Town board to consider organic parks

Board also proposes to create Historic Preservation Board

The Mancos Town Board of Trustees have a busy night on Wednesday, March 25.

The board, which is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m., will discuss capital planning, organic ways to control weeds in the public parks and creating a Historic Preservation Board.

This won't be the first time the Town Board has discusses organic ways to manage Boyle Park.

Late last summer, residents voiced their concerns about using the traditional form of "Weed and Feed."

One town trustee said last year that he refuses to let his granddaughter play at Boyle Park because chemicals were used on it.

The Board of Trustees then directed staff to work with community members to research and review options for alternative, chemical-free methods to care for the parks in Mancos.

The group has been meeting since January and will report its findings to the Town Board on Wednesday night.

The group has conducted research and conferences with communities that have gone organic and will provide a 26-page report with their findings.

After the discussion on park management, the board is expected to open a public hearing on an ordinance that will make a text amendment to the Mancos Municipal Code concerning the makeup of the Historic Preservation Commission.

In the past, the Planning and Zoning Commission has served as the Historic Preservation Commission as well. The amendments proposed Wednesday night would create a separate Historic Preservation Board.

The proposed amendments would also: Clarify and simplify sections of the code that are redundant; create a simple process to recognize properties on the local historic registry that have been recognized by the national or state historic registries; and change the age of structures and sites to a minimum of 30 years, instead of the current 50 years to qualify as "historic."

Board members are also expected to discuss the Mancos Cleanup Days, scheduled for May 1-3.

Trustees are also expected to review proposed changes to both medical and retail marijuana enforcement in Mancos, which includes looking at the fees charged for apply for a license in Mancos.

There is currently a moratorium on new medical or retail marijuana licenses in Mancos.