Contractors take over yard work

by Lori Egan - Bayonet editor.

Fort Benning residents are getting a heck of a New Year's gift - yard maintenance. Clark Pinnacle and Multi Family Services, LLC, signed a five-year contract. Multi Family Services will provide residents with basic lawn care, trimming bushes and hedges, tree trimming, edging and mowing once a week.

"This is an extra benefit for our military families," said Herb Lechuga, with Multi Family Services.

"Families won't have to worry about taking care of their yards now," the military spouse said.

"They won't have to worry about getting a notice when the grass is too long. We'll take care of the yard," Lechuga said. Multi Family Services distributed a letter to residents this week to inform them of this new service, said Nathan Thompson, the company's national director.

"We're excited about serving our hard-working men and women of our armed forces," Thompson said. The company also provides lawn maintenance at Fort Bliss, Texas, Fort Polk, La., and Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.

"This is a service residents seem to really appreciate," Thompson said. Included in the maintenance is the front and side yards of a residence, Thompson said, but not the back yards.

"We won't be going inside backyard fences," Thompson said. The resident is responsible for the back of the house for approximately 40 feet, said Lon Sperry, investment manager with Clark Pinnacle.

"Lawn maintenance was put in our original proposal (for RCI)," Sperry said. "We've done this on other installations and it is exceptionally well received."

In January, the crews will walk through the housing areas blowing leaves into piles for the vacuum trucks to pick up. If there are low-hanging branches, they'll be trimmed, Thompson said. Multi Family Services plans to hire 40 crew members and nine supervisors, Thompson said, but during the peak season, there could be as many as 50 crew members covering the nine routes.

"I understand that military residents take ownership of their yards, and we teach this to our crews," Thompson said. "We are very customer-service oriented," he said. As the routes are developed for the various housing areas, a schedule will be distributed to the residents informing them of the weekday they can expect the crew in their area, Thompson said.

The hotline number for Multi Family Services is 732-1264.