Swaths of brown mar our beautiful town common
One of the hidden costs of allowing free use of the town common for major public events is the resulting turf damage, an ugly open sore like a hot spot on your dog.
Since the Taste of Amherst, town Fair and Extravaganja Pot Rally all enjoyed usually nice weather this past spring, the damage now showing is probably from the previous year when Mother Nature was not nearly as nice.
Our overstretched DPW is busy with construction all over town. Hopefully town officials will appreciate the "curb appeal" of a quaint--fully green--New England town common before Labor Day, when tsunami gates open to allow the students return.
7 comments:
When the wear on the Common is the most newsworthy thing happening in town, just remember:
Just a few years ago, we had five crazies on our Select Board.
It can happen again. Don't take the peace and quiet for granted. We will need to be vigilant politically in just a short time.
Larry, you've been squatting in this town long enough... why don't you get out there and do the work on the common.
Don't you remember when Dave Keenan volunteered to clean up the pigeon poop in the Town Hall attic, and the town went ahead and spent $40,000 for a professional contractor anyway because you dare not use volunteers in case they get injured.
And I am getting old...
That was serious crap, if you'll pardon the pun. Dave could not have done that clean up properly. I do wonder,however, why it cost $40,000.
I'm happy to have the lack of green grass on the Common be our only problem.
As a UMass fraternity member I helped clean this common (and were the only four volunteers) to do so, assisting Alan Snow and some other battle-hardened DPW workers. How come no other school or civic organization in town volunteers to help clean the town green space, especially given its distance from most student populations?
Better yet, how come the events that use the common aren't either paying or helping fix it afterwards.
Taste of Amherst CHARGED MONEY.
If the Boy Scouts left a mess like that -- they either would be out there the next month working or we would never hear the end of it. But the merchants, the potheads and such -- that is all cool....
My attitude is simple: You use it, you mess it up, you gotta help clean it up afterwards...
Good question -- I think Mercy House volunteered at the Fourth of July and during the Taste. And they are mainly students.
Us geezers do easy things like volunteering at Craig's Place and driving people to radiation and chemo treatments.
Maybe we need a "Common Good" Committee.
Post a Comment