Landscape Division Efficiencies Help Keep the Village Beautiful
The Landscape Division in the Department of General Services underwent restructuring nine months ago when it was placed under the direction of Kurt Weimann, Senior Field Services Manager. Every day in our 2,100-acre Village, staff is trimming limbs, hedges and leaves, working to encourage healthy plant and tree growth; eradicating weeds whose growth is exacerbated by the previous season’s rainfall; planting new bushes, plants and flowers; determining the most efficient way to mow and maintain grass; and much, much more.
Since March, the Landscape Division has implemented numerous efficiency measures such as:
- Testing and introducing plant growth regulators to reduce labor hours spent edging turf, allowing for edging monthly versus bi-weekly.
- Purchasing smaller mowers to better address smaller turf areas and new more efficient mowers for the larger areas.
- Instituting a replacement program for small engine equipment (blowers, edgers), significantly reducing maintenance costs and inefficiencies.
- Instituting a new customer service process and initiating two ticket crews and a coordinator to quickly respond to resident needs.
Results of these and other operational and logistical enhancements are showing strong results including:
- Reduced overall service-call response time by 69% from 7.9 days in 2017 to 2.4 days currently.
- Reduced number of landscape calls for service by 10% compared to 2017.
The Landscape Division also has developed a Village-wide, five-year, species-based tree-trimming program that will begin in 2020 in addition to managing major slope renovation, a turf aeration project, turf reduction projects and fire-risk reduction performed under the direction of the Orange County Fire Authority.
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