flower pots downtown

dragon lady · Member

flower pots downtown

Elee · Veteran Member

Dragon lady, I am glad you mentioned this, I saw this in the editors notes and thought it odd after all the hulabaloo over the phantom planters wonderful plantings that were distroyed, how could they ask for help now?

I have decided the girl that waters the plants every day in the summer is the one that wrote the letter asking for assistance down town. She however isn't the one that more than likely called the shots on the phantom planters work being distroyed. I see she is an assistant horticulturist. I guess this one would be best answered by Patrick. He maybe able to let us know why the big turn around.

My guess would be now that the flowers in the pots are dead, they are needing to find some way to replant the pots without spending tons of the city's money on fresh plantings for the summer. A good question would be who would be watering these plants? The ones that adopt them? Or the girl that wrote the letter to the editor? I am certain that in this town there are many people that have green thumbs and will be very creative with their pots. They just all won't look alike as they said they had to be last year. It appears when they designed the downtown area early on, they didn't give any thoughts to pots and their care and its cost.

me2 · Veteran Member

Well I agree with you, but i doubt if any plant would live through winter like this. Problem is, is that most people don't have the time to run down town and water plants. I can't understand for the life of me why the city and all others who supported the plan has a problem maintaining the plants. After all, they are the ones who wanted to redo downtown Ark City.

motherof2 · Senior Member

ME2 is right! Very few plants will survive a winter in a pot. If the designers or planners of this did not understand they would have to replant every spring, they really missed the boat. Any chance they had the new plants budgeted every year? If they want the shop owners or local citizens to maintain them, then each pot is not going to be alike! However, if the city parks department is budgeted and put in charge this is doable.
Has anyone noticed Winfield's beautiful petunia's? Trust me, these are replanted every year. Seeing that they all match, I would say the city provides this service.

Personally, I would prefer to see them match and be properly maintained. This being said, it would be up to the city to make this happen! If they want to hire some extra part time help for this job, I (and many others like myself) could use some extra income.

Elee · Veteran Member

Well as far as this whole deal goes, if the city wants people to furnish the plants and plant the pots with their own flowers then the very least they could do is water them. I like you motherof2 think that if they are all alike it would look more uniform, but if money is a factor then how about this, with three or four greenhouses in town, every year let one of the greenhouses pick what goes in the pots and supply the flowers. Advertise the plantings each year for the green house that supplies the plants, then citizen voluteers could be taken to assist in the plantings, and the city water the plants. Maybe put a environmentally friendly plaque each year naming the plant suppiers of the year.(How about that enclosed sign I see down town that has nothing in it?) The city would save money on the greenery, the greenhouse would get tons of free advertisement, the citizens would be able to assist in planting, and the city would be out nothing but watering the flowers every day. THAT IS THE LEAST THEY CAN DO! What do you think? confused

motherof2 · Senior Member

Not a bad idea Elee! You have my vote.

dragon lady · Member

I assume the city will furnish the plants to be planted like they do for the other flower beds in our city. they need workers to plant , water and weed on a regular routine. I like the idea of the local green houses having turns each year. What a boost to them it would be.

I love being Right · Veteran Member

I think that is a great idea too!!!

Patrick · Senior Member

All that we are trying to find out is if there is any interest of the City of Arkansas City residents to help the City crews maintain what they were all for in the downtown streetscaping project. Some answers to their issues would be as follows:

1)       We have 128 flower pots and 54 flower beds to maintain with one horticulturist, and sometimes two inmates. When the Parks Dept. is not too busy doing all of their daily functions, occasionally they can lend a hand.

2)      We keep the flower beds similar in presence because we buy in volume. We raise a lot of our own flowers along with the Arkansas City High School. It also keeps the plant material consistent. We choose plant material that will work in this area that has been trailed by KSU.

