Yards are looking great in Southwood Park, but here is information about reporting tall weeds and grass to 311, which begins today. Let’s all remember to keep weeds and grass under control along our alleys and those little corners of our backyards!
CITY PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS:
May 21, 2018 – The City of Fort Wayne’s Tall Grass/Weed Program kicks off today, May 21, 2018. Neighborhood Code Compliance is responsible for enforcing the City’s Weed Program, which calls for weeds or grass to be no taller than nine inches.
For the first time this year, Weed Inspectors will be using a new computer app that allows them to do all their documentation in the field using an iPad. Because traditional paperwork normally takes about 1.5 hours per day, this time will now be available to respond to calls from the public, increasing productivity by approximately 25 percent.
Reports of high grass or weeds that exceed nine inches will be accepted beginning today; the public should call 311 or 260-427-8311 to report a possible violation. Online complaints may be filed at www.cityoffortwayne.org/citizen-services. Individuals reporting a violation will need to have the property’s specific street address to register the complaint.
Reports from the public of possible weed violations will be addressed beginning May 22, after the eight seasonal, part-time Weed Inspectors have completed their first day of training. Inspectors respond to reports from the public but also act proactively to identify high weeds and grass, particularly along high-traffic corridors.
“One property that is not mowed and looks neglected can negatively impact an entire neighborhood,” said Cindy Joyner, director of Community Development. “By helping remove blighting influences, the Weed Program can help protect property values and improve the quality of life in our city.”
When Weed Inspectors determine there is a violation, they take date-stamped electronic photos and post a placard on the cited property. As a courtesy, an abate notice is mailed to the owner of record who then has five days to correct the violation. After five days, the City’s mowing contractors will inspect to see if the property is in compliance and if not, they will mow and also take date-stamped before- and after-photos. The owner will then be charged for the mowing; if the invoice is not paid within 30 days, a lien will be placed on the property.
When Brian Wagner purchased his Tudor Revival thirteen years ago at 1149 Westover Road he was also returning to the area in which he had grown up. Having been a resident of Lafayette Esplanade on Maple Grove in his youth one could say he had a lingering affection for the ‘07. As many others in our neighborhood he had also lived in Historic West Central neighborhood for many years where he is currently the Director of the popular Arena Dinner Theatre (where you can still see the hilarious “Calendar Girls” this weekend!)
He and his partner Steve Van Anda decided a year ago that their taupey-beige and grey-blue trimmed Tudor deserved a facelift and went about the process of collecting estimates for paint and siding options. Ultimately, painting won out for aesthetic and budgetary reasons; the siding companies only wanted to cover the half timbering, cedar shakes, and stucco with similar “look” materials which didn’t appeal or make sense to them. Last August their home received a well-deserved new coat in several shades of creamy avocado green against high contrast black storm windows and it is stunning. The fun warm violet hue on the front and back doors, brackets and porch columns highlight details with a complimentary punch. A coveted front porch hosts room for a comfy chair, swing, and a few crocks of pansies. Obviously, their Tudor has many show-stopping curbside details which have been featured beautifully by color but they also have a handsome new wood deck in the rear lovingly built by Steve, a new period-minded door on the color coordinated garage both bordering a charming perennial garden with koi pond. Let the relaxing summer season begin!
Congratulations to Brian and Steve on their well-deserved Historic Southwood Park May home of the month award. Your 1920’s starlet may be in her second act but she will be stealing the show on Westover for many years to come.
— Erika Stuller
Do you have another nominee for a Southwood Park Award Home for an upcoming month? Send your nominations to Southwood_Park@yahoo.com.
Dirt Day 2018: May 5
Every year since 1978, the Association has purchased quality soil for residents to use in their gardens, flower pots, and yards. This is our 41st year helping Southwood Park gardeners! On May 5th, we are having 12 cubic yards of quality tri-mix soil from Felger’s Peat Moss delivered. All you have to do is take your wheelbarrow to the sites and get what you need!
