Township open space consultant Tara Kenyon told the Committee about the options available to internally maintain the grassland preserves. Purchases the township will have to make to internally manage the two grasslands preserves were discussed at the October 19 Open Space Advisory Committee meeting. The preserves – Negri Nepote and John Clyde Memorial – need to be protected from invasive plant species and groomed. To that end, the Committee discussed buying a large mower and possibly renting the tractor to pull it, and also paying for two rounds of herbicide treatments. There are three ways the grasslands can be rid of the invasive plant species: mowing, prescribed burning, and herbicide treatments, according to recommendations from the National Audubon Society's stewardship program. Prescribed burns have already been undertaken, and there are more scheduled. At issue is whether the township wants to spend for the mower/tractor combination and the herbicide treatment. Committee chairman Bob Puskas said the mower – known as a "brush hog" – would cost between $12,000 and $15,000. Puskas said the mowers the township currently owns are "flail mowers," and cannot do a thorough job of cutting the brush in the grasslands. The tractor to pull the mowers could cost about $30,000 to $40,000 for a used model and a new one could cost about $100,000. He said there's also an option to rent a tractor for between $3,000 and $4,000 a month. "We could probably get it done in a month," he said. Committee member Arnold Schmidt asked if it would be possible to enter into a shared servoces agreement with a neighboring town which might already have the tractor. That would be an option, Puskas said, but there could be a problem if the sharing town needs to use it when Franklin would want it. Committee member David Triggs said the township should just buy the tractor. "We have a lot of open space in our township, and we can’t depend on other towns to lend us equipment when we need it," he said. But Committee member Chris Williams disagreed, saying it would be better to rent the tractor because it would only be used for a short period of time and would "sit around" for the rest of the year. "I would like to see us looking into a shared services type of thing," Schmidt reiterated. Mayor Phil Kramer agreed. "I agree with looking into shared services," Kramer said. "If (the other town uses it) in October, we could do it in November." In the end, the Committee decided to investigate what kind of equipment is needed, then investigate buying, renting or a shared services agreement with another town. Tara Kenyon, the township's open space consultant., said a bid was received from a company that has studied the types of invasive species found in the grasslands and devised herbicidal cocktails to kill them. Two rounds of spraying would be necessary, at a price tag of $50,000 each, Kenyon said. "I wanted to let everyone know that that was the quote received back and see how you felt about it," she said. "The first spray would be about this time of year," Committee member Chuck Martin said. "That will repress the growth that’s coming up in the fall after the mow. There will be another spray in the Spring, prior to emergence of the grasses ... humans are not susceptible to that spray." "These are very non-toxic sprays, and they are highly specific for these particular invasive plant types," he said. "It's not a requirement to do the herbicide," Kenyon said. "The prescribed burn will do its job, but will take a long time. Without the herbicide, it will take longer to eradicate the invasives that are there." Triggs suggested that a study be made into whether the herbicides would affect the many wells around the properties. "The sprays we looked at from the Audubon recommendation, are low toxicity sprays," Martin said. "There are naturally occurring compounds in plants that are much more toxic than these sprays. These are very-well studied." Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said that the township's budgeting process doesn't begin until next year, so the committee has time to research the purchases and make its requests then.
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