07/25/00 LCEC AgP
NOTICE
Land Conservation & Environment Committee
will meet
Tuesday, July 25th 2000
And at 5:45 p.m. at
Shorewood City Hall
5755 Country Club Road
Shorewood, MN 55331
Agenda
1. Convene Meeting
A. Role Call
B. Review Agenda
2. Discussion on Report to Council
3. Discussion on Proposed Budget
• 4. Committee Projects
5. Adjournment
A majority of the City Council may be present. No Council action will betaken.
City of Shorewood
Land Conservation & Environment Committee
Tuesday, June 27, 2000
MINUTES
Meeting called to order at 5:45 p.m. by Tom Schmid
ROLL CALL
Present Donna Woodruff, Tom Schmid, Lucinda Kircher, Anthony Pini, Daniel Ehrke,
Joel Jurgens & Mayor Love
Absent- Paula Berndt and Fred Bruno,
REVIEW OF AGENDA
The agenda was approved.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Joel Jurgens was added to the list of committee members present at the June 2"d meeting
and the spelling of Gideon's Glen should be changed. Motion by Tom Schmid, second
• by Donna Woodruff. 5-0.
DISSCUSSION ON REPORT TO COUNCIL
Daniel Ehrke notified the committee that he is currently working on the first draft of the Land
Conservation and Environment Committee Report, which is due to the City Council in late
August of 2000. Daniel stated that he is including all the work the committee has been involved
with and also a work plan for the upcoming 18 months. Mayor Love addressed the committee,
stating that it is his opinion that the budget should also be attached to the report. Believing this
would allow the committee the chance to express the importance the committee's budget plays in
accomplishing the goals and tasks set forth in the report.
It was agreed upon that the budget and report would be addressed in more detail at the next
meeting once the first draft is completed and input is received by the committee members. Daniel
stated that he would send out the first draft within a two weeks of the July 25th meeting.
DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED BUDGET
The committee first addressed the scope of services submitted by Dan Dickel from the City Tree
Project. The committee agreed that the service number two outlined in the proposal, which was
centered on the inventorying the resources of the designated open space within the City of
Shorewood, is what the committee would like to receive assistance from Mr. Dickel's
organization for.
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Make'Your home live-,..
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American lawns each year end up in storm drains, in drinking
S plendor I n The Grass water, and in the food chain.
I know, we have enough to think about. We want
I grew up with lots of lawn and made the most of it. convenience and easy yard maintenance. Non-toxic lawn care
Running with our dogs, swinging on trees, playing baseball, tag, will mean work, work, work. Wrong.! We've been brainwashed.
and Simon Says, °camping° out, rolling around with friends, Caring for your lawn naturally takes less work, less time, and
stretching out alone in the grass staring at the sky-I felt so safe less money. Don't drift back into a haze of assumptions. Stop
and secure on our own stamp of green. I didn't give a thought to using chemical inputs today. (Even the government considers
its care; I just plopped down and enjoyed it. them hazardous waste, so please don't just dump them. Check
As adults, we can't be quite as careless. Don't let the green with your town and see where you can dispose of toxins.) Not
fool you-most of the 25 million acres of lawns in this country only is caring for your lawn without chemicals the right thing to
are sick, all pumped up with potent chemicals. It's a vicious do, but you'll see-in no time at all, you'll have the healthiest,
cycle. Because the soil, root system, and grass are chemically, greenest lawn on the block.
dept they've lost their inherent
power to fight disease, drought,
-weeds, and insects, necessitating
more chemical abuse. Let's not kid
ourselves-what we put on our lawns
affects a lot more than our own
backyards. Lethal pesticide and
herbicide sprays end up in pools, on
laundry hanging out to dry, on patio
furniture, hammocks, grills, toys, tree
houses, birdhouses, and on all kinds
• of wildlife, including our children and
pets. (And they get tracked into our
homes on shoes and paws.) The
deadly effects don't stop next door; the
67 million pounds of poisons used on
NEED TO KNOW
We're malting a big mistake to assume that lawn and Of the most commonly used lawn care pesticides, 13 cause
garden insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides are cancer, 14 cause birth defects, 21 are nerve poisons, 14 have
safe. The US Environmental Protection Agency advises that no contaminated ground water, and 44 are toxic to either birds,
pesticide is safe. According to a brochure published by the bees or fish.*
American Cancer Society, it is a violation of federal law to state The synergistic effects of chemicals have not been looked at
that pesticides are safe when used as directed. The brochure also by the EPA. Each pesticide is evaluated in isolation, although
states these facts: many are used in combination. Studies have shown that when
■ EPA registration is not a consumer product safety certain pesticides are combined, their toxicity can increase by as
program. It is not intended to determine the safety of the much as 1,ooo times.**
esti 'de, but rather to indicate that it will kill a targeted pest.
95% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are ~f The point is this: toxic chemicals are not necessary for
onsidered probable or possible carcinogens by the EPA. a healthy lawn. In fact, they work against lawn health. If
A National Cancer Institute study indicated that children' you've been using them up till now, just stop. Don't look
back-you didn't know then what you know now. Start
are as much as six times more likely to get childhood leukemia
~ j,
when pesticides are used in the home and garden. caring for your lawn naturally and watch it flourish.
0 According to a report in the American Journal of
Epidemiology, more children with brain tumors and other *National Coalition Against The Misuse of Pesticides in Washington
cancers were found to have had exposure to insecticides than DC, call 202 543-5450 for more information
children without cancer. **Science, June 7, 1996
14 Summer 1998