weather
Pirate name: Poncy Henry Goodfellow
High School Construction Plan Will Save Bat Habitat
Fish And Wildlife Service Protect Endangered Bat Habitat
POSTED: 2:47 pm EDT July 21, 2004
UPDATED: 3:32 pm EDT July 21, 2004
CLEVELAND -- U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette says construction of Lakeside High School could begin immediately under a compromise construction plan tentatively approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Work at the school was halted more than a month ago after a routine bat survey located a pregnant Indiana bat off school property. The Indiana Bat is an endangered species at the federal and state levels.
LaTourette said the plan will allow the district to proceed with construction of the high school campus, including a football stadium and a needed slurry wall, which will assist with drainage and protect wetlands on the 123-acre site.
LaTourette said the district agreed to move two softball diamonds and a soccer field to another location on the parcel, and will reconfigure the placement of two baseball fields and a practice field to avoid damaging potential bat habitat.
"This is a win for the district, a win for the kids who will attend this beautiful school, and a win for the bat," LaTourette said. "The school should open as planned in the fall of 2006, and the district won't lose its middle school site either."
LaTourette intervened on behalf of the district shortly after the bat was discovered on June 17.
LaTourette said if no construction was allowed this season, the school opening would have been delayed by a year or more, costing the district at least $1 million. The current delays have cost between $3,000 and $4,000 a day.
"This has been a frustrating experience with many ups and downs and a lot of head-butting,” LaTourette said. "At the end of the day, both sides gave a little to protect the bat, but the district will get what it needs a new high school that will open on time, and room for a middle school sometime down the road."
Mike
Fish And Wildlife Service Protect Endangered Bat Habitat
POSTED: 2:47 pm EDT July 21, 2004
UPDATED: 3:32 pm EDT July 21, 2004
CLEVELAND -- U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette says construction of Lakeside High School could begin immediately under a compromise construction plan tentatively approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Work at the school was halted more than a month ago after a routine bat survey located a pregnant Indiana bat off school property. The Indiana Bat is an endangered species at the federal and state levels.
LaTourette said the plan will allow the district to proceed with construction of the high school campus, including a football stadium and a needed slurry wall, which will assist with drainage and protect wetlands on the 123-acre site.
LaTourette said the district agreed to move two softball diamonds and a soccer field to another location on the parcel, and will reconfigure the placement of two baseball fields and a practice field to avoid damaging potential bat habitat.
"This is a win for the district, a win for the kids who will attend this beautiful school, and a win for the bat," LaTourette said. "The school should open as planned in the fall of 2006, and the district won't lose its middle school site either."
LaTourette intervened on behalf of the district shortly after the bat was discovered on June 17.
LaTourette said if no construction was allowed this season, the school opening would have been delayed by a year or more, costing the district at least $1 million. The current delays have cost between $3,000 and $4,000 a day.
"This has been a frustrating experience with many ups and downs and a lot of head-butting,” LaTourette said. "At the end of the day, both sides gave a little to protect the bat, but the district will get what it needs a new high school that will open on time, and room for a middle school sometime down the road."
Mike
