Mac Olsen
Express Staff
The public works department for M.D. of Smoky River No. 130 has not able to fully carry out its mowing and spraying programs for ditches, due to the heavy rains over the summer.
Normand Boulet, the ag fieldman for the M.D., highlighted these issues to council during their meeting on Aug. 15.
The public works department has only been able to perform shoulder cuts to roadside ditches, but they are now focusing on the field edges.
As for the spraying program, they can only perform handgun spraying along the roadside ditches, due to the inability to spray across the water in the bottom of the ditches.
In other news, the M.D.’s weed inspectors have been dealing with over 200 scentless chamomile infestations. Also, inspectors have completed their grass hopper surveys for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, and they are now conducting their Fusarium and clubroot surveys.
Finally, the M.D.’s bid to purchase a surplus spray truck from the M.D. of Bonnyville was unsuccessful.