Aug 27 Montopolis Greenbelt Community Service Day
Stefan Wray
http://www.montopolisgreenbelt.org/
Community Service Project at the Montopolis Greenbelt
Community Service Project at the Montopolis Greenbelt
August 27, 2011, 8:00 am – Noon
Montopolis Practice Field located at 901 Vasquez St., Austin, TX 78741
On August 27, 2011, the Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals and the Montopolis Tributary Trail Association are partnering to cleanup trash and remove invasive species in the Montopolis Greenbelt. Provided the resources are available, a mobile laboratory will be set up to gather baseline data on the quality of the soil in the creek bed and pond.
The Montopolis Tributary Trail Association is a group of Montopolis neighbors and friends who have been working together since February 2010 to create hike and bike trails and nature trails and to cleanup the creeks and land in the Montopolis Greenbelt.
The Montopolis Greenbelt is more than 40 acres of undeveloped open green space, rich with animal and plant life that is being transformed into an area for public recreational use. This greenbelt has a history of illegal dumping and in rain events the creeks have carried lots of trash downstream onto the land. Many of the invasive species, especially ligustrum, are crowding out and killing the native oaks and elders.
What to wear and what to bring:
Wear light weight outdoor work clothes because it will likely be very hot. Hard toes shoes are recommended if you have them. Bring a water bottle as we will provide water coolers. Also bring sun block, sun screen, poison ivy block, and mosquito repellant.
Update on Aug 27 Community Service Day
We've been informed that the Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals plans to come with about 40 people. Austin Youth River Watch will come with a group of 4 to 8 high school students. Some students in the LBJ School of Public Affairs have indicated they plan to be there. Austin Parks Foundation and Keep Austin Beautiful have been promoting this day. This will bring an unknown number of additional people.
APF staff person Becky Gallogly plans to teach a people about techniques for removing invasive species. She walked the greenbelt with Pam Thompson and Phillip Pastrano last week.
The details on the soil testing component are still being worked out. AHMP conference organizers and others have been discussing parameters with a private company that will volunteer to do soil testing in some of the creek beds.
There is no shortage of trash still in the greenbelt and those who will not be involved with either the invasive species or soil testing will have their hands full.
The "pond" is no longer a pond. With the drought it is now completely dry. There are some tires and some type of tanks and other debris in the pond area. We want to clean up in and around the pond while it is dry.
It will be very hot. There will be a temptation to wear shorts because of the heat. But there is a significant amount of poison ivy. It is recommendation to wear light long pants. We hope to have poison ivy lotion available.
Please try to arrive right at 8:00 AM. We want to take advantage of the coolest part of the day. If you do arrive late, walk to the far end of the park, turn left and walk along the natural gas line easement in the direction of 183. The pond is off to the right from that that easement. You will find some of us there.
Best to bring your a water bottle. We will have large containers of water for you to fill water from. And please remember to bring a hat and sunscreen.
If you have any questions, send an email via the contact form at the top right corner of this page, or call 512-983-5852.