3)      The City residents had an opportunity through all of the meetings that were offered to stop anything that they felt un-necessary during the start of the streetscape project and during the project. We held weekly meetings at the chamber office that even some of the vendors attended.

4) The only thing we are trying to accomplish is to get the City residents involved in the beautification process of our City. We will accomplish the task without the Citys (people's) help, but I feel that it should also be the responsibility of the City residents to make their City stand out.

This program is not any different than our Adopt-a-Flowerbed project. We buy the material and someone else plants the material and hopefully helps us maintain the plant material.

***************************************************************************

This information came from Gary Baugher in the streets and parks department. Rosene Green, the city horticulturalist, is in charge of this project and would be happy to answer any questions.

Greenpiece · Veteran Member

No citizen is going to work with or beside a Department of Correction inmate, you have rapeist, killers and drug smuglers walking out streets, mowing our parks picking up my trash , but yet you say City crews have no time for this or that,, pull your head out Patrick

dddfan · Veteran Member

3) The City residents had an opportunity through all of the meetings that were offered to stop anything that they felt un-necessary during the start of the streetscape project and during the project. We held weekly meetings at the chamber office that even some of the vendors attended.

Patrick,
You have to be better informed than that.
When have you ever seen a citizen have sufficient input at these meetings, to put a halt to anything they already put their minds to?

I don't think so.

dddfan

me2 · Veteran Member

Right on dddfan, although I do think Patrick does seem to listen to citzens more than the other commisioners! Maybe since no one really wants responsibility of the pots.... We could either 1. put in fake plants or 2. get rid of the pots altogether!

Sunnyflower · Member

I attended and verbally participated in all but one of the streetscape presentations.
I brought up my concerns with the proposed plans.
I was one of several that objected to removing the healthy, full and thick Bradford Pear trees and replacing them with spindley locust trees.
Our suggestions were ignored -- we have skinny, trashy looking locust trees.
At least they couldn't force Dillons to remove the beautiful Bradford pears in front of their store
I heard others bring up their concerns. I especially remember John Bryant addressing care of the flower pots.
He too was ignored.
Now we have the danged things and now it appears that the city is trying to get out from under caring for them. I read the appeals for individuals and businesses to "adopt" a pot. After the local flourists were cut out of any chance to originally supply the flora for the pots I wouldn't expect them to feel they need to offer any price breaks to the adoptors.
Those pots were a bad idea from the get go.
If anything there should have been beds with drip watering systems provided to keep plantings moist.
I will say, the pots made nice places for youngsters to stand on to see the Arkalalah Parades and I also noted, handy trash containers for those who can't take the few more steps to one of the barrels.
The look of the directional signs is very nice. Too bad the printing on them and the directional arrows are so small that driving at normal speeds a visitor couldn't read them in time to tell which way those small arrows are pointing.
Hey, I tried.
I participated in the discussions but feel that there was very little that was changed from the original plans to what we finally ended up with. It appears to me that those street scape meetings were just held as eyewash.

CALLUS · Veteran Member

Patrick wrote:

All that we are trying to find out is if there is any interest of the City of Arkansas City residents to help the City crews maintain what they were all for in the downtown streetscaping project. Some answers to their issues would be as follows:

1)       We have 128 flower pots and 54 flower beds to maintain with one horticulturist, and sometimes two inmates. When the Parks Dept. is not too busy doing all of their daily functions, occasionally they can lend a hand.

2)      We keep the flower beds similar in presence because we buy in volume. We raise a lot of our own flowers along with the Arkansas City High School. It also keeps the plant material consistent. We choose plant material that will work in this area that has been trailed by KSU.

3)      The City residents had an opportunity through all of the meetings that were offered to stop anything that they felt un-necessary during the start of the streetscape project and during the project. We held weekly meetings at the chamber office that even some of the vendors attended.

4)    The only thing we are trying to accomplish is to get the City residents involved in the beautification process of our City. We will accomplish the task without the Citys (people's) help, but I feel that it should also be the responsibility of the City residents to make their City stand out.

