Mayor, volunteer ask board for help with Glanton landscaping
By REBECCA LEFTWICH
rebecca@newnan.com
The people of Grantville are proud of Glanton Elementary School, and they want to be proud of its landscaping as well.
Mayor Jim Sells and volunteer Robert Allen asked the Coweta County Board of Education at its December meeting to work with the city to replace ailing vegetation and appropriately address erosion issues in front of the school.
The school was built “on top of a clay hill,” according to Sells, who asked the board to work with the city to “come up with something.”
Allen, who has worked as a volunteer to complete several landscaping projects in Grantville, said a lot of citizens have commented on the school’s failed landscaping.
“Arbor Springs has the same type of steep slope bank, the same grade, and they have nice shrubbery,” Allen said. “Ours just looks a little neglected.”
A “truckload of boulders” brought in to fill ditches “doesn’t do much for looks or erosion,” Allen said.
“We just thought we’d maybe have you come by and look and see what could be done,” he said.
Superintendent of Schools Steve Barker said the board had Department of Transportation representatives visit the school last July, making site-specific recommendations for landscaping “to bring about both look and capability to maintain it.”
“We’d be happy to follow up with you on that project,” said Barker, who said the school system obtained three quotes and two approaches to the project.
Barker said the DOT advised against doing the landscaping work during the hot summer, saying the money invested could be more efficiently used during a growing season. He said school officials will meet with Grantville officials to discuss the DOT’s findings in the next few weeks.
