FARMINGTON

Plans to install low-pressure sewer systems in two neighborhoods that currently have environmentally worrisome septic systems is being re-examined by town officials in an attempt to get the project approved in time to get on the November ballot.

Presented by Town Engineer Russell Arnold Jr. at Tuesday's town council meeting, the project will go back to the town's water pollution control authority for consideration at its May 9 meeting. A timeline introduced to the council showed two public hearings on the project tentatively scheduled at the June 13 WPCA meeting and the July 12 town council meeting.

Town council members were unanimous in their desire to try to get the project to voters in November, though there was no official vote.

Residents at a referendum last fall rejected the proposal as presented, citing cost concerns and fears that a pump system, which pushes the waste to a central sewer main line, could fail during a power outage. Many were instead in favor of the traditional gravity sewer system, which operates exclusively under the influence of gravity.

Since the project went to referendum, it has not changed, Arnold said. He asked that the town council consider recommending the low-pressure sewer option again, arguing that it is more economical and less intrusive to install than a gravity-based system.

Additionally, Arnold said that because of the elevation and the topography of the neighborhoods to be affected, at least 20 percent of the homes will require a low-pressure system no matter what. If the town does nothing, the septic systems in the majority of all the homes in the affected area will likely fail in the short term.

"How many more times do you want to deal with this?" Arnold said. "That's the question."

If approved, the low-pressure sewer plan will affect 95 homes in the area of Blue Ridge and Ridgeview drives, Shady Lane and Woodpond Road.

It will require each property owner to pay for the installation and maintenance of a grinder pump and service lines. Property owners will also have to hire a contractor to install the pumps, reroute their sewers, crush and fill their existing septic tanks and connect to the sewer hub at the street.

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Questions Linger Over Appropriate Sewer System For Farmington Neighborhoods

Good Morning America co-anchor Lara Spencer and her husband, David Haffenreffer (a former CNN anchor now in real estate), recall finding their unusual home. It was 2005, and they were searching in Connecticut. We happened upon this little part of Greenwich called Riverside, Spencer says, and we knew this was the place to raise a family.

The house, a basic 1920s New England farmhouse, had been reconfigured and added onto over the years until it became, Haffenreffer says, endearingly quirky.

Porches were converted into oddly shaped rooms. More porches were added and then more rooms, too. We loved the neighborhood, and we loved the feel of the house, Spencer says. From the minute we stepped inside, we knew it was right.

Elizabeth Lippman

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Lara Spencer, husband David Haffenreffer, daughter Kate and son Duff enjoy hanging out on the front porch of their 4,200-square-foot Connecticut home.

In its 4,200 square feet are four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a dining room, a 20-by-40-foot kitchen, a playroom for the kids (son Duff, 10, and daughter Kate, 8), Spencers reading room (once another bedroom), Haffenreffers office (formerly a maids room) and a sun porch.

The kitchen is so large that, in addition to a marble cooking island and a table and chairs, theres a seating area with a couch, a steamer trunk for a coffee table, a working fireplace and a TV. Its so nice to be able to cook while the kids are sitting there watching TV or doing their homework, Spencer says. The kitchen is the hub of our house.

As for the homes decor, Spencer who does all her own decorating approaches it like an adventure. She believes in the three Rs: rescue, recycle and reinvent. She hits up flea market, auctions, yard sales and sometimes even dumpsters, mixing her finds with new designer pieces. To me, she says, its not about whether you can afford to shop at antique stores or order up entire rooms from a catalog. Its so much more fun to do it this way. If I wasnt doing what I do for my day job, Id certainly be trying to figure out a way to do this full-time.

Sometimes, what Spencer does comes close to treasure-hunting. There are two numbered Picasso lithographs from the 1960s that she discovered at a Salvation Army store. They were $35 for the pair, and theyre worth about $3,500, she says. Id thought they were posters, but when I took them in for framing, the framer recognized the paper and verified that they were the real thing.

I think that helped me get the job when I was hosting Antiques Roadshow in 2004. I told them that story, and they could see I was serious about finding antiques.

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Morning blend

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Solar panels are not often talked about as an expression of religious conviction.

But as the debate over climate change heats up, the panels are going up at houses of worship across the country, regardless of denomination. Such renewable energy is seen as an expression of conservation, or of what religious leaders call environmental stewardship or earth ministry.

In Shaker Heights, a huge $500,000 high-tech solar array is under construction at the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland. Believed to be the largest church solar system in Ohio, the array will form a canopy over part of the parking lot at the back of the church.

The 380 panels have a generating capacity of more than 91,000 watts - enough to supply the yearly power needs of about 10 homes.

