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BOARD CONSIDERS DRAINING POND : TENNIS COURTS PROPOSED AT HIGHLAND.


Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Where some colleagues on the high school board see a delicate ecosystem, Steve Landaker sees a mosquito-filled dump.

Kevin Carney, an Antelope Valley Union High School District The Antelope Valley Union High School District (A.V.U.H.S.D.) is located in the Antelope Valley area of California, in northern Los Angeles County.

The district includes eight public high schools, one trade school, and two continuation high schools in the cities of Palmdale
 trustee, marvels at waterfowl waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in  drawn to a desert oasis. Landaker envisions tennis courts on the site of the accidental pond, formed when a storm drain storm drain
n.
1. A storm sewer.

2. A catch basin.
 at Highland High School Highland High School or Highlands High School may refer to:

In the United States:
  • Highland High School (Gilbert, Arizona)
  • Highland High School (Bakersfield, California)
  • Highland High School (Palmdale, California)
 clogged.

Welcome to Lake Highland, a muddy catch basin catch basin
n.
1. A receptacle at the entrance to a sewer designed to keep out large or obstructive matter.

2. A reservoir for collecting surface drainage or runoff.
 on a corner of the campus.

``It's a beautiful little ecosystem, and some students have developed an interest in it,'' Carney said. ``There are ducks laying eggs there, and blue herons are nesting there.

In a close vote - 3-2 - the school board agreed this week to enter talks with the city of Palmdale to decide whether the pond can be drained, filled and developed as tennis courts or other recreational facilities. Carney and trustee Sue Stokka opposed the plan.

Paving Lake Highland has drawn concerns from the school staff, who regard the water hole as a sanctuary for migratory waterfowl and a valuable educational resource.

Officials stressed that no decision has been made to drain the pond, only that high school officials and the city will discuss what the future holds for the basin.

``The reality is I don't think Palmdale is prepared to build tennis courts there anyway,'' Carney said.

Superintendent Robert Girolamo said city officials have indicated that they don't have money to construct tennis courts.

Landaker backs plans to build a community recreation ground and notes he is worried that the basin will become a mosquito haven as well as a dump.

With the cost of erecting a fence around the basin estimated at more than $67,700, Landaker is questioning whether the basin is worth the expense. He also noted there are other wetlands in the valley that could be used as educational resources.

In the end, Lake Highland remains a storm-water catch basin at the high school. Over five years, the Years, The

the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109]

See : Time
 pond, which school officials say developed because the drainage ditch was filled with cement and never drained properly, has evolved into a serene and picturesque waterfowl sanctuary.

Lined with cattails and reeds, the basin has become home to cranes, wild ducks, geese, coots, swallows, goldfish, guppies ''This article is about an American pop-culture term. For the fish, see Guppy

Guppies is an acronym which stands for Generation X Yuppies. The combination of the two nelogistic generational terms is used to loosely identify anyone who was in their twenties during the 1990s,
, crayfish crayfish or crawfish, freshwater crustacean smaller than but structurally very similar to its marine relative the lobster, and found in ponds and streams in most parts of the world except Africa. Crayfish grow some 3 to 4 in. (7.6–10. , catfish, turtles and baby blue herons.

A petition drive was started last September by students and staff to save Lake Highland after they heard a rumor of plans to drain the basin and fill it to make space for portable classrooms.

More than 2,000 signatures were gathered at the high school and from residents in neighboring communities, organizers said.

The pond has been used as an outdoor classroom by Highland students in many fields of study, including science, photography, law and writing, and students from nearby Cottonwood Elementary School elementary school: see school.  also have paid visits.

In addition, families from neighboring housing tracts take strolls around the pond and feed the birds.
COPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1996, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Jul 21, 1996
Words:485
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