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City experimenting with weed control along streets and sidewalks

You may see more product testing like this on some streets in the coming weeks as testing continues

It appears the City has joined the weed control battle after numerous complaints from the public and volunteer efforts to control the eyesore.

On a Wednesday Facebook post it announced, "We are demonstrating/testing an all-natural, vinegar-based product and vehicle attachment today that could help to tackle curbside weed control throughout the City.

"Our staff has been working for a number of months now on identifying environmentally-friendly and cost-effective options for weed control, given that herbicides are harmful to the environment and that deploying staff is costly, time-consuming, and resource-heavy," it said.

The effort came on the heels of a citizen volunteer group called Vision 2025 that organized a weed-pulling effort on Sunday.

See: Pulling weeds is just the start, as volunteers take to the streets

The group’s website says it focuses on “tabling and discussing ideas that relate to making progressive and positive change in our community.”

“The point is to beautify our city by bringing businesses and citizens together because North Bay will be celebrating our 100th anniversary in 2025 and we want to give ourselves a five year period to beautify the city and maybe bring some community events and revive the city depending on the future,” said North Bay businessman and event organizer Alexandre Caron.

It's even been a municipal election issue.

See: North Bay's image. It's about the little things says Thompson

"You may see more product testing like this on some streets in the coming weeks as testing continues," says the Facebook post.

While everyone appears happy that action is being taken, the reaction is mixed on Facebook with many cynical of the effort.

"The amount of stupidity and abuse of taxpayer's dollars wasted on months and how many employees to do research on a safe environmental friendly weed killer is asinine. A google search takes mere minutes. What a waste of time and our money" wrote one poster.

Another poster questioned poor communications from the city.

"Timing is really everything 🙄Maybe if we were informed of some of the projects that were going on, we wouldn't think that city hall didn't care."

Another wrote, "Thank you city of North Bay, this is a great initiative, it may have come from the pressure of some people in North Bay but that’s OK you’re making it happen, that’s what’s important here, in my opinion, it’s never too late."

"We have had crews tackle weed control in the past, but it has proven very time-consuming and costly," responded the city. "This was last done in 2019 along Lakeshore Drive. It required lane closures and took a crew more than a week to complete. This product demonstration/test is part of an effort to find a more cost-effective way of tackling the job,"


Jeff Turl

About the Author: Jeff Turl

Jeff is a veteran of the news biz. He's spent a lengthy career in TV, radio, print and online, covering both news and sports. He enjoys free time riding motorcycles and spoiling grandchildren.
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