Costs for 2021 Downtown Flowers Program

November 20th, 2020 | 1:07 pm
Posted in Downtown

Last modified on December 9th, 2020 at 06:52 pm

At its November 5, 2020 meeting, the Elkins council approved a contract for labor and other costs of the 2021 downtown flowers program. The contract covers planting, watering, and related services starting in May 2021 and continuing into the fall.

The contract, for $24,500, covers labor, equipment and some other costs but does not include $8,000 in plants and related supplies. Both categories of costs are explained further below. (more…)

Contractor Replacing Downtown Flowers at No Cost to the City

September 2nd, 2020 | 2:46 pm
Posted in Downtown, Press Release

Weather conditions contributed to widespread fungal infection

Elkins, W. Va., September 2, 2020: The city’s downtown flower display was afflicted with a fungal infection earlier this summer, and the contractor that manages the display will replant the affected baskets next week at no cost to the city.

“Earlier in the season, the plants in the downtown hanging baskets were doing really well, but the rainy weather we’ve been having recently seems to have led to a fungal outbreak among most of the baskets,” says Tammy Dolly, who manages the downtown display. “In response, we treated the affected baskets with a copper fungicide around August 12. We began to gain a little ground before the last run of rain, but that just sent them over the edge.”

Dolly reported the problem to city officials and offered to remove and compost the dead plants, then replace them with mums at her own expense. Council’s Municipal Properties Committee accepted this offer at its August 19 meeting, and replanting will proceed during the week of September 7.

“I take great pride in the flowers and look forward to caring for them each year, and I’m sincerely sorry this year’s display turned out this way,” says Dolly. “We’ve never had anything like this happen to any of our flowers anywhere, and I’m not sure what we could have done differently. We’re just happy to have a plan in place to move forward, and we will keep watering as long as we can this fall to keep the mums looking nice.”

Elkins Named Tree City for Twelfth Consecutive Year

April 24th, 2020 | 2:06 pm
Posted in Downtown

Last modified on May 12th, 2020 at 04:10 pm

Marilyn Cuonzo, chair of the Elkins Tree Board and a member of Elkins Common Council, prepares to launch the Tree City commemorative flag with Elkins Mayor Van Broughton.

Elkins Tree Board to Observe Arbor Day with Davis Street Park Planting

Elkins W. Va., April 23, 2020: Elkins, West Virginia was named a 2020 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. The Elkins Tree Board (ETB), which recently received two grants from the W. Va. Division of Forestry and is active in creating and maintaining greenspaces throughout the city, will observe Arbor Day with a tree planting at Davis Street Park. (more…)

Did the city really spend $45,000 on downtown flowers?

March 5th, 2020 | 10:29 am
Posted in Downtown, Strategic Plan

Did the city really spend $45,000 on downtown flowers? (more…)