Council agreed last night to a recommendation from their environmental committee to suspend the use of Round Up — a non-selective herbicide — as a way to kill weeds around municipal horticultural landscape, sidewalks, and light standards.
The reason seems to be the perception that the municipality is exempting itself from a by-law banning the cosmetic use of pesticides, as well as the effect the herbicide may have on the environment.
Director of Facilities and Recreation Dan Wilkins says weeds have been cropping up in numbers from the kind of weather they have had this Spring.
The application of Round Up was to have been done in June but weather conditions and the delay in obtaining an applicator’s permit hampered it.
The application was then moved to the first full week of July.
Wilkins says he has received complaints from residents about the appearance of weeds along the main street in Walkerton.
He says they have tried other methods like burning or the use of vinegar with no success.
He says they also don’t have the number of volunteers to go and perform weed maintenance by hand.
Wilkins says he is disappointed with Council’s decision but they will live by the current by-law and do the best that they can do.
