City Council is being asked to approve $30,000 for that cause and lesser amounts for keeping other forms of nature at bay.
To the tune of about $10,000, staff also has recommended continuing a campaign to control the population of Canada geese at the city’s Old River Park athletic fields and trying to establish a healthy stand of grass at the less than year-old dog park off Shafor Boulevard.
Carol Collins, director of Leisure Services and Horticulture, urged injecting the 533 ash trees that stand in the city’s right of way — between curbs and sidewalks. Because of proposed cut to the budget, more than 350 others in parks, boulevards and natural areas will not be treated for the first time since the city began protecting them from the threat in 2008.
“I believe the cost is worth it and that as long as we treat, the trees will remain healthier,” Collins said. “We may be prolonging the inevitable, but the loss of our ash trees would leave a huge void.”
Oakwood recreation supervisor Dan Ruble credited several measures for reducing the population of Old River geese from as many as 400 last year to 20 to 40 at present. He said more strategies will be explored with the University of Dayton, which owns the rest of Old River Park, including its lagoon.
The birds’ droppings and seasonally aggressive interactions with the public have been a consistent nuisance.
The city currently is spending between $7,000 and $9,000 a year to spray the fields several times a year with a treatment that discourages the geese from grazing and nesting.
Other geese-control costs have included: cardboard coyotes at $30 apiece and, starting this year, the application of “predator urine,” at a cost of about $150.
The dog park also needs some additional work.
Sod that was laid there before the July 2011 opening didn’t survive due to rainy weather and heavy use, particularly by large dogs. So, the city did some seeding over the winter and is doing more, while closing part of the park so the grass can get off to a good start.
Centerville-Washington Park District
Ash borers, geese and cultivating turf at its dog park also have been issues for the Centerville-Washington Park District, which supervises 48 parks.
It has operated a dog park for the public at Oak Grove Park since 2007 and “keeping the grass healthy always has been a challenge,” parks director Carol Kennard said.
In the past, the side of the park set aside for large dogs (more than 25 pounds) has been closed for replanting and the large/small dog sides have been alternated. The popular facility now is closed during times of heavy precipitation and on the first Monday of every month for maintenance.
“We’re looking into opening a second dog park in a meadow area of Grant Park and are hoping for public input on that,” Kennard said.
She added that the district also is addressing a geese problem.
“We had a big problem in the past with geese at Oak Creek South Park, which had an open pond, soccer and baseball fields. The pond became aquatically dead due to all of the filth from the geese. We reverted it back to a stream and allowed the vegetation around the water to grow tall. The geese avoid that because it blocks their view of potential predators,” Kennard said.
The park district has cut back on ash borer insecticide injections, but still treats a stand of ash trees that was planted at Schoolyard Park before it opened.
“We hope that will get us past this infestation, although we expect we will lose them all eventually. We’ve been looking at planting other varieties of new trees near existing ash trees throughout our system.”
Centerville City Manager Greg Horn said the city has had to combat geese invasions at its Yankee Trace Golf Club periodically.
“We have done a goose roundup and eradication process two or three times in 10 to 15 years through the Ohio Division of Natural Resources.
“As for ash trees, there are a select few we are trying to protect because of their particular importance, but as we understand it from arborists and others, trying to save them all would be an exercise in futility,” Horn said.
Kettering officials said the city has no program for protecting ash trees and operates no dog park.
About the Author