• E-Edition
• Home
• News
• Sports
• AP
• Obituaries
• Classifieds
• Jobs
• Autos
• Homes
• Garage Sales
• Coupons
• Subscribe
• Archive
• Services
• Contribute
• Blogs

Even mowing the lawn can become costly

E-mail Story    |    Print Story    |    Comments    |   

By HEATHER BAUGHMAN

baughman@crescent-news.com

The high price of fuel is hitting people nearly everywhere they turn... even mowing the yard could amount to a small fortune this summer with gasoline prices inching over $3.50 a gallon this week.

Unless a manual reel push mower is used, homeowners should brace themselves for the added expense of feeding the lawnmower this summer.

Businesses are also affected by these higher fuel prices. John Mayes, Defiance City Schools director of operations, said keeping up with Mother Nature is just something that has to be done. "That's something that we do have to maintain," he said. "We do continue with that (mowing) even though the costs are going up," he said, noting that at the high school alone, there are approximately 65 acres to mow.

"Fortunately for us, Scott Keck of Keck's Market (on South Jefferson Avenue), donates all the gas for the senior high. He's done that for years," Mayes said. "That's huge for us, especially because that is our biggest property."

Though the tractors that the schools use for mowing are diesel-powered, the gasoline donated by Keck's Market is used for the push mowers, Gators and trimmers.

As fuel prices continue to climb, Mayes said his biggest concern is his budget.

"When you set up the budget, it's hard to estimate what you're going to need for the year," he said, but, "so far, the plan is to continue to maintain what we have."

Although, there is one section of ground behind the soccer field at the high school that Mayes allows to grow a little bit higher than the rest of the property. "Once gas went above $2 a gallon, we started letting the field go," he said. Otherwise, "We try not to let anything go."

With the growing season here, Mayes is hoping to face the worst part of the mowing season in the immediate future. "The worst time is the spring. That's when you're mowing the heaviest. Normally it slows down in June and July," he said. But, "obviously, if it rains (a lot this summer), we just have to deal with it."

Those sentiments were echoed by Napoleon City parks and recreation director Tony Cotter. "We've always prided ourselves on maintaining our parks, golf course and cemeteries," and will continue to do so this year, despite fuel costs.

If the need arises, Cotter said he will find money somewhere else or ask council for additional appropriations for the city to mow its 175-acres of park ground and approximately 50-acre golf course.

Last year, Cotter said his department spent $7,173 on fuel to mow the municipal golf course, where the tractor mowers run seven days a week. This year's budget is $7,500. "I'm sure we're going to exceed that by the time the season ends," he said.

The park's maintenance department spent $14,835 on mowing in 2007, and another $7,751 to mow the city's cemeteries.

Comparing other costs from last year, Cotter said gasoline has gone up slightly. A year ago, the city purchased gas for $2.55 a gallon. It's latest shipment was about $2.85 a gallon. Hitting the city a little harder is the price of diesel. Last May, the city purchased the fuel for $2.82 a gallon, and just recently paid nearly a dollar more, $3.78 per gallon. "That certainly is going to have an impact on us."

The other major factor that concerns Cotter is the weather, which, he said, "really dictates much of the cost. Last year, we had a drought," through most of the summer. But, "if we happen to have a wet summer, it will have a real impact, especially if we have the type of rain that we've already had this spring."

A wet and mild early spring did equate to a bit of an early cost-savings for the department. Normally, Cotter said his department would be out mowing as early as late March, but because of the weather, the mowers just hit the lawn last week.