SNIPER SHOOTINGS Valley linked to trial in Va.

The temporary parking lot will be across from the courthouse.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WEATHERSFIELD -- When the national press descends on Virginia Beach, Va., for the trial of one of the men accused in last year's sniper killings, a township company will be there.
American Parking Solutions, a subsidiary of Polivka Surface Engineering, designs, makes, distributes and has patented TemPark, an environmentally friendly, water permeable mat that can be rolled out and striped to provide temporary parking.
Virginia Beach officials aren't sure how much TemPark they'll need.
"It looks like two to three acres," said Gregory Hullinger, APS vice president of sales. "It's going to be right across from the courthouse."
A grass lot with a few trees marks the site of the future temporary parking lot. Many of those who park there will likely be the press.
Nearly 200 reporters and television crews have signed up to cover the trial of John Allen Muhammad in Virginia Beach.
The trial for the other sniper suspect in the attacks last year that terrorized many around the nation's capital will be in Chesapeake, Va.
"TemPark can be installed instead of asphalt or concrete and is a lot less expensive," Hullinger said.
An acre of TemPark costs about $40,000 compared with about $180,000 for the same amount of a permanent surface, he said.
How this is done
"It's a turn-key operation meaning that we take care of the permitting, the zoning and the clearing of the land," Hullinger said.
"We install it, and we take it out when it's done and sow new grass if needed."
The trial, set to begin in mid-October, is expected to last six to 10 weeks.
Hullinger said he learned of the Virginia city's need for temporary parking and called to pitch the product.
TemPark, which APS started manufacturing about four years ago, also has been used by Penn State University and the University of Central Florida as a less expensive way to provide parking.
The Florida university had been parking on sand but that can cause problems for vehicles, getting dusty in the heat and muddy when it rains.
The Ford Motor Co. in Canada uses TemPark on a 60-acre site at a manufacturing facility, Hullinger said.
The company also uses the product at a manufacturing plant in Virginia.