Money

was placed in this year's Fayetteville city

budget to hire a full-time person to maintain the

city's newly beautified medians, but City Council

Monday decided to contract with a landscape

maintenance firm instead.

Low

bidder to provide weeding, pruning, fertilizing

and other routine services along Ga. Highway 54,

Ivy Green Lawn Services, will do the work for

$14,774 a year, or $1,231.17 a month. That's a

considerable savings over hiring a full-time

person, said Main Street director Sherri

Anderson.

The

company's bid proposal includes pulling all weeds

over six inches tall or wide once a month, four

applications of preemergent weed killer during

the year, plus periodic fertilizer, insect and

disease control.

As

part of its Main Street downtown revitalization

program, the city planted the medians in crepe

myrtle, barberry and a variety of other shrubs

and flowering plants early this past summer. The

$130,000 project also includes new welcome signs

at the city limits.

Plans

are to repeat the process in the medians along

Ga. Highway 85 north of downtown this winter.

Once the new plants are established, the city

will have to offer a new maintenance contract for

bid, to cover both areas.

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