Installer Rob Martens said the system is also large enough to take care of about 80 percent of the church's annual power consumption. It will be tied into the Illuminating Co.'s distribution operation, and electricity will flow into the utility's lines when its output is not needed in the church, said Martens, who owns Bold Alternatives, a local solar company.

First Unitarian is paying nothing for the project, the Rev. Daniel Budd said. Nor will the church face monthly payments to buy the array.

Solar Action LLC, a second company of Martens', will own the system for 10 to 15 years. At that point, Martens will have it appraised and either donate or sell the system to the church.

For now, Solar Action will sell the power to the church at a price 2 cents per kilowatt-hour below whatever the Illuminating Co. is charging, Martens said. Those monthly power payments, plus a 30 percent federal tax credit that would not have been available to the church, will pay for the system, he said.

Martens expects to sell the solar credits associated with the power generated by the array to any utility that has not been able to buy or generate power with renewable technology. An Ohio law requires power companies to generate green power, buy green power or buy credits in place of the power.

Church administrator Doug Aubin said about $12,000 a year is spent on electricity for the 88,000-square-foot church - and that's after converting the lightning to compact fluorescent bulbs and more efficient linear or tubular fluorescent bulbs over the last six years.

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First Unitarian Church of Cleveland installs high-tech solar array

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - A northeast Ohio church hopes the construction of a $1.3 million parish hall will help revive the declining neighborhood where 2 of its parishioners were killed in separate crimes.

The Vindicator newspaper (http://bit.ly/BYvtc ) reports the bishop and the mayor were on hand Tuesday as St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church in Youngstown broke ground for the project. The church became a focus of crime-fighting issues after two killings.

In 2010, a 75-year-old man was killed as he and his wife left the church. The suspect has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing in the killing, which prosecutors describe as a case of mistaken identity.

Months earlier, an 80-year-old parishioner had been killed in the church parking lot in a suspected robbery. The trial for that suspect has been delayed.

Information from: The Vindicator, http://www.vindy.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Ohio church hopes $1.3M project helps revive area

A Macon-based planning group said Wednesday that two long-discussed transportation projects -- the widening of Forest Hill Road and the extension of Sardis Church Road in south Bibb County -- should begin in the next year.

The measures are part of the Macon Area Transportation Studys next transportation improvement plan, which may get formally adopted next week by the groups Policy Committee. Wednesday, the groups Technical Coordinating Committee backed the plan with no criticism. Meanwhile, the groups Citizens Advisory Committee rejected the plan Tuesday night over concerns with the size of an Interstate 75/Interstate 16 interchange, the scale of Forest Hill Road projects, and the delay of bike lanes and sidewalks on other roads, committee Chairman Dan Fischer said.

The groups Policy Committee actually makes the decisions, while the two other committee votes are recommendations.

Bids for a three-lane section of Forest Hill Road could be awarded in August, officials said. That construction project affects an area between Wimbish Road and Northside Drive. Widening of a southern stretch of Forest Hill Road, from two lanes to four between Wimbish Road and Vineville Avenue, is now scheduled for fiscal 2016, which starts in the summer of 2015. Construction money for the southern stretch of Forest Hill Road hadnt been identified before.

Separately, construction of the long-discussed Sardis Church Road extension, which will connect to Avondale Mill Road and ultimately to Ga. 247, is expected to begin in the next year. Officials said rights-of-way largely have been bought. Construction of the $29.5 million Sardis Church Road interchange on Interstate 75 is expected to be completed next month.

But other projects are getting bumped down on the planning list because of a lack of funds. Construction of sidewalks on Riverside Drive, expected to begin in the next year, has been bumped back another two years as officials look for $450,000. Pierce Avenue bike lanes, a $562,000 project, face similar delays.

Fischer told The Telegraph that the Citizens Advisory Committee didnt see the sense in delaying inexpensive quality-of-life projects like sidewalks and bike lanes while giving the thumbs-up to programs that are overdesigned, expensive and potentially damaging, such as the interstates interchange and the Forest Hill Road widenings.

The transportation plan also calls for Macon Transit Authority, which has replaced most of its bus fleet, to defer bus buys in the next year. But Macon Transit would buy an additional seven buses in the three years after that, according to the plan.

The Policy Committee will consider the plan at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Bibb County Engineering Annex, 760 Third St.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251.

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Transportation plan moves up Forest Hill, Sardis Church roads construction

The patio at Lias in Friendship Heights is the kind of place where its tempting to stretch a long lunch to an early dinner. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) Its patio season, and while happy hours often get the bulk of alfresco weather attention in these parts, dont overlook using those blue skies and mild temperatures as an excuse for a long lunch. Here are a few of our favorite daytime dining spots with destination patios.

Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill

This relatively new Court House restaurant represents a specific type of outdoor dining destination with which we are all familiar: a menu of American bar-and-grill classics that holds no surprises. But the sweeping panoramic view of Arlington and the District visible from the rooftop tables makes it worth a visit.

Barcode

L Street NW has plenty of patios, from Black Rooster to Mackeys to Post Pub, but none are as comfortable or roomy as the plentiful outdoor seating at Barcode. Its more of an international lounge with bottle service and $12 cocktails on the weekend, but stop by in the middle of your weekday for decent pizza, pasta and American small plates.

Blue Duck Tavern

Slightly recessed and separated from the corner of 24th and M streets NW by a handsome, planter-lined brick wall and a bubbling fountain, Blue Duck Tavern boasts one of the citys most attractive patios. One of the highlights is a massive 12-seat communal table made from a single enormous plank of ancient swamp Kauri wood. Its the perfect environment in which to enjoy the restaurants elegant American cooking.

Dukem

Dukem is a U Street Ethiopian institution, and the covered patio makes for a nice, leisurely lunch hour. The vegetable combination is a colorful, flavorful plate, and the fiery kitfo (spicy beef tartare) is a favorite with the restaurants Ethiopian patrons for a reason. Not your typical turkey-on-rye kind of lunch, which makes for an extra special midday treat.

Lias

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Long lunches find a home on these patios

As British Columbias health minister Mike de Jong has seen it time and again: A pharmaceutical manufacturer launches an expensive new drug, brings forward a patient who desperately needs the medicine but cannot afford it, and pressures the province to cover the cost.

Suddenly, though, the balance of power in Canadas multi-billion-dollar prescription-drug system is shifting, as provinces and territories begin an historic push to combine their buying power and jointly bargain down the high cost of pharmaceuticals.

Not unlike department-store chains bulk-purchasing washing machines or televisions, all the jurisdictions but Quebec have combined forces to negotiate the price of a series of new medicines to be covered by their drug plans, and hope to make the process routine in future.

Analysts call it a unique case of cross-border collaboration between governments that typically run their health-care systems as distinct fiefdoms.

The territorialism that we see has developed over the years, if not the decades, said Mr. de Jong. It is a remarkable feature of the Canadian federation that something that would seem so eminently logical has taken this length of time to become a reality. But it has, and thats good news.

The minister said he wants to push for another concession from the pharmaceutical firms, too. Industry now insists that the price produced by the haggling be kept secret, but taxpayers have a right to know, Mr. de Jong said.

Canada spends about $26-billion annually on prescription drugs, making them the third-largest health care cost after hospitals and doctor services. Provincial drug plans for senior citizens and others pay 46% of that total, private insurance and workplace health plans 36%, and uninsured patients 18%, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

As drugs are added to the formulary, we want to negotiate a common [national] price

The bulk-pricing talks began last year after premiers instructed their health ministers to negotiate jointly for Soliris, the only drug available to treat PNH, a rare and often-fatal blood disease that affects just 90 people across Canada.

The price tag of about $500,000 per year makes it the worlds most expensive medicine, according to Forbes magazine. Working together, though, the provinces managed to secure a deal significantly less than what the company had started with, said Judy McPhee, pharmaceutical-services director with Nova Scotias Health Department.

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Provinces’ new weapon against pharmaceutical costs: each other

HONOLULU -

Granite countertops, energy star appliances and an organic rooftop farm. Sounds like a new high rise development? No. It's a low-income housing apartment in Kalihi. And an example of future affordable housing projects done with private and public partnerships. Ceremonies today marked what could become a template for the future of affordable housing in the islands.

Seattle-based Vitus Group bought the Banyan Street Manor Apartments last May for $8.5 million and spent just over $3 million dollars to renovate the units.

"We didn't spend a ton of money, but what we did was work things wisely," said Makani Maeva, Director of Vitus Group.

And the result is a dream come true for 20-year resident Oceana Falaniko.

"My new refrigertor, that can hold more food." said Falaniko about her new appliances. "My new vanity mirror, when I open the lights it makes me feel like I'm in Hollywood."

Each of the 55 units now has energy saving appliances, solid wood kitchen cabinets and granite counters. On the outside the largest "living walls" in the state. Reducing building temperatures by up to 10-degrees. And the building built in 1976 is now the first affordable housing project to have a USDA certified organic rooftop farm. It also has a protected urban play area just for kids. Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle says he hopes to see more of this type of result from private and public partnerships.

