June 28th, 2008. Cypress Villages Update

Progress at CV has been good, despite the wet spring. SE Iowa is rated Zero for seismic probability and Zero for Hurricane probability. Rain has come on time and in plentiful amounts for many generations (could it change? we'll see). Tornadoes are a statistical probability, which can be mitigated through early detection and Safe rooms. And now we confirm that Floods are almost impossible at Jefferson County "Island". For those of you that aren't here right now, and are wondering the impact of the flooding on Fairfield, take a look at FEMA's Disaster Declaration map at http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/2008graphics/dr1763/dec_1763.pdf. You'll see that Jefferson County has no Disaster Declarations, although we are bounded by counties with major flooding.

Our road serving Phase I, the commercial sector, is complete from Highway One to Airport Road. Green Building Supply plans to break ground next spring to consolidate their successful business into one location at Cypress Villages. Their vision is for many Green businesses to support the residents of Cypress Villages, Maharishi Vedic City and Northern Jefferson County. For information on building sites or retail space for your business, contact Dan at Walker Group or Joel at Green Building Supply.

We have had the very good fortune to have two students from MUM's Sustainable Agriculture Program work with us this past month. Tegan Perry and Darla Murphy applied their experience and enthusiasm to solidify a vision of the CV Master Agriculture Plan. The general notions of Permaculture, orchards, specialty crops and conservation practices we started with have been translated into designs and planning that we will now begin to implement.

We have completed our Intern Housing for Agriculture development on Friday, and have room for 16 persons. If you are interested in working, please let us know. This summer and fall, we plan to establish a tree nursery and green houses, build ponds and start wetlands.

We have opportunities for people to start Cottage Businesses related to food production or processing. Cypress Villages can offer organically certified land and other facilities and can structure a sell, lease or share agreement for producers. Jefferson County has a very strong Buy-Local initiative, with supportive state programs. Our local super store, Everybody's, has a goal of stocking 100% locally grown and/or processed food within 10 years and has pledged to buy your product.

What about homes? We have one underway, a Leed Platinum quality Blazingstar with attached garage, and one more awaiting the Muhurt for starting the foundation. The roads for Phase II are accessible and most of the lots have been surveyed. You can now drive or walk to the center of the 142 acres and feel the silence and experience the beauty and wildlife. Two new roads onto Highway One have been created, 177th and 179th.

MSV fees have just been reduced to about 5% of the base home cost. Our posted prices do not reflect this new discount because the final adjustment has not been finalized. We will be adjusting as soon as we have those numbers from MSV. For now, we can give you a preliminary quote.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of our Green MSV community. If you are here during the July course, please let us give you a tour of the land, and to provide you with the opportunity to live in Iowa's first truly Green city.

Cypress Villages
a Land Grant Development Corporation / Walker Group, Inc. project
http://www.cypressvillages.com
58 South Main St.
Fairfield, IA 52556
Tel: 641-469-5900