Ah spring ... the birds chirping, the children playing and the smell of toxic weed killer wafting from the PennDot owned properties behind our house in Manchester ...
This is their idea of property maintenance. I waged a year long battle to get them to cut the weeds and clean up the trash. They promised me they would maintain it. Rather than send out a PennDot employee with a lawn mower and a weed whacker every 6 weeks or so, they opt to kill anything and everything that grows in that field. They killed the tree last summer. Now we have an ugly stump in the midst of an ugly lot. It is like Petropolis.
Because it saves money.
I'm sure the families that walk on the path through that field to get home from the bus would appreciate it. I'm sure the legions of people who walk their dogs through that part of Manchester appreciate it. I'm sure people like Ledcat and myself who live near the property appreciate it. It saves money.
Why spend money on an inner city plot of land? Why let us have something green and lush in our community? Why make an effort -- we are just city folks after all. And it was our very own city that let the adjacent lots to this one sit and rot in fetid squalor for years.
You'll note the spray dude is wearing protective gear -- gloves, clothing, even a pair of Motzniks on his feet. If its that unpleasant a chemical, what makes you think I want it sprayed in my community?
One block away (no photo yet) Penn Dot neatly mowed the grassy berm along Route 65 so all the little Sewickley commuters could have a pleasant view as they drive themselves and their tax dollars back to the suburbs. But not in Manchester.
I don't think our demands our excessive, Penn Dot. Maintain your property without compromising the health and well-being of our community. Just cut the damn grass. At least the emission from the fuel you use won't kill us immediately.
I feel like I should go out and post warning signs to the dog people. Which include Marilyn Brooks from Channel 4 (she has beautiful dogs). Sigh.
