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LOGAN DRIVE MEDIAN LANDSCAPING ISSUE AND STATUS: AUGUST 15, 2010 UPDATE

Fellow HNP Block Captains (some others blind copied):

Logan Drive Median Latest Update --- Bryan of the Park Dept continues to help us with the irrigation system. He just fixed several plugged sprinkler heads. Looks like too much watering killed a few of the rose bushes and he is now trimming back the irrigation cycle. He will be replacing the rose bush plants for us. Christy Harris (Logan Block Captain) has volunteered to watch over maintenance of our Logan median. However, anyone that sees weed maintenance (use Round-Up) that is needed --- it is our responsibility! Please help us keep the median looking good!

Greg Ajemian

Heritage Neighborhood Partnership

website -- myhnp.com

also --- Heritage Neighborhood Partnership Facebook

LOGAN DRIVE MEDIAN LANDSCAPING ISSUE AND STATUS: JUNE 25, 2010 UPDATE

Fellow HNP Block Captains (some others blind copied):

Logan Drive Median Latest Update --- Toby of the Park Dept really did a great job for us! He doubled the trees that we had anticipated (4 Crape Myrtles and 4 Yaupon Hollys), added the flowers and knockdown roses, and went with crushed rock instead of mulch (nice upgrade!). Very soon, we will be having a meeting with his staff to understand the operation / maintenance needs for the median. Christy Harris (Logan Block Captain) is looking into a maintenance volunteer from her street.

Greg Ajemian

Heritage Neighborhood Partnership

website -- myhnp.com

also --- Heritage Neighborhood Partnership Facebook

LOGAN DRIVE MEDIAN LANDSCAPING ISSUE AND STATUS: JUNE 11, 2010 UPDATE

Fellow HNP Block Captains (some others blind copied):

Logan Drive Median Latest Update --- I talked to Toby of the Park Dept this morning. He has accepted our recommended plan and even looks to possibly add two more trees (alternating Crape Myrtles and Yaupon Hollys) and make it two decorative rocks (at each end of median) to go along with our knockdown roses and some annuals (near south end of median). He expects work to begin and be completed next week! Christy Harris (Logan Block Captain) is looking into a maintenance volunteer from her street. By late next week, we could have a walk through with some of us to go over the maintenance needs and irrigation system.

Greg Ajemian

Heritage Neighborhood Partnership

website -- myhnp.com

also --- Heritage Neighborhood Partnership Facebook

LOGAN DRIVE MEDIAN LANDSCAPING ISSUE AND STATUS: JUNE 8, 2010 UPDATE

Fellow HNP Block Captains (some others blind copied):

Regarding the Logan Driver median issue, Toby of the Park Department called me today. His staff successfully repaired our irrigation system and installed a battery-driven timing device that we can use to program the sprinklers! He also has committed to implementing a planting scheme for us as well and wants to nail this quickly! One reason is that the summer heat is coming on (July, August) and it is best for the plants to get established before the summer season.

After reviewing everyone's comments and getting some input from Toby, I have the following proposal.

1. We go with two trees --- one would be a Yaupon Holly and the other would be a Crape Myrtle. Click here for info on the Yaupon Holly. Also, check out the pics included in the third box below --- following this message --- for the Clubhouse / Country Club median that uses the same tree combination. The Yaupon Holly produces a strong color of red berries, where as we can choose a white flowering Crape Myrtle to compliment.

2. Instead of using Asian Jasmine for ground cover as in the Clubhouse / Country Club median pics, we would use the wood chips ground cover as used in the Lancelot / Country Club median --- see pics in the second box shown below this message. This type of cover would not need trimming maintenance that Asian Jasmine needs and it is easier to treat any weeds that come up. It is pretty simple to add a bag or two of wood chips to the median at the beginning of each year as needed.

3. The use of wood chips for a gound cover would allow us to have Knockdown Rose plants sprinkled among the two trees. Check out the Lancelot / Country Club median pics in the second box shown below this message for reference on how the roses with the wood chip cover would look.

