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Sebastian schedules Great Air Potato Roundup at Stormwater Park; staff outlines safety, logistics and disposal
Summary
The Natural Resource Board and city staff detailed a volunteer removal event for the invasive air potato at Stormwater Park with shifts, safety guidance, partner organizations and the Solid Waste Disposal District handling tubers.
The City of Sebastian will host its first Great Air Potato Roundup at Stormwater Park on Saturday, Feb. 8, with volunteer shifts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., city staff told the Natural Resource Board at its Feb. 8 meeting.
City staff member Felicia described the event logistics, including three two-hour shifts (9–11 a.m., 11 a.m.–1 p.m., and 1–3 p.m.), volunteer check-in at the western parking lot, an educational/booth area, and a focus on a heavily infested northern section of the park. She said the city will provide some gloves and first-aid supplies on site but recommended volunteers bring protective gear such as hiking shoes or snake boots.
Felicia said volunteers will remove hanging tubers, pull vines and dig for underground tubers with hand trowels; the city will provide a utility vehicle (“gator”) and possibly wagons to transport collected tubers. She advised volunteers that collected tubers cannot be carried off-site by civilians and that the city will transport material to the Solid Waste Disposal District for disposal.
Ray Osborne, joining by Zoom, said he planned to recruit church and veterans-post members and asked about staging locations and community outreach. Felicia said sign-ups are on the city website and that Pelican Island Audubon Society is a partner; an Audubon representative provided a “wanted” flyer in the meeting packet. The city will operate weigh-in and accounting booths at the western parking lot and orient volunteers at an educational booth.
On handling and safety, Felicia said there will be a first-aid tent and staff present but no planned trained medical professional; the city’s indemnification and sign-in forms explain that staff can call for medical help if needed. She asked board volunteer leads to help guide participant teams, weigh and measure collections and help with check-in.
Felicia also explained species background: the invasive air potato is nonnative and difficult to eradicate because its tubers can survive in trash bags and re-sprout. She said biological controls such as the air potato beetle can defoliate vines but do not consume the tubers.
The board encouraged public participation and noted the event coincides with National Invasive Species Awareness Week (Feb. 24–28); the city will present a city council proclamation about invasive species and the roundup at the Feb. 12 council meeting.
