Port Moody staff will dig into the bylaw banning back yard beekeeping.
A proclamation request to have May 29 declared "Day of the Honeybee" prompted Coun. Gerry Nuttall to query whether PoMo has a bylaw restricting home-based hobbyist beehives - it does - and to ask staff to report back on possibly removing the ban.
The proclamation request came from Clinton Ekdahl, a Saskatchewan resident who has been lobbying cities across Canada for more than four years to endorse a day devoted to honeybees and to sanction back yard beekeeping in an effort to reverse the alarming trend of declining bee populations.
In other Port Moody news:
GRASS KILLER
Port Moody is supporting the province's application to use herbicides in Burrard Inlet to kill an invasive aquatic plant - but not without some caveats.
City council's letter to the province endorses the pesticide application as long as it's "considered to be a last resort option and will be used as part of an integrated pesticide management approach that continues to prioritize non-chemical means" and that no pesticides be used in Burrard Inlet in future years without first consulting the city and community groups.
Should that happen, the city will also require proof that this year's pesticide application actually worked.
The province doesn't require PoMo's approval to use the herbicides Habitat and Rodeo on the invasive marine plant called Spartina; however, approvals are needed at the federal and provincial levels. Spartina, an intertidal cord grass, converts mudflats into single grass stands that result in the loss of bird and fish habitat.
It's been moving steadily northwards from the U.S. west coast since the 1980s and mechanical removal efforts have proved ineffective.
The products will be applied in Boundary Bay and Point Roberts this summer and to Burrard Inlet in 2014.
UTILITY BOX VINYL WRAP
Utility boxes in the Moody Centre Heritage Conservation Area will be spruced up with vinyl wraps showcasing the city's history.
Council endorsed the Heritage Commission's request to wrap four utility boxes - on St. Johns Street at Barnet Highway and at Kyle Street, as well as Clarke Street at Queen and Douglas streets - with historic photographs, at a cost of $3,500.
The photo wraps, which will be selected from the Port Moody Station Museum's collection of archival photos, are expected to beautify the area and help to reduce graffiti and vandalism on the boxes.
The Heritage Commission will bring its photo recommendations back to council for review before proceeding with the wraps.
