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Sunbury staff outline invasive-species removal and drainage fixes at Old Orchard Park
Summary
Parks staff described a plan to mow and remove invasive species at Old Orchard Park, preserve select native trees, and explore drainage repairs (including piping) after a