Three drivers for our neighborhood vision
We who live in Marlborough East are committed to making our community the best it can be. As we looked at the priorities and concerns that faced us, we felt that there were three areas to focus on: Environmental Stewardship, Conservation, and Public Safety.
Last year we were invited to present our vision and the ways we are making it happen at the Community Development Workshop. A link to the slides from the full presentation is available here.
Below is a quick summary:
Environmental stewardship
LAND
- An Adopt a Neighborhood Grant was obtained from the City to maintain lawn care equipment.
- We started lawn care for vacant lots in our neighborhood about 7 years ago. The lots had six foot tall grass and years of illegally dumped trash.
- By 2017 things had changed. The City started letting us focus resources on 5 lots for nuisance abatement. We added clearing and chipping of brush, downed limbs, and invasive plant removal.
WATER
- Water quality of the Blue River is being addressed through an ongoing partnership with the Blue River Watershed Organization.
- We installed of Rain Garden at 81st Street and South Benton Avenue.
- Flood wall was completed in the Dodson Industrial Park after flooding in August of 2017 created a disaster for many tenants. Concerns were also raised about run-off of pollutants back into the river.
- We continue to identify locations for Sewer installation and improve Septic maintenance activities.
conservation
Typically, practicing conservation is synonymous with protecting fish, wildlife and other natural resources. Residents of our neighborhood have expanded the practice of conservation in our community to include actively addressing quality of life issues for residents. But in addition, we focused on what we like to call “preventing the Decay of Marlborough East”. This includes identifying problems for residents that can be solved through prevention – while still keeping sight of the original goals regarding environmental stewardship. This led the neighborhood to focus on the food desert crisis in our community.
public safety
We acquired scouting/trail cameras and installed them where we have illegal dumping. Although they are not currently networked, these devices have SD cards. Recorded evidence of dumping is stored on a card and has to be physically taken out to monitor dumping. Recorded evidence can be turned over to the City for prosecution. We have been working with the city for 5 years now and we seen 50% of the dumping stop since we started putting up these cameras.
Most of the time you will find out that its people in your own neighborhood / nearby community that are doing the dumping. We’ve added lock that secures the cameras to the site of installation and provide a set of batteries.