The Complaint That Goes Unanswered
There is a Landstown resident and taxpayer who goes above and beyond others in helping our City of Virginia Beach stay clean. I don't know him personally but have read about what he does in our community - he deserves an award. I'll simply refer to him as Mr. D since I don't want to put his name on the internet unless he approves.
For years he has picked up trash at the local park and has complained to the city about Park & Landscape Services mowing over plastics, aluminum and other trash without picking it up before cutting the grass. The deal with that is they are supposed to pick up the trash before cutting the grass. The irony to that is that picking up trash is part of Park & Landscape Services function.
You can go to their webpage, fill out a form and request that litter be picked up in the public areas. In fact, on their webpage it states “Litter control is performed at each maintenance cycle, with additional responses to acute litter issues by the Park & Landscape Services Division”. I guess their method of controlling trash is to mow it over.
Park & Landscape Services Division
2289 Lynnhaven Pkwy,
Virginia Beach, VA 2345
Tel: 757-385-4461
Email: landscape@vbgov.com
According to what Mr. D posted some of the excuses maintenance personnel use is that “We don't have the manpower. We don't have the time.” That is not true since it is part of their job description and they do have to make time to pick up the trash before mowing it over because that is their job. Mr. D has even noticed employees standing by city vehicles while on their phone. Yep, we the taxpayers are paying for that. The people who should be held accountable are the Parks & Recreation Director and the Park & Landscape Services Division Administrator. Speaking of that, once again, accountability is a problem within several departments and that is an issue that city council needs to address.
There are many who say that it is the people who are littering that are the problem and that is very true. However, there is still littering and I don't think too many people are held accountable for throwing trash anyway, even though they should be. The city should change strategies and also take the issue of littering more seriously.
There is the issue of having to look at that unsightly trash but for those who do not know, microplastics are a global issue. And those microplastics start exactly from the place Mr. D is trying to get the city to pick them up. From our location, after being shredded by Park & Landscape Services, plastic moves from the parks to the retention ponds, to the rivers and then to the Atlantic Ocean. In the process the pieces become smaller and are embedded into the sediment where they erode further. Microplastics even build up inside the body because they are harder to filter out.
One thing all residents of Landstown lakes, Meadows, Bernard Farms and Woods of Piney Grove should do is make sure you don't litter and please take your trash if the cans are full. A good strategy is to have a spare trash bag in case you need it - just a thought. If you do see The Park & Landscape Services mowing over trash, please bring it to the attention of the city, preferably city council. And for the director and administrator of those services, please have city employees do the job that we are paying them to do.
There is something else I want to point out. City council continues to allow over development of our city with abandon probably because developers are major campaign contributors to some of those members including a farmer, Barbara Henley, who is definitely supported by developers in Virginia Beach. With development comes an increased requirement for infrastructure and staff which the taxpayer has to pay.
City council needs a balanced approach to what our city is about and simply adding buildings does not help. For those that argue that development creates jobs, it also increases crime, and those requirements I mentioned. Virginia Beach has had a pretty good employment rate since before Mayor Dyers so I don’t consider that an excuse. One thing Virginia Beach has been blessed with is location and weather even though that is at risk as well with climate change.