SitemapA city councilwoman is complaining that the city administration’s grass-cutting program is failing, but those in charge of it point to statistics that show it’s succeeding.
Councilwoman Janet Tarpley, D-6th, stood Thursday on Florida Avenue, just off Market Street on the South Side, in front of high grass, and pointed to other lots with uncut grass about 4- to 6-feet tall.
“It’s a problem throughout the city,” she said. “We’ve had problems for the last 10 years. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to cut grass, so why is it not being done?”
Sean McKinney, the city’s buildings and grounds commissioner, said between May 8 and Wednesday, the street department has cut grass at 3,343 vacant lots. The department will cut about 14,000 lots this year, he said. It cut about 12,000 last year.
Also, the city signed a $102,168 contract in March with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to supervise and manage grass cutting at vacant houses, and spent $86,989 on equipment, including industrial lawn mowers as well as trimmers, chain saws, blowers and a wood chipper. The city is retaining ownership of the equipment.
Between April 15 and Tuesday, YNDC has cut lawns at 2,325 vacant houses, said Ian Beniston, its executive director. About 2,900 lawns at vacant houses were cut last year, McKinney said.
YNDC is on pace to make 10,000 cuts this year, Beniston said.
The city paid $35-a-lawn cut to private contractors last year. That cost is just about what the city is paying YNDC this year, and Beniston said the agency will more than triple the number of cuts done last year.
“It’s better managed than it’s ever been,” Beniston said.
Tarpley, who initially objected to the YNDC contract, said she hasn’t seen good results with the street department and YNDC cutting grass.
“They’re cutting some stuff, but not enough,” Tarpley said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s a poorly managed department. We should be tired of it.”
Mayor John A. McNally said, “This is a tough time of the year because the grass is growing, but the numbers show we’re going to cut more lawns this way than hiring private contractors and at less cost.”
The mayor also said the process this year is “more organized and structured using mapping to attack sections of the city all at once rather than helter-skelter.”
There are city areas with high grass, he said, but that “will be taken care of shortly. In a city our size, it takes time. However, I’m seeing more grass cut.”
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