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MAY 12 - MAY 19, 2015

Canada Goose Cooks Dyster-DeSantis Jayne Park Work

By Gus the Goose

May 12, 2015

Gus the Goose

People say geese make a mess. Well take a look at Jayne Park and tell me who the real mess makers are.

A couple of weeks ago I gave an exclusive interview to the Reporter, commenting on the Dyster-DeSantis Jayne Park plan and how it didn’t improve a thing but did fail miserably to take advantage of the unique assets the park was blessed with.

Trust me. I’m a bird and I know a natural habitat from a quick and dirty landscape job that was knocked off without a thought for the residents or the good of the green space.

Please give me your attention as I share my power point presentation:



Click…here’s the pothole patch on Joliet Avenue where Joliet and Griffon Avenue meet just yards from the park. The city patches the potholes and in a few weeks they’re right back wider and deeper than before.



Further down Joliet, along the south border of the park, you can see more bundles of potholes. More than a quarter million dollars to “improve” the park and still the Cayuga Island residents have to put up with these road conditions. I’m glad I fly instead of drive.


Click…there’s the park project sign announcing the work of Paul Dyster. The sign is about three by four feet but cost around $260,000 by my estimate. But I’m only a waterfowl with a birdbrain so what do I know?


Click…you can see the straw lining the entire length of the walking path that was seeded for grass in December! Not too much grass but plenty of unfinished landscaping.


Click…there’s the now legendary “overlook.” It resembles an escaped patio deck that was washed ashore on the riverbank. With the deck in place and the shoreline scrubbed of vegetation the mayor’s work brought the sights and sounds of Buffalo Avenue straight into the park.


The overlook wasn’t needed except to blow off a good portion of the grant money. A simple outcrop so people could safely stand a few feet into the river for their “overlook” would have been better, but leaving the shore alone would have been best.

I guess I’m just a silly goose because I thought the strength of Jayne Park was that you could stand in the park and have no idea you were only yards from a busy city roadway.


Click…here you can see large areas where the park has been damaged leaving green space in need of immediate attention.


Click…here’s a close-up of the walking path shoulders. There’s already cracking asphalt just five months, and one winter, after installation.


Click…plenty of tree limbs that were never removed and a little further up you’ll see large truck ruts lining the walking path.
Forgive me for being a cheeky goose but do you humans always do such sloppy work with taxpayer dollars?


Click…oh my goodness, there’s the staging area where the contractors parked their heavy equipment. It’s looking every bit as damaged as the day they left in mid December. Lots of landscape repair needed there. Who pays for that?

Excuse the bird metaphor but it looks like the city let the contractor fly the coop before the job was done.


Click…the playground…with 12 inches of rough-cut dead tree chippings.



Children don’t have the tough, leathery goose feet and goose skin that I have. I’d hazard a guess that the kids and their parents would prefer the recommended rubber mat or shredded rubber material instead of chipped dead trees.

 


Click…there’s the rock that used to have a memorial plaque honoring Luther Jayne who donated the parkland to the city over seventy years ago. The plaque disappeared and the city never replaced it.
Consider: The mayor dropped more than $250,000 into his park plan and he didn’t even replace the Luther Jayne memorial bronze plaque!

As goose I’m speechless - or honkless - to be more accurate.

What’s a bird to make of the Dyster-DeSantis plan, a plan that did such damage to the park?



A plan that brought the city into the park instead of bringing the park into the city!

Maybe it can be explained by the timeworn saying: “When the only tool you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

Every park, every bit of green space in the city is given the same Dyster-DeSantis treatment: asphalt, metal benches, metal trash cans, reduced and damaged green space, signage for politicians and costly consulting fees to make it all possible.

It’s the Dyster-DeSantis planning and all their consultants that have taxpayer dollars flowing out of city hall like – excuse the expression – poop through a goose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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