PLEASANT GROVE — The Pleasant Grove City Council's Tuesday work session proved to be just that.
Instead of meeting in the city offices to discuss local issues, Pleasant Grove's mayor, City Council and others took to the streets to clean up the downtown area.
"As we've talked about … how to promote business, we felt like we needed to invest our time and efforts in promoting the downtown," said City Councilwoman Cindy Boyd, who came up with the idea for the service project.
Members from several branches of the city government met at a local park before fanning out to beautify the downtown segment of Main Street and surrounding areas.
City Council members swept sidewalks and streets. Firefighters sprayed weeds. Others cleaned out gutters.
"We recognize that the long-term viability of our downtown depends on being a place where people want to be," said Mayor Bruce Call, who swept along the Main Street curb with a push broom. "Projects like this just make it that more appealing."
Call said the service project was not planned as a publicity stunt but instead came from the need for work to be done in the downtown area.
"This is, pure and simple, an opportunity for elected officials and the staff of the city to just do something," he said. "That's what we're here for."
The civic center of the city, Pleasant Grove's downtown has a quaint, small-town feel that business owners hope to preserve and keep clean, said Veronica Chapman, chairwoman of Pleasant Grove's Marketing on Main Street organization that helped organize the effort.
Chapman and city officials said this project wouldn't be the last.
"We want to continue something every couple of months," she said. "We will coordinate efforts again."
The fervor over clean neighborhoods is common in Pleasant Grove, Call said.
"Our (residents) are doing this all throughout their neighborhoods all the time," he said. "(They) take great pride in their surroundings."
That attitude extends to Main Street, where local business owners, including Chapman, have gone out themselves to beautify the area.
Call said the City Council wants to make sure Pleasant Grove's downtown looks its best, especially because it is a place where people in the community come together.
"As we move into the summer season, this is a gathering point for people," the mayor said. "We hope this effort does encourage people to continue to use this downtown area as a gathering spot for themselves and their families."
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