Mancos Trustees heard from two more people upset with the board’s decision to spray for weeds in Boyle and Cottonwood parks earlier this month.
The board decided at a June 8 meeting that it was necessary to break the town’s organic parks management plan to take care of the weeds at the parks.
At a July 27 board meeting, trustees authorized parks manager Terry Jennings to work with Premier Weed Management and Consulting to spray for weeds in the 13-acre Cottonwood Park and 6-acre Boyle Park. The parks were sprayed on Sept. 6 and 7. The cost for the two applications was $2,837.50, according to town documents.
At Wednesday’s board meeting, resident Nicole Moser said the town could have better informed residents of its spray plans. She said she had lost trust for the town and didn’t think the trustees had enough respect for kids’ health.
“It’s a beautiful park,” Moser said. “It was disappointing that our concerns were not taken more seriously.”
Citizen Will Stone, a former trustee, also said the decision to spray was a poor one. He suggested the town put up signs at the parks to make people aware of what has been done.
Stone also complained that there were too many regulations for businesses in Mancos.
“This is a fine town,” he said. “If you come here, you’ll be fined.”
In response to the comments about the weed spraying, Mayor Queenie Barz said the town faced pressure from the state to take care of the weeds. She could not guarantee that the town would not spray again.
“We had to spray to get on top of the noxious weeds,” she said.
Also at the meeting, trustees heard from a handful of area agencies who had asked for financial contributions from the town. The board voted to give $1,000 to Axis Health System, $750 to Hospice of Montezuma, $800 to Medicine Horse, $530 to School Community Youth Collaborative, $420 to Mancos FoodShare and $1,500 to the Mancos Senior Center. Barz recused herself from the vote because she is a Hospice of Montezuma employee.
Also Wednesday, trustees appointed Leslie Feast to the town Planning and Zoning commission. They also passed a resolution endorsing the Mancos Library’s pursuit of a mill levy increase and a resolution in support of Senate Bill 152 opt-outs for Montezuma County and the town of Dolores.