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| Colorado Springs News |
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 This page is for posting events and issues of interest to the Old Farm area. If you know of an event, such as a city picnic, local high school graduation or a wedding, school board or zoning issues that may affect the neighborhood, please post it here to let all of us know! Be sure to keep yourself informed by checking this page frequently! |
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Letter from Kurt Schroeder
Posted on: 2010-02-08
Dear Ms. Foster,
Hello. My name is Kurt Schroeder and I am the Parks, Trails and Open Space Manager for the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. Mr. Butcher asked that I respond to your question about the cost to provide minimal maintenance to Old Farm Park.
First, I have to say that providing minimal maintenance to assure that the grass doesn’t die is truly a moving target that depends on the amount of moisture Mother Nature supplies. If we have a year like we did in 2008 when we had a warm dry winter and then a very warm and windy summer with very little rain the budget to keep the grass alive could go up considerably. If we have a summer like the one just past the need for supplemental irrigation goes down significantly. Regardless, I have listed below some general costs that are necessary to maintain a typical neighborhood park. You can use these numbers as a starting point in deciding how much you would like to try to take on.
Irrigation: $154.00 for 1” of water on 1 acre of turf. Old Farm is 2.05 turf acres. For the recommended 24” of supplemental irrigation $7,576.80 would be required. Any more or less than the 24” would be figured at $154.00 per inch of water per acre of turf. The very least you could probably get away with if you have a good moisture year like we just had would be 12” of irrigation ($3,788.40).
Fertilizer: $80.73 provides 1 lb. of N on 1 acre at a rate of 1 lb. per 1,000 sq.ft. For the recommended 3 lbs. of N $496.49 is required. Old Farm was last fertilized for 18 months ago and badly needs to be fertilized. This is a contracted service.
Broadleaf Weed Spraying: $38/acre. One spray costs $77.90. This is a contracted service. It is very possible that two sprayings’ will be necessary.
Mowing/trimming: The last mowing/trimming contract we had was $.0396/sq.ft. For Old Farm you may be looking at approximately $3,536.20 for the growing season. This will get you one visit per week so I would guess that a biweekly mowing would cost approximately $1,768.10. This figure is over two years old so the cost could be higher. This was the low bid at the time and was ½ of the next lowest bid so it may have been understated at the time. The contractor would collect trash each time they mow.
Overseeding: A good quality 80/20 blend of bluegrass and ryegrass will cost approximately $2.25/lb. The rate to overseed is between 4 and 5 lbs. per 1,000 square feet. This means that the seed for a 10’x10’ area (100 sq. ft.) would cost approximately $1.00 for the seed. To overseed the entire park it would cost approximately $892.52. Seeding can often require two or more efforts depending on how well the seed is able to take. Also, depending on the amount of natural moisture that may be received additional watering will be required.
Pieces/parts: This is my terminology for all those supplies that may be needed in the ongoing maintenance of a park i.e. irrigation repair parts (sprinkler heads, pipe, backflow repair parts), trash bags, playground repair parts (swing seats, chain, ‘S’ and clevis hooks, surfacing materials, etc.), lighting system repair parts, fencing repair parts, etc. How much may be needed is primarily dependent on the age of a park, and the effects of wear and tear and vandalism. Barring a significant vandalism event as much as $2,000 could easily be expended at a park the size of Old Farm in any given year.
I hope this provides you a good start. We greatly appreciate your willingness to help out. If you have any questions or would like additional information please feel free to contact me.
Kurt Schroeder
Parks, Trails and Open Space Manager
Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department
719-385-6555
kschroeder@springsgov.com
Email: Alli211@aol.com
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| Are you interested in preserving Old Farm Park?
Posted on: 2010-01-31
Dear Neighbors,
As you know, the City will not be maintaining Old Farm Park this season. The trash cans have already been removed, there will be very little watering, and if the playground equipment gets vandalized or destroyed, it will not be cleaned or replaced. I live right next to the park and do not want to see it die. My son plays there every day when it’s warm. Additionally, property values around the park will decline drastically if it becomes strewn with trash, barren, and/or vandalized. These declining values will radiate outward and affect all who live in the Old Farm, Starwatch, and Ridge areas.
Are you interested in helping me maintain Old Farm Park? I have NO political agenda, nor do I wish to discuss/debate the decisions the City is making – my only concern is keeping our park from dying. I cannot do this by myself. I’m wondering if there are enough residents to form a committee to explore our options and possibly hold some neighborhood meetings. I have attached a letter from Kurt Schroeder (Parks, Trails, and Open Space Manager), who gave me a rough estimate of the costs involved in maintaining the park. Some possibilities I thought of include establishing a private, Old Farm Park preservation fund, creating a special district, removing some of the sod and replacing it with a more natural, xeric landscape, and /or creating a volunteer team to help with trash pickup and maintenance. If approximately 200 residents are willing to donate $50.00, we would have $10,000 to go toward the maintenance of our park. This may not be enough to cover all costs, but may be enough to at least keep the existing sod from dying. My husband and I are willing to donate $500.00 of our tax return to this cause.
I’d love to hear your ideas too. If you’re interested in preserving Old Farm Park, please contact me at Alli211@aol.com. If enough people respond, we can hold a neighborhood meeting and go from there.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Allison Foster
Email: Alli211@aol.com
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| Old Farm Park Meeting
Posted on: 2010-02-26
When: March 10th @ 6:30 pm
Where: Stetson Hills Police Station, 4110 Tutt Blvd.
Why: To create a clean-up and maintenance schedule for the 40+ families who want to help maintain the park, review the City's Adopt-A-Park process, and begin a preliminary discussion about watering.
Please tell your neighbors. I hope to see you there.
Email: Alli211@aol.com
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