BROOKINGS No Mow May might become a thing of the past in the city if the Brookings Sustainability Council gets its way. Yup, you read that right your eyes arent fooling you.
Robin Buterbaugh, a Sustainability Council member, made the case against No Mow May at a City Council study session on Tuesday night. She said that while the program, which the Sustainability Council has backed for the last two years in Brookings, carries immense benefits, it also has some drawbacks and can be replaced by an even better program: Bee City USA.
I think what we wanted to do was raise public awareness for pollinators, potentially increasing their habitat, but that has been met with a little bit of public disapproval, she said.
According to the city, concerns centered on several areas, including:
- Sight line issues
- Noxious weeds in homeowners yards and, subsequently, neighboring yards as well
- Increased pesticide use thanks to those noxious weeds
- Mosquito numbers becoming more prevalent
- Grass being harder to cut after participation due to, well, its height
- Beautification impact; basically, the community looked more unkempt
Buterbaugh added, There is also current research that is showing that maybe No Mow May isnt the best way to promote pollinators and pollinator habitat so for that reason, we put together this memo and presentation to talk about what some of those alternatives are.
The primary alternative she focused on was the aforementioned Bee City USA program.
Brookings is already well on its way to doing a lot of the things that are required, Buterbaugh noted. We have a number of different no-mow areas that the park department is choosing not to mow that are kind of out of the way that are providing a little bit of those resources.
Were also reducing the use of pesticides by using things like ladybugs for pest control, she continued. We had, this last spring with the engineering department, a storm water incentive program that looked at providing rain barrels, but then also native plants for residents who are interested in adding native plants to their yards.
The Sustainability Council plans to bring a resolution to the City Council before May next year. Itll contain a framework for communities to support pollinators in ways that better than current practices. The commitments include:
- Creating and enhancing pollinator habitat on public and private land by increasing the abundance of native plants and providing nesting sites for native bees
- Cutting pesticide use
- Incorporating pollinator-conscious practices into city policies and plans
- Hosting pollinator awareness events
- Acknowledge Bee City USA affiliation via signs and an online presence
- Paying the initial application fee and annual renewal fee of $200
If the upcoming resolution is supported by the City Council, it wont be Brookings first brush with Bee City USA, what with South Dakota State University being a Bee Campus USA since 2018, according to city documents.
Theres some of these things that are already done, but then we could always do different incentives for native plants. Theres other ordinances that could be involved, but not necessarily, Buterbaugh said. Theres certain communities that have permits for people to have pollinator gardens that might be outside of what the traditional lawn height requirements are. There are a number of alternatives, things that we can promote, that would fall under our Bee City USA.
The Sustainability Councils efforts both for No Mow May and now Bee City USA did not go unnoticed by councilors, either.
I really enjoyed seeing No Mow May take place and seeing how many homes did participate in that, I think it really illustrated how the community is committed to helping pollinator populations, Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne said. Ill be really excited to learn more about Bee City USA as you continue to do that research.
Councilor Nick Wendell spoke up as well. I would echo Councilor Tilton Byrnes comments in appreciation for bringing No Mow May forward, he said, and for the work the Sustainability Council has done to raise awareness around for what we can do as property owners and home owners in our own yards to promote pollinator health and what we can do as a city as an organization to promote pollinator health in the community.
The costs and responsibilities associated with applying for and maintaining Bee City USA status, according to the city, would be borne by the Sustainability Council and the Parks and Recreation Department.
Presentations
In the other matter at Tuesday nights study session, councilors heard from six representatives of the citys economic development partners. Their presentations focused on advancing assigned areas within the Community Economic Development Master Plan. The reps were:
- Tim Reed of the Brookings Economic Development Corp.
- Dwaine Chapel of the Research Park at SDSU
- Kelsey Doom of Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce
- Laura Schoen Carbonneau of Visit Brookings
- Kirsten Gjesdal of Downtown Brookings
- Ashley Biggar of the Dacotah Bank Center
The progress achieved on these assigned areas can be found within the Brookings Economic Development Master Plan at https://shorturl.at/Ru7YO.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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