Park Restoration at the Preserve at St. Mary’s
COVID-19 changed our plans to organize volunteers to plant the meadow with clover and maintain the park by pulling out the invasive plants. There will be no organized group events this year, therefore we needed to hire professionals who could provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI) naming the City of Bridgeport in order to proceed. We have done this and are moving forward.
The remaining 23 trees were planted by NATIVE last week at a cost of just over $5,000.
The final step of the park restoration process is the planting of the pollinator meadow consisting of rye grass and white clover. The City agreed to provide a truck load of top soil, but we had to hire someone to spread it as the City has not hired seasonal workers yet due to COVID-19. We will be using Kenny of KFB Landscaping to spread out the soil using a bobcat. Then Lawn Doctor will prepare the soil for planting and plant the rye grass and white clover seeds.
The City had planned to do a spring and fall clean up of the park, but the lack of seasonal workers scuttled that plan. We have hired Kenny of KFB Landscaping to remove the invasives without chemicals once a month from May through October.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
$14,748 Park Restoration Fund balance before expenses
-$9,626 Estimated expenses for Spring 2020 (detailed below)
$ 5,122 Park Restoration Fund balance after invoices are paid
Breakdown of Estimated Expenses
$ 5,095 NATIVE – 23 tree plantings and tree protection (with wire surround)
$ 500 KFB Landscaping – spread truckload of soil
$ 959 Lawn Doctor – prepare soil and spread seed
$ 572 American Meadow – clover and rye grass seed
$ 2,500 KFB Landscaping – removal of invasives (May-October)
$ 9,626
