Herbicide and pesticide spraying of Peachtree City’s grassy sports fields will resume, the City Council decided 4-to-0 last Thursday night.

But because of health concerns raised by parents of children playing on the fields, the city will modify its spraying schedule slightly, put up bigger signs warning of the spraying and make treated fields off-limits for 24 hours after application of chemicals.

Why not another way? “We’ve walked the fields with experts,” said Randy Gaddo, the city’s director of leisure services. Without spraying, “the weeds will multiply and overtake the Bermuda grass,” Gaddo said. “It’s 35 percent weed coverage now. That will increase.”

With more weeds, Gaddo said, “the fields are not as safe. Weeds are a tripping hazard, they cause erratic ball control and they are unattractive.”

Gaddo said a licensed sprayer will cut back on the fall application, making two smaller applications instead of one big one.

In the meantime, the city will train a city staff member on “alternate turf management” practices and “adopt an integrated pest management program” to control the weeds and grass-eating bugs, Gaddo said.

The city also will begin testing the Line Creek water that is used to irrigate the fields and monitor any application of treated sewage sediment as fertilizer.

Gaddo said the city will schedule public workshops on the sports fields topics in the future.

The fields have been growing weeds for more than a year after some soccer players developed medical ailments that their parents blamed on chemicals sprayed on the fields.

Although the new spraying schedule won’t guarantee weed-free sports fields, it should be enough to keep them in safe playing condition, Gaddo said in a memo to City Council.

The city is also proceeding with testing the water and sediment being used in the pond that irrigates the fields at the Ga. Highway 74 south baseball and soccer complex. Those tests could cost between $2,800 and $4,000, Gaddo said.

Local biologist Dennis Chase said that the water, which comes from Line Creek, also could have caused the respiratory symptoms reported by parents of the soccer players who have complained to the city.

Additionally, the city will continue to study the use of organic and synthetic turf management applications, but as Gaddo noted the issue is fairly complex and “for every potential solution there are downsides that must be considered.”

Gaddo plans to hold a workshop-style panel discussion on the issue in the future with representatives from the University of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the turf management industry (both traditional and organic based methods) and environmental control consultants. — Additional reporting by John Munford.

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