Highway Commissioner Trammel points out the importance of good roads to Arkansas

Dick Trammel, one of the five members of the Arkansas State Highway Commission, was the guest speaker at the Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010, meeting of the Van Buren Rotary Club. His purpose on Thursday was to talk about Arkansas Highways. However, several of the Rotarians in the audience warmly remembered Dick Trammel as the District Governor of Dist. 6110 in 1985-86, and Dick spoke with the authority and enthusiasm of someone who as a Rotarian for 50 years has spent most of his adult life involved in public service in one form or another and at the same time, built a very successful business career along the way.

According to Commissioner Trammel, Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department is the 5th largest state agency with 3,618 employees who are responsible for Arkansas' 16,438 miles of roads and highways. Last year, the Commission received $267 million to maintain all those roads. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was projected to provide an additional $351,544,468 for highways and bridges, of which $28 million was set aside for transit capital grants and $10 million for local city and county projects. So far, Arkansas has used the balance to complete 121 major projects covering 273 miles and only six project are not finished at this point. To put some of those costs into perspective, the latest 2009 revision shows the following Estimated Costs per Mile for highway construction:
4 Lane Freeway - urban area w/ no bridges -   $10,350,000/mile
4 Lane Freeway - rural mtns w/ no bridges -     $12,250.000/ mile
Add new interchange to existing Freeway  -     $11,130,000

Currently, fifty-two percent of the money to maintain Arkansas roads comes from the Federal Government. Congress has added an additional $36 million toward additional highway repairs over the last three years. But overall, the current system, which dates from when gasoline was only a dollar a gallon, is outdated and doesn't match the current need to maintain highways and bridges all over the nation.

Arkansas' Blue Ribbon Committee, seeking to find acceptable ways to increase the funding for highway construction and maintenance, also faces the reality that highway construction costs have tripled over the past six years while a fixed $0.21/gal. gas tax for Arkansas highways generates less money as people are motivated to drive more economically and travel less. Even without an estimated $8.7 billion necessary to meet anticipated construction needs, close examination also shows a need for an additional $200 million per year just for maintenance to keep our roads at their current level.

Commissioner Trammel also introduced Joe Shipman, the District 4 Engineer based in Fort Smith, who reviewed the current highway projects in the Van Buren area. The district expects to spend about $13 million on local highway projects this year, and has already spent $72 million in the Van Buren area over the last 10 years. Hwy 71 improvements and I-49 construction projects are expected to cost $424 million.

Commissioner Trammel added with his characteristic smile, "I won't see I-49 in my lifetime, but I'll start it! Someone else can finish it."

Growing a part of history at Fort Smith National Historic Site

At the Thursday, September 9, 2010 Van Buren Rotary Club meeting, Ranger Keri Powers,  First Bloom Coordinator at Fort Smith National Historical Site, provided some of the background behind the new garden that has been growing over the past two years near the former officers' quarters at the historic site. The family-style garden features the vegetables, herbs and flowers that would have been found at the historic site in 1860. The soil is tilled with hand tools typical of the same period and the gardeners use no herbicides or insecticides that were not available for the inhabitants of Fort Smith in the 1860's.

What makes the garden so special are the gardeners. Girls Incorporated partnered with the national historic site and the young girls from the Fort Smith area wear period dresses, aprons and bonnets while working in the garden. The girls have already won an award for their efforts, with a trip to the White House and meeting with members of the Arkansas congressional delegation. First Bloom projects around the country also compete for the top prize - a $15,000 trip to a national park such as Yellowstone or Mount Rushmore to plant a First Bloom garden.

The Fort Smith First Bloom project is the only one of its kind in Arkansas or Oklahoma. Starting with a 4' x 40' raised bed two years ago, 30 young volunteers have worked every Wednesday after school and during the summer to expand the plot to its present 44' x 40' size. The garden's produce is either cooked and sampled or shared among the participants in the project. Besides learning about gardening, the girls also learn about their heritage and the unique history that made Fort Smith one of the gateways to the Southwest.

Expressing her pride in the effort made by the local group, Ranger Powers explained. "The kids really got involved." She also mentioned that the project is also looking for additional partners to help make the Fort Smith project even better. Interested parties may contact Ranger Powers at 479-783-3961.

Ranger Powers also invited the Van Buren Rotarians and members of the community to visit the Fort Smith National Historic Site and see how the First Bloom garden has grown. For more information about the FSNHS First Bloom project:
http://www.nps.gov/fosm/parknews/first_bloom_contest.htm
FSNHS First Bloom Project slideshow:
http://www.nps.gov/mwr/_cs_apps/fls_photoGallery/customcf/display-slideshow.cfm?gID=236733
For more information about the many activities at the Fort Smith National Historic Site, visit: http://www.nps.gov/mwr/fosm/

Everyone benefits by thinking regionally

Lea Taylor, Regional Executive Director of the Fort Smith Regional Alliance, explained the goals and purpose of the new economic development organization at the Thursday noon meeting of the Van Buren Rotary Club on Sept. 2nd. Economic development issues and benefits don't follow arbitrary boundaries or even state lines. "There are no boundaries," Taylor said. "We're all in this together."

Ms. Taylor cited several examples where economic development projects initiated in one county have spilled over into one or more neighboring communities to everyone's benefit. The alliance was formed in early May of this year and includes 14 cities and chambers in LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma and Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas.