I agree about the weeds...although the dog park patrons thank you for your recent care to the small dog area with the weed issue only handled because of complaints. This seems to be the way Cosmo & Crossroad parks are given attention. Is anyone in charge of this these parks? The entire park is turning green with weeds! Some are knee high. Please dont blame the rain or wet weather...other parks/communities are not infested with weeds...pretty sure Gilbert Parks can do a better job.

Parks & Recreation - Doug assigned this issue to Parks & Recreation - Scott

Thank you for reaching out with your concerns about Cosmo Dog park. The parks department has been working on improving the situation. While it may seem like nothing is getting done several steps have been take n and more hare are in the works. You mentioned that the weeds have been mowed down. That is step one. The weeds need to be cut down to help weaken them. Weeds that are too large limit the effectiveness of the herbicide applications. Herbicide applications have been made and will continue to be made. We will also continue to vac and blow the area to limit stickers and seeds. While hand pulling weeds works great in a small scale, a large-scale operation is not a sustainable use of the resources provide to maintain the parks. There close of 1,000 acers of parks to maintain and even a small park like Cosmo would require a large time and labor commitment to hand pull weeds. People are free to volunteer to pull weeds if they would like to. Here is the link to the volunteer sign up: https://app.betterimpact.com/PublicOrganization/aecf07b7-d321-4c80-aaa5-38bade1f9794/1
There are several reasons for the high level of weeds this year. The wet weather has really help them out. You may notice other areas such as HOA Parks or green belts not having such an infestation. Those areas may have the advantage of less use and less water. The higher use and greater water will asset in the breakdown of the pre-emergent herbicide’s barrier. The fact that much of the park is on steep slopes also makes applications more difficult to apply and stay in place. Cosmo Park is a retention basin. It receives more rainwater then a typical park or green space because the roads around the park drain into it. On top of that, many dogs use the park. This causes more disruption to the soil. More soil disturbance leads to a quicker break down of the barrier. Now, a simple solution would be to just have more pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicide applications, but these are limited by law. We are required by law follow the herbicides applications instructions. To use herbicides safely, there are limits to amounts that can be applied, other herbicides that they can be combined with, and weather conditions in which they can be applied in. Wet, windy, weather means you can not make an application. So, the weather has not only created a better environment for the weeds to germinate and grow but have also given us a smaller window to effectively treat them.
The Parks department is always striving to make improvements to your parks. It is understandable that it seems like nothing is getting done until someone complains, but that is not the case. The steps to control winter weeds started back in October. While they are not always witnessed by patrons they are happening. The results are not always what we all would like them to be but will continue to use best practices to get a head of this issue and any other that rise. Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Thank you for your response to this issue. Id like to say that undoubtedly there are things that go on behind the scenes and you have your challenges. Other parks have their challenges as well, HOA or City maintained. This issue will require extra efforts because it is out of control. Most all of the green at Cosmo is weeds and maybe requires professional assistance. This park hasnt ever looked this bad. Volunteer hand picking weeds isnt viable for the enormous job neccessary and its unfair to think the taxpayers should volunteer the kind of time it would take when its their money that shoukd already be paying for the park to be maintained properly. Is it possible for the weeds to be scraped off and those areas weedtreated and reseeded. Rope them off and spring will bring better grass and a better looking park. I will be sending you pictures so you can have a better view of the amount of weeds to be dealt with in case you havent visited the park recently.
Thank you for your time...

Thanks for reaching out with your concerns. It shows that you understand the challenges for upkeeping such a facility. The Parks team is working through solutions to these issues. We are always open to suggestions and value your inputs. Please continue to to reach out as you have concerns. Thank you and have a great day.

This remedy is ongoing and will continue thought the season.