Here we go again

[oldetowne]

Once again, the town is "leading by example" in its beautification of the Silas Deane and its voluntary adherence to the zoning regulations..... It would be nice to see some folks call them to task on this at both the Council and P&Z meetings.

From last week's management report:

• Silas Deane Middle School – I met with Bob Bauer from Parks Maintenance, Charlie Viani from the SDMS Building Committee, Asst. Director Jim McDonald from Physical Services and Tree Warden John Lepper regarding the condition of the landscaping beds in front of the school. When the landscaper put this together for the Building Committee, no one consulted our staff as to maintenance and whether we would be able to take care of the grounds. We do not have the staff to handle this elaborate design. We are going to hire part time staff to come in and weed the entire area for now. In the fall we are going to move the flower beds to the back or plant small islands and grass over the remaining area so that our staff can maintain it in a reasonable and efficient manner.

[LouS]

This has always been something that I could never understand...no maintenance.

If you buy something (the landscaping) and you have staff that has experience (all those mentioned) and you know that there is maintenance that goes along with this, there are three choices. You maintain it ( if there is time or money) or you do not or you ask for assistance (volunteers) to get the work accomplished.

Just look around at the lack of upkeep at many sites, schools and parks.

As much as I know and like most of the town employees, I must state that it is up to the those that supervise the crews to make sure there is sufficient staff time to sevice it, and if not this should be known by the town at the time of design acceptance.

There have always been Wethersfield residents that have had the expertise, time, employees, and ability to assist with tasks such as these. However, "Grievance" has been part of this, as well, although, to my knowledge any work that has been done by these volunteers has not been challenged recently. May be someone can validate this.

[oldetowne]

Lou, you are correct. And the lack of maintenance of both the inside and outside of town facilities and buildings is one of the things that has gotten us into the box that we are only recently trying to get out of. Consider the schools, town hall, Cottone Field, roads, sidewalks, etc. The "bandaid" "on the cheap" approach has run its course and the bill has come due. And as much as it is a tremendously controversial subject, the town will (or at least should) eventually have to consider whether it makes sense to outsource some or all of these services.

[karolv]

LouS makes some good points in his 426PM posting. But, I see other issues in the 1st post on this topic. When the plans/designs for the type of landscaping were prepared, why did not someone ask whether the existing Town Staff had the resources (time/expertise) to maintain the landscaping? That's where the root-cause of this problem exists. And, this type of breakdown seems to occur regularly in our Town Government on all types of situations.

[oldetowne]

Hi karolv. Aside from the general lack of maintenance and planning, there is a specific issue at SDMS that may help answer the point you raised. I don't remember all of the details, but the original plan for the front of the building called for a lot of parking (20+/- spaces) - none of which was installed. That parking was supposed to be there was going to be hidden by bushes, shrubs, trees, flowers, etc. so that it wouldn't look so bad. People didn't like the idea of that much parking, so it was relocated elsewhere (including shared parking at town hall and Corpus Christi). Then, the landscaping was scaled back. Way, way, way back, to almost nothing, and a couple of the big trees were taken down unexpectedly. The public and some commissions in town objected to the bareness that existed and asked the building committee - which worked intimately with town staff at every step in the process - to come up with a better landscaping plan. They did so, got the necessary approvals, and the public outcry subsided. Fast forward to today, and what we have is the same town staff that helped develop the landscaping plan saying that it can't be maintained and needs to be reduced once again.

That's probably a lot more than you wanted to know, but it gives the context of why I (and to some extent LouS) were questioning it.

[LouS]

Arbor Day would be a great time for planting a few trees along this line of beds. I am sure the trees can be donated and planted and it could be in conjunction with the kids of SDMS taking part (8th grade class, or special remembrance, etc.)

Town officials need to be open, think out of the box, and not be reluctant to ask for assistance from taxpayers; those that have the ability and desire to give back.