mn ~ THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF PORT COQUITLAM ( \ C . MEMORANDUM = YUL 13 99, Mayor and Council July 9, 1981 F.E. Peters, P. Eng., City Engineer Use of Pesticides for Parks Maintenance Council has requested a report on the use of pesticides by the Parks Department and, although I do not claim to be an expert in horticulture or chemistry, I will attempt to set out my general views on the consequences of eliminating the use of all pesticides. To begin, I would like to point out that the use of chemicals in City parks can be divided into three different categories as foliows: for cosmetic purposes, to eliminate nuisances, and for the preservation of City facilities. I will discuss each of these categories separately. Cosmetic Undex this heading would come the use of herbicides for the purmase of controlling weeds in flowerbeds or in controlling the growctn of vegetation close to buildings or playground equipment. Herbicides used in this category include Grammoxone, Round up, and Casaron. Elimination of the use of these chemicals would not result in any serious nuisance or damage to property but will result in unsightly conditions around the City unless alternative measures are adopted. : Alternative ways of dealing with the weed problems in this category would be hand picking of weeds in flowerbeds or the use of weed eaters around buildings, tree trunks, and playground equip- ment. The extra manpower required to do this weeding by hand would probably be about two men for a good part of the year at a cost of approximately $30,000. Nuisance Pesticides in this category are used to control problems which create a nuisance for others. Examples would be control of wasps or control of thistles along the dyke which blow seeds onto farm land making it less productive. Chemicals which fall into this category would include Hyvar, Round up, Raid.