Institute Facilitates Healthy Community Charrette

The Bouchillon Institute was pleased to be able to follow the 2010 “Your Town Your Health” Conference by facilitating healthy community planning for Tate and Marshall Counties in North Mississippi on December 9. About 25 invitees gathered, spending the day outlining and mapping strategies for reducing the obesity epidemic in the region. Follow-up reports and maps are in the process of being finalized, but draft results can be found here: Tate County Healthy Community Strategic Plan, Marshall County Healthy Community Strategic Plan

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Small towns can make big difference

By ROBERT LEE LONG
Community Editor

Published: Saturday, December 4, 2010 1:07 AM CST

HERNANDO — Small towns across America, like Hernando, can make a “big” difference when it comes to planning for healthier communities.

Dr. Samina Raja, associate professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New York at Buffalo, said smaller communities often are enable to enact policy changes which promote healthier lifestyles.

Raja, who has visited Hernando before, said the city’s community garden and bustling farmers’ market are two prime examples of what makes Hernando a “model city” for healthy living.

“This community seems to be interested in not just developing its own potential and capacity but being a leader in the region,” Raja said. “The town itself has a farmers market and a community garden, and is making the effort to make it a more walkable, livable community. There are communities around the country trying to do this. I see a lot of promise here. I know the Hernando Planning Commission is very receptive to making its policies aide at promoting a healthier community. Kudos to this community for having done this.”

More than 90 people attended Thursday’s “Your Town _ Your Health: Planning and Building Healthy Communities at the Gale Center in Hernando. The day-long seminar was co-sponsored by the A.W. Bouchillon Institute for Community Planning and the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.

Hernando Planning Commissioner Bob Wolfe said the focus and awareness on healthier living has caused him to “eat healthier.”

“Today, they’re discussing walking and bike trails and things that we’ve already been doing in Hernando. Our leadership in Hernando has gotten us way out in front.”

Wolfe said the planned Hernando West development just west of the historic town square features walking trails, a greenway and natural streamed in addition to overall “walkability” character.

Lynda Austin, a Walls alderwoman, said she learned the importance of good planning and how it affects a community.

“Good planning and zoning can enhance a community, i.e., a place where people can congregate and exercise.”

Recently, the entire town turned out to participate in a walk-a-thon in Walls.

“We have a good designated area near the school where it’s safe to walk,” Austin said.

Connie Binkowitz, project manager for Healthy Memphis, Common Table, said her research has shown there is a tangible connection between policies and infrastructure which promotes healthier lifestyles among citizens.

“Where we live, play and learn, all affects our health,” Binkowitz said.

Kelly Jordan, a Holly Springs city official, said he learned that such things as loudness and pollution also effect health and the quality of life in a community.

Bob Barber, Hernando’s Director of Planning, said the Bouchillon Institute, named in honor of the late A.W. Bouchillon, has helped set the standard for implementing policies for healthier communities.

“It was created for the purpose of outreach,” Barber said. “We wanted to provide really high quality training in a local setting.”

The Bouchillon Institute and Community Foundation have been involved in healthy planning initiatives on the local level in conjunction with national foundations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Re-plugging health into planning is key to robust communities for the future, and to combating obesity and heart disease already threatening Mississippi, a noted author and researcher told a Hernando seminar drawing mayors, planners and aldermen from across the region.

“It’s time to revisit policies and time to make changes,” said Dr. Samina Raja, associate professor at the School of Architecture and Planning, State University of New York at Buffalo. She addressed about 90 people at Thursday’s “Your Town — Your Health: Planning and Building Healthy Communities” event at the Gale Center.

Raja cited a disconnect in which planning diverged from health issues in the last century. The “garden city” movement of the early 20th century kindled interest in slum clearance, “but people forgot to connect health back to the zoning codes.”

Only recently, amid threats tied to poor nutrition and lack of physical activity, has interest surged in planning for healthy cities. But barriers remain due to outdated zoning that, for example, dissuades farmers markets and sale of local produce in urban areas “because there’s a worm in the apple,” she said.

Raja lauded Hernando as “a pretty green city” with an outstanding farmers market. She said DeSoto’s policy of zoning within a comprehensive plan “is a terrific tool.”

