Since July 27, landscaping adjustments have been taking place throughout the City of Mesquite at the direction of Nick Montoya, director of Athletics and Leisure Services.
“After the water rate increase in April 2015 we started looking at places to save on expenses,” said Montoya.
Included in these adjustments are 27,250 square feet of grass that’s been removed as well as 2,900 plants and shrubs from the medians that were obstructing drivers’ views around the city.
To show just how much the city will save, Montoya used the example of the area between City Hall and Fire Station 1 on East Mesquite Boulevard.
“There are 20 heads (sprinklers) in that area,” he said. “Each head emits 2.5 gallons per minute. We water for 12 minutes a day, 6 days a week for approximately 42 weeks a year depending on the weather. If you do the math, that’s 7,560 gallons per head per year. Multiply that by 20 heads and that’s 151,200 gallons. At a 1.50 meter size at $3.50 per thousand that’s $529.20 per year just for that area in savings.”
Overall, the five-year projected savings to the city on water is at $86,094.55. And that doesn’t include any maintenance that would have been incurred by staff labor and mechanical maintenance. “I know it’s a small amount but over time this will be a savings to the taxpayers and also a water conservation project for us for years to come,” said Montoya.
To replace the grass area in that area, workers put in desert landscaping and transplanted a few trees from local parks to provide shade. A walkway was also installed between the employee and west public entrances.
“Yes, there are some costs to do these upgrades, but they are not recurring from year to year. They are one-time expenses only,” Montoya said.
The projects are nearly complete according to the plan provided by Montoya. The final area to receive some adjustments will be the Redd Hills Park area, which is scheduled to happen in the winter of 2016. Details for those changes are not yet available.
As far back as 1996 many residents were against the installation of medians with plants and trees on Mesquite Blvd. The Streetscape was an expensive and unnecessary endeavor. Back then the cost including upkeep was very high. This just proves that the city was ill-advised to construct it and to waste water over all these years. Congrats to Montoya for his work and ideas to make this a better city to live in.
One thing we’ve noticed about Mesquite is how those fancy medians make it difficult to see and/or turn into businesses.
It might look nice, but I’d never open a business in this town.
How can a frozen yogurt place go out of business in a town where it’s almost Saudi Arabia-hot in the summer? Too hard to get to, and invisible from the other direction.
2.5 gallons per minute x 12 minutes per day = 30 gallons per sprinkler! That is severe overwatering to begin with! The median islands do restrict vision and access. They are an obstruction on Mesquite Blvd, Sandhill Rd., and Pioneer Blvd. I highly suspect the whole project was just for the purpose of giving a local engineering firm some work a few years ago.
Awesome and about time … Please provide some guidance to Sun City!!!!
An added thought, why on God’s green earth is Leisure Services in charge of landscaping along and between roadways??????????