No
burn til spring
Dec.
12, 2005 -- The
snowfall has doused plans for an autumn burn
of Mitchell Blvd. Park's natural areas, according
to Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.
The
burn, which is intended to thwart the spread
of invasive plant species that are overwhelming
the areas, will occur in the spring, she said.
County
wants new lights for Mitchell Blvd. Park
Dec.
5, 2005 --
The county is requesting a Mitchell Blvd.
Park contractor to replace six to eight flawed
light poles on the north side of the park,
according to county Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.
The
lights in the park have been stripped and
refinished three times to correct some unacceptable
mottling, but the lights on the park's north
end remain unacceptable.
The
county is writing to the general contractor
Payne & Dolan Inc., to demand the light
poles be replaced.
The
county has never signed off on park project
because of continuing problems, DeBruin said.
"It's
been over two years; the county and Payne
and Dolan should have said, 'the project's
over,'" DeBruin said.
She
said the county is giving it one more year
to determine whether any more trees die or
whether the grass finally takes in areas that
have been nothing but hard-packed dirt since
the park project was completed.
Waiting
on the county,
part 85
Wait over!
Nov.
28, 2005
-- It took more than two weeks, but the county
finally removed a broken light pole and shattered
glass from Mitchell Blvd. and Mitchell Blvd.
Park.
It
took repeated requests from County Supervisory
Lynne DeBruin's office before the Parks Department
got off its underfunded butt to remove the
hazardous debris.
Graffiti
Goof strikes Mitchell Park Blvd. Park three
times
Bathrooms out for season
Oct.
10, 2005 -- A graffiti
vandal struck the Mitchell Blvd. park pavilion
three times in about a week, prompting parks
officials to close the pavillion's bathrooms
for the season.
County
Supervisor Lynne DeBruin said a porta-potty
would be installed in the park, but as of Sunday,
that had not been done.
The
Parks Department did, however, wrap the drinking
fountain in layers of plastic wrap so it cannot
be used.
On
his first foray into the can, Graffiti Goof
dragged a large branch into the men's room and
defaced the bathroom with graffiti. Parks workers
cleaned it up and removed the branch, which
upset the idiot vandal, DeBruin said.
His
next graffiti attack, again in the men's room,
lamented his missing branch, which he claimed
on the bathroom wall to have dragged and carried
for miles to the park.
The
pronoun "he" is being used because
DeBruin said the assumption is that the vandal
is male.
Parks
workers cleaned it up, but Graffiti Goof struck
again, this time in both bathrooms. Again, he
lamented the missing branch. He also boasted
of graffiti-ing the pavilion last year, and
said county officials would not be able to catch
him.
Stress,
death and trees at Mitchell Blvd. Park
Sept.
19, 2005-- County Supervisor Lynne
DeBruin said she will ask for an inventory of
tree damage wrought by the summer's drought.
That inventory will include Mitchell Blvd. Park
because of the number of young, vulnerable trees
there, she said.
The
question: will the county, with all its budget
woes, be able to replace all the trees that
need to be replaced throughout the county?
Take
a Mitchell Blvd. Park tree
tour to see the damage being done
to many of our trees.
It's
why they call it burr-dock
May
16, 2005 -- Invasive plants have taken
over so much of Mitchell Blvd. Park's natural
area that the Parks Department will develop
a special plan to defeat them, according to
County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.
About
10 Story Hill residents and other volunteers
spent three hours digging, weeding and pulling
Saturday, but couldn't remove all of the burdock
and garlic mustard.
The
invasives are concentrated on the south end
natural area of the park's eastern portion,
but have jumped across Mitchell Blvd. and are
establishing themselves in the western natural
area.