But there’s more to be done here and elsewhere, she said, on capital improvements, code revisions and incentives for healthy choices — be it better lighting for sidewalks and parks or rules boosting more variety of food outlets.

Bemoaning a chronic lack of contact between public health officials and planners, Raja praised efforts such as the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi’s health councils in each of the eight counties it serves. Cissy Cox, a program specialist with the state Department of Health in Tupelo, said she works with the Marshall County council “to deliver more bang for the buck.”

“My advice is, the sooner you bring the different parties to the table, the better the planning will be,” Raja said.

The seminar represented another partnership: The Bouchillon Institute for Community Planning mounted the event with funding through the Community Foundation.

— Henry Bailey: (901) 333-2012

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HEALTHY DIALOGE

A targeted tri-county region — DeSoto, Tate and Marshall — and more were represented at Thursday’s all-day planning seminar.

Health issues “are a concern for everyone,” said Katherine Ennis, director of planning for Northport, Ala., who spoke on zoning. She said it was urgent for cities to plan for the needs of a swelling elderly population.

“I know for a fact we need this type of health planning,” said Calvin James, an alderman in Holly Springs in Marshall County who promotes running trails and health assessments of citizens. “In every store you go into, there’s fried food everywhere, but not the healthy food people need.”

Your Town, Your Health Seminar Registration Information

Download the December 2 Your Town Your Health – Dec 2 Flyer here.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Save the Date – Fall Training Announced

State’s first county planner dies

Flags on Square at half-staff in memory of Bouchillon

By
ROBERT LEE LONG
Community Editor

Published: Monday, July 21, 2008 12:00 AM CDT

HERNANDO — Friends and DeSoto County officials alike said A.W. Bouchillon will be remembered in the annals of state and local history as a modern-day trailblazer and pioneer.

Bouchillon, a former Hernando alderman and one of the first county planners in the State of Mississippi, died Friday at Baptist Memorial Hospital East in Memphis after a bout with stomach cancer. He was 88.

Flags were lowered to half-staff on the historic county square Friday in Bouchillon’s memory. Visitation is set for 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. tonight at Hernando Baptist Church. Funeral services are Sunday at 2 p.m. at the church with burial to follow at Hernando Memorial Park.

“He gave his heart to his family and his soul to the Lord,” his son Barry Bouchillon said Friday.

Bouchillon is considered the architect of DeSoto County’s orderly plan of growth from the 1950s onward. Bouchillon is cited as a key individual that enabled its development into the state’s fastest-growing county.

“He was a pioneer and the county is profoundly better off for his having served,” said Hernando City Planning Director Bob Barber. “Thank goodness, the people of DeSoto County honored him in November with the creation of the A. W. Bouchillon Institute For Community Planning, and he was alive to see its creation. Hopefully his legacy will continue for generations to come.”

Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson lauded Bouchillon for his lifetime of public service, including a term as city alderman. Bouchillon served as alderman from 1957-58, and was then appointed as the city’s building inspector.

“He is the example of service and leadership,” Johnson said. “His death is a big loss for the city, county and state. Our goal for the Institute is to train planners from across the state. We hope to preserve his memory by promoting good planning.”

Although small in stature, Bouchillon was a “gentle giant” in DeSoto County politics, serving as county tax collector/assessor and the county’s first planner. In his later years, he volunteered his time as a guide at the Historic DeSoto Museum.

Historic DeSoto Museum Executive Director Brian Hicks said Bouchillon will be greatly missed.

“From the time the doors of the museum opened, Mr. Bouchillon was one of our most faithful docents,” Hicks said. “Every Thursday he would greet those who came to the museum.”

Hicks estimated that Bouchillon greeted thousands of school children and tourists in his role at the museum during the past five years.

“He told so many fascinating stories, especially about the creation of the DeSoto County Planning Commission, and thankfully we have a lot of those on tape,” Hicks said.

Bouchillon, a native of Attala County, was known affectionately to friends and family as “Bush.”

Life for Bouchillon began in the tiny Mississippi community of Center in the eastern part of the state. One of three boys and one girl, Bouchillon was the son of Wiley A. and Margaret “Maggie” Bouchillon. Raised in Durant, Bouchillon remembers that as a boy of 10, he would pick butterbeans and peas and take bushels into town to sell.

After graduating from West High School, Bouchillon married his wife LaNelle. The couple was married for 67 years and raised six children.

