Buena Park Employs Corps to Plant Trees, Paint Drains

By hiring California Conservation Corps workers to plant trees and stencil catch basins with “Do Not Dump” warnings, the city of Buena Park will save money--but not as much as some City Council members would like.

The council split on a 3-2 vote this week to hire the corps, which pays minimum wage to workers 18 to 23 years old. Public Works Director Donald K. Jensen told the council that the corps helped out during last year’s rainstorms and did good work.

Planting 139 trees on major city streets will cost just $3,300, he said, about half of what it would cost to pay city workers to do the job. The stenciling of storm catch basins is required by law, and while the city will not save much by having the corps do it, city workers will not have to be pulled off more high-priority assignments, Jensen said.

The total cost for the two projects will be $14,000.

But Councilwoman Patsy Marshall objected to spending money on trees during tight fiscal times and said the stenciling could easily be done by volunteers.

“While I would love to have the trees, I don’t think it’s a necessity,” she said. “I think we have enough service organizations in this city who would be glad to take a Saturday to stencil the catch basins.”

Councilman Gerald N. Sigler agreed with Marshall, but Councilman Donald L. Bone disagreed, as did Mayor Don R. Griffin and Councilman Arthur C. Brown.

“I support volunteerism, but I don’t think this is a wise place for volunteers to come forward,” Bone said, voicing concerns about liability and the cost of supervision.

The trees will be planted on La Palma, Knott, Western, Crescent and Valley View avenues, as well as Dale Street and Ball Road the coming months.