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Contractor: decades of overgrowth require multi‑year hillside cleanup; council presses for faster maintenance
Summary
Merchants Landscaping and staff told the council some West Covina slopes and medians will take years to restore because irrigation systems are largely inoperable and sites have not seen sustained maintenance for decades. Council members directed staff to follow up and produce a timeline and funding report.
The West Covina City Council heard an extended presentation on the city’s hillside and median maintenance and the contractor’s progress and remaining scope, with multiple council members and residents urging faster work to reduce fire risk and repair damaged park infrastructure.
Patrick Healy, manager for Merchants Landscaping, told the council that crews have found “three decades of no maintenance” in some areas and that much of the hillside clearing required hand work rather than chainsaws because vegetation and vines were heavily entangled. “Overgrowth was more severe than I ever thought,” Healy said, explaining that some slopes will take longer to finish than originally scheduled.
Healy and city staff said irrigation in many Land Maintenance District (LMD) areas is not operable and will likely require extensive piping, wiring and clock replacement. Merchants said some valves and components may be salvageable but that full restoration of irrigation could be costly. Staff identified LMD districts 2 and 4 as primary maintenance areas in current contracts and said MD 6 and 7 are included for different types of hillsides; parks and large park parcels were noted as separate from LMD maintenance and would require separate funding.
Council members and residents described areas where overgrown vegetation sits close to private homes and park facilities, contributing to a perceived fire hazard and to complaints about visibility and blight. Councilmember Gutierrez said she previously understood more than $1 million had been allocated for Cameron Park repairs and asked staff to provide a written accounting. The acting city manager committed to a follow‑up report to the council at the November 4 meeting and to a site visit to begin repairs within 48 hours on a specific fence cited by a speaker.
Council members asked about reclaimed water (purple pipe) for irrigation; staff said reclaimed water is available in some corridors but not citywide and that further analysis would be required to extend reclaimed lines and increase pressure to serve additional medians and slopes.
Residents praised progress at sites where crews had cleared encampments and reopened sight lines, and several council members thanked the contractor for work to date while stressing the need for continuing maintenance. Council members requested a written timeline for remaining work, an irrigation‑restoration plan with estimated costs, and a clarification of which LMDs and park parcels are covered by the current contract.
Ending: Staff said they will return with more detailed schedules, funding options (including potential grant opportunities), and a clearer map of which parcels are LMD‑funded versus park‑funded, and will coordinate follow‑up with council members and residents.
