Want to adopt a park?
Public Works Commissioner Jay Card Jr. has developed a program that would allow landscapers, merchants, community organizations — virtually anyone — to adopt one of Shelter Island’s many parks by agreeing to pay for its upkeep.The trade off is you get a small sign indicating your sponsorship of that site and its maintenance.
The original idea, Mr. Card told the Town Board at its December 2 work session, was to reach out to landscapers, assuming they would be the most likely to want to sponsor and provide the necessary maintenance.
But at the suggestion of Town Board members, Mr. Card agreed it could be more expansive.
What he doesn’t want is what’s occurred in the past. Volunteers offered to maintain sites, started off eagerly and then curtailed their activities, leaving the work undone.
Among the sites are Volunteer Park on Bridge Street; the Tot Lot on School Street; Schiebler Park on Prospect; Ice Pond Park on New York Avenue; Mitchell Park on Burns Road and Dickerson Park on Menantic Road.
Those who adopt would be responsible for mowing grass, weeding plant beds, trimming grass around trees and generally maintaining the area. Clearly, landscapers would be equipped to do the work, while others might pay to hire landscaping firms to do the job.
The town would provide materials such as mulch and soil and would install a sign identifying the sponsor.
If the idea takes hold, Mr. Card said he would be prepared to identify other parks that could be added to the program.
