Massachusetts city is offering cup of joe for pothole info

LEOMINSTER — Instead of getting aggravated about potholes, the city is asking residents to get caffeinated.

In an effort to encourage residents to report potholes, Mayor Dean Mazzarella's office and the Department of Public Works are offering anyone who reports a pothole a free cup of coffee.

The city has a plastic pink flamingo instead of a groundhog to predict weather and holds an annual Cannoli Festival. The mayor likes cannoli, and decided everyone should enjoy it. Leominster also bought an apple orchard because, why not? Every city should run its own apple orchard. Giving residents a cup of Joe if they report potholes is in the same spirit of community fun. It also makes good sense from a management standpoint.

The Leominster Public Works Department does its best to fill any pothole it finds, but it can't be everywhere. Thousands of potholes develop on city streets each year. In 2018 the city filled 3,441 of the pesky obstacles.

The DPW already has a program for residents to report and repair potholes. But mayoral aide Kelly Woodland said Mazzarella thinks a cup of encouragement will go a long way toward enlisting more residents in the effort to make Leominster's roads safer from the annual suspension-destroying spring menace.

To help the city track down potholes, a local business donated gift certificates for free coffee or an iced latte.

Pothole-finding residents need can contact the mayor's office at 978-534-7500 or the DPW at 978-534-7590, ext. 3635. They will be issued a gift certificate that they can cash in at Aroma Joe's Coffee and Tea at 198 New Lancaster Road.

Woodland said the city works hard to keep up with potholes each year, but she personally will be out of luck.

"I don't have any potholes on my street, so there will be no coffee for me," she said.