Lawn maintenance season begins in base housing

  • Published
  • By John Turner
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Spring has finally sprung in Montana. Flowers will soon be in bloom and the grass will grow green.

As the weather warms, residents in base family housing are encouraged to look over their lawns, clear away weeds and debris, and manage self-help improvement projects in accordance with base policy.

"Flower beds and rock beds must be weed and trash free, and kept up," said Jennifer Benski, Balfour Beatty Communities community manager.

Additionally, maintenance crews will begin mowing front yards and common areas in base housing at the end of this month, said Ryan Rutherford, BBC facility manager. Residents' lawns must be cleared of sprinklers, toys and other obstacles on the day they are scheduled for mowing.

The mowing schedule can be found at the Malmstrom family housing website, under the resident resources tab. The complete URL is: http://malmstromfamilyhousing.com/resident-resources/community-schedule/.

Residents desiring to start a landscaping project must have permission before they begin. This is initiated by filling out an alterations request at the housing management office, located at Bldg. 130 on Goddard Drive. Requests are approved on a case-by-case basis, Benski said.

Basic gardening tools and supplies are available for loan at the BBC Self Help Store, located at 110 South Perimeter Road. Tools can be borrowed for 24 hours at a time. Residents must sign a release before using these items.

The store has shovels, rakes, brooms, wheelbarrows and hedge clippers. It also offers push-powered, reel-bladed grass mowers, and battery-powered weed trimmers. The store does not loan gasoline-powered equipment, Rutherford said, noting that the tools currently being provided are safer, more sustainable and yield a lower carbon footprint.

Residents can also receive limited quantities of grass seed and soil at the store. Additionally, Benski anticipates that mixed flowers will be given away one day in June and recommends that residents keep checking the Malmstrom family housing facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MalmstromHomes for details. In past years, the flowers were distributed from the store parking lot.

In addition to lawn and garden supplies, the Self Help Store stocks basic maintenance items for base family housing residents including touch-up paint and brushes, HVAC filters, compact and fluorescent bulbs, and smoke and carbon dioxide detector batteries.
The BBC Self Help Store is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The store can be reached at 315-2265.