Residents help maintain East Court parks

Picture a lone man cutting grass in a 12-acre park using a 16-inch-cut lawn mower. Now picture several men joining him pushing their mowers in synchronization across acres of tall grass. That’s just what you would have seen recently after budget cuts forced the city to reduce park mowing.

Two men, Geoffrey Neithercut and Walter Soon, saw their neighborhood parks becoming unkempt and the pair started a neighborhood mowing movement.

“It’s contagious,” said Neithercut. “About 10 people are involved in the group now.”

Joe Eufinger, Flint parks and recreation director, said he and Neithercut reached an agreement allowing residents to care for the park areas in their neighborhood.

“We love it when people help out,” Eufinger said. “We’ve got 30 parks in the city that we mow with a staff of four.”

Eufinger explained that Woodlawn and Burroughs parks south of East Court Street and east of Gilkey Creek, in the East Court Street neighborhood, are 14 acres of grassland that takes his crew about seven hours to mow when the grass is at a reasonable length.

“But we not only cut grass. We trim branches, cut weeds and pick up the garbage. So we really appreciate groups like Neithercut’s that help us out,” he said.

According to Neithercut, Woodlawn Park looked like a hayfield before it was mowed. “The grass was waist high,” he said.

“After it was mowed, a church youth group showed up and raked the grass into about 300 piles. Then they put the grass in bags,” he added.

The youth group was part of Flint’s Adopt-a-Park Program, Eufinger explained. “We have formal groups, like the church youth group, and informal groups who see the problems and help us out,” he said.

Eufinger said that landscaping the parks will be an ongoing concern with limited funds, but the new fiscal year’s budget that became effective July 1 may bring some relief.

“We will be hiring some part-time summer help to get caught up,” Eufinger said. “I’m also hoping to have some money left over to hire more part-timers in the spring,” he said.

The mowing brigade is not only cutting grass, but they’re also trimming trees and mowing neighborhood traffic triangles.

“While we were cutting grass in a traffic triangle where massive pine tree limbs touch the ground, neighbors who live nearby asked if we could help them,” said Neithercut.

“They wanted us to trim the pine limbs because vandals were using the secluded area as a meeting place,” he said.

The brigade trimmed the limbs and made the area more attractive and safer.

Neithercut is optimistic about the future.

“Flint has been dealt a terrible economic blow,” he said. “But, the city is full of very good people and they are still here. We’ll get it done,” he said.