HALIBURTON, ON – Despite a recommendation to postpone a ban on a herbicide, Dysart council has said no to Garlon.
In front of a gallery of concerned citizens, Dysart et al held a recorded vote and denied the recommendation by the Dysart Environment Committee to delay a ban on Garlon until 2020.
The only two councillors to vote yes were Larry Clarke and Tammy Donaldson.
Originally in April, the councillors unanimously supported a recommendation from that same environment committee to prohibit the herbicide by Hydro One within the municipal boundaries.
After that, Hydro One had sent a delegation to the environment committee and that eventually led to the committee finding a middle ground by allowing Hydro One until 2020 to find alternatives to using it, then a ban would be implemented.
Because of that recommendation making its way back to the council chambers, the Drag and Spruce Lake Property Owners Association created a delegation to urge the councillors to hold firm on a ban.
During the delegation, the association’s representative Rick Wesselman noted that the only benefactor of delaying the ban is Hydro One.
Wesselman also says that Hydro staff have expedited their spraying as a way to circumvent the upcoming ban.
Councillor John Smith noted that once they had originally passed the bylaw banning the use of Garlon, he had come across Hydro employees that explained to him that their superiors told them to spray before the ban goes through.
During the delegation, Wesselman noted that there were five different lake associations that supported a ban and that he was continually getting support from other organizations.
The reason that Hydro One was using the herbicide was to have their staff need to trim the trees and other foliage around hydro lines less often, according to Smith.
Ingredients in Garlon stunt the growth of trees meaning that it will not grow onto or around the hydro lines.
With the vote passed, the council re-enacted resolution #19-99 which was the resolution prohibiting the use of Garlon.