If there is a weather-related delay, we will announce plans here and on Facebook. Last year, we pushed the date a week later to avoid Dirt Day from becoming Mud Day.
We are picking some of the wider street areas. By popular demand, we will have a site in Section B this year! There will be three dirt pickup sites:
Indiana Avenue at Maxine Drive
South Wayne Avenue at Maple Grove Avenue
Westover Road at Crestwood Drive
Dirt is for Historic Southwood Park homes only! No dumping. Please take only what you need, and be considerate of other neighbors.
Spring Beautification Day: April 28
Meet up at the Roundabout at 11AM to help do a little spring cleaning at our neighborhood pocket gardens. We will be done at 1PM, sooner if we have many helping hands.
We will split into groups and conquer leaves and gardening tasks at various locations. If you already live next to one of the pocket gardens or pillars, let us know (via Facebook or email Southwood_Park@yahoo.com) what location you’d prefer to tackle.
Bring your gloves, rakes, whatever tools you think may be helpful and a water bottle. We will supply the garden waste bags.
Foster Park Retrieval Shaft Work Begins
Visitors to Foster Park will notice the large work area north of the main entrance. Are you wondering what it is? How long will it be there?
City Utilities is constructing a deep rock tunnel to divert combined sewer overflow from our rivers to the wastewater treatment plant. Tunnel boring will begin near Memorial Park, will follow the Maumee and St. Marys Rivers and end at Foster Park. A retrieval shaft will be dug and blasted beginning January 2018. Trees and landscaping have already been removed to prepare for this work.
It will take several years to dig the tunnel and the tunnel boring machine to be pulled out of the retrieval shaft. After the tunnel comes connecting sewer work and open cut sewer installation near Hartman Road through the park. We might expect the project to be done in 2025. For the next eight years, this will be the “new normal” as this necessary work is done. City officials say restoration work in the park will be first-rate. Our neighborhoods will push hard for restoration to be done well.
City Utiliites invited residents from nearby neighborhoods to a meeting October 25. You can view the PowerPoint presentation here or visit FortWayneTunnel.org for information.
Neighbors and association will be invited to future meetings to be briefed on project progress. Historic Southwood Park Neighborhood Association feels strongly that construction traffic be routed the shortest route to and from the quarry – north on Broadway to Bluffton Road. It would be unnecessarily disruptive and damaging for trucks to use Old Mill Road going south.
Please watch your mail and FortWayneTunnel.org for updates on this long-term endeavor.
City Ultilities’ Tunnel Works Program is designed to keep combined sewer overflow from reaching our rivers during most rain events. This multi-year project is finishing its design stage and is about to begin construction of a deep rock tunnel in Foster Park.
There will be inconveniences. There will be traffic pattern changes. But we can prepare for these events through awareness and asking questions.
Frank Suarez, Director of Public Information for City Utilities and Public Works, has invited neighbors from Southwood Park and other neighborhoods in the Foster Park area to a meeting October 25, 6PM, at The Summit. You may have already received a mailing about it.
If you have questions, please attend.
Here are some links to the project:
https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/utilities/tunnel-works.html
https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/images/stories/Utilities/docs/3rport/TunnelFAQs_-_March_11.pdf
Here is the letter the Association received as an invitation:
We are inviting neighborhoods around the Foster Park area to an update meeting on the deep rock tunnel retrieval shaft that will be starting soon inside the park.
Residents in your neighborhood should be receiving a mailed postcard later this week – but I wanted to reach out to you to let you know about the meeting. The meeting is October 25 at 6:00 p.m. at The Learning Center at The Summit – 1025 West Rudisill Boulevard, Building 1025, Door G.
Again, this meeting will focus on the work that begins next month inside Foster Park. It is not about the near surface pipe work that will occur in neighborhood streets around the year 2020.
Thank you for your time and for your commitment to your neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Frank Suárez
Director of Public Information, Division of Public Works and City Utilities
City of Fort Wayne
Frank.suarez@cityoffortwayne.org
260-427-6051
