“A number of residents have made suggestions and comments
about the plantings along our new street and I’m listening,” Mayor Aiello said.
“We all want the street to be beautiful, we all want the ambiance of the street
to bring in patrons for our businesses and most of all we want residents to
walk through the district and enjoy the relaxing environment that the gardens
add to the street.”
“As the group is being formed, I ask Olean gardeners to take
a look at the Union Street Rain Garden Plant Catalog which is available at
www.cityofolean.org/dpw/index.html,” Mayor Aiello added. “The catalog describes
the plants that are on the street and why they were chosen. There are some
constraints that have to be considered in the plantings as the City received a
grant to add the rain gardens or bio-retention facilities.”
The rain gardens attempt to mimic the natural water cycle.
They try to slow and reduce the amount of storm water that enters our river and
the gardens filter pollutants that protect our infrastructure and watershed. In
addition a number of the plants in the gardens help species such as the monarch
butterfly and bumble bee.
“I hope to get this committee formed by the end of the
month, therefore I ask interested residents to please give my office a call at
your earliest convenience,” Mayor Aiello said.
