Some responsibility would be nice?
August 5th, 2008 | Published in parks & recreation, trees | 5 Comments
I can understand that the city started the main street project during the last administration, but with that comes responsibility to keep it up. I can understand that money is tight but there is also a responsibility to keep Rowlett looking nice, and taking care of your assets as would a home owner. I drove down main street this past weekend and quite frankly I was surprised to see all the dead / dying trees, flowers and vegetation. I guess the Tree City USA marking that you see when you enter Rowlett really does not mean much on Main Street. Here are some photos (12) of Main Street. Hopefully Rowlett will take some responsibility and take care of their parks?
I can think of several projects / funds that could have been suspended to pay to keep what we have already paid for alive. Assistant City Manager raise (who is over parks!), Wetzone Balloon Launcher (parks), and the online video.
Anyway off my horse, and onto the show!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:25 pm (#)
You are right. They have wasted a lot. It looks like they aren’t watering anything downtown. Actually I was going to write an article regarding the tree city status for Rowlettblog but have not had the time.
With the untimely passing of Paul Brunnell, the former Arboriculturist for the City of Rowlett, we are in danger of losing our tree city status if we haven’t already. The city has (as far as I know) failed to replace Paul and failed to maintain the requirements that allow us to hold Tree City status.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:36 pm (#)
But also consider: water prices are high. Rowlett taxes are VERY high. And Rowlett water pressure is very low. Take all that in conjunction with the heat this summer and it’s not surprising.
It would be great if businesses each adopted one or more trees to replace/water/weed. But is that where I want my tax money going? Not really.
I read in the newspaper that they planted trees because they had a grant to spend even knowing that they weren’t going to be able to water them. Such a waste.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:49 pm (#)
I am glad that they think that because they have grant money, that it should be spent. Just because you are approved for a 250,000 mortgage, does that mean that is what you should spend?
There should be a responsibility for making purchases, knowing full well that you can’t support that purchase because should be an early warning sign NOT TO MAKE THE PURCHASE! How many here would go get that $250,000 mortgage knowing that you can’t afford the payment each month? Does not seam like a smart thing to do.
As far as the tree city status, I inquried, and supposidly we are still a tree city usa member, although I think the new person responsible (i.e. certified arborist) just got a new promotion over across the street from all the dead trees. Besides, I thought the mayor said he had fixed all the issues and there were no problems now?
August 6th, 2008 at 5:11 pm (#)
The subject of maintaining the downtown streetscaping was discussed at the Aug. 4 city council budget work session. (Video should be available on-line through Rowlett.com before too long.) A budget item to do just that is currently below the line (unfunded) on the preliminary budget proposal; but there is some support to bring it above the line, for all the reasons stated above and more(keeping in mind that a like amount already above the line must be removed). There will be another CC work session on the budget at 6:30 on Mon. Aug 11 and possibly again on Mon. Aug. 18. The public is welcome. There will be public hearings on the budget at the Aug. 19 and Sep. 2 CC meetings, so any interested citizen can weigh in with their thoughts about how the budget should be apportioned.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:25 pm (#)
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