Answer:
Paragould: Paragould Parks Dept. does their own mowing and we mow all common areas at the ballparks and all of our other parks.
DeQueen: We mow all our areas in house. We did mow our cemetery out, at about $20 per acre.
Sherwood/Springdale: No outsourcing.
Little Rock: We do not out source any mowing because we do not have funds to do it. We acquired
the old 127 acre Western Hills Golf Course a couple of years ago for a future park site. We did not have the man power to maintain it and the surrounding neighbors expected it to be cut not to former golf standards but at least several times a year. The former owner had been paying an individual $55 an hour to bush hog it and it took him an average of 54 hours to cut it amounting to about 23.38 an acre. We were lucky to find a farmer who agreed to cut it several times a year for the hay off of it at no charge to the city which was a win win situation. The neighbors are happy, the farmer is happy and it is not costing us anything to maintain the 127 acres.
Rogers: Yes, We contract the mowing of our smaller neighborhood parks and playgrounds. We mow the sports fields, and other big areas.
Russellville: We outsource our smaller parks where no athletic events are scheduled. We schedule those for the months of April, May, June and July. We pay about $31.00 per acre.
Jonesboro: No, we do most of our work in house such as mowing, fertilization/weed control, plumbing, minor electrical etc.