Even with spring more than a month away, I’d like to dedicate this month’s message to the topic of our ECA community’s appearance. As you are aware your board has expanded and retitled its LEAF Committee to the broader concept of Environment and Green Space. Why the change?
With three years of experience, success of the LEAF program is well established and its operation now in control of the ECA. We have realized the benefits of enhancing our common area landscapes and we are now turning our attention to other aspects of our community appearance. There are a number of areas that are in our sights.
First is the signage within our boundaries. Of interest, this was my entry point into becoming involved in community activity. As mentioned in a previous message, I was distressed first with the condition of the Edgevalley sign in my neighbourhood, and then its eventual loss. This caused me and another dedicated Edgemont resident to do an inventory of all the signs in Edgemont and develop a strategy for their upkeep and expansion. It became evident that our many signs were in various states of health. Some simply require paint, brick pointing and a power wash while others like the former Edgevalley sign were beyond hope.
An immediate signage challenge was the situation with the sign located near the intersection of Edgemont and John Laurie boulevards. This sign had been destroyed in a traffic accident and could not be replaced in the median. I won’t bore you with the tortuous trail in our efforts to replace it; but am pleased that we are finally seeing visible progress leading to a new bold sign on the hill near the intersection. One of our vision elements will be to place a similar sign at the Shaganappi-Edgemont entrance.
Another challenge we face is the ownership of our signs. In our inventorying we discovered that certain signs are on city property; while others are on private property and are the responsibility of the related homeowners. With the former category we can do the appropriate maintenance and landscaping; however, there are legal ramifications with the latter. We are now working on activating a strategy to deal with this situation.
The next area requiring our attention, and in this case your engagement, is fencing and property maintenance. The condition of fencing which faces onto common areas varies considerably. Many of you with these types of fences do a fine job of maintaining them. Unfortunately, there are a number of fences which have neglected on the public side. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to maintain both sides of these fences and we are expecting your cooperation. One of our local merchants even offers a discount on paint. We’d also ask our residents continue property maintenance in general.
The final area of interest is our natural space. Many specific areas of this type have been neglected. Invasive weeds have taken over and pushed out native species. Undergrowth has choked out desired shrub development. Our landscape enhancement program is now dealing with some of these issues. More work is planned in this area of need.
In conclusion, you can see that great strides have been made in improving our appearance. The arrival of spring will move us even further and planning is already underway by your board, our contractors and dedicated volunteers. One of the hallmarks of our Edgemont community is our extensive and valued green spaces. Let’s keep investing in their betterment and improving our appearance.
