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Pesticides

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Natural Lawn Care Meeting to be Held on Tuesday

The Whitefish Bay Garden Club will present a free seminar titled, "Growing a Greener Bay, One Yard at a Time," at 7 p.m. Tuesday

Do you want to use more environmentally friendly products and practices in your back yard, but don’t know where or how to start? The Whitefish Bay Garden Club will present a seminar titled, "Growing a Greener Bay, One Yard at a Time," at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Whitefish Bay Village Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but you can RSVP on the garden club's website. Click on "Projects and Events" and scroll down to "March Regular Meeting."  The panel of experts will present information to help you understand the importance of using more environmentally friendly products and practices in your yard or garden. The discussion will range from organic lawn, garden, pest and weed control, to water management, current research, product know-…

Monday, January 14, 2013

Little League Pledges to Limit Pesticides

Craig Counsell Park will not receive full-scale pesticide application for the next three years, but spot herbicide applications may be needed on occasion.

Whitefish Bay Little League will not spray pesticides at Craig Counsell Park for the next three years. In years past, the Little League has sprayed pesticides across the entire little league field over Memorial Day weekend. Now, after a year of discussion amongst little league board members, the organization has decided to temporarily stop pesticide application in the interest of public health. Even without full-scale pesticide usage, the board's three-year resolution still includes the option of spot herbicide applications for small areas of weeds. "In a nutshell we are trying to create healthier fields and that is not an overnight process," Whitefish Bay Little League President Josh Levy wrote in a letter to little league parents last …

Karlene Fox

8:05 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Thank you to the Little League board members for making the right decision and protecting the children and families who spend time in Craig Counsell Park.   more ›

Friday, October 19, 2012

Herbicides Will Be Applied to Little League Field

Momentum and Razor Pro will be sprayed at Craig Counsell Park Friday.

Herbicides will be sprayed at Craig Counsell Park Friday. All turf will be sprayed with Momentum (a selective broadleaf herbicide) for general weed control, according to a village email notification. Common areas and areas along fence lines will be sprayed with Razor Pro (a non-selective herbicide) to control unwanted grass and weed growth.   In the event that inclement weather prohibits the application from occurring, it will be delayed to a later date.

AWD

6:04 pm on Friday, October 19, 2012

Hysterical Stay@Home Mom posts in...5,4,3,2,1   more ›

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Pesticide Committee Would Bring Stakeholders to the Table

The Village Board hopes a potential committee will develop a pesticide policy that addresses each group's concerns.

The Whitefish Bay Village Board hopes to reach a consensus on the hotly contested issue of pesticides in public parks by bringing together stakeholders to develop a plan that addresses concerns from both sides. After holding a listening session in July, the Village Board met Monday night to discuss, among other issues, how it should proceed with the input gathered from the public hearing. Trustee Jay Miller proposed a committee of stakeholders be formed to reach a consensus and recommend a policy to the Village Board. Miller said the committee could be led by staff members from the village and the school district and could also include representation from Whitefish Bay Soccer Club, Friends of Bay Baseball, Duke Pride, Whitefish Bay Little …

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Bob McBride

11:49 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Find the answers, then start banning stuff. Jumping from a study on rats in the UK to WFB's pesticide policy leaves open the possibility of missing the mark by a long margin.   more ›

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Pesticide Opponents Speak Out at Listening Session

About a dozen Whitefish Bay residents spoke during a 'listening session' with the Village Board Monday evening, citing various health concerns in their plea to stop using pesticides in public areas.

One by one, concerned Whitefish Bay residents came forward to address the Village Board as part of a "listening session" Monday night, during which they pleaded against using pesticides in Whitefish Bay parks. This special meeting of the board was a forum for those pleas, following a particularly heated May meeting when the chamber was flooded with over 100 residents. This meeting drew about 40 residents, about a dozen of whom spoke to the board. The use of pesticides in public parks has been discussed at Village Hall for the past five years, culminating in 2010 with village residents protesting the use of pesticides in the parks before the Village Board. As a pilot program, the board agreed not to spray pesticides on Cahill and Klode …

Angela

11:58 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012

Jennifer, you hit the nail on the head. I have yet to read or hear the Village explain why the pesticides are necessary. If it is for aesthetic reasons alone, it is appalling that aesthetics would trump known health risks.   more ›

Friday, July 13, 2012

Don't Forget: Pesticides 'Listening Session' is Monday Night

Let your voice be heard on the village's turf management program at Monday's special meeting. Read Patch for all the details on the debate so far.