4. We can have a decorative rock placed at the north end of the median.

5. Lastly, we can plant color annuals to the south end of the median.

Folks ---- the above is my proposal for the Logan Drive median. It would be a low maintenance alternative that still has color and diversity. I would like to have comments on this proposal quickly, such that we can get Toby our recommended plan. Also, Ronnie Pike may gain some additional professional input for this median as well. Appreciate everyone's attention to this matter.

Please pass along this message to our residents ---- thanks!

Greg Ajemian

Heritage Neighborhood Partnership

website -- myhnp.com

also --- Heritage Neighborhood Partnership Facebook

LOGAN DRIVE MEDIAN LANDSCAPING ISSUE AND STATUS: JUNE 6, 2010 UPDATE

The city's Code Enforcement received a resident complaint about the overgrown Indian Hawthorn plants within this median and that they were diseased. The City found that the median is technically not the responsibility of the church and the church doesn't have the budget to handle maintenance of the median. The City also found that there was not a Home Owners Association in place that can maintain this median (although they missed the fact that our HNP has been in place for seven years). Therefore, it fell to the Park Department to address the vegetative problem with the Logan Drive median.

About May 25th, the Park Department pulled out all the plants from this median. At this time, the HNP and the Park Department are working together to reestablish a landscaping plan for the Logan Drive median. The City does not have the budget to maintain the median. Thus, it is important that we come up with a strategy that is a low-maintenance option.

The Mansfield Bible Church stated that the control panel for the Logan Drive median was fried and removed a long time ago. He also stated that the irrigation system has several large leaks. The Park Department has committed to repair the irrigation system and work has already started about June 3rd.

The Park Department has two other similar median situations whereby the HOA's had disbanded and the maintenance had disappeared. These two medians were redone by the Park Department. See the following two boxes for pics on these two medians that were taken on June 5th. We could use feedback if the either of these two medians

In the meantime, we need to quickly brainstorm ideas on what can be done with this median --- long term game plan. Anyone having ideas on a planting strategy (low maintenance approach) or redo of this median should send in their ideas to their Block Captains or myself. Entrance ways are an important aspect of our neighborhood and these gateways reflect on us. So, this is an important issue. Appreciate ideas!! See the third box below for the current list of ideas that have been received.

Ronnie Pike (Laura Elizabeth Trail Block Captain) is hoping to have feedback on three options by sometime next week from a landscape architect, which could help give us some choices.

Example: Lancelot / Country Club Median Pics

(click below for each pic)

Pic #1 Pic #2 Pic #3 Pic #4 Pic #5

Example: Clubhouse / Country Club Median Pics

(click below for each pic)

Pic #1 Pic #2 Pic #3 Pic #4 Pic #5 Pic #6 Pic #7

Resident Comments Received as of June 6th Regarding Logan Drive Median

Toby of the Park Department suggested that we take a look at two medians; one at Lancelot / Country Club and at Clubhouse / Country Club for examples of low-maintenance planted medians. I encourage our residences to take a look at these two medians and report back comments.

Ronnie Pike (Laura Elizabeth Trail Block Captain) is hoping to have feedback on three options by sometime next week.

We are still taking ideas on what folks want to see happen with this median and how it could be maintained. The following are 12 comments that we have received:

1. From Annaca Palmer ---  If nothing is done over the summer, when our girl scout troop meets back in Sept, our girls could “adopt” this median and plant items using a little of their troop money for community service. We have some girls that live in this neighborhood and it may make them feel proud to have something to take care of.

2. From Brian Ehrler --- Brick pavers … initial cost ($15-20 per square foot) would be high BUT, trash would not collect, irrigation is not needed and it would look sharp. Also it is fairly durable, for anyone who drove over it, etc.