This program is not any different than our Adopt-a-Flowerbed project. We buy the material and someone else plants the material and hopefully helps us maintain the plant material.

***************************************************************************

This information came from Gary Baugher in the streets and parks department. Rosene Green, the city horticulturalist, is in charge of this project and would be happy to answer any questions.

Is the city cuttting back on job positions in the street and park dept? Cause it certainly looks like it! It was not to long ago that you had a truck blocking the road to do this! If you build it then take care of it, if you want to fine people for something that someone else does to their property then take care of your own or do away with it or better yet pay someone to do it! people ask for help and you set up different ordinances to charge them if they don't. Be the first to give someone some help for free and maybe the citizens will start to see what being a good neighbor is and you might be able to get a group or two to help provided you supply the materils like truck gas and water and plant food and accsses to block down town driving lanes.
YOU SCRATCH OUR BACK AND THEN WE SCRATCH YOURS (good concept huh) wink

dddfan · Veteran Member

I think I read some where that the sidewalks do not belong to the city.

If it is true. How did they deem it ok to place something there that wasn't ask for by the owner?

Next they will be telling you that you are responsible for changing the burnt out street lights.

dddfan

Patrick · Senior Member

dddfan wrote:

3) The City residents had an opportunity through all of the meetings that were offered to stop anything that they felt un-necessary during the start of the streetscape project and during the project. We held weekly meetings at the chamber office that even some of the vendors attended.

Patrick,
You have to be better informed than that.
When have you ever seen a citizen have sufficient input at these meetings, to put a halt to anything they already put their minds to?

I don't think so.

dddfan

Since you obviously did not participate I will be glad to fill you in. Before I was elected I attended 3 of these meetings and missed many more. I saw the changes the people DID make - types of trees, lighting, brickwork, better angled parking, just to name a few. Afterwards I saw many more changes made by the public.

Patrick · Senior Member

The city is giving people the option of helping beautify the city. Citizens will not be working with inmates, they would have their own flower pots.

Citizens are not necesary to do this, but the parks department thought it would be nice for those that want to be involved. I've now seen that you not only not want to be involved but want to find other problems.

My suggestion to all of you is: STAY OUT OF THE WAY

Anyone interested in helping is welcome.

Patrick

Patrick · Senior Member

dddfan wrote:

I think I read some where that the sidewalks do not belong to the city.

If it is true. How did they deem it ok to place something there that wasn't ask for by the owner?

Next they will be telling you that you are responsible for changing the burnt out street lights.

dddfan

The sidewalks were there probably before you were born, and were paid for by the owners and developers. When they were replaced some 20 years ago, the property owners paid for it.

As for the streetlights, they belong to WESTAR, but you are welcome to pay for them.

My apologies, you must have missed out on both of these discussions.

Patrick

Patrick · Senior Member

Sunnyflower wrote:

I attended and verbally participated in all but one of the streetscape presentations.
I brought up my concerns with the proposed plans.
I was one of several that objected to removing the healthy, full and thick Bradford Pear trees and replacing them with spindley locust trees.
Our suggestions were ignored -- we have skinny, trashy looking locust trees.
At least they couldn't force Dillons to remove the beautiful Bradford pears in front of their store
I heard others bring up their concerns. I especially remember John Bryant addressing care of the flower pots.
He too was ignored.
Now we have the danged things and now it appears that the city is trying to get out from under caring for them. I read the appeals for individuals and businesses to "adopt" a pot. After the local flourists were cut out of any chance to originally supply the flora for the pots I wouldn't expect them to feel they need to offer any price breaks to the adoptors.
Those pots were a bad idea from the get go.
If anything there should have been beds with drip watering systems provided to keep plantings moist.
I will say, the pots made nice places for youngsters to stand on to see the Arkalalah Parades and I also noted, handy trash containers for those who can't take the few more steps to one of the barrels.
The look of the directional signs is very nice. Too bad the printing on them and the directional arrows are so small that driving at normal speeds a visitor couldn't read them in time to tell which way those small arrows are pointing.
Hey, I tried.
I participated in the discussions but feel that there was very little that was changed from the original plans to what we finally ended up with. It appears to me that those street scape meetings were just held as eyewash.

