Annual Report 2007-2008(color).pub - Town of South Windsor

Department of Public Works
assorted sized soccer fields, 3 football/lacrosse
fields, and one field hockey field. These are all
separate use fields with only one exception – the
stadium field at South Windsor High School.
This field is a multi-use field serving football,
soccer and track events.
There are 15 irrigation systems serving many of
the ball fields, several landscaped areas and
four turf areas. These systems prolong the
safety and beauty of the areas they serve but
are not maintenance free. They, in fact, require
specialized attention. Experienced Parks’ staff
and contracted services make sure the systems
operate at maximum efficiency.
South Windsor has over 2.5 miles of paved or
stone dust trails and over 3 miles of footpaths
scattered through its parks, open spaces and
schoolyards – all maintained by this Division.
With help from local Scouts and scouting
groups, Major Michael Donnelly Land Preserve
has “groomed” footpaths, floating bridges and
boardwalks over wet areas. This open space
has become one of South Windsor’s crown
jewels for outdoor enthusiasts.
One of New England’s largest and arguably one
of its most attractive pool facilities is cleaned
and covered by our maintainers from spring to
fall every year. VMP is also home to the Eagle
Monument which hosts the Memorial Day
parade and the Veteran’s Day ceremony in the
fall, plus countless visitors nearly all year long.
This too is attended to by the Parks crew.
The Town and its citizens are fortunate to own
many acres of open space. Large and small
tracts cover all corners and in between. Even
though they do not all need the same level of
attention, none of them are maintenance free.
Annual mowing of South Windsor’s three dams
and open space areas takes the whole crew a
good part of a week every fall in ensure they
remain as open grassy fields. This past winter
season, Parks and Grounds supervised the
mowing and maintenance of 15 detention areas.
These are an integral part of storm water
management and it is essential to keep them
functioning properly. In January and February,
ten (10) of these areas received a thorough
clearing of brush, vines and saplings. The local
contractor responsible for this task performed
safely and efficiently meeting our high
expectations. Now these areas can be
maintained in-house with our own equipment on
a regular basis.
Trees on any property owned by the Town,
including right-of-ways and easements are the
responsibility of the Tree Warden and most often
the Parks crew. Tree care involves planning,
trimming and removal depending on the
circumstances.
Setting up and putting to bed the Community
Gardens at Avery Street is another spring and
fall duty of the Parks Division.
Fall months are dedicated to fall clean-ups at
many of our mowed areas. Parks also partners
with the Street Division and Motor Equipment in
cleaning up the entire Town on the “Leaf
Program” and plowing all Town roads, buildings
and all open space sidewalks in the winter
months.
Stephan Lavigueur
Parks and Grounds Manager
The DIVISION OF WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL is responsible for the collection,
treatment, and discharge of wastewater.
Activities include: wastewater treatment, sludge
disposal, laboratory analysis, sewer line
cleaning and inspection, and pump station
maintenance. This Division is also responsible
for the operation of the Veterans’ Memorial Park
swimming pool pump and filtration system and
for the test/adjustment of water chemistry for the
maintenance of pool water quality.
During the past year, the Division treated 640
million gallons of wastewater at a treatment
efficiency of 92%. The Town is required to
maintain a treatment efficiency of 85% under the
current discharge permit issued by the
Connecticut Department of Environmental
16 | Town of South Windsor: Annual Report 2007/2008