Pesticide spraying on public land has been a hot topic in Whitefish Bay, and Monday evening the village’s listening session begins at 6:30 p.m. in Village Hall. The single-item agenda reminds residents that this is a chance for them to address the Village Board on the topic of turf management and pesticide use. No action will be taken. Whitefish Bay Patch’s topics page on pesticides features links to all the articles and discussions on the matter. You also can learn more about the village’s 2012 turf management plan on its website.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

School Pesticide Policy is Different Than the Village's

Youth sports organizations wanting to spray pesticides are held to two different standards, depending who owns the field.

The policies over how public lands are cared for in the village can sometimes be complicated to understand. The village government controls Klode, part of Cahill and most other parks in the village, but the school district controls Armory Park and the Lydell community park. The district also provides natural turf maintenance at Buckley Park and the playing fields at Cahill. Youth sports organizations also play a role in keeping up parks. Junior Dukes football pays $3,000 to the school district to rent the Lydell community park, $5,500 to the landscaper for turf maintenance and volunteers 200 hours to water the field. The Whitefish Bay Soccer Club spends $7,000 to use a variety of parks in the village and volunteers 100 hours. To make …

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Just the Facts

2:46 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012

Garden lady is smoking some thing from the garden! The Jr. Dukes program pays almost 10,000 per year, plus 200 hours of their time.On top of that get multiple thousands of hours of help from coaches, team mangers, and others. My guess is if gardenlady wanted to maintain the field, and kept it in good shape, NO KLODE SHAPE! the Jr. Dukes would let them....   more ›

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Roughly 90 Volunteers Help Weed Klode for the 4th of July

Community organizations rallied around the effort to beautify Klode Park in a natural way before the big Fourth of July celebration coming up Wednesday.

Pulling weeds is not the most exciting way to spend a Saturday morning, but for about 90 Whitefish Bay residents, the Klode Park Weed Out event was time and energy well spent. Whitefish Bay Garden Club President Nancy Sturino organized the event, calling on organizations from across the village – everyone from scouts to schools to the Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation – to help beautify the park in a natural way before the big Fourth of July celebration coming up Wednesday. Sturino said the effort shows the community will step up to the plate to eliminate weeds in public parks without the use of pesticides. "People are excited about the experiment to keep pesticides out of Klode, so they were willing to take a Saturday morning and help out," …

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Jeff Rumage

12:17 pm on Monday, July 2, 2012

That's probably useful to add to the story, actually. For those that haven't visited Klode in a while, the grass is quite dry, so tearing out the weeds on the lawn likely would have left patches of dirt.   more ›

Friday, June 22, 2012

Community Groups Gearing Up For Klode Park Weed Out

The Whitefish Bay Garden Club is seeking teams of volunteers to keep Klode Park weed-free and pesticide-free in advance of the Fourth of July festival.

The Whitefish Bay Garden Club wants to keep Klode Park free of pesticides and weeds for the Fourth of July festival coming up in less than two weeks. The village has not sprayed pesticides at Klode this year. To keep the park beautiful using natural methods, the group is now soliciting volunteers to pull weeds at the park from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. June 30. To sign up, visit this website to join a group or sign up as an individual. "This is a great way to meet a few new friends, teach your children or grandchildren about "ownership" and "stewardship" of our public spaces, and help strengthen our greens space management so we can all enjoy fields and parks that are beautiful, healthy, and safe," said Jennifer Riggs, one of the event …

Robert

8:03 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012

What are they going to pull? Its so dry the grass is brown and dry as a popcorn fart. The ground is hard as the parking lot.   more ›

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Listening Session on Pesticide Application in the Works

The Whitefish Bay Garden Club is planning a 'Weed Out' at Klode next month. Meanwhile, youth sports organizations are asking village officials to continue to allow pesticides.

After a crowded Village Board meeting turned into a discussion about pesticide use in public parks in early May, the board once again heard more input about the topic Monday night. Laura Nankin, representing the Whitefish Bay Garden Club, said the organization is planning to weed Klode Park on June 30, and she asked that the village not treat the park with herbicides before that time, as it poses a risk to the health of the volunteers pulling weeds. "A weed out chemical application would be interpreted by those who intend to remove weeds in a non-toxic manner as, at best, a violation of our conversations in good faith with the village, and at worst, an antagonistic move," Nankin said. For the first time since the new turf management plan …

tom sheramn

4:34 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012

how do weeds signifigantly effect the play of the ball? show me evidence anyone. if they don't why spray? if they do i would not spray anyway.   more ›

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