YARD WORK!!! and its not my yard!

[mudnuri]

This is a minor vent....might become major- but I need to vent anyway!

Short story long- outback is a playground owned by the school district. Junior league uses it for t-ball. Agreement made 3 years ago- junior league uses it and maintains it...

2 weeks ago they come and mow- albiet volunteers- I understand- was the Rec director here for the town for 4 years, i know the volunteer issue. They mow the field they play on. Tada thats it.

They dont mow near the courts- or the swing set, or anywhere else except the field. I call the highway supervisor- who I worked with for those 4 years, ask him to call the school maintance supervisor- request it gets mowed...its up to my knee's. He calls, leaves message.

Yesterday I had about had enough. The kids are now playing in grass that is up to their waist. The ball field looks good, but the rest of the park is waist high to my DD8 and DD9.

Now I dont have a lawn mower or any other tools of that trade, since lawn care is included here in our rent. Fine.....I ask one of the dads from around the corner if he has a lawn mower I can borrow- yup, he brings it to me. I mow as much as I can with this lawnmower, but remember the grass is quite high. I call DBF on his way home from work and ask him to stop at his mom/dads to pick up whatever they have..

In the mean time, a t-ball game starts...well, I"m not going to stop mowing, pulling, weeding, cutting...because well this is bugging me!

He gets here with a weed wacker, a pair of big clipper things, a hand saw, and some other 'thing'...great, we go to town. By this time, one of the neighbor moms comes out and she helps...

AT 8pm, we had completed the 10 feet from our houses towards the park (owned by the school, our houses are on the property line)...around the court, the swing sets, and low and behold we found a balance beam! I have lived here for a year, and didnt' know there was a balance beam out there!!!! I called back the highway super, and told him I'd pile it all near the fence if one of the guys could stop today with a truck and pick up all the bamboo (how did that grow here??) and branches from tree's that we cut since they were hanging down to kid head height....they're outside now picking it up.

I'm getting ready to head out there and do some more, trying to get the park ready for the influx of kids this summer......and hoping that they can play there safely, without the threat of ticks, and without places for skunks to live!...

ugh, ugh ugh, vent over!

Brandy

 

[Southern4sure]

Your good deed will not go unpunished. Maybe you could start with a group of neighbors who will take turns keeping the play area cut and safe for the kids. In the mean time, start a petition and take it to the city council demanding the city to maintain the play area only. Good luck!

 

[momm2four]

That stinks. Sometimes the wheels turn a little too slowly within the school system.

This reminds me of when we, as the PTA,wanted to buy air conditioners for the teachers at my sons' elem. school. Theirs were old and constantly froze up. The principal told us not to b/c that was the job of the school system.

TWO years later, she was still saying the same thing. We now have a new principal (who the parents don't really consult about PTA purchases), so this year the school received 10 new units from the PTA. If they had waited until the school system bought them, there's no telling how long it would have taken, if ever, for those units to be replaced.

I admire you for taking the initiative. It'll be nice to have a nice, clean place for your kids to play.

Lori P.

 

[buddy&wooz]

That was such a great thing you did ! I understand your frustration- hopefully someone will take charge and keep it maintained.

 

[Southern4sure]

The school board owns the property? It is not a public park? I was thinking it was a public park for some reason. If the school owns this, I would make a nuisance of myself with phone calls until something was done. You could still petition the city for the school board to maintain their property. Would you call it a eyesore? If so, this is were the city can force property owners to maintain their property.

Good luck!

 

[FroggyinArk]

there was asimilar issue in our town afew years back,, school solution, was to put a big fence around all the playground areas and put locks on them so the kids cannot access them except from inside the school buildings, soo all summer there are kids tryringto get throiugh the fences to play, and the lots are mowed once a month during hte summer, unles hte guys are working on that playground,, they also used this same time period to remove all playground equipment from the 5th/6th grade building, and cancelled anyy "recess" time at that school, out side of a weekly phs ed class