The Trenton Park Board discussed creating monarch butterfly habitats at city parks and Park Department lawnmowers at the November 2 meeting.

Missouri Department of Conservation Private Lands Conservationist Cliff Wilson said Trenton Mayor Linda Crooks wants to make Trenton more beneficial to pollinators. Mayors for Monarchs is through the National Wildlife Federation.

He proposed some areas at Glades Grimes and Moberly parks where pollinator plots could be placed. They included one in the southwest part of Glades Grimes and others near the old basketball court, World War 1 Memorial, and disc golf course at Moberly.

Park Board President Curtis Crawford said he was concerned about the area at Glades Grimes. Wilson explained he proposed that area because he believed it would be the least likely to be touched.

Park Board Member Gary Schuett suggested having the pollinator plot on the east side of the park near the ditch. Wilson said that if a plot was moved to the area near the tree line at Glades Grimes, that area would likely be unable to be used as a pollinator plot this year, but it might be a good place to have one in the future.

Park Board Vice President Andy Cox said the area near the disc golf course at Moberly Park might have a lot of foot traffic. Wilson noted the pollinator plot could add something to the disc golf course. Cox agreed that the more things there were to throw over and through, the better it might be for disc golf.

Park Board Member John Hamilton mentioned that two trees would be coming down near the World War 1 Memorial at Moberly Park. Wilson said a pollinator plot could be moved to where the trees were coming down.

The pollinator plots would have warm and native-season grasses. Wilson explained the plots would stabilize the area and be low maintenance. The areas would have to be burned off every three to five years.

He noted they do not look very attractive for the first few years. The third year is when the plots usually look like what is planned.

Wilson reported the Park Department would be responsible for the first spray of the areas to kill the current grass. The Park Department would also be responsible for seeding, mowing the first two years about twice a year down to around eight inches, and fencing the area to keep out people.

MDC would help with signage and herbicides if cool season grass “creeps in.”

Wilson noted a good time to mow would be in June. He said it would be best to do dormant seeding, ideally in…