Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Parks and Recreation Department

TO:	Mike Wildgen, City Manager
FROM:	Mark Hecker, Park & Maintenance Superintendent
CC:	Fred DeVictor, Director, Park & Recreation
Date:	05-31-05
RE:	Response – Commission Request for Pesticide Free Park Plan

Request:  

The City Commission has directed city staff to select a park and manage it as a pesticide free park.

Status:

To accomplish this goal, staff is prepared to take the following steps:

• Manage the entire Watson Park from 6^th street to 8^th street as a pesticide free park for one full year. This will include the areas around the playground, basketball court, outdoor aquatic center, train, gazebo and all of the landscape and turf areas. (starting June 1, 2005)  
• We will maintain the existing appearance of the park and track actual costs associated with this type of management.
• We will use non-pesticide products and track their effectiveness and comparative costs.
• We will work with the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association and other interested neighborhood associations/stakeholders to develop a volunteer program to assist with the weekly weeding of landscape beds in Watson Park.
• Since this park is one of our highest maintenance sites and has a high number of landscape beds, maintaining the entire park pesticide free may require one additional maintenance person to assist with the weeding, mulching and seeding of the park. This added cost may not be necessary or may be reduced if the volunteer program is successful.  The definition of successful will be a volunteer program that is cost effective (in terms of staff time necessary to administer the program), sustainable, and results are acceptable to the standards described above.  

Additional Information:

As we begin purchasing chemicals for the 2006 growing season, we will purchase only EPA Category III and IV pesticides and reduce our chemical applications down to the least toxic option for each control issue. This will eliminate the most toxic Category I and II pesticides from all public parks.

Attachment (A) shows all of the park properties maintained by the City of Lawrence Parks & Recreation Department (LPRD). There are a number of park properties that will be converted to pesticide free in 2005 with very little budgetary impact. This is possible because there is very little application of pesticides taking place in these areas under our current management practices. 

Notification:

As we convert to a reduced pesticide park system, there may still be situations when a pesticide must be applied to safeguard a significant City asset. This will be done only after all other avenues of control have been exhausted. If these situations occur, the following steps will be taken to assure public health and safety concerns are met:

• Signs (see sample) will be posted at least 1 hour prior to application of product to notify the public of our intent to treat the area.
• Signs will be left in place for a minimum of 24 hours after application and longer if the label specifies a longer reentry time.
• Signs will be posted at every entry point where the pesticide is applied, if the pesticide is applied in an enclosed area.  If the pesticide is applied in an open area, signs will be posted in highly visible locations around the perimeter of the treated area.

• For high-use recreational areas, such as on or near picnic areas and playgrounds, signs will be posted at a minimum interval of every 50’.

· For linear applications in parks or other recreational areas, such as along sidewalks and paths, signs will be posted at the ends of the treated area and at trail intersections or other key crossings at a minimum of every 200’.

• Signs will be of standardized design, easily recognizable to the public and workers.
• Signs will be sturdy and able to sustain exposure to sun, wind and rain.
• Signs will contain the name and active ingredient of the pesticide product, the target pest, the date of pesticide use, the signal word indicating the toxicity category of the pesticide product and the name and contact number for the city department.
• Posting for pesticide use at the Eagle Bend Golf Course will consist of signs placed at the first and tenth tee, and in the Pro Shop.

Record Keeping:

In order to determine the effectiveness and cost of the program, city staff will keep an accurate record of all pest management activities.  The record will include the following information:

• The target pest
• The kind of application—cultural, biological, or chemical
• The type and quantity of product used
• The specific location of the product application
• The date the product was used
• The name of the product applicator
• Experimental efforts
• Exemptions granted for the application
• Whether or not the product is registered as a pesticide with the EPA
• The EPA Toxicity Category of the product
• Weather conditions at time of application

City staff will make the pest management record readily available to the public and to interested institutions upon request.

Public Education:

LPRD will provide information via the Department’s website to keep the public informed on the status of pesticide-free parks. This information will include such things as:

• LPRD list of Pesticide Free Parks.     
• Information to explain to the public what the notification signage means when a pesticide is applied.
• LPRD best horticultural practices to reduce the use of pesticides. This will be a list of past and current practices for the reduction of pesticides.
• List of alternative products for household horticultural use
• Recognize volunteer groups that have adopted a park to assist in the pesticide free maintenance of the facility.

Other marketing items may include:

• The development of a logo for entry signs at pesticide-free parks.
• Develop signage to call attention to applications of non-pesticide controls.  The public often assumes if they see us spraying it is a toxic chemical being applied. In fact, we have for years been using a number of non–chemicals controls, such as insecticidal soaps and dormant oils.

Conclusion:

Staff will report back to the Commission in spring 2006, concurrent with 2007 budget preparation and consideration, with an evaluation of the program and seek Commission direction on possible expansion of the program.

CAUTION

The following product has been applied to this park area

Product Name: _________________________

(Round-up, Surflan, Trimec)

Product Type: __________________________

(Herbicide, Insecticide, Fungicide)

Active Ingredient: ______________________

Date Applied: ___________________________

Reason for application: _________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

For additional information please contact

The City of Lawrence Parks & Recreation Department at 832-3450