It’s March and we’ve nearly made our way through another winter. With springtime right around the corner, our Town employees are hard at work with many activities designed to prepare for the months ahead.
“This is the spring shoulder season – right at the end of winter – when we’re still dealing with winter but also actively preparing for warmer weather,” shared Aaron Bourgeois, Director of Operations. “Town staff are making plans to get lawns and parks ready for use, and they’ll soon begin the process of storing winter equipment for another year.”
Given the freeze-thaw effect we’re all feeling lately, this is also pothole repair season. Potholes are monitored by staff, but they can also be reported by contacting Town Hall directly, or by completing an E-Service Request Form.
While some things disappear at winter’s end, others will soon re-appear, such as all of the beautiful flowers we enjoy around town during the warmer months. Although it’s too soon for these plants to spend time outside, the official process of obtaining bedding plants and hanging baskets for the 2025 season is already complete.
“We open up our tendering process every year for hanging baskets and bedding plants in January, which seems like a strange time to be thinking about gardening – but, that’s how long the process takes,” explained Matt Selig, Parks and Recreation Foreman.
Our summer students play a big part in seasonal beautification by doing the actual planting and maintenance of flower beds and hanging baskets. You guessed it – summer student positions were posted several weeks ago and the competition will remain open until the end of March to ensure we are fully-staffed for all of these seasonal duties.
Yes, the hum of lawn mowers and whipper-snippers is not long off now.
With summer-focused work well underway in these last days of winter, we can begin looking forward to attending great outdoor events, signing kids up for summer programming and day camps, welcoming more visitors, and generally enjoying the outdoors in and around Amherst – our small-town home.
