05/23/09 - The Town Council faced a choice Wednesday between a healthy population or a green lawn, said Conservation Commission Chairman Ned Phillips Jr. The council, according to Phillips, chose the healthy population option.

In a 3-1 vote with one abstention, the council banned the use of pesticides and herbicides on town-maintained land unless approved by the Conservation Commission.

The decision came after Phillips debated with Recreation Director Rob Closter about the use of an herbicide containing compound 2,4-D at Heinz Field. Phillips called the compound, a major ingredient in Agent Orange used in the war in Vietnam, a threat to public safety. Phillips said 2,4-D leads to cancer in humans, and the widespread use of pesticides and herbicides causes health problems from asthma to kidney damage.

Closter said all products used on Heinz Field would meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. He said the herbicides are necessary to maintain the field, which opened last week, at a reasonable cost.

“Do you want a green lawn or a healthy population,” Phillips shot back from across the room.

Closter responded that the Conservation Commission lacked the expertise to make such determinations (Phillips operates a landscaping company) and recommended the town turn to a private consultant. He continued to maintain that the EPA considered the herbicides safe.

The EPA regulates 2,4-D under the auspices of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and because it is used in pesticides. The agency has monitored the compound since 1948 and issued guidelines on it since 1988. The agency has twice ruled that evidence does not substantiate a link between the chemical and cancer.

When used properly “there is a reasonable certainty of no harm to the general population,” reads the EPA’s website.

Town Councilman Peter Baute, a medical doctor, said there was reason for concern, but generally people had to be exposed to herbicides in large quantities over long periods of time for them to be dangerous. He called for the town to use “common sense rather than a blowtorch” and abstained from the vote.

Councilman Ken Lacoste questioned the financial impact on the town after Closter said it would cost three times as much to maintain the field without herbicides. Lacoste voted against the measure.

First Warden Kim Gaffett, the prohibition’s strongest supporter, supported exceptions to the ban if the Conservation Commission and town manager sign off.

But an exception for Heinz Field appeared unlikely with Phillips opposed and Town Manager Nancy Dodge ordering Closter to return the herbicide he ordered. She said some weeds might appear if the town uses an organic management program, but now is a critical time.

“Because it’s a new field it seemed like the ideal time to give this a shot,” she said. “It’s not Fenway Park. It’s a field.”

Softshell shell fishing ban

The Town Council Wednesday closed the Great Salt Pond to softshell clamming until June 15, 2010 to allow time for the stock to replenish.

Hardshell clamming will be allowed from June 26 to October 13 from Beane Point to Andy’s way and in a designated area in Cormorant Cove, to be set off by buoys. The water south of the buoys is considered unsafe due to drainage from a freshwater pond. The entire cove has been closed to clamming since 2008 because of pollution concerns.

In the fall, the waters from the Block Island Club to Breezy Point will be open from September 20 to October 13.

Seawinds

The council held off naming an appointee to a Block Island Economic Development Corp. committee being formed to select the resident for the affordable unit at the Seawinds development on High Street. The council wanted more information about the committee and also wanted to wait for BIED to receive the state approval necessary to become the selection agency.

In the meantime, councilors asked the building official to ensure no one was living in the market-priced units. An agreement between the town and developer requires the affordable unit to be complete before the market-priced units are sold. Former Housing Board member Mark Emmanuelle said he saw lights on at midnight in the market-priced units.

Other business

• The council approved an ordinance amendment that allows taxi license holders an extra 15 days to pick up their licenses at Town Hall. License holders now have until June 30 instead of June 15. The Commission on Motor Vehicles for Hire asked the council to make the change so license holders would not feel compelled to operate in June. Many drivers prefer to start July 1 as to save a month’s worth of insurance expenses, commission Chairman Vincent McAloon told the council last month.

• The council appointed Neil Lang to the Planning Board to fill a seat vacated by Jill Connell, who left because of time constraints. Lang, an architect, has been a frequent visitor and part-time resident on the island for more than five decades.

• The council renewed gaming licenses for the Albion Pub, Aldo’s Game Room, Ballard’s Inn, Captain Nick’s, Champlin’s Marina, Club Soda, the Empire Theatre, McGovern’s Yellow Kittens, the National Hotel and the Neptune House. The licenses allow arcade games such as pinball.