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Prairie nature reserve planned in Lithopolis
(by Linda Dillman, staff writer - June 10, 2009)
Frustrated with rumors and misinformation regarding Lithopolis' new municipal building, Mayor Eric Sandine put the issue to rest with a letter outlining plans for the Lithopolis Road complex, including a prairie nature preserve.
"Dominion Homes recently deeded the open space south and east of Salinger Drive to the village," said Sandine. "The village plans to maintain this area as open/green space. Basically, green space is an area within a developed environment, which is dedicated to nature. The property will not be maintained as a giant lawn. We plan to include a Blue Bird trail and nature trails intersecting the areas as the prairie grasses and flowers become established."
The site will be divided into four sections and it is the village's goal to develop the property as a natural prairie over the course of two years. The plan includes:
•mowing the property once this year between June 1 and July 1, then again between Aug. 1 and Sept. 1;
•planting one section with prairie grasses and rye or oat grass, another with sweet clover or Birdsfoot Trefoil to prepare the soil in spring 2010; and
•mowing all sections in summer and fall of 2010.
"It's not going to be baseball diamonds, soccer fields, or farmland," Sandine told Lithopolis Village Council at its June 9 meeting. "We're going to develop it as a natural prairie."
Prairie grasses and rye or oats will be planted again in spring 2011. Three sections will be mowed in summer and fall of the same year, but the remaining section will be maintained to control growth of noxious weeds.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, small patches of prairie grow throughout much of Ohio and are relics of a time 4,000 to 6,000 years ago when a dry, warm period caused the expansion of drought-resistant western plants eastward to Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
When rain and cooler summers returned, the eastern edge of the prairie returned to a forested state, except for pockets of land where erosion, shallow dry soils, or prolonged seasonal flooding prevented seedlings from developing. Today, because of agricultural expansion, only a few scattered prairie remnants survive.
Other Lithopolis news
•Sandine conducted a session of the Lithopolis Board of Zoning Appeals to take action on a request by Shirley Young to extend a non-conforming use for a Market Street parcel near Bloom Elementary School so she can move a trailer to the site.
Young is a resident of the Fairfield Mobile Home Park and, like her fellow residents, is being evicted from the park following the death of the complex's owner. In May, Sandine reported the heir of the estate did not want to continue the business and was shutting down the mobile home park, leaving residents scrambling for alternative accommodations.
The Market Street site currently houses a vacant, older model mobile home. Sandine said Young is seeking extension of the non-conforming use before she buys the land and moves her newer mobile home from the Fairfield park to the parcel near the school.
Council members voted 3-2 to approve the request.
•Within the last two months, five new businesses moved their operations to Lithopolis, including an adult day care facility, real estate office, funeral home, bank, and computer shop. Sandine also said he received notice the village is on the receiving end of up to $460,000 through an estate tax settlement.
"It's a great gift to the village," commented Councilman Ted Simon.
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