2 - Morrisville and Preston Progress, Thursday, Jan. 29,1998
They re for the birds, bats too Elections Board reviews charges of slander
Continued from page 1
tonwood (fixing axehandles,
wooden bridges and building bird-
houses).
The maintenance staff has re
cently formed an advisory group to
work toward certification in the
National Audubon Cooperative
Sanctuary System. As part of this
effort, the maintenance staff is ex
panding its focus on bluebirds and
purple martins to include butter
flies, bats and ducks. There is also
an extensive feeding program fea
turing a dozen corn, wild birdseed
and suet feeders, and teeter-totter
squirrel feeders with whole dried
corncobs attached.
The certification can also apply to
recreational facilities such as mu
nicipal parks, but golf courses are
mentioned many times in the lit
erature.
“The program was set up to en
hance the public perception of golf
courses and their contribution to
the nature, as well as to society,”
Hilton said. “Prestonwood Country
Club has always had a strong
commitment to the preservation of
the environment and natural re
sources.”
To receive the certification, they
must take rigorous steps involving
the use of pesticides, the preserva
tion of wetlands, and water conser
vation and water quality manage
ment.
The public must become in
volved—school children will be
invited to visit the bluebird trail.
Country club members or neigh
bors are needed to monitor the
structures to make sure they are
being inhabited by the birds that the
program is trying to attract.
Prestonwood officials are also en
couraging nearby homeowners to
become certified, by putting up
things like hummingbird feeders
and suet feeders.
Another golf course in Charlotte
has already received the certifica
tion (the only one in North Caro
lina), so Prestonwood officials are
in a hurry to be the next. It takes
from one to three years to receive
the certification, but since many of
the requirements (such as bluebird
houses) are already in place, Banks
and Hilton say it should take them
a year or less.
For the past three years, about
300 baby bluebirds were hatched
and fledged. Last year, there were
360, Banks said.
The nine purple martin houses
(which have 12 compartments
each) are boarded up in winter after
the birds fly south to prevent star
lings or wrens from inhabiting the
houses. In late February or early
March, the doors are removed for
the purple martins’ return.
Banks has redesigned Hilton’s
original birdhouse, adding a side-
latch to the house, which opens on
the side instead of the top as in
most birdhouses. The houses have a
copper roof to keep them dry. He
has also perfected the design for the
bat house. So far only one house is
up, but Banks plans to have six up
by spring.
The bat houses will be placed
near ponds, because bats love mos
quitoes for dinner. A bat will eat
about 2,000 mosquitoes in a day,
Banks said.
The bat houses are like narrow
beehives. There is insulation in the
center so the bats can back up to
the warmth. They hang their feet on
nylon mesh after they crawl up into
it.
“They like to crawl up into
something,” Banks said. The
houses are placed 20 feet off the
ground on metal poles, but bats
would also like them if they were
lower, he said.
Near the butterfly houses, they
plan to plant butterfly bushes to
attfact the colorful insects.
A bale of pine straw is placed un
der the bluebird houses several
times a year. Banks said he could
tell by looking at an uninhabited
house if there really are bluebirds
living there. If he finds sticks, mud,
leaves or grass in the nesting mate
rials, some other bird has taken
over the house.
The bluebirds have three broods
from February or March through
August or September, Banks said.
It takes 21 or 22 days from mating
to sending the fledglings off to fly
away. Each time, they make a new
nest for the new set of babies.
Banks and his staff help by re
moving the old nests and providing
fresh bales of pine straw.
Squirrel protectors (which also
work on snakes and cats) are put
halfway up the poles on all bird-
houses to prevent climbing.
The environmental plan will be
sent off in late January or early
February to the Audubon Society.
The plan inventoried all of the
wildlife found on the country club
site, and outlined an environmental
plan for future improvements that
would enhance the preservation of
the environment and wildlife. The
Audubon society will respond with
an extensive list of requirements to
be filled to meet the certification.
The six areas that must be ad
dressed are environmental plan
ning, wildlife and habitat manage
ment, integrated pest management,
water conservation, water quality
management and outreach and edu
cation.
Most of these areas are already
being addressed. For example, the
golf course crews spray fungicides,
pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers
only when necessary, and there are
non-spray, protected areas which
are classified as wetlands.
A group of students from N.C.
State is already testing the water
quality, before it enters the Pres
tonwood site, while it is there, and
after it leaves, Crabtree Creek runs
through Prestonwood.
Prestonwood has its own irriga
tion system from ponds. Cary water
is only used for cleanup and that is
well-controlled. Banks said.
The outreach and education as
pect has been weakest. Folks inter
ested in helping may call 467-6288
to volunteer.
Professors from area universities
are consulting with the mainte
nance staff on the project. Dr.
Charles Peacock of N.C. State Uni
versity and Dr. Bud Smart of Duke
University, both members of the
Audubon Society, and Mark Johns,
of N.C. State, who is also a mem
ber of the N.C. Wildlife Commis
sion, have helped Hilton and Banks
get the program off the ground,
Brent Lineberger, a graduate of
N.C. State in forestry and wildlife
management, who now has his own
company, was a consultant for the
resource inventory done in 1996.
Banks has a Ph.D. in nuclear
physics, and has been a member of
the club since it opened. He re
cently took the Job in the mainte
nance department to keep busy.
Hilton was the superintendent of
golf courses beginning in 1987
before the club opened, but left in
1990 to take a job in Maryland and
later in Williamsburg, Va., but
came back in January of 1994. His
title now is golf course construction
superintendent.
