A proposal to improve Peachtree City’s landscaping results involves the city hiring four full-time and two seasonal/temporary employees to handle landscaping along primary and secondary roads, along with city facilities and parks.
At the same time, the city would use three different companies to handle specific tasks: highway landscaping maintenance, right-of-way tree trimming on primary and secondary roads and landscaping for subdivision and city landscape islands.
The proposal will be detailed for the Peachtree City Council at its regular meeting Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The private companies would be paid a total of $278,000 and it will cost the city $170,000 for the new in-house crew and necessary equipment for the rest of this fiscal year. In 2015, the cost of the in-house crew will rise to $223,000, according to calculations by Community Services Director Jon Rorie.
The city’s landscaping results have suffered since it let go of its in-house landscaping staff and moved to contractors starting in 2009 as part of a budget-saving plan. Rorie categorized the results as “marginal at best, with common complaints regarding how the city does not look as good as it used to.”
The city has 12 municipal facilities needing landscaping services along with 12 city parks that will be served by the new in-house staff, Rorie indicated. Those crews will also handle landscaping on the 37 primary roads including Peachtree Parkway, MacDuff Parkway, Kedron Drive and others.
