Titusville council member questions $600,000 beautification project after plants fail

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - A $600,000 project meant to beautify Titusville is drawing criticism. 

Some local leaders and taxpayers are demanding answers about why hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on plants seemingly went to waste.

What happened?

The backstory:

According to Titusville City Council Member Megan Moscoso, the latest beautification project fell short, incredibly fast, because the city never established a maintenance plan. Furthermore, she noted that the plants selected for medians were poorly suited to Florida's climate.

The project was a concept back in 2021 and officially approved by council in 2024. Work started at Garden Street and S.R. 50 at the I-95 intersections in 2025. Months later, only portions of it are still intact.

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FOX 35's Esther Bower reported that while some plants are relatively healthy, others have completely shriveled up, turned brown and are overgrown with weeds.

"The idea was great. However, the execution has not been so good," Moscoso said. "It did not include any native plants. I think the community realized they were going to be some major issues."

Moscoso stated that out of the total $600,000 budget, the majority was spent strictly on the landscaping itself.

"Over $400,000 went to plants and shrubs and not much of that has survived and I was actually shocked," she said.

Taxpayer concerns

Local residents are expressing frustration over the lack of upkeep, with some telling FOX 35 they aren't surprised to see the project overgrown and unmaintained because they rarely see city crews mowing around town.

"I feel like we’ve been cheated," said Titusville taxpayer Tod McNeal. "You got to do basic services."

McNeal argued that the funding would have been better utilized to improve day-to-day city operations rather than letting an expensive project turn to weeds.

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"If we’re spending $600,000 on beautification that they let turn to weeds, that $600,000 should have been spent buying some better mowers or having some managers that would actually do the job," McNeal said.

Council Member Moscoso agreed that beautification should not be the city's priority given other pressing municipal needs.

"My goal right now is to work on infrastructure, stormwater management. We’ve got a lot of things that [we] should be working on right now and then, perhaps once that is taken care of, we can move back to the beautification," Moscoso said.

What we don't know:

Right now, it remains unclear why non-native plants were allegedly selected for the project or why a long-term maintenance strategy was not put in place before the money was spent.

FOX 35 reached out to the City of Titusville to ask what happened with these projects and whether any plans are currently in place to try and bring the medians back to life. The city has not yet responded to those inquiries as of Tuesday evening.

Titusville Mayor: Plants were damaged by winter cold snap, not poor planning

More than two weeks after FOX 35's reporting, Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors released a statement on the plant situation, claiming that the plants died because of the winter cold snap, not "poor planning."

As reported, FOX 35 reached out to the City of Titusville for a statement. We did not hear back prior to publication.

Here is the statement:

Over the past several days, false and misleading information has been circulated by Council Member Megan Moscoso regarding the City's landscaping efforts.

The facts are straightforward. The plants installed as part of these projects were selected to be Florida-friendly, with approximately 88% consisting of Florida native species. These plants were chosen to promote sustainability, reduce long-term maintenance needs, and support our local environment.

The loss of many of these plants was not the result of poor planning or improper plant selection. They were damaged by the prolonged freeze event we experienced this past winter an extraordinary weather event that affected landscapes across our region, including native vegetation.

Our residents deserve honest, fact-based discussions about City projects. Misinformation only creates unnecessary division and undermines public trust. We can disagree on policy, but we should all be committed to presenting accurate information to the public.

I remain committed to making decisions based on facts, fiscal responsibility, and what is in the best interest of the citizens of Titusville. I encourage everyone to look beyond political rhetoric and focus on the truth.

Editor's note: This story was updated on July 16, 2026, to include a statement from Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors.

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