Explanation
Background: This Ordinance will authorize the Director of Recreation and Parks to accept a grant and enter into agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service to remove invasive plant species within Wolfe and Nelson Parks and plant native vegetation along the banks of Alum Creek. This grant is being administered by the USDA through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).
Invasive plants are taking over the natural areas within our parks destroying the native vegetation and consequently effecting the wildlife that depend upon them. These plants make conditions along the bike paths unsafe as they create blind spots and hiding areas for unsuspecting and deviant behavior. Invasive plants also increase the effects of erosion, particularly along the waterways because they eliminate other plants that help to hold back the banks of streams and rivers.
This grant will allow the Department to remove invasive plants such as honeysuckle and garlic mustard thereby increasing the safety of the area by creating clearer lines of site along the bike paths and through the woods. It will also aid in the restoration of Alum Creek within Wolfe and Nelson Parks by enabling us to plant native woody vegetation which will enhance the quality of the riparian areas.
The Friends of Alum Creek Tributaries (FACT) will be partnering with the Recreation and Parks Department to implement the plantings to secure the bank and to remove the invasive plants within the forested buffer along Alum Creek.
Emergency action is requested in order to comply with the terms of the grant and to have funding available for necessary expenditures.
Title
To authorize and direct the Director of Recreation and Parks to accept a grant and enter into agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, to authorize the appropriation of $65,667.00 from the Recreation a...
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