Maintenance staff members are
taking the lead in various catego
ries for the certification. David
Racine will head up the wildlife
and habitat management area; Kurt
Nitschke will take care of the inte
grated pest management; Jeff
Koonce will handle water conser
vation; Dave Tandy will take care
of water quality issues; and Jon
Allen will lead the outreach and
education effort.
Ron Gilmore, director of golf
course operations, is the overall
supervisor of the Audubon projects.
Continued from page 1
what I was going to do to the town
and town employees if I were re
elected. Several of these such at
tack letters were unsigned and
clearly were an attempt to derail
my positive campaign efforts and
to create doubt in the minds of the
voters as to my integrity, honesty
and performance in office.”
Mrs. Broadwell accuses Phyllis
Newnam, who was seeking re-
election to a District 2 seat, of be
ing allied with Lumley, because she
said her literature went through the
same metered mail. She also ac
cused Commissioner C.T. Moore of
being involved in the mass mail
ings, because he was Mrs,
Newnam’s campaign manager.
Moore said he had no knowledge
of the mailings.
“I don’t know what she’s going
after. I know nothing about this. I
do know that as far as I can tell,
Phyllis didn't do it. I was hoping
Margaret wouldn’t be a bad loser
and this would be over.”
Mrs. Newnam said, “The only
thing I have to say is I had nothing
to do with any of it, and I know
nothing about it.”
In the complaint, Mrs. Broadwell
said-“I was not re-elected on No
vember 4, 1997, and I truly believe
it was a direct result of a calculated
effort on the part of Mr. Ernest
Lumley (former mayor of Morris
ville) and his small group of fol
lowers to unseat me for some ulte
rior motive.”
Mrs, Broadwell enclosed copies
of all of the flyers that were dis
tributed before the election. Some
Cromwell recuperating
Continued from page 1
making new blood cells. Because of the lack of white blood
cells, the patient is more susceptible to infection.
Cromwell was reinjected with his own frozen marrow cells,
from which the cancer had been removed, after his existing
bone marrow was destroyed by a high dose of chemotherapy.
His wife, Joyce, is helping care for him and a friend is
keeping their dog.
Cromwell said he would appreciate prayers.
“I believe that God made the human body and God can do
whatever he wants with it. He can make it well or not. The
prayers of people who believe have an effect on that,” he said.
“They sometimes help God make a decision."
He is still hoping that Medicare will pay part of the $80,000
bill for the transplant procedure. They have taken a second
mortgage on their house because their primary insurance
would not pay.
“They consider it after 10 years or more to still be experi
mental surgery,” he said. “They get other things that can be
experimental, they treat that. This, which has had a pretty
good record of at least lengthening life, they call it experi
mental.”
It is a good sign that Cromwell has not had to be hospitalized
through the procedure. Ironically, they put him in the hospital
with the flu a week or so before the transplant, but he was well
enough to have the transplant soon after that.
Cromwell said he plans to be at the board meeting Feb, 9,
but will check with his doctor first.
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of the flyers accuse her of wanting
to fire most of the town staff, and
of wanting to serve as manager as
well as mayor.
“Portraying me as that type of
person was very offensive to me,”
Mrs. Broadwell said. “If the reader
were to believe that, they must
think I’m an idiot. It would make
no good reasonable common sense.
Second of all. I’m not super human,
how in the world could anybody
physically handle all those jobs at
one time?”
She also objected to the accusa
tion that she took $50,000 from the
town sewer fund. This refers to a
lawsuit filed against her husband
and neighbors by the town about 10
years ago for refusing to grant
easements for public sewer.
“We showed three different ways
that we would give easement rights
if they would shift the proposed
line slightly,” Mrs. Broadwell said.
“They would not negotiate at all."
She added that to her memory, the
town spent a total of $70,000 in
court for all^Kur cases, and is un
sure where the $50,000 figure came
from. She added that she does not
own the land, but her husband had
the land before they were married
and her name was never added to it.
Gambling a ‘snap’
Morrisville entrepreneur heads to market
Continued from page 1
Ericksson. He is senior tech leader
for a mechanical group that makes
batteries, chargers and car kits. He
still keeps in touch with Welsh,
who is still at Pratt-Whitney, on a
regular basis.
There have been a lot of steps to
get this far. First the men had the
product tested at the University of
Florida to see what the exact pres
sure was to break it. At first it was
about 380 pounds, which wasn't
close enough to suit them.
So they redesigned it. Parts of the
halter are strong plastic; the jaws
are stainless steel.
Once the design was complete,
they developed an extensive mar
keting plan. They have received the
promise of a loan from the Small
Business Administration, which
they may turn down because it is
too restrictive, and have invested
$40,000 each of their own money.
They have secured quotes on the
manufacture and have chosen
Kaybe Products near Kernersville
to do the injection molding and
assembly. The original injection
mold will cost about $60,000, but
after that, the parts will be much
cheaper.
“We figure we have to sell 40,000
to break even,” Patterson said, but
he said there is a large market for
the product, and he will place ads
in horsemanship magazines.
In the United States, more than
three and a half million panic snaps
were sold last year, he said.
“Of course, there’s always a risk.
But everyone we’ve shown it to has
been favorable," he added. “We’ve
shown it to horse equipment dis
tributors and they say it is a good
product. We’ve shown it to too
many independent people who had
nothing to gain.”
If everything goes well, the first
Turtle Snaps halters will be off the
line and ready for distribution by
mid-April.
For more information, look up
their new web page:
turtlesnaps.home.mindspring.com.
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