New Search
VEGETATION MANAGEMENT 1988 STATISTICS <br /> Statistics are often interesting to examine when you are trying to determine <br /> the effectiveness of a program. Such is the case with the Vegetation Manage- <br /> ment Program within Maintenance Division's Maintenance Planning Section. <br /> Since the programs transfer into the Maintenance Division last January, the <br /> program has been assigned a higher priority, the records and notification <br /> process computerized and assigned a slight increase in manpower during the <br /> heaviest vegetation complaints season. With these increases into the program <br /> we certainly hoped to see some increases back from the program in terms of the <br /> amount of complaints processed and the timeliness of these complaints. <br /> Vegetation complaints come into the office mostly from concerned property <br /> owners and various city agencies. These complaints are each inspected in the <br /> field to determine if the situation is in compliance with the vegetation <br /> ordinances as specified in Municipal Code Sections 6.010 and 6.515. <br /> When a complaint is on a developed property, a courtesy letter is sent to the <br /> owner of the property asking them to correct the problem within 10 days. If <br /> this fails to gain compliance from the property owner, the City then posts the <br /> property with an abatement notice instructing the property owner to correct <br /> the problem within an additional 10 days. If this stronger notice fails, the <br /> City would then have a contractor correct the problem with all associated <br /> costs billed to the property owner. <br /> For vacant lots, the City does not send individual courtesy letters. Instead, <br /> a mass mailing to all owners of vacant lots is made in late May reminding the <br /> property owner of their vegetation maintenance responsibilities and warning <br /> them, if they fail to do so, the City may mow the lots without further notice. <br /> Therefore, when the complaint is on an vacant lot, and is between the dates of <br /> June 15th and September 30th, the City sends a work order to a contractor to <br /> have the lot mowed with all associated costs billed to the property owner. If <br /> a property owner feels we have made a mistake in the correction or billing <br /> they have a right of protest. <br /> The statistics given below are for calendar years not fiscal years. The <br /> statistics for 1987 are for the total year while the statistics for 1988 are <br /> only for the first 10 months. <br /> ITEM 1987 1988 <br /> Complaints Received 850 898 <br /> Average Time Between Complaint & Inspection n/a 2 Days <br /> Courtesy Letters Mailed 350 698 <br /> Properties Posted 40 144 <br /> Average Time Between Courtesy letter & Posting n/a 23 Days <br /> Work Orders Issued 279 357 <br /> Property Owners Billed 239 279 <br /> Total Amount Billed $ 19,219.50 $ 29,517.38 <br /> Protests By Property Owners 21 30 <br /> Number of Protests Granted n/a 9 <br /> Average Response Time To Protests n/a 5.7 Days <br />