There was a lot of discussion on the trees. The pear trees were pretty, but they also caused a lot of damage to the sidewalks and were prone to disease. These new trees will be much taller, and fuller, as they grow. They are better drought and disease resistant, their roots ball and cause less damage to surrounding sidewalks. I heard several people that cared for the old trees, but I was one of the group that were for the new trees for all of the above reasons.

Let's give the new trees a chance to grow. In a couple of years you may like these much better. They should get to be about twice as tall as the old trees.

Patrick

Greenpiece · Veteran Member

Patrick wrote:

The city is giving people the option of helping beautify the city. Citizens will not be working with inmates, they would have their own flower pots.

Citizens are not necesary to do this, but the parks department thought it would be nice for those that want to be involved. I've now seen that you not only not want to be involved but want to find other problems.

My suggestion to all of you is: STAY OUT OF THE WAY

Anyone interested in helping is welcome.

Patrick

I agree Citizens stay out of the way,, you might trip over a curb bump out and break your neck, and sue the city,, Ohhhhhhh wait a minute those curb bump outs are not city property, they belong to the store owners who wanted them placed there,,,,, is there a catch 22 here

Patrick · Senior Member

Greenpiece wrote:

Patrick wrote:

The city is giving people the option of helping beautify the city. Citizens will not be working with inmates, they would have their own flower pots.

Citizens are not necesary to do this, but the parks department thought it would be nice for those that want to be involved. I've now seen that you not only not want to be involved but want to find other problems.

My suggestion to all of you is: STAY OUT OF THE WAY

Anyone interested in helping is welcome.

Patrick

I agree Citizens stay out of the way,, you might trip over a curb bump out and break your neck, and sue the city,, Ohhhhhhh wait a minute those curb bump outs are not city property, they belong to the store owners who wanted them placed there,,,,, is there a catch 22 here

Yes, I've said it before, but the word does not get out. The bump-outs are required by the state. Improvements are not allowed unless things are brought up to code. We could not have used state moneys from the grants that paid for it without putting in the bump-outs. If you don't like them, please contact your state representative.

In the meantime, if you want to continue to make fun of people trying to make improvements you can email me directly at pmcdonald2005@sbcglobal.net . I'd rather take the heat than hold back progress.

Patrick McDonald

Greenpiece · Veteran Member

Patrick wrote:

Greenpiece wrote:

Patrick wrote:

The city is giving people the option of helping beautify the city. Citizens will not be working with inmates, they would have their own flower pots.

Citizens are not necesary to do this, but the parks department thought it would be nice for those that want to be involved. I've now seen that you not only not want to be involved but want to find other problems.

My suggestion to all of you is: STAY OUT OF THE WAY

Anyone interested in helping is welcome.

Patrick

I agree Citizens stay out of the way,, you might trip over a curb bump out and break your neck, and sue the city,, Ohhhhhhh wait a minute those curb bump outs are not city property, they belong to the store owners who wanted them placed there,,,,, is there a catch 22 here

Yes, I've said it before, but the word does not get out. The bump-outs are required by the state. Improvements are not allowed unless things are brought up to code. We could not have used state moneys from the grants that paid for it without putting in the bump-outs. If you don't like them, please contact your state representative.

In the meantime, if you want to continue to make fun of people trying to make improvements you can email me directly at pmcdonald2005@sbcglobal.net . I'd rather take the heat than hold back progress.

