The Woodlands Township will spend about $3 million in 2015 to improve its streetside maintenance.[/caption] The Woodlands Township will spend $1.2 million more this year than it has in past years to clean up roadside landscaping and neighborhood cul-de-sacs, but how those areas will be improved remains to be seen. In all, the township will spend about $3 million in 2015 on community maintenance efforts. The township board of directors in September approved the additional money for streetside and community maintenance in its 2014–15 budget. John Powers, township director of community services, said the funds were allocated after several Woodlands residents approached the township over the past year with concerns over its maintenance program, asking the township to improve the aesthetics of the community. "There were a number of residents who came to public board meetings or who contacted the board who felt like the small islands should be maintained by the township instead of individuals who lived around the cul-de-sac," Powers said. The new maintenance efforts task the township to maintain the more than 1,400 cul-de-sacs throughout The Woodlands. College Park Village President Ted Stanley said he would prefer the cul-de-sacs be maintained by residents who live on the street rather than the township. "The Woodlands is supposed to be a natural, nonmanicured forest," he said. "This could put an increased burden on the township and sometime down the road could increase taxes to pay for it." As the season in which the township begins mowing and maintenance approaches, Powers said the department is seeking clarity from the board as to how those areas should be spruced up. "[The community services department] will seek some direction from the board as to what they want the standards to be—how many times per year [to perform the maintenance], what level of maintenance they want to see, how we go about contracting that," he said. "We really don't start doing community maintenance until March or April." Powers said one of the issues facing the department in the upkeep of cul-de-sacs is each one of them could be different, with improved amenities such as benches or gazebos. "At the beginning of The Woodlands, George Mitchell wanted the residents to gather around the cul-de-sacs to maintain and improve [them], and we still encourage that," he said. "There is a good number [of residents] that do and a good number that don't. Our dilemma is going to be that there are 1,400 different situations." The township is also looking to improve the appearance of some of the community's medians and adopt a more frequent mowing schedule. Powers said the township board will have to decide how best to service roadway medians. The township has contracted with Brickman Group to provide its landscaping, mowing and maintenance work. Powers said the company has traditionally mowed the greenspace along roadways every 14 to 17 days. However, in years that experience more rainfall, a more aggressive mowing schedule is likely needed. "The roadside mowings were done on an as-needed basis, but that grass literally can grow 4–5 inches per day," he said. "Within a week it's already a foot tall again. In the event that the grass is getting ahead of us, we now have the ability to add more frequent [mowing] rotations."