Presented by

Terry Hackett, ManagerStormwater & Environmental Services Division

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

Background

• Hillsborough is a small town with limited staff

• Gold Park, the town’s first Community Park opened in 2009

• Two SCMs located within Gold Park

• No dedicated park maintenance staff

Adam Hackett — then 13, now 22 — “voluntarily”

plants the Gold Park Stormwater Wetland

News of Orange Photo

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

Gold Park Bioretention

• Looked good…

initially

• Functioned well…

initially

• Maintained initially…

by me

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

But NO Dedicated Maintenance Staff = No Maintenance

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

Gold Park - Bioretention

• What Should we do?

• Decided to to convert

it to sod and add to

our mow contract

• But…then something

BEEutiful happened!

Hillsborough Garden Club Photo

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

Pollinator Garden?

• Local garden club approached town about a pollinator garden in Gold Park

• Our division was consulted about a good location

• Reviewed the list of pollinator plants…then a lightbulb came on!

Even a blind hog finds an acorn!

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

Bioretention = Pollinator?

• Approximately 39 species of

plants in the Gold Park

Bioretention/Pollinator Garden

• Of the 39 plants, 17 are on the

NCDEQ “recommended” list

• If you have a bioretention…

consider planting with

pollinators! Purple Coneflower…great as a

pollinator and bioretention plant

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

One Small Problem

• Garden Club was unable to prep the site

• Public Works didn’t have time to prep the site

• Eagle Scout to the rescue!

Eagle Scout, Ryan Weaks consults with Public Spaces

Manager, Stephanie Trueblood!

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

And Now the Reveal…

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

And Now the Reveal…

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

And Now the Reveal…

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

And Now the Reveal…

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

But What About those Stepping Stones?

• Started by a Hillsborough

resident Girl Scout to help earn

her Bronze Award

• Provides a means of

ingress/egress

• LNT…limits walking impacts to

specific location

• Makes a loud splash in the river

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

What Did We Accomplish?

We checked several boxes…

Public education &

outreach

Public participation &

involvement

Post-construction runoff

control

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

But we did more than that…

Built a working public partnership

Maintain a functioning bioretention

Increased bee habitat

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

What Did We Learn?

Volunteers help…

Build public trust

Plug personnel gaps

Stretch your budget

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

But don’t forget…

A dedicated volunteer

pool from an organized

group is a must

Liability = Waivers

Volunteers can’t do it all

Volunteers still require

oversight by staffVolunteers from the Hillsborough Garden

Club working at the Gold Park

bioretention/pollinator garden

Before…

After…

Saving Two Bees with One Stepping Stone – September 2018

Down the Drain