Introducing Pesticide Concerns: Summary Talking Points by David Wilson, FRMD District 1 President

The following are notes from the October 13, 2025 board meeting:

First, I want to thank the residents who have brought this issue to the attention of the Board. Hopefully this report will be informative to you. People move to Solterra because of the beauty of the area, which has helped to hold the property value. Landscaping is a big part of the attractiveness. This preamble for the board report is to give an overview of what is in the full report.

• Our current review of pesticides/herbicides started in May and included numerous meetings and discussions with a special interest group, landscapers, the Landscape Committee, Community Manager, historical members of the landscaping committee and others familiar with the use of pesticides in Solterra.
• It was alleged that the City of Lakewood was moving to “pesticide free” landscaping. Consequently, we held a meeting with Lakewood on September 4th. This Board report was drafted in early September and “fact checked/reviewed” by the City of Lakewood (due to vacations by the City the report was held up for several weeks).
•  City of Lakewood: 
  • Lakewood has 119 parks.
  • 3 experimental areas treated using organics (6-8 acres) because of a ONE TIME GRANT from Natural Grocers, which was the determining factor for working with a group called Beyond Pesticides.
  • Full conversion to pesticide-free is not feasible and there are no plans to expand.
  • Lakewood also uses pesticide applications as a “tool” to mitigate.
• You will see chemicals used by Solterra are similar in toxicity to those used by Lakewood and the chemicals are in the “lower toxicity categories”.
• Pesticides used in Solterra “dry” in 2-4” hours (same as Lakewood), if not sooner. All necessary flagging and notice precautions are taken.
• We have been informed that the “smell” is “safety additive”, like the substance added to natural gas and propane.
• Solterra’s community consists of 390 acres, 80% of which is privately owned property, which the Board has no control over. Every day there are numerous chemical trucks in Solterra, servicing private residents.
• Of the 20% controlled by FRMD, only the turf grass is sprayed once a year with pesticides by a “broad spraying application”. Native and rock beds areas are spot sprayed.
• Homeowners often misunderstand what organic lawn care entails and are surprised by the lack of immediate and long-term weed control.
• Organic programs are more expensive and labor-intensive.  They can cost 10% to 40% more than traditional programs, which is mainly due to increased labor cost (hand weeding, etc.). There are very few Landscaping companies that are willing to bid on a community our size.
• People involved with this review include Leean McGraw, Landscape Ch, Laura P Board Member, Daniel Dominic former Ch of Landscape Committee, Mat Birkeness Community Manager, David McGraw Board Member and myself (David Wilson)