[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
launched Wednesday an initiative to utilize sustainable and environmentally
friendly practices in attempts to improve downtown Madison areas.

The objective of the
“Mowtown” plan is to keep city parks, medians, boulevards and various
other sections of the city well-manicured as the spring season progresses.

“Mowtown is part
of our ongoing effort to provide excellent basic city services,”
Cieslewicz said in a statement. “We want to have a community that looks
beautiful and well cared-for, just as we take care of our own homes and
businesses. We also want to have a community that makes a great first impression
on visitors, and few things are more visible than the grass in our parks,
medians and boulevards.”

According to Jim
Weinstock, parks operations manager, the program hired an additional 15 to 20
seasonal workers earlier this spring to begin mowing operations to tackle the
issue head-on.

Cieslewicz said they
hope to get a jump-start on the yearly challenges of maintenance.

“Every year we
know there are certain challenges we face — potholes obviously, and
traditionally we do get some concerns about grass mowing in the spring,”
Cieslewicz said. “What tends to happen is grass starts growing very
quickly, and we are caught off-guard. This year we want to get ahead.”

The program also
included the purchase of four $77,000 mowers to increase efficiency while
cutting grass in large areas. With over 871 medians, 270 parks constituting
5,400 acres of parkland and other areas throughout the city, maintaining an
efficient system is foremost, Cieslewicz added.

“These [mowers]
can cut a wider gap,” Cieslewicz spokesperson George Twigg said.
“Older ones could not cut as much grass in a single pass, so that
helps.”

Concerning the issue
of rising gas prices this summer, Cieslewicz said the efficiency of the mowers
would reduce excessive use of gas.

Additional features of
the plan include allocating $50,000 of native plantings in medians, which would
establish a more sustainable environment in the long-run and the installation
of GPS technology on mowing equipment to stem inefficient usage.

Cieslewicz said the
investment in native plants costs more money short-term, but the addition would
eventually lead to less maintenance, a greater ability to absorb water and
rain, alongside a better capability to adjust to drought conditions.

“Where we are
going to grow grass, we are going keep that looking sharp,” Cieslewicz
said. “Where we have ‘low mow’ and ‘no mow’ areas of nature plants we will
nurture those. Over time what we want is to expand native planting because that
will be more efficient.”