Revised April 13th, 2024
At the Monday, April 8th Shorewood Council meeting, the 3 attending members, (Labadie, Zerby and Callies*), without discussion, voted to approve the blanket spraying of Freeman and Manor Park soccer fields with an unspecified weedkiller. The recommendation by the contractor was for 6 applications per year, for up to 2 years.
*All three are up for re-election this Fall.
See it all here in the meeting video.
Resident Greg Larson came to Matters from the Floor (MFTF) and asked the Council to name the herbicide. They could not. Labadie reminded him that questions are not answered at MFTF.
Mr. Larson persisted. The Council refused to answer any questions or “debate” the matter. After some cringe-worthy moments, Labadie directed Larson’s question to Matt Morreim, who would not answer the question: what chemicals are being used. He asked Mr. Larson to contact him the next day for the information. Larson was dismissed by Labadie when his three minutes to speak expired.
This incident raises important questions about the process:
- Why was a topic of this public importance on the consent agenda and not publicly discussed by the Council?
- Did the Council members actually read the specifics of the contract?
- What information did the staff provide to the Council for them to make an informed decision?
- Have the sports organizations been informed of “blanket” application of chemicals on fields they use daily?
- Did the Council have any curiosity about the impact of the decision on humans?
- Why wasn’t the Park Commission, as overseers of invasive pest management, asked for their recommendations?
- Does the Council serve primarily as a “rubber stamp club” for what the city staff wants?
More background:
- Passed by Labadie, Zerby and Callies on a 3-0 vote (Sanschagrin and Maddy were absent), the consent agenda included approval of a “parks lawn maintenance plan” with the Greener Blade. There was no discussion.
- Shorewood has a recent history of considerable citizen engagement and concern about its use of chemicals in the parks, all resulting in an “Integrated Pest Management” plan.
- This first came to light in 2021 when a resident noted in the accounts payable that the city was paying for chemicals to treat the parks, contrary to the Bee Safe Policy passed in 2014.
- It resurfaced when the City proposed using Garlon4 as part of its buckthorn abatement plan in Freeman Park.
- Now, in 2024, the Council approved a contract which included blanket spraying (start at p. 28) of soccer fields, for up to two years, without identifying the chemical to be used.
- Included with the contract was this language from the Greener Blade representative:
“I inspected the soccer fields last fall. They are infested with broadleaf weeds. So much so that to get them under control we will have to blanket [chemical] spray all the playing surfaces several times to get them back under control. It is evident they have been neglected for years. I recommend going forward with 6 applications for at least the first year, quite possibly two years but we can play that by ear and see how everything responds. Again, once we get the fields under control we will switch to an IPM plan utilizing the least amount of product as possible.”
Reminder: Residents are at the top of the chart.
One Response
Dithiopyr is the toxic pesticide the City council has approved for widespread use at Freeman Park despite the objections of many many residents. A top City official falsely claimed that dithiopyr is not a pesticide. All herbicides by definition are pesticides. It is a proven fact that any such toxic chemicals spread in Freeman Park can damage bees, fish, earthworms and humans. The water table at Freeman park is high, bodies of water are present and the risk of these chemicals entering groundwater, lakes and drinking wells is high. Crabgrass can be controlled without toxic chemicals. Every resident of Shorewood should vigorously object to the unnecessary poisoning of our drinking water by the 3 Council members up for re-election. They clearly tried to force their agenda forward without public debate, without a full public hearing, without disclosing publicly their insistence on using a toxic chemical while refusing to publicly disclose the name of the toxic chemical, and without waiting for the other two more environmentally conscious council members to be present. That is a demonstration of government at its worst.