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THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION <br /> It would not be unfair to state that, in more than a few cases, public agency <br /> use of chemical pesticides has come about in an attempt to adequately main- <br /> tain facilities that were poorly thought out during the design phase or those <br /> built using short - sighted, so- called "lowest cost" construction methods. It <br /> is also safe to say that much of what facilitates IPM in public grounds con- <br /> struction and design also facilitates cost - effective long term maintenance in <br /> general. <br /> Normal design - approval- construction timelines can produce a situation where <br /> the project grows large through public input while the available funds grow <br /> smaller through inflation. There is always a temptation to stretch the fund- <br /> ing to cover as many requests /project elements as possible; all- too -often by <br /> eliminating details such as concrete underlayment of fence lines, adequate <br /> hard surfacing of parking lots, proper soil preparation, optimum design for <br /> irrigation and other infrastructure elements, etc. Such a scenario, in turn, <br /> produces a situation where maintenance staffers are all but forced to use <br /> traditional chemical- intensive methods that would not have been necessary if <br /> the facilities were constructed with long -term maintenance in mind. <br /> With federal funds less available and more public agencies looking for ways <br /> to stretch development /renovation dollars, it is critical to stress cost -ef- <br /> fective construction and design of facilities that will be sustainable /main- <br /> tainable without the use of "chemical band - aids ". A design review by maint- <br /> enance staff is one way to address this concern. Politicians and administra- <br /> tors also need to explain to public interest groups that design /construction <br /> for cost - effective long term maintenance is in the best public interest from <br />