DID seeks public input on flower baskets

After months of planning, the Downtown Improvement District is finally ready to pose a question to residents: Where on downtown light poles should flower baskets be installed?

On Thursday, a DID-funded exhibition of three different options will be mounted on light poles at Main Street and Palm Avenue. Two of the flower baskets will be wrapped around the light poles, mounted two and seven feet above the sidewalk. A third option will place the flower basket off the side of the light pole, hung from an arm seven feet off the ground.

The flower basket project has been a regular topic of discussion on DID agendas dating back to May. DID Operations Manager John Moran said the project idea dates back almost a year earlier than that, and was based on a similar effort in Cape May, N.J.

The project has been put on the backburner as the DID has dealt with board vacancies and budget shortfalls, but the group is now itching to move ahead. Still, Moran said there could be some virtue in exercising patience at today's DID meeting. If the model exhibitions are left up over a six-month period, he said, it would allow the landscape architect working on the project to discover any maintenance issues before undertaking the instillation in earnest.

Already, the group has received some concern about the impact of the baskets on light poles from city staff.

“The cautionary note from public works was — that location up high would obviously make the older poles more vulnerable than having nothing on them,” Moran said.

Moran said the DID would possibly be held liable for repairs if any light poles were harmed as a result of the project. Mark Kauffman, chairman of the DID board, said the project shouldn’t be held up by aging city infrastructure.

“If something has outlived its useful life, we shouldn't be responsible just because we're putting flowers up there,” Kauffman said.

Once it has locked in the ideal placement of the flower baskets, the board will determine the scale and scope of the project, called Downtown in Bloom. Moran has estimated that hanging baskets on the more than 130 light poles within the DID’s boundaries could cost as much as $100,000, though some board members have advocated for a smaller project.

Residents interested in weighing in on the basket placement can contact Moran via email by messaging [email protected].

Contact David Conway at [email protected].