2010: Castlegar promotes pilot project for pesticides
By Castlegar Source
The New Year will include a move toward pesticide- and herbicide-free parks as Castlegar city council joins forces with the Kootenay Food Services Society to launch a pilot project exploring the city’s lanscaping care options.
Councillor Russ Hearne, outgoing chair fo the Transportation and Civic Works committee, said the partnership seem an almost … well, organic marriage of mutual goals.
“KFSS put in a proposal to us early this year, suggesting they’d like to work with the city toward becoming pesticide and herbicide free,” he said. “They suggested Kinsman Park as a test site.”
He said a look at the costs involved in starting there, especially given the city’s economic difficulties over the past year, made the site problematic, so they choose a smaller starting place, instead.
“We’re considering a tot lot on 9th Avenue instead – it seem slike a good place, given both its comparative size and the large number of kids who use the space,” he said.
“We also felt that, given this is a trial-and-error scenario, we’d like to keep the ‘error’ portion of that confined … although we are absolutely confident that KFSS has done their homework and will rise to the challenge admirably.”
Sandi McCreight, KFSS coordinator, said she’s anxious to get the project under way.
“I’m looking forward to finalizing the details and hopefully getting many Castlegar residents following suit on their own properties,” she said, adding residents can get more information on how to participate at any level by emailing info@kootenayfood.ca
Hearne said they’re hoping to start the pilot project this spring. The city has not yet set a target date for going entirely pesticide/herbicide free.
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