RSS FeedMILAN - Any village resident passing medians along Highway 66 knows that some one is hard at work making the village a more pleasant place to live.
 Shorty Ramirez |
The Parks and Recreation Department has been planning changes around the village for quite some time. Now, with cooperation of warm weather and much energy to expel the crew has planted, built and scaled with much summer to go.
Months ago at a board of trustees meeting, the board was approached by Kurtis Smith who presented an opportunity for the village. The state had ordered thousands of plants from the Agriculture Science Center in Los Lunas.
Grown from seeds, the native shrubs, trees and flowers grew into a marvelous collection. The state was forced to cut back on some of the purchase and left the center with a problem.
McElroy and the Village Manager Marcella Sandoval jumped on the opportunity and purchased a hundred shrubs and trees for the half the price of retail.
Because the plants are native to the area, they are expected to be resilient to harsh weather conditions known in the area and only require being watered twice a week.
Two hundred perennial flowers were purchased from Home Depot to add color to the medians, most of which have already been planted. McElroy said the evergreens in the medians will not be removed.
The medians took five workers shoveling dirt for two weeks to produce an image that McElroy hopes out-of-town visitors will recall.
“I remember driving through California towns thinking 'boy, that was pretty down through there',” said McElroy. “If people from California get off the highway and drive through here, I hope they would always remember it.”
Between fixing leaks or plumbing problems around the village property, the crew has found time to build a retainer wall in front of the department building. The project will be complete with shrubs and plants to give the front of the offices a better look than the current gravel lot to drive through.
The east side of the swimming pool is expecting a complete makeover with trees, grass and an art piece that currently sits in Village Hall.
“It's really trying to make as much of the village more attractive as we can.
So (residents) can enjoy being at the swimming pool or enjoying a picnic under a canopy,” said McElroy.
McElroy said his crew has been good to him, with Francisco “Shorty” Ramirez as his right hand man. Ramirez was recently awarded the employee of the month for his hard work.
He credits his labors for their efforts but said the village manager plays a big role as well.
“Marcella is backing us 100 percent,” explained McElroy. “That makes it easier to do what you have got to do.”
Comments
Dan wrote on Jun 30, 2009 11:25 AM:
Many cities have learned through the years that creating landscapes that limit sight distance of traffic or placing rigid, non-movable objects such as trees or the planter that "Shorty" is building may be "pleasing" but the cost to a city can be astronomical in terms of a lawsuit. Just ask the city of Tamarac, Florida, which was forced into bankruptcy in the late 70s due to just this issue, median landscaping. "