Commissioner criticizes lawn care work being done in some county parks; too many dandelions

Some lawn care companies that work under contract for Shawnee County aren’t effectively maintaining its parks, County Commissioner Kevin Cook said Thursday.

He cited the presence of numerous dandelions in Childrens Park at the southeast corner of S.W. 6th and MacVicar Avenue.

“I don’t know that you could fit another dandelion into that park,” Cook said. “It is full.”

He encouraged Tim Laurent, deputy director of the county’s parks and recreation department, to hold those contractors accountable.

Laurent pledged to do that.

“I feel like it’s on us to do a better job of going out and making sure they’re doing what we’re paying them to do,” he said.

Laurent added that for an unknown reason, this seems to be a particularly bad year for dandelions.