Open Space Advisory Board 2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • Matt Jones suggested we adopt a policy similar to Boulder County Open Space's. First we need to identify relocation sites and secondly work with the county on their current strategies. Bob Muckle requested lease information on the jointly owned lands: length, irrigation rights and ownership. Davidson Mesa dog fence: The dog fence was extended just short of the native grass area. Warembourg Pond: Dog lease signs need to be posted around the prairie dog areas. Board Agenda- Weed Management: Cindy Owsley gave a quick overview of the memo to Steve Baysinger which offered suggestions on how weeds might be managed on Louisville's open space properties. She noted that she sees that Louisville's staff is maxed out with current "turf' open space management, so adding "wild" open space weed management to the plate would be a stretch. She defended her recommendation of herbicides due to the staff restrictions. Herbicides are very effective with minimal staff hours. She would ultimately recommend a Natural Resource person, but for now, since the City needs to deal with its weed problem, it needs to find solutions using the current staff. Matt Jones thanked both Cindy Owsley and Steve Baysinger for all the work they put into the weed issue. He revisited the open space ordinance language (Sec. 4.03.010. Classification and Management, A.(2)): Application of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals shall be prohibited unless other non -toxic remedies are reasonably determined to have little opportunity for success or unless required by State and/or Federal law. He asked Cindy Owsley if there were other opportunities available for weed management other than herbicides. Cindy Owsley replied that hand pulling works well for knapweed. For leafy spurge, canada thistle, and other "deep root system" weeds, hand pulling is not very affective. Herbicides work best for these types of weeds. Mowing is another alternative, but again, is not very affective on the "deep root system" weeds. She explained that she didn't list a lot of alternative control options for each open space site because they were not practical with the current City staff Steve Baysinger asked Cindy Owsley if the current leasees of each open space property were responsible for weed management. Cindy Owsley replied that the County is responsible for purchasing the chemicals while the leasees are responsible for its application. Matt Jones asked Cindy Owsley, if Louisville wanted to try alternative methods of weed control, which 2 or 3 properties would benefit most? Cindy Owsley said Harper Lake might benefit from mowing.