How to manage the weeds in Mancos’ Boyle Park? While this question was not on the agenda for Wednesday’s Town Board meeting, it is still on the minds of some Mancos residents.
Three Mancos residents spoke to town trustees during the “audience business” portion of the board’s agenda, and all three asked board members to reconsider their decision to spray Boyle park on Friday with a chemical herbicide that contains an ingredient known as 2,4-D. All three were concerned about possible health effects of the chemical and implored board members not to use it in the park. They also pointed out that having a well groomed lawn in the park is of less importance than having a safe place for children to play.
After listening to the three citizens make their case, Mayor Ellen “Queenie” Barz told them that the matter had been discussed in the spring and that the board decided May 9 Board meeting to proceed with chemical herbicide weed management.
In 1992, the United States Environmental Protection Agency said it considered evidence about the cancer-causing nature of 2,4-D inconclusive. In 2005, the World Health Organization reaffirmed its 1987 classification of 2,4-D as “possibly carcinogenic,” a class one level below “probably carcinogenic” and one above “not classifiable.”
Lily Russo, who has helped lead the charge against Mancos’ use of 2,4-D at the park, told The Journal that she was organizing a “peaceful protest” Friday at noon, before the lawn spraying is scheduled to begin, in Boyle Park.
The Board of Trustees also considered applications for town grants of support from Mancos Senior Center, Mancos Valley Chorus, Mancos Trails Group, Mancos Food Share, Community Connections and Axis Health System.
The board budgets grants of up to $1,500 to support organizations that “preserve or enrich the health, education, welfare.” According to the town’s guidelines, priority is given to nonprofits and organizations that address a “unique community need,” serve a “broad spectrum” of town and avoid “overlapping services.”
As a part of the application process, the board asks that a representative of the organization attend the board meeting and make a short presentation about how the funds, if granted, would be used and to answer questions from trustees. Representatives from Mancos Trails Group and Community Connections were in attendance and described the role their organization plays in the community.
While Mancos Food Share had no representative available, trustee Betsy Harrison, who is acquainted with the work of Food Share, stepped to the lectern and provided the board with an update on the organizations activities. After her presentation, Barz asked that Harrison leave the room while the rest of the board discussed the dispersal of the grant funds.
Grants were awarded only to organizations that were represented at the meeting – $1,500 to Food Share, $1,250 to Community Connections and $750 to Mancos Trails Group – sending the message that meeting attendance was essential to the grant application process.
An Atmos Energy representative attended the meeting because it was time for Mancos to renew its franchise agreement with Atmos for providing the town with natural gas. While it is required that the entire franchise agreement be read aloud to become a part of the meeting record, Barz asked that, because of the length of the agreement, the Atmos representative go to the hall outside the meeting room to read it so that the board could move ahead with other business. At the end of the meeting, the Atmos representative re-entered the meeting room, having finished his reading assignment, and the franchise agreement was approved for another 10 years.
In response to a letter received by the board from the American Civil Liberties Union, Town Ordinance 742 was amended to remove the prohibition of public begging because it might infringe free speech. After accepting that amendment to Ordinance 742, the board adopted Ordinance 743, which prohibits “aggressive panhandling.”
The Mancos Board passed Resolution 14 Series 2018 opposing the passage of Amendment 74 because of possible unforeseen and costly consequences. Amendment 74, which is on the statewide ballot in the November election, would require that if any government action reduces the value of private property, the property owner must be fairly compensated.
In other business, the board appointed Debra Pare to the Mancos Tree Board and renewed LivWell Mancos’ retail marijuana license. It discontinued the town’s participation in Southwest Colorado Council of Governments, which promotes cooperation and coordination among local governments in Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan counties.
Carter Pape contributed to this report.