Patrick McDo
____________________________________________________________

thats funny Patrick you take my money and do not do things the way i want them, you must understand that just because a few people come forward and want something, that dose not make it the correct choice for the entire city

Patrick · Senior Member

Greenpiece wrote:

Patrick wrote:

Greenpiece wrote:

Patrick wrote:

The city is giving people the option of helping beautify the city. Citizens will not be working with inmates, they would have their own flower pots.

Citizens are not necesary to do this, but the parks department thought it would be nice for those that want to be involved. I've now seen that you not only not want to be involved but want to find other problems.

My suggestion to all of you is: STAY OUT OF THE WAY

Anyone interested in helping is welcome.

Patrick

I agree Citizens stay out of the way,, you might trip over a curb bump out and break your neck, and sue the city,, Ohhhhhhh wait a minute those curb bump outs are not city property, they belong to the store owners who wanted them placed there,,,,, is there a catch 22 here

Yes, I've said it before, but the word does not get out. The bump-outs are required by the state. Improvements are not allowed unless things are brought up to code. We could not have used state moneys from the grants that paid for it without putting in the bump-outs. If you don't like them, please contact your state representative.

In the meantime, if you want to continue to make fun of people trying to make improvements you can email me directly at pmcdonald2005@sbcglobal.net . I'd rather take the heat than hold back progress.

Patrick McDo
____________________________________________________________

thats funny Patrick you take my money and do not do things the way i want them, you must understand that just because a few people come forward and want something, that dose not make it the correct choice for the entire city

If you don't like it you need to speak out about it. There is no way your representative, no matter who they are, can make the decision if you don't speak out. As for me, I always work towards the goal the majority of people come to me about. If you are in the majority, you better get them to speak out or I may never know it.

If people come forward and want something, I feel it is my job to look into it, no matter how many people come to me, 1 or 100. Where it goes from there depends on what people tell me about it. If there is no input from the community the commission decides. If there is input it helps me to decide. For the most part there is little or no input until afterwards and no matter what I (and the commission) decide some people are not happy.

I'm not sure what you mean by me taking your money. If you would like to be more specific I'd be glad to hear it.

I love being Right · Veteran Member

There were plenty of opportunities for people to speak out about the downtown project, they had several meetings. I for one love the new look of downtown and think it was a long time coming!

lagonda · Senior Member

The downtown project was funded by KDOT, not by Ark City and I personally can't think of a better use of someone else's money.

The whole process was to bring the downtown up to "standards" with the latest KDOT specifications. One of those specs was the "bumpout". You might say that the KDOT has goofy rules, which they do, but Ark City got a substantial benefit without spending local money.

A number of the sidewalks were deteriorating badly and the downtown was a hodgepodge of half finished lighting and "improvements". Too bad it didn't extend further, but what got done is pretty neat. Shows you what a master plan will do.

Greenpiece · Veteran Member

Patrick
I was sarcasticly commenting on the fact that my city taxs and service payments are absorbed with no concern for feelings towards bump outs or Department of Correction workers.
I hope you can inteligently see the simularities

Patrick · Senior Member

Greenpiece wrote:

Patrick
I was sarcasticly commenting on the fact that my city taxs and service payments are absorbed with no concern for feelings towards bump outs or Department of Correction workers.
I hope you can inteligently see the simularities

I'm sorry, I don't see the connection between the services you require (water, sewer...) and the mandates forced on us by the state.

As I said before, if there is a problem, take it to the source. Being sarcastic about the city has nothing to do with your problem with the state.

Though it has been a common problem. Apparently the city is the butt of humor (the city being the sum of its citizens) when you don't know or care who to blame.

Greenpiece · Veteran Member

I have no problem with the state at all, as a matter of fact i am quite pleased with my state, just as i am quite pleased with my city,and my sarcasium is directed at the Bozo's that try to lead the City,, not the City, the city is quite grand in my book.

And my bozo comment dose not enclude the current City Manager, he is a fine chap and is doing a fine job!!!