"We need vigilance from the community," said city spokeswoman Carol Costa. "If they see people destroying irrigation equipment or painting graffiti, that unfortunately is something that is plaguing the area right now."

Howard Shima was the vision team champion for the $1.3 million project, which was completed in 2002. Shima said it's not vandalism that is killing the plants but broken city equipment. Shima said graffiti have popped up where the plants have died and left a bare wall.

"The problem is the irrigation isn't working," Shima said. "(A city supervisor told me) the whole system was put in with a design problem and might have to be all taken out and replaced. Here is it over a year and the plants are dying and the graffiti has returned."

The issue will be discussed at the Aliamanu/Salt Lake/Foster Village Neighborhood Board at 7 p.m. today.

Grant Tanimoto, the board's chairman, said there are three large concrete walls along Salt Lake Boulevard and that outgoing Mayor Jeremy Harris personally walked the route with residents. Harris agreed that beautification was needed and it would be a good vision project, he said.

'The project was to try make it better as you drive by every day and improve the environment we live in," Tanimoto said. "It looks junk to drive by those walls.The community is very frustrated as the vines are dying."

Tanimoto said with the new mayor Mufi Hannemann about to take office, he is worried that an old vision team project will not be a priority for the next administration and all the money will have been wasted.

"We just get this runaround for a year plus," Tanimoto said. "The city has got a lot of things going on, but now with the administration changing, we've got to get this jump started before the vines all die. Then we would have to start all over again. This is not 'nice to have' project, it is quality of life."

Costa said a private contractor has been responsible for maintenance of the project and recently the city Parks Department has been helping get the landscaping back into shape.

Costa said someone has been breaking the irrigation heads and valves, turning off water and making it very difficult for the contractor, but the vision team project is finished.

"When they say they want Mufi to come in and finish it up, there isn't anything to finish up," Costa said. "The project is done."

Tanimoto said the project is not done until the irrigation system is working and the plants grow.

"We spend all this money and invested all this time and because someone doesn't want to bump this up the list of things to do, here we are," he said. "We've been patient, but it is going down the tubes, to some extent, due to inaction."