'Knee-high' weed woes frustrate Bridgwater Forest neighbours

People living in Bridgwater Forest want the City of Winnipeg to wake up and smell the dandelions.

Homeowners in the south end neighbourhood are growing increasingly frustrated as poorly manicured shrubs and bunches of the yellow weeds are sprouting up throughout the area.

South Winnipeg-St. Norbert Coun. Janice Lukes and 30 residents gatheredto discuss the landscaping maintenance issues Thursday night.

The city and Manitoba Housing, which owned some of the Waverley West-arealand and agreed to open it up for privatedevelopment, approved the design several years ago. Now that the landscaping contract has expired, some people in the area say their expectations have been violated.

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"The neighbourhood we thought we were buying into isn't exactly the neighbourhood that we have today," said Jonathan Bailey, a member of the Bridgwater Forest Neighbourhood Association.

"In terms of maintenance, the neighbourhood I moved into was filled with shrubs and flowers and beautifully sculpted lawns and beds, and now it's knee-high with weeds in the medians and the roundabouts."

People at the meeting asked questions and aired their concerns to a panel that includedLukes;Dave Domke, the city'sparks and open space manager;the architect who helped design the area; and a representative from Manitoba Housing, a provincial Crown corporation that provides subsidized housing.

"A lot of people have been in there up to five years, and in terms of city services, they're going backwards, so they're frustrated," said Bailey.

The issues don't stop at weeds. Complaints at the meeting included sandy, dirty boulevards, knee-high water drowning trees in forested areas, trees without protectors being chewed through by rabbits and inconsistent garbage pickup.

City 'could have handled it differently'

Lukes told the crowd that the city made a mistake when it approved the neighbourhood design. Domke conceded that the city "could have handled it differently."

Lukes passed out tax breakdowns, showing people who own an average home in Winnipeg at a value of $288,190 pay $81.13 in parks and urban forestry fees. The question many had at the meeting was where their money was going.

"People pay high taxes here, but I think it's unreasonable to say that because they pay high taxes here, they get specialservices," Bailey said. "What people in that room are asking for were the services required to keep up the infrastructure that's already there."

Domke told the crowd they can expect mowing services on a 10 to 14 day cycle and garbage pickup once a week. He said mowing will begin after boulevard cleanup, which is ongoing in the area.

As for shrub maintenance, that won't happen until there are more resources available.

Lukes said the meeting was a first step in getting the ball rolling on solving the issue.

Next, she plans to go to a parks committee meeting on June 5 to make a motion on the projected maintenance costs for the area.

Those in attendance said they appreciated her efforts and felt overall the meeting was worthwhile.

"[The meeting was] mostly to get the residents on board and to help the councillor build up some momentum, because in the end, she's going to have to go back to council and try to get more money to fulfilthe commitments the city made many years ago when the whole thing was designed and agreed on," said Bailey.

"I am one person pounding the drum at city hall and I really need more people pounding the drum," Lukes added.