As trees and flowers begin to bloom, so the grass begins to turn green and grow.

With that in mind, it is also time for the county’s annual mowing project that will run through November.

According to County Engineer Dennis McCall, this is the county’s most expensive annual operation and covers the entire county.

&uot;We have about 800 total roads with 550 being paved highways,&uot; he said.

&uot;It basically takes us seven months to complete a whole cycle.&uot;

The project begins on April 1.

During that period, the county’s mowers will cut the complete right of way from the road to the back of the right of way.

After that complete cut, McCall said the county will then perform two shoulder cuts.

&uot;This is our most expensive and labor intensive project,&uot; he said.

&uot;We have experimented with contracting that work out, but we were successful with that.

As you can imagine, we didn’t become repeat customers.&uot;

Commission Chairman Jesse McWilliams said the process in place is the best they’ve seen.

&uot;The commission before us tried spraying the right of ways and that failed,&uot; he said.

&uot;Then they contracted it out and that failed. So for now, this is the best.&uot;

McCall said the project will begin on Ala. Highway 10 East and then the mowers will cut counter-clockwise through the county.

He asks if people see the mowers in one part of the county to be patient and they will get their turn.

For some areas, emergency help may be needed on some intersections.

McCall said anyone who thinks the grass is too high at some areas, to report it and if it does show to be hazard, they’ll send a mower out.

During the project, McCall’s department will run five tractors with 15-foot mowing decks.

They will have a supervisor working with them as well as two men for traffic control.

&uot;It’s easily an eight man operation,&uot; he said.

&uot;That’s one reason it is so costly.&uot;