The parks and recreation department has a healthy list of work projects it wants to complete by June, including maintenance on the Mount Dewey trail, repairs to public restrooms and reinforcing the fire pit at City Park.
Replacing more trash bins with new ones better able to withstand curious bears is also on the list as the department looks ahead to people using the parks, trails and green spaces come summer.
The alder removal process is ongoing in various parks and trails, cutting back excess vegetation that encroach on fencing and other spaces, said Lucy Robinson, Parks and Recreation director. That includes removing trees to prevent the risk of them falling onto structures or park and trail goers, sometimes replacing them with plants that don’t need to be aggressively maintained, such as blueberry bushes.
Also continuing is Adopt-a-Garden, she said, a beautification project in which volunteers weed, clean, water and maintain garden beds located throughout the downtown area.
Repairs are planned for public toilets in the downtown area and at Petroglyph Beach, which Robinson described as a continual undertaking, as they are not always treated well and sometimes subject to vandalism. They will also receive paint jobs and other improvements to make them more aesthetically pleasing.
Parks and Recreation staff are working with a contractor to help reinforce the fire pit in the main shelter at City Park and fabricate a ventilation hood for it, which Robinson estimated will be done between May and June.
New stairs will be installed by contractor BW Enterprises at City Park, leading from the road to the beach to increase accessibility. “I’m hoping that they’ll be done by the end of the fiscal year (June 30),” Robinson said. “Hopefully April, but maybe June.”
Maintenance is planned for the Mount Dewey Trail by May; the boardwalk will need to be replaced in several areas, as it has sustained some damage. The non-slip mesh on the trail will be changed, as there have been complaints that it makes the trail more slippery, not less, Robinson said.
Drainage will be improved on the Volunteer Trail, but the staff will first need to identify each trouble spot and work out details with a contractor, she explained.
One completed project in this year’s budget is the replacement of trash bins at parks and trails with ones designed as “bear safe.” However, Robinson hopes to continue until all bins in the borough are replaced with the newer model. “It might just be a gradual swap,” she said. “They look nice, they’re easy to clean and the birds don’t get into them.”
She added that while the bins are designed to be bear-proof, they also keep out another type of persistent creature. “It’s really helped us with the birds. The ravens are really the issue.”
She also wants to warn residents not to feed wildlife, as it encourages the animals to encroach on populated areas. Citing the feeding of birds as an example, she pointed out how they will stay in certain areas, waiting for people to feed them. While waiting, they can create a mess, such as when they pull out all the plastic dog waste bags from dispensers.
“The idea of feeding animals comes with good intentions but often bad things happen as a result,” she said.
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