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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,July 10, 2023 Page 6 Chair Ficek explained as the Commission looked at Less Mow May, the Commission did look at the Ordinance and tried to get into the background of it. As far as the Commission could tell,there really is no reason for the eight-inch rule for lawns.The Commission thought it might be a good opportunity for them to look at the Ordinance, particularly in different ways a person might manage a yard, noting there could be variations. Councilmember Etten thought the City had provisions for natural areas, grassy areas or Best Management Practices (BMPs) that are already there and the continued support and encouragement of those, either through the City's Ordinances or support from the Watershed Districts and things like that, are something the City should continue to look at. He was not sure he would want someone to say they were not going to mow the grass as there is a difference between having prairie grass,which is intentional,versus just saying a person does not want to mow an area in their yard. Mayor Roe stated there are different chapters in the City Code, one is for nuisance issues and another chapter is for preservation and conservation.He thought it might make sense to look at the mowing Ordinance for maintenance. Councilmember Schroeder indicated she did not have a problem with the Commission looking at the Ordinance to make sure everything is meshing together. Chair Ficek noted what he took away from the Council's answer is to provide more education as the City goes into Less Mow May, making sure the City is looking at both, and making sure people know their options. Chair Ficek asked if there are any other topics the Council feels the Commission should look at. The Council did not have any other items for the Commission to review at this time. Chair Ficek reviewed the recommendations the Commission had over the last year and asked for Council discussion on takeout containers. Mayor Roe asked if this tied into the single use plastic bags as well or was there not a recommendation in that area. Chair Ficek did not think there was a recommendation for the single use plastic bags and thought the recommendation was solely focused on takeout containers right now. Councilmember Etten thought the Commission did a great job on this. He brought this topic up before the pandemic, then paused it during the pandemic, but he thought the City is at a point where it has been shown there are supplies available