The Holiday Week Notes: Week of July 1 - July 5, 2024

Hi again, Neighbors!  This week's alderman blog post will be a short one as it's the week of Independence Day and many of us will be taking time off of work to celebrate the creation of this wonderful constitutional republic of ours!  

The common council of the City of Appleton voted way back in April to cancel the meeting of the full council that would normally be scheduled for Wednesday of this Full Council Meeting Week.  So since there are no city government meetings scheduled for the week, I would like to quickly go over the latest developments in the status of No Mow May in the city.  

As many of you know, the city has allowed for longer grasses in the month of May -- a policy called No Mow May -- for the last several years.  The purpose was to allow property owners to let lawns grow a bit longer during one early month of the growing season for the purported benefit of the early-emerging pollinators who, according to those who invented and are still touting No Mow May, need the early spring food that dandelions and the like supply.  The theory was that until other plants and trees begin to flower, these things that grow in early spring in many lawns would help tide over pollinators.  

Last year, the majority of the council made permanent in the city's municipal code this No Mow May policy allowing -- in the month of May only -- grasses exceeding the eight-inch-maximum standard that's in the code for the balance of the growing season.  

And then a particularly rainy May 2024 came and this sort of thing could be seen all over the city: 

Two aldermen wrote a resolution a month or so ago to do away with No Mow May as a permanent fixture in the city's municipal code after noticing and realizing the obvious -- that these long-gone-to-seed dandelions and going-to-seed long grasses are not what can or will feed or nourish pollinators.  I think it became apparent to them that this supposed pollinator protection policy has to change for the betterment of the city and its citizens.  The resolution was held in committee a couple of weeks ago but was finally discussed in a committee meeting last week.  

Here's what came of that committee discussion:  The resolution was "amended by substitution," meaning that the entire substance of the resolution was replaced completely with another resolution in its place.  The substance of the substituted amended version is nothing at all what the authors of the original resolution wished to make happen in the city -- removing No Mow May.  And instead, this substituted resolution not only doesn't remove the provisions for allowing grasses/lawns longer than the current standard of 8" in length in May... it actually makes allowances for grasses/lawns of up to 10" all growing season long.

This is a step backwards in my opinion.  It is important to remember that, in a city, people live next door to others.  This is the reason for most of the municipal code requirements in the city -- safety, security, and well-being of all those who live close to each other in a community.  Those who wish to attempt to save pollinators and even those who are agnostic about the potential for a dwindling pollinator population share neighborhoods.  A majority of folks who live in this city have not-unrealistic expectations for clean, nice-looking, orderly, kempt neighborhoods.  Therefore, there needs to be a balance struck between pollinator support and those expectations.  This is even recognized and spelled out in one of the whereas clauses in the substituted resolution:

"Whereas, best practices in pollinator conservation require a balanced approach that satisfies environmental needs with community aesthetic needs..."  

Yet the amended version that passed last week and will go to the full council for debate and potential approval does the opposite in allowing longer grasses to grow all season long instead of just in May!

It is my opinion that the city (meaning.... this common council) needs to scrap this and start fresh with a policy different from No Mow May.  The City of Kaukauna and the Thousand Islands Environmental Center employ a Slow Mow Summer policy rather than any No-Mow policy of any sort.  This is a true recognition of a "balanced approach that satisfies environmental needs with community aesthetic needs."  Here is the explanation of their policy.  And below is the one-page summary of it.  Notice how there is no mention of lawn growth beyond 8" (or even 6" as is regularly referred to in these documents) for pollinator support in this policy?  

I intend to fight to return the city's municipal code back to the 8" maximum growth of lawns standard year-round and add this Slow Mow Summer plan to the city's website and social media platforms for dissemination to residents of the city.  What do you think of all of this?  Do you agree that the city needs a better, more balanced approach to benefit and satisfy both those who are adamant about helping pollinators and those who are less enthusiastic about that and concerned instead about declining property values due to unkempt neighborhoods and pests and rodents in neighbors' overgrown yards?

Please share with me your opinions in this regard.  It is important to understand that I and many others like me are not at all opposed to pollinator support.  We just believe that the city needs to do more to address exactly what's noted in the whereas clause shared above -- a balance for all Appletonians.  I think a Slow Mow Summer program and the totally acceptable standards of no more than 8" in lawn length would do just that. 

Enough lawn talk for this blog post!  I'll conclude with my best wishes to you and yours for a safe and happy Independence Day.  We are blessed to live in this greatest country on earth... together!