Community Development District supervisors will hear a plea from a Village of Buttonwood man who claims the flowers in the roundabouts are both costly and dangerous.
A letter from Rich Cardillo is on the agenda for CDD discussion Friday.
Cardillo, a 13-year resident of The Villages, said an April 21 accident was the latest example of a situation in which landscape workers could have been injured.
In that accident, a Villages woman knocked over a palm tree in the traffic circle at Bonita and Buena Vista boulevards. The driver suffered minor injuries and no one else was injured.
But it could have been different, Cardillo argues.
“It is bad enough we have to expose landscape workers to traffic hazards while doing essential landscape work, such as grass cutting and shrub trimming. However, it is inhumane and morally wrong to expect workers to risk their lives several times each year in hundreds of traffic circle flowerbeds just to plant flowers,” he said.
He argues that a better alternative would be to put hardy green plants in the circles. He said those plants wouldn’t have to be changed out as often and wouldn’t require the same level of maintenance.
“A one-time planting of a hardy green shrub will drastically reduce injury exposures to the workers of contractors hired by the districts,” he said.
Cardillo also said the change would help save money for residents.
He claims his amenity fees have climbed by 30 percent over the past 10 years.
“When you are on a fixed income, that’s hard to take,” he added.
Check back at www.villages-news.com Friday night to read about CDD supervisors’ reactions to Cardillo’s plea.
