Ark Valley News - Rains make mowing difficult

Rains make mowing difficult
Last Updated: May 28, 2015

We have been rural Valley Center residents for 20-plus years, annexed in the early 1990s. Recently, we received a certified letter from the city that stated we had grass in excess of 8 inches in height and needed to be mowed within five days.

News flash: We have had unusually heavy rainfall in the last two and one-half weeks, causing delays in street construction and drainage repairs in Valley Center. You cannot work during heavy rainfall and with standing water conditions. Same goes for mowing.

We live on Interurban, north of 69th Street on the outskirts of town. The city has attempted over the last two to three years to make our road conditions better by grading the ditches, putting in some culverts and putting asphalt millings on the road. We still have extremely bad road conditions and drainage problems.

Our road is very heavily traveled by semi trucks going to and from the oil pumping station at the end of the road. This creates an extreme case of wash-boarding and large ruts that are impossible to dodge. During heavy rainfall, we have standing water in the yard and ditches, creating a muddy mess and cesspool for mosquitoes.

Our property is large enough that use of a big mower is needed. Common sense tells me not to use a heavy mower with standing water conditions or ground that is completely saturated, unless I want the yard to have ruts like the ones in the road.

By the way, the grass had already been cut by the time we received the letter. It needed to stop raining, drain off and somewhat dry out before we could think about mowing.

The grass and ditches on the east side of Interurban get mowed by the city once or twice a year and are usually in excess of 12 inches in height. That along with the standing water conditions create severe mosquito problems every year.

It likely cost the city $10 per certified letter mailed to residents.

Needless to say, we are appalled that the city wasted time and money without considering the weather conditions, and feel that the money could have been better spent fixing the road and drainage problems in our area.

— Sharon Clyborne, Valley Center