The Town of Paradise Public Works Department will begin our spring herbicide application during the week of March 28, 2011 (weather permitting). This herbicide application is intended to keep the road edges and ditches free of noxious weeds and will help reduce the fire danger for the upcoming summer. We will be using sprays containing either Glyphosate or Triclopyr as active ingredients. The herbicide spraying will consist of critical road shoulders, selected areas along the Memorial Trailway and drainage ditches as well as spot spraying the poison oak. Spraying operations will be conducted over the next several weeks, as weather permits. Crews will be starting at 1:00 AM each day (to avoid traffic and wind that may pick up later in the day).

Most treated areas will have a four to five foot wide band of herbicide applied (from the edge of pavement outward). This treatment reduces the amount of weeds and vegetation alongside the roadway edges and will greatly reduce the chance of carelessly thrown cigarettes causing a wildland fire later this summer. In addition, control of noxious weeds during this stage of development will improve the roadside drainage and minimize additional maintenance by Town staff.  Detailed maps showing the areas to be treated are available at the Public Works Department at Paradise Town Hall.

Trained and licensed operators will do all spraying in strict conformance with the Butte County Agricultural Commissioner requirements and the manufacturer’s recommendations. Anyone interested in either the product label or the Material Data Safety Sheets for this product are invited to view both at Town Hall.

If residents would prefer to not have the area in front of their property sprayed, please contact the Public Works Department to arrange for a “no-spray” agreement. The Town maintains a list of properties requesting this “no-spray” for 3 years. We request a contact name, address and phone number for our files. We always try very hard to not spray ornamental flowers and shrubs planted in the right of way. However, since most of our spraying is done at night, occasionally ornamentals will not be visible to the operators. Residents should use white flags to mark areas not to be sprayed (white flags are available at Town Hall).

We do not anticipate any traffic delays. Spraying operations will be performed with a Town of Paradise pickup and a 300-gallon pull spray tank. If motorists encounter the spraying operations, please stay back a reasonable distance. The operators will pull off the roadway and allow the motorists to pass at the first convenient location.

Thank you and please drive carefully.