Palmer.

Sunny, shady and in-between plots are available. Contact Ria Collee, the Garden Coordinator, at 336-2512 or mcollee@ indiana.edu. Last year volunteers applied a heavy layer of mulch to suppress the former overgrowth and give our community gardeners rich soil and a clean start. What you do with your plot is up to you, within Guidelines designed to benefit all users.

Bryan Park Creek Naturalization

BPNA received a HAND Neighborhood Improvement Grant to plant native species along the creek in Bryan Park.

Many, many thanks to the 40 or so volunteers who worked extremely hard to get 3,100 seedlings planted on April 8-9, 2006.

Download a partial list of the native plants used in this project (MS Word).

Bryan Park neighbors helping to place 2,000 plants

By Lanetta J. Williams
Hoosier Times
April 9, 2006

Reprinted with thanks to the Bloomington Herald-Times

BLOOMINGTON — Jim Opiat didn’t mind the muddy knees or cold air that accompanied his spring gardening Saturday. He knew his hard work, and that of about 40 other volunteers, would pay off — in three-to-five years.

"I bring my grandkids over here all the time," he said. "So I’m looking forward to saying, ‘Hey, I planted this.’"

Opiat is one of many from the Bryan Park Neighborhood Association participating in planting more than 2,000 native Indiana plants purchased with a $17,063 Neighborhood Improvement Grant awarded by the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission for the Bryan Park Creek Naturalization Project.

The plants are being planted along the eastern portion of a creek at the park to improve wildlife habitat, reduce the need for mowing, and stabilize the creek bank. Both flowering and nonflowering species will bring color and variety to the creek, officials say. Species to be planted include black-eyed Susan, fire pink, spicebush, coneflower, palm sedge and beak grass.

Jon Behrman, with the firm Eco Logic, has spent years designing and studying the project. His group drilled the planting holes and guided the placement of plants from a nursery in Muncie.

Since spring 2003, Eco Logic, along with the association and the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, have planted similar flowers along the creek that stretches between Woodlawn Avenue on the east and Henderson Street on the west.

Though much of what was previously planted now looks to some like overgrown weeds, he says flowers will begin to bloom and take color over the next several weeks. Behrman said the benefits go further than just having pretty plants to look at.

"Each of these plants has a relationship with a bird or an insect," Behrman said. "That’s the kind of relationship we’re trying to bring back to this site."