Public Works

Does the city sweep leaves from the street anymore?

l3wis December 4, 2013 52Comments

Over the last few years, I have heard more and more complaints from residents that public works is not sweeping the streets for leaves anymore. Obviously, today wouldn’t be the ideal day to do it, BUT over the last couple of months, the city could have easily swept the streets. We have the resources (funding, employees, street sweepers) so why don’t we do it?

The mayor and public works MAY claim this is a cost saving measure, but I would disagree. Clogging the street drains with leaves can get very expensive, very fast. Keeping streets clean from foliage waste also helps with cutting down on surface corrosion.

So why isn’t the city doing it? I know the mayor has been asked about it several times in public meetings, and Public Works director Cotter has mentioned that adjoining property owners are responsible for out to the middle of the street. Huh?! So not only must we fix the city’s sidewalks, maintain the trees in the boulevard, but now we need to sweep the streets for them to? What next? Put snowplows on the front of our cars and plow our own streets? (which isn’t too far from the truth considering the poor job they have been doing plowing the main roads today).

This push to conserve and save the city money on street sweeping might be prudent if the city was in dire straits, hardly the case after building a $100 million dollar events center and the council is preparing to give $500K to the mayor’s wife’s private indoor tennis facility.

The city has money to sweep the streets. Start doing it.

Putting Humpty-Dumpty back together again

l3wis July 4, 2013 0Comments

“It’s just a flesh wound”

From a foot soldier:

I thought with all of the area trees getting cut down lately without notice around Sioux Falls while people are gone or on vacation maybe we should send out a reminder to people to keep a “before” picture of all their trees in case all they are left with is the “after” picture of a stump when they come home.  🙁  I wonder how many new stories we will be hearing about when people return from 4th of July vacations like these.

Send me your pictures and stories: fb.art@sio.midco.net

The notification part is the worst part. You wonder how many over zealous arborists are cutting down trees that have minor damage? Most trees can recover within a growing season.

It’s YOUR tree when the city wants it trimmed, and THEIR tree when it is time to cut it down

l3wis June 27, 2013 36Comments

Interesting how the city thinks you are responsible for trimming and maintaining THEIR trees in THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY (Cotter confirms that in this video) and they will fine and charge you if you don’t, but somehow they take ownership of the tree when they want it gone, without telling the adjoining property owner.

“I’ve had several neighbors stop and ask why we cut the tree down, and we’re like we didn’t cut the tree down. We have no idea why that tree was cut down. We were not notified by the City or anybody,” Muilenburg said.

This has been my problem with tree trimming all along, they talk about those trees being your responsibility, it is even in city ordinance. But if it needs to go, they don’t even bother notifying you, and it has it’s consequences.

“This was in memory of him and now it’s kind of the final, it’s over for him now,” Muilenburg said. “My brother’s gone.”