Bouchillon entered World War II after being drafted in October of 1942. He attended U.S. Army medical training classes and served as a surgical technician in a field artillery unit.

Stationed near Bouganville in the Solomon Islands, Bouchillon saw many American G.I.’s get shot down in their planes and helped rescue several soldiers from the battlefield.

During the invasion on Cebu Island in the Philippines, Bouchillon was grazed by shrapnel but refused medical attention because he says, “there were so many others who really needed it.”

After the War, Bouchillon and his older brother H.D. Bouchillon got into the construction business when they bought a single bulldozer in January of 1946.

“We were doing farm work mostly, digging ditches and such,” Bouchillon said in a 2005 interview. In 1949, the brothers split up the company and that same year, Bouchillon and his family moved to DeSoto County.

“It was a rural county, then,” recalled Bouchillon in that 2005 interview. “We only had two municipalities, Olive Branch and Hernando.” Bouchillon made a living for himself and his family by clearing land and operating a trucking company.

In October of 1958, Bouchillon became DeSoto County’s first planner. “The county, at that time, just had an old road system to speak of,” said Bouchillon.

“We were able to create the interest of the people throughout the county. That was the beginning of planning for DeSoto County.”

At the time, Bouchillon told supervisors that he would serve in the role for six months but ended up serving in the capacity of county planner for 20 years. In addition, Bouchillon was a fee inspector for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Veterans Administration Building Program. After he retired as county planner, Bouchillon was appointed to serve on the DeSoto County Historical Preservation Association.

Survivors include his wife LaNelle, of Hernando; a brother Horace Bouchillon of Durant; daughters Wanda Davis, Hernando; Margaret Erwin, Greenville; Toni Wise, Columbus; Yonnie Waller, Jackson; and sons Peck Bouchillon, Senatobia; and Barry Bouchillon of Southaven; 15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Bouchillon Institute for Community Planning Formed

Planning officials have established the A. W. Bouchillon Institute for Community Planning, marking 50 years since DeSoto County and its cities began controlling development.

A.W. Bouchillon

The institute, which will promote education and training including a Sustainability Conference in Hernando in January, is named for the county’s first paid planner.

Bouchillon, 87, of Hernando, served 20 years as county planning director after he was recruited by the Board of Supervisors to oversee the first countywide development plan in 1958.

Bouchillon shrugged off his role, saying he was merely point person for elected officials who were among Mississippi’s first local office-holders with the guts to enact zoning laws.

“Sure, it met some resistance,” Bouchillon said. “DeSoto County was a rural, agricultural county. That was not the most popular thing, for a farmer, for instance, to have to apply for a building permit.”

Bob Barber, Hernando planning director and institute board president, said Bouchillon was too modest. “Had he not been the person implementing the plan, it would not have survived.”

Planners from DeSoto County, Southaven, Olive Branch, Hernando and Horn Lake want the institute to be a resource for their counterparts across North Mississippi.

The departments receive inquiries regularly from planners from other localities, interested in how to deal with growth.

Olive Branch planning director B.J. Page, board vice president, said, “There is a real need, especially for advanced training, for those who make decisions about land development.”

Also on the board are secretary Anita Rainey, Horn Lake planning director; treasurer Whitney Choate, Southaven planning director; and Jim McDougal, county planning director.

The nonprofit organization has received funding commitments from the Northwest Mississippi Association of Realtors, North Mississippi Homebuilders Association, DeSoto Civic Center and Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.

The second annual Sustainability Conference is set for Jan. 10 and 11 at the Hernando High School Performing Arts Center.

Bouchillon was a Hernando alderman and in the construction business in the mid 1950s. He got involved in the DeSoto County Planning and Development Council, which had a development plan drawn up for rural DeSoto — only Hernando and Olive Branch were incorporated at that time.

The plan’s backers wanted a countywide road system and controls on development that was spilling over from Memphis, Bouchillon recalled.

Memphis had instituted planning and zoning controls, and “We were getting some of the things that were undesirable to them and to us: junk yards, trailer courts.”

Bouchillon, who later served as the county’s elected tax assessor and collector, said good planning has been crucial to DeSoto’s growth.

“I think it’s one of the most exciting things that ever happened to DeSoto County.”

— Wayne Risher