Lawndale to Use Volunteers for Median Work

The Lawndale City Council approved a plan Thursday to use volunteer workers to help put the lawn back in Lawndale by removing concrete to make way for landscaping a portion of the Hawthorne Boulevard median.

The plan, which was suggested last month by former Planning Commission Chairman Gary McDonald, would have volunteers remove the concrete on the top of the median along Hawthorne Boulevard at the intersection of Marine Avenue.

The city has allocated funds to buy and install grass and a sprinkler system after the seedbed is prepared, city officials said.

Half the Crew

McDonald and Councilmen Harold E. Hofmann and Larry Rudolph have already agreed to make up half the six-person crew, which will begin work this week.

“We’ve got a way to do it and the volunteers to do it,” Rudolph said. “I don’t have any problem with that.”

The motion passed on a 3-2 vote.

McDonald, who runs a consulting company for developers, said a private developer has donated 200 cubic yards of top soil, and he estimated that the city can save $42,000 by using volunteers instead of hiring a contractor to do the demolition. Hofmann, who runs a sewage contract company, will donate equipment for the project.

McDonald said it should take about two days to tear out the 16,200 square feet of concrete from the median and three more days to bring in the soil.

Councilmen Hofmann, Rudolph and Dan McKenzie voted for the project. Mayor Sarann Kruse and Councilwoman Carol Norman rejected the proposal, saying the project needs further study.

“We’ve been talking about this for years and all of a sudden it’s an issue,” Kruse said. She said she has “no problem with volunteers” but would like the city to study design concepts and find out whether the volunteers will have adequate insurance coverage.

Norman said that because of drought conditions, the city should consider planting some vegetation on the median that requires less water than grass.

The project was suggested to the council last month but was delayed to give staff time to study whether the city’s insurance policy would cover volunteer workers. City Manager Jim Arnold told the council Thursday that the city’s insurance policy will cover volunteers who work under the supervision of city staff members.

After the meeting, which ended in the early morning hours, McDonald said: “I’m ready to shovel dirt right now.”

The median along Hawthorne Boulevard has been the focus of much study and debate over the years. In 1970, the city installed Astroturf on the median, but city officials became disillusioned with the phony grass when it faded and began to trap bits of litter. Last fall, city officials decided to remove the plastic grass, leaving bare concrete and patches of leftover Astroturf adhesive.

In August, the council voted to pay $15,000 to landscape the median at the intersection with Marine Avenue. But Arnold said the money will only pay for new grass and a sprinkler system, and will not be enough to pay for the cost of removing the cement and buying new top soil.