3. From Becky Jackson (Morgan Ann Ave Block Captain) --- I agree with you that something has to be done. That will become an eye sore very quickly. Here are just a few ideas: 1. Each block captain could go door to door explaining the situation and seeing if people were willing to donate a small amount of money. Likewise, this would give each captain more face to face interaction with the families on his/her street. 2. Depending on how much we get from that, Mansfield Bible might be willing to match that. 3. We might send out e-mails and see if anyone works for a landscaping business/nursery that might be willing to donate. 4. At the very least, a fast growing ground-cover would look better than the dirt that is left.

4. From Ronnie Pike (Laura Elizabeth Trail Block Captain) --- 1st message: Greg some of our residents are willing to contribute money for plants. We could get a local landscaping company to contribute some ongoing maintenance (even myself included) with them getting some good exposure. 2nd message:  I met with Joe Sarabia (a commercial landscape architect) on site and we came up with about 3 options. He is on vacation this week but will send the designs along with cost estimates. Long term, the best situation would be to cover it with some Colorodo type bedrock making the center the hi point sloping it down the curbs. No water and no maintenance needed.

5. From Darryl Haynes (Melissa Dianne Block Captain) ---  I didn’t know the Parks & Recreation Dept were not going to replace the shrubs. Let me see what I can do. I’ll tell Shelly (City of Mansfield) that it looks so bad it could lower our home appraisal values and cost the city thousands in lost revenue. The MISD has a horticulture department that shares with the city. One of the things they do is grow plants, flowers and trees for the city medians and other uses. Maybe we can get someone to decide to provide us the plants at the city’s cost or near cost. If the city delivers them, we can round up about a dozen neighborhood volunteers to have a planting party one Saturday morning. (We’ll ask to get the city to prepare the ground first.) Yesterday when I drove past it I was thinking that island could actually be considered a street median. Let me try that angle also.

6. From Melva Peters (Chrisman Block Captain ---  We are willing to donate some money. I am glad people are taking an interest in this. It was becoming and eye sore.

7. From Kathy Emerson (Laura Elizabeth Court Block Captain) --- What if we were to find a landscaping company who would plant something and maintain it in exchange for putting a small sign somewhere in the median? It seems like pretty cheap advertising for them and wouldn't be hard to maintain once it was planted. Just a thought.

8. From Freddie Williams --- I think we should make it match the median on Country Club. Brick and one or two trees.. Looks nice and low maintenance. Maybe we could ask residents to donate to the project. I would be willing to donate to this.

9. I concur with Freddie…something that requires minimal maintenance like some of the lower growing grasses with pavers might look nice – like the city has used along the medians of Matlock. It needs to be something that will not cause visual problems for drivers.

10.   Unknown person --- Is the median even needed? Could it be removed if we cannot get the City to maintain it? The previous homeowners at the corner of Nugent and Logan were not happy when this median was added several years ago because it caused them to have to do a very quick U-turn to get into their driveway; they always felt like they were going to get rear-ended when doing this if someone was behind them because no one expects anyone to be making a quick left-turn at that point.

11. Resident along Bowman/TimsCt --- I have to say that more of a constant eyesore than a median are all the falling down fences, work vehicles brought home every night parked in driveways and in streets, trailers parked in front of houses, and broken down, shabby cars in driveways. I know this is a bit more of a problem on this side of Country Club throughout our neighborhood but I have noticed more of a problem on the other side of C.Club recently as well. I am not getting very far with the city on this. Any (further) insight into the code or suggestions . . . I am guessing we may not be the only ones tired of our neighborhood looking like this. That effects our property value far more than a median. If we could get the city to enforce these codes and fine people maybe we could get the situation improved? Just a thought - maybe you could ask about when block captains meet again:) Thanks for all you do to keep us updated and safe - we appreciate you.

12. I live in the Lancelot/Country Club neighborhood. I hate our median. It looks dead all of the time. I have no clue if it is even watered or who does that if it is. Last year they planted all of these rose bushes that never bloom and look sick. We would be glad to help when the time comes with your medians.

Again ---- please keep the ideas coming!    Residents can also post their own comments on our new Facebook neighborhood page. Within Facebook, do a search for Heritage Neighborhood Partnership and the Facebook page link will appear.