The Environmental Advisory Board focused on summer cleanup planning and how to keep its education work moving, while also teeing up a bigger policy question: whether Two Rivers should allow native (or edible) landscaping instead of traditional lawns.
The board got an update on the June 6 river clean-up and pushed promotion, with the city providing basic supplies like bags, grabbers, and gloves. The safety guidance was blunt: volunteers were strongly urged to stay out of the water. This is the kind of event where clear expectations matter—especially when the city is encouraging participation but doesn’t want injuries or risky conditions becoming part of the story.
The board planned to review its mission and goals, but the member who requested the item (Darla LeClair) was absent. Rather than force a half-discussion, the group recommended pushing it to the next meeting. That’s reasonable, but it also means the board’s direction-setting work is still on hold for at least another month.
Members traded ideas for future public education sessions and agreed to track topics in a shared Google Document so people can add ideas between meetings. They also talked about leaning into more hands-on events, pointing to the “Paint a Can” session as a strong turnout example, and floated ideas like “House Plant Bingo” and invasive-species education. The takeaway: they’re trying to build a repeatable pipeline of programming instead of reinventing the wheel each meeting.
The board continued work on short “Did You Know” educational blurbs and how to keep those messages organized. They created a shared Google Document to store and reuse ideas. It’s a small process step, but it’s aimed at consistency—something city boards often struggle with when membership and schedules shift.
Parks staff shared a status update on the sustainable cemetery pilot, including a preliminary layout showing future grave sites and expanded native plantings while keeping areas mowable and walkable. The pilot is delayed due to the recent storm, and staff also described widespread windstorm damage across the city (terrace trees, parks, and the cemetery). A notable cost choice: the tree bed will be planted with smaller tree whips (about $30 each) instead of larger caliper trees (about $250 each), and staff also recapped ongoing Paddler’s Park improvements with a boat/jet ski launch expected later in June.
The board discussed whether the city should allow native-vegetation landscaping instead of traditional lawns, and members suggested edible landscaping in public spaces might be more acceptable and easier to roll out. They flagged that this could require changing the city code (Municipal Code Section 9-2-2), but no proposal was drafted or voted on yet. This is worth watching: if the city is serious about sustainability, the rules around what residents and the city can plant are where values turn into enforceable policy—or don’t.