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The appearance of the outside of the Buena Vista Municipal Building is to be spruced up with a new landscaping plan.
The city has contracted with Arthur Bartenstein of ABL Landscape Architects to design a new planting plan, the first phase of which is to be implemented this fall.
Tom Roberts, director of community development, reported to City Council Thursday that $6,000 from planning department funds were being used to move this initiative forward. He noted that overgrown holly trees and yew bushes were removed from the front of the building last year because of damage caused by their roots and moisture on the foundation. There has been little landscaping in recent years, he said, resulting in an overall unattractive appearance to the outside of the building.
The objective, he continued, is to focus on new plants and maybe introduce some benches onto the grounds. No changes will be made to the parking lots or storm water management. Public works and departments within the building will be involved in the planning process. ABL is to develop three conceptual designs that will be reviewed by an ad hoc committee of stakeholders. One design will be selected to present to City Council.
City Council member Todd Jones said he hopes that native plants will be selected for the plantings. Roberts responded that there will be preference for native plants and that robustness and low maintenance are factors that are to be considered as well.
Saying he wasn’t advocating for hiring additional staff, Council member Ron Cash suggested that a public works employee be trained to become a certified arborist who could oversee landscaping at the Municipal Building and elsewhere in the city.
Council member Steve Webb said the city hasn’t been doing a very good job of maintaining landscaped areas in the past such as the triangles near Hardee’s and J.J.’s. Plantings at those locations looked nice when they were first put in, he said, but then became overgrown with weeds. Webb, who works for the sheriff’s office, said he has used inmate crews in the past to do weeding in these planters.
It was suggested that horticulture experts from Virginia Tech, Mountain Gateway Community College and Boxerwood be sought out for help with city landscaping projects.
Only a limited amount of city funds are to be used in the landscaping work, said Roberts. Small grants will be pursued, such as the Keep Virginia Beautiful and Virginia Trees for Clean Water grants. The Boxerwood Cool Trees program will likely be tapped for tree purchases.
