Neighbors step up to care for Modesto's 'parkettes'

Shannon Phillips usually spends an hour a week mowing his lawn. His yard care duties just expanded.

Phillips is one of several residents across Modesto who've agreed to tend to smaller parks the city can't afford to maintain during lean budget times.

Armed with one push mower and one flail mower, Phillips and his neighbor, Allen Woods, will trim the grass in La Loma's Pierre Park for the next six months.

The two men are members of the La Loma Neighborhood Association, which will foot the park's $1,000 water bill over the same period. The neighborhood group also is mowing and paying the water bill at a miniature park between Brook Way and North Morton Boulevard.

The city has reached similar arrangements for three of the city's eight "parkettes," pint-sized grassy areas mostly tucked away in older neighborhoods.

The volunteer work -- and money -- will help fill the gaps in a parks budget that was slashed by 18 percent this year. Some say they're glad to pitch in. Others worry citizen-funded parks maintenance could become permanent. The city says the arrangements are a temporary measure.

'Good, neighborly fellowship'

Phillips says he's glad to help out. He lives a block from Pierre Park, a swath of grass with no playground equipment and no restrooms. It's just big enough for Phillips' dog and 4-year-old daughter to run around in. It took Phillips and Woods about two hours to cut the park's grass during their first outing earlier this month.

Phillips, who owns his own locksmith business, said he doesn't mind putting in the extra time. "As long as my daughter and the other kids in the neighborhood have a place to go that's not all dead lawn, I don't care about how much I have to take on," Phillips said. "I might have to let my own lawn go a little bit, but but so be it."

Woods, who's sharing mowing duties with Phillips, said volunteering fits in with the La Loma neighborhood's well-established spirit of giving. The La Loma Neighborhood Association also maintains the roundabout on La Loma Avenue, and pays about $12,000 a month for a private security force.

"You feel good when you go out and work on a project together," Woods said. "It's good neighborly fellowship."

Agreement to last two years

Samantha Bland, who lives near a parkette on Patricia Lane, sounded a similar gung-ho note. Bland and about 30 neighbors have agreed to split the cost of watering and mowing the triangle-shaped grassy area for the next two years. The bill should come to about $3,000.

Bland found out about the parks department budget woes when she called to complain about brown grass at the parkette. She passed out fliers to alert her neighbors.

"If we were to just let it go, morally, it would not have been right," Bland said. "Our responsibility is to be a good steward of what's around us."

The experience renewed her faith in the human spirit, she said. "I never once heard a single neighbor say, 'I pay my taxes.' "

Ashby Park pact pending

Across town at Ashby Park, neighbor Barry Jackson was more skeptical. Modesto Junior College students use the little park near his house to toss Frisbees, but it's not big enough to host events. Still, it's important to the neighborhood's quality of life, Jackson said.

Three or four years ago there was talk of the city selling the parkette to developers. Jackson went door-to-door to gather about 100 signatures against the idea.

Now, he says, he and other neighbors will probably be collecting money door-to-door.

The agreement isn't final yet, but he and other neighbors will likely cover the parkette's maintenance costs through the end of the budget year, on June 30. Neighbors will send their donations to the Stanislaus Community Foundation, which means they can take a tax deduction on the contributions.

Jackson said he's reluctantly embracing the idea of paying the parkette's bills.

"Something doesn't sit right about paying for something that the city has an obligation to take care of, that other people can use," Jackson said. "Our fear is that as soon as the city gives up financial responsibility, they'll never want it back."

Parks Director Julie Hannon says that's not the city's intention. The Finance Committee meets Sept. 21 to look at ways the city could save money on parkette maintenance so neighbors don't have to step in.

"Although the response from the neighborhoods has been great, and we love having the neighborhood connections, we're hoping this is just a one-time situation," Hannon said.

Bee staff writer Leslie Albrecht can be reached at lalbrecht@modbee.com or 578-2378.