This small area on the west side of City Hall received a facelift Monday as crews removed grass and installed some trees and walkways to help save the city money when it comes to paying the water bills. Photo by Stephanie Frehner.

This small area on the west side of City Hall received a facelift Monday as crews removed grass and installed some trees and walkways to help save the city money when it comes to paying the water bills. Photo by Stephanie Frehner.

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.