Wednesday, Mar. 23, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | PTC may be going into goat businessBy JOHN MUNFORD A string of puns was wrought by the Peachtree City Council at its annual retreat Saturday morning when talk centered on how to combat rampant kudzu in several areas of town. Instead of a long-term program to spray herbicide and cut the dying kudzu vines away from trees, council may actually consider using a herd of goats. Yes, we said goats. Mayor Steve Brown suggested the idea, noting that portable fencing could be used to help keep the hooved herd focused on its kudzu diet. Witty reference was made to Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore, who may have to find room in the budget for the goat herd and portable fencing. Bringing on the goats as employees could also be perplexing at times, Councilman Steve Rapson added. How do you use progressive discipline on a goat? he asked. But that was only the beginning of the humorous scope of the topic. They could make it into a petting zoo, joked Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford. Revenue source, Paul! Revenue source! Rapson replied. Then it came down to decision-making time. So are we going to bring in some goats or what? Rapson said near the end of the discussion. I think weve got to look at it, Brown replied. Thats a baaaa-ad idea, cracked Councilman Stuart Kourajian. All good-natured kidding aside, the goats are an alternative to the kudzu eradication program proposed by city public works director Tom Corbett. The program, which includes herbicide and cutting away dead kudzu vines, would take a commitment of up to 10 years with an annual cost of roughly $387,000 a year to address all 40 acres identified as having heavy kudzu infestation, Corbett added. Rutherford said she liked the idea of using the goats more because it would be more environmentally friendly than applying the herbicide. Corbett noted that the herbicide would kill everything in the area of the kudzu, and nothing could be replanted for several years while the effects of the herbicide subsided. Rutherford noted the council would have to change its current ordinance that bans the keeping of livestock in the city. Other areas have used the goats with success to combat kudzu, Brown noted. No vote was taken on the matter, but staff will gather information to be presented to council at a later date. |
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