Town to close parks temporarily after spraying of pesticides

Changes have been made to the Town's pesticide spraying policy that will includes parks being closed temporarily after spraying. The changes, approved by council at a recent meeting, were prompted by complaints from local residents in the spring, claiming they were not notified of spraying so they could tell their children not to enter the parks. The new changes include: · Restricting public access for a period during, and three hours following, a pesticide application. This is will be a one-year trial. Cost of the new reader-friendly signs will be $1,200. · Advance notice will be given to school principals, parent councils and licensed child care centres (excluding homecare providers) when the application is occurring in their neighbourhood. · A revised public notice allowing schools and daycare operators to send home with children. It is the Town's position to use pesticides only when other alternatives have not been successful or thresholds on weeds or bugs have been exceeded. The Town has already advertised this month about the spraying of town-owned properties between Sept. 13 and Sept. 29.