Civic Duties - What would you do?

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This is from my city's web site, under the Department of Public Works heading. [b]We are asking that you help us by keeping the fire hydrant closest to your residence or business clear of snow. We need a 3 foot clearance on all sides. When shoveling snow be aware of vehicle traffic. Do not stand in the street and be careful not to slip and fall out into the roadway. To adopt-a-hydrant, please call the DPW Customer Service Center at (xxx) xxx-xxxx. Please keep the hydrant clean of snow during the winter months. Also, keep hydrants free of overgrowth (grass and weeds) the rest of the year. For doing this, you will receive a hydrant adoption certificate along with our sincere thanks. Citizens and civic groups (Boy Scouts, etc) can “adopt” a hydrant or hydrants in their neighborhood. [/b] What do you think of cities and towns asking people to step up and help out in things like this? I have friends who think the whole idea of asking private citizens to take on city responsibilities is horrible - that we pay enough in taxes that the city should be paying people to clean snow away from the hydrants. I think this is the kind of community service that I can get behind. It gives people some sense of ownership of their community, saves the city tens of thousands of dollars that can be better spent elsewhere, and doesn't put an unfair burden on any single sector of the community. What do you think? If your city asked you to clean the snow away from the fire hydrant closest to your house, how would you feel about it? What other tasks might be better done by private citizens as part of 'doing your civic duty'?