City of Petaluma updates its 25-year-old pest management plan

It’s easy to spot rats scurrying about near the banks of the Petaluma River. In other neighborhoods too, residents say they have seen plenty of the vermin.

The rats – along with noxious weeds and other unwanted invasive organisms – fall within the realm of the city’s integrated pest management plan, which the City Council voted 7-0 to update at its Monday night meeting.

As part of the vote, council members opted to not extend the new plan to Rooster Run Golf Club until the city can negotiate a separate plan with its owners.

That’s because the city’s pest management for tackling disease and pests could cause “significant hardship” to the owners, who must “act quickly ... or risk portions of the golf course dying off,” said Rooster Run Golf Club General Manager Bill Carson in a letter to the city.

The new plan, “an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques,” replaced the previous, 25-year-old pest management plan enacted in 1999. It outlines solutions to pests, as when the city brings in sheep and goats to tackle invasive weeds and overgrowth at local parks.

The updated integrated pest management plan is made up of two parts: the policy and the program. The policy is “a broad, foundational document” outlined in the resolution. The program outlines specific protocols to address pests like rats, invasive weeds and other organisms that may transmit disease or be “a nuisance,” according to the draft plan currently posted on the city website.

It also outlines prohibited products and processes, procedures to allow for exemptions, lists of exemptions (currently there are none) and the public record reporting process. The new plan would also be maintained by a program coordinator who operates locally, said Drew Halter, director of parks and recreation.

Staff were hoping to fill the coordinator position “as quickly as possible,” and would use city staff to start work on exemptions in the meantime, said Patrick Carter, assistant to the city manager.

The program “would be updated on an as-needed basis by the integrated pest management coordinator to reflect any exemptions, any changes to best practices, and new or emerging threats we need to be on the lookout for,” Carter said.

Prohibited items in the program include glysophates, known carcinogens, pesticides under the Proposition 65 list, endocrine disruptors and others.

Vice Mayor John Shribbs was critical of the program and policy, having studied integrated pest management for golf courses, he said.

He called the material “generic,” saying that he could have developed it within 24 hours on his own, and expressed disappointment that it was not more robust.

Concerns arose numerous times during the meeting regarding protocols to be followed by Rooster Run Golf Club, which leases land from the city to operate the 18-hole golf course on the east side.

Golf club manager Carson was concerned by the speed at which diseases can travel through a golf course’s grounds – within a matter of hours. Should there be delays in coordinating with the city’s coordinator on appropriate practices that differ from the city’s program, that could cause major damages to the grounds and lead to the club’s closure, he said.

Council member Mike Healy thought the document needed “more work” with respect to “non-city actors” seeking exemptions. Mayor Kevin McDonnell agreed that language on exemptions that could be pursued by lessees like Rooster Run was unclear.

After the council deliberated on the item, City Attorney Eric Danly suggested council members approve the management plan until they can get an alternative compliance for the golf course.

The pest management policy ”would not apply to Rooster Run until we can conclude good-faith negotiations regarding its alternative compliance,” Danly said.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @sawhney_media.