"What happens when you have something like this is it comes into a community that had some problems in the past. It revitalizes it," said Mayor Peter Carlisle. "It takes into account the kind of halo effect of this type of investment can create."

And for Oceana, the improvements have changed her life.

" It's made this place more of a place that we can take pride in." Oceana commented. "Where it's not just a dwelling place or an apartment where you rent a hotel room. There's no meaning to it, this is my home."

Excerpt from:
Public housing getting modern renovations with private help

Craig Lee / Special to The Chronicle

STYLEMAKER SPOTLIGHT: Emily Mughannam

"I've always been interested in interior design," says Emily Mughannam. "For as long as I can remember, I've been affected by space, light, texture and color. Even as a kid, I'd rearrange my room regularly, and that play turned into a passion."

In 2007, after years of consulting with a number of design and architectural practices, Mughannam launched EM Design ( http://www.emdesigninteriors.com). "I enjoy being surrounded by beautiful things every day, and I love the relationships I develop with my clients and my vendors," she says. Many of her clients are families with young children - something she, as a mother of a 3-year-old son and 19-month-old daughter, can relate to.

While previously working with local firms Jeffers Design Group and Steven Miller Design Studio, Mughannam had the opportunity to contribute to the prestigious San Francisco Decorator Showcase. This year, EM Design was awarded the teen room; and she's participating on her own. (The annual event started this weekend.)

Mughannam's space features seating that she describes as "a super-huge sofa sectional pit," modern patterns and a neon sign. "It's fun to let my imagination run wild and have that be the guide in my design decisions," she says. "The little Emily who loved to make over her own room as a kid now has a chance to do it for real, and the sky is the limit!"

Color splash: "I have a very clean design point of view, but something I always love to integrate is a splash of color in unexpected places. Maybe all of the trim is navy blue, the ceiling is painted a wild color, or wallpaper is applied on just an accent wall or on the ceiling. A new product that I used in my Showcase room is a perfect example: Timothy Sue's Hearts Apart in chartreuse is a colorful pattern on the ceiling that is completely unexpected and easily removable." ( http://www.timothysue.com)

Family-friendly design: "Don't be afraid to buy and really put to use that sofa you love - just be smart and upholster it in a durable fabric. There are lots of options these days that look and feel great and won't get ruined when your kids draw on them. For example, consider outdoor fabric such as the Kravet Soleil collection for indoor upholstery." ( http://www.kravet.com)

Pattern play: "I am a nut for great patterned pillows. For larger furniture pieces, I tend to go safe on the colors and patterns, but then dress them up with fun pillows. If you outgrow the colors you loved last year, it's not a huge expense to revive your room with new pillows. Layering adds dimension and interest. Lotus Bleu is one of my favorite local sources." ( http://www.lotusbleudesign.com)

Inspiration and ideas: "My design process often includes creating a look book or inspiration board. Whether it's on a computer or bulletin board, I find that seeing all of your favorite items or fabric swatches together in one place helps you visualize the vibe of the space. I love using Pinterest with clients because we can both pin our ideas and communicate virtually in between meetings. You'll begin to see a pattern in the items you like and the colors you're drawn to." ( http://www.pinterest.com)

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Emily Mughannam, passion for interior design

BROOKLIN With the critical success of The Hutchins Times, a newspaper Hoyt Hutchins wrote for his family, the young newsmans next step was obvious find a larger audience.

I was doing it for my house as a fun project and I thought maybe we could do it for the whole town, Hutchins said Monday.

With that, the 13-year-old home-schooler launched the first edition of the Brooklin Times on Feb. 12, 2011.

Ive missed a few weeks, but it was a scheduled miss, he said, explaining that the fledgling journal didnt reach the newsstands for a couple of months while he was on an extended vacation and one other week when he was away to attend a conference.

As editor in chief, Hutchins writes the news stories, sells and creates the ads, arranges guest columns and letters to the editor, lays out each issue and delivers fresh-off-the-press copies to newsstands every Saturday morning.

Hutchins produces the paper on a home printer.

Along the way, hes developed a keen eye for news and features, and hes adopted the tools of the trade, including his own shorthand that he uses when working as a reporter.

Hutchins is well familiar with the driving force behind all newspaper work deadlines.

Ive always got it done on time, though Ive come close to not, he said. I deliver every Saturday morning. Getting it done Friday night is the deadline.

The young entrepreneur is also learning the business basics that can make or break a newspaper.

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Home-schooler Learns the Newspaper Trade by Publishing Brooklin Times