This Week's Letters
The “feel good” lawn care project
Editor:
Although it’s still winter, soon enough many of us will turn to thoughts of lush green yards, the fine scent of newly cut grass and the pride that comes with the “perfect lawn.” Wouldn’t it be an inspiration to see a living showcase of best lawn and yard care practices here in our area?
The soon-to-be-created “Back Cove Yardscaping Project” promises to be such an inspiration. Set on a 2.5-acre parcel donated by the city of Portland, and located along the spectacular Back Cove walking trail, the project promises to be the first demonstration landscape project nation-wide of its kind to be located in an American city and the first in Maine. It’s sponsored by the Friends of Casco Bay, the Maine Board of Pesticide Control and many other local businesses and organizations statewide and will be maintained by University of Maine Extension Office “master gardeners,” local volunteers and students of horticulture from a variety of schools.
Showcasing ecologically friendly yard care practices, it will serve as an educational model for the everyday property owner, for students of horticulture and will further beautify the trail without harming the fragile ecosystem of the bay; informative signs will relay “yardscaping practices” to the public. The concept of “Yardscaping”, also referred to as “Bayscaping”, essentially offers some specific ways for individuals to spend less time mowing, save money on care and cut down on the harmful use of pesticides and herbicides; it encourages the use of low-maintenance native plantings and simple, sound, horticultural practices, while better protecting the environment and its inhabitants...all really “feel good experiences.”
There is some great information on “Yardscaping,” as well as the “Back Cove Yardscaping Project,” by accessing the Web site www.yardscaping.org or calling 287-2731. “Yardscaping Socials,” where people in your neighborhood can get together and share natural lawn care tips, will soon be offered by the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District. You can ask about “Yardscaping” courses for the public, occasionally offered by “master gardeners” of the University of Maine Extension Office. Here in Scarborough, resources include The Friends of the Scarborough Marsh, the high school ECOS club’s courtyard project and Sarah Wojcoski, who is far more than our town’s recycling coordinator, and can also provide information on ecologically-friendly yard care as well as the interrelated topic of storm water protection. And finally, ”People Places and Plants” magazine addresses these issues in their impressive new “SafeLawns” Web site.
Citizens of Scarborough should take particular note, as we are privileged to be located along side three of the most beautiful ecosystems...the ocean, Maine’s largest marsh and the Nonesuch River watershed…each fragile and highly vulnerable to the lawn care and other environmentally-related decisions we make each day. Three million pounds of yard care pesticides were purchased in Maine in 2004 alone; this, along with chemicals from many fertilizers, and other pollutants, collectively seep into our watersheds, directly impacting water quality and living organisms. With storm run-off, time, gravity, and eventually, aquatic food-chains, these toxics return to us in the form of some of the food we eat, the water we drink, and impact natural systems in multitudes of other ways that are not at first apparent to us.
Having the “perfect emerald green lawn” of the past has become a social trap in a sense, where we are rewarded in the short term with feelings of pride...but in the long run, as we gain a broader understanding, we realize this collective behavior actually undermines natural systems and may compromise health and stability for living things, including our own future generations. No free lunch in the natural world, as it is said.
Fortunately, the “Yardscaping Project” can serve as a new model for us all and has received $35,000 in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But it is currently attempting to raise an additional $65,000 to create the paths, level surfaces and purchase and install the plantings. A heavy dose of donations and in-kind services, large and small, is what it will take to bring this project to fruition and can be submitted through their website by the end of February.
To visit the “Back Cove Yardscaping Project” after ground is broken this spring, park in the designated lot across from Back Cove’s Hannaford, adjacent to the Preble Street soccer fields and walk beyond them on the trail toward Tukey’s Bridge (temporary signs on the trail indicate the location).
Take note, Scarborough, as we may all be swayed to reexamine our notion of “the perfect lawn” and consider ecologically-friendly “Yardscaping” as the new vision, the new and exciting ”feel good” approach to lawn and property care.
Terri Candelmo Eddy
Scarborough
Commissioner explains county budget increase
Editor:
In keeping with having county government become more transparent, I would like to explain the impact of our recent 4.99 percent increase to the FY07 budget. In essence, it means the average homeowner would pay approximately $6 more toward county services. It should be made clear that this $6 is the total increase for the entire year! Put another way, it means that a homeowner with a home value at $224,000 would pay $117.99 in county taxes for FY07.
Cumberland County government has proven to be a cost efficient and cost effective way in delivering services to our citizens. Our jail is the only accredited jail in the state and staffed by professional deputies working under extremely harsh conditions. Our jail is maintained to provide a healthy, safe, secure, humane and cost effective environment in which to detain persons alleged or convicted of legal violations. The sheriff’s road patrol deputies and support services provide public safety in addition to working closely with communities and other counties ranging from providing OUI road blocks, operating after license suspension in addition to drug and sex offenders investigation plus accident scene reconstruction for both state and local law enforcement agencies.
The Cumberland County district attorney’s office prosecutes the criminal and civil infractions for the state against people who are accused of breaking the law in Cumberland County. The Cumberland County Regional Communication Center provides public safety agencies that we service with the highest possible standards of public safety communications by working with communities in the county. Our deeds office maintains and preserves all documents recorded in the registry and provides the public with rapid and convenient access to recorded documents.
Additionally, there is the Registry of Probate, whose mission is to fulfill the legal requirements for processing estates, guardianships plus name changes and adoptions. We have the Emergency Management Agency, which continues to cultivate efforts to prepare for disaster from floods, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
As we continually reach out to the 27 communities within Cumberland County with attempts of consolidation and collaboration in sharing resources and methods in reducing costs, we recognize the achievements come slowly, however in doing so, working together, it can be done.
I invite you to visit our website, www.cumberlandcounty.org, where more information is available on county government.
Richard J. Feeney, Chair
Cumberland County Commissioners
Editor:
Although it’s still winter, soon enough many of us will turn to thoughts of lush green yards, the fine scent of newly cut grass and the pride that comes with the “perfect lawn.” Wouldn’t it be an inspiration to see a living showcase of best lawn and yard care practices here in our area?
The soon-to-be-created “Back Cove Yardscaping Project” promises to be such an inspiration. Set on a 2.5-acre parcel donated by the city of Portland, and located along the spectacular Back Cove walking trail, the project promises to be the first demonstration landscape project nation-wide of its kind to be located in an American city and the first in Maine. It’s sponsored by the Friends of Casco Bay, the Maine Board of Pesticide Control and many other local businesses and organizations statewide and will be maintained by University of Maine Extension Office “master gardeners,” local volunteers and students of horticulture from a variety of schools.
Showcasing ecologically friendly yard care practices, it will serve as an educational model for the everyday property owner, for students of horticulture and will further beautify the trail without harming the fragile ecosystem of the bay; informative signs will relay “yardscaping practices” to the public. The concept of “Yardscaping”, also referred to as “Bayscaping”, essentially offers some specific ways for individuals to spend less time mowing, save money on care and cut down on the harmful use of pesticides and herbicides; it encourages the use of low-maintenance native plantings and simple, sound, horticultural practices, while better protecting the environment and its inhabitants...all really “feel good experiences.”
There is some great information on “Yardscaping,” as well as the “Back Cove Yardscaping Project,” by accessing the Web site www.yardscaping.org or calling 287-2731. “Yardscaping Socials,” where people in your neighborhood can get together and share natural lawn care tips, will soon be offered by the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District. You can ask about “Yardscaping” courses for the public, occasionally offered by “master gardeners” of the University of Maine Extension Office. Here in Scarborough, resources include The Friends of the Scarborough Marsh, the high school ECOS club’s courtyard project and Sarah Wojcoski, who is far more than our town’s recycling coordinator, and can also provide information on ecologically-friendly yard care as well as the interrelated topic of storm water protection. And finally, ”People Places and Plants” magazine addresses these issues in their impressive new “SafeLawns” Web site.
Citizens of Scarborough should take particular note, as we are privileged to be located along side three of the most beautiful ecosystems...the ocean, Maine’s largest marsh and the Nonesuch River watershed…each fragile and highly vulnerable to the lawn care and other environmentally-related decisions we make each day. Three million pounds of yard care pesticides were purchased in Maine in 2004 alone; this, along with chemicals from many fertilizers, and other pollutants, collectively seep into our watersheds, directly impacting water quality and living organisms. With storm run-off, time, gravity, and eventually, aquatic food-chains, these toxics return to us in the form of some of the food we eat, the water we drink, and impact natural systems in multitudes of other ways that are not at first apparent to us.
Having the “perfect emerald green lawn” of the past has become a social trap in a sense, where we are rewarded in the short term with feelings of pride...but in the long run, as we gain a broader understanding, we realize this collective behavior actually undermines natural systems and may compromise health and stability for living things, including our own future generations. No free lunch in the natural world, as it is said.
Fortunately, the “Yardscaping Project” can serve as a new model for us all and has received $35,000 in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But it is currently attempting to raise an additional $65,000 to create the paths, level surfaces and purchase and install the plantings. A heavy dose of donations and in-kind services, large and small, is what it will take to bring this project to fruition and can be submitted through their website by the end of February.
To visit the “Back Cove Yardscaping Project” after ground is broken this spring, park in the designated lot across from Back Cove’s Hannaford, adjacent to the Preble Street soccer fields and walk beyond them on the trail toward Tukey’s Bridge (temporary signs on the trail indicate the location).
Take note, Scarborough, as we may all be swayed to reexamine our notion of “the perfect lawn” and consider ecologically-friendly “Yardscaping” as the new vision, the new and exciting ”feel good” approach to lawn and property care.
Terri Candelmo Eddy
Scarborough
Commissioner explains county budget increase
Editor:
In keeping with having county government become more transparent, I would like to explain the impact of our recent 4.99 percent increase to the FY07 budget. In essence, it means the average homeowner would pay approximately $6 more toward county services. It should be made clear that this $6 is the total increase for the entire year! Put another way, it means that a homeowner with a home value at $224,000 would pay $117.99 in county taxes for FY07.
Cumberland County government has proven to be a cost efficient and cost effective way in delivering services to our citizens. Our jail is the only accredited jail in the state and staffed by professional deputies working under extremely harsh conditions. Our jail is maintained to provide a healthy, safe, secure, humane and cost effective environment in which to detain persons alleged or convicted of legal violations. The sheriff’s road patrol deputies and support services provide public safety in addition to working closely with communities and other counties ranging from providing OUI road blocks, operating after license suspension in addition to drug and sex offenders investigation plus accident scene reconstruction for both state and local law enforcement agencies.
The Cumberland County district attorney’s office prosecutes the criminal and civil infractions for the state against people who are accused of breaking the law in Cumberland County. The Cumberland County Regional Communication Center provides public safety agencies that we service with the highest possible standards of public safety communications by working with communities in the county. Our deeds office maintains and preserves all documents recorded in the registry and provides the public with rapid and convenient access to recorded documents.
Additionally, there is the Registry of Probate, whose mission is to fulfill the legal requirements for processing estates, guardianships plus name changes and adoptions. We have the Emergency Management Agency, which continues to cultivate efforts to prepare for disaster from floods, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
As we continually reach out to the 27 communities within Cumberland County with attempts of consolidation and collaboration in sharing resources and methods in reducing costs, we recognize the achievements come slowly, however in doing so, working together, it can be done.
I invite you to visit our website, www.cumberlandcounty.org, where more information is available on county government.
Richard J. Feeney, Chair
Cumberland County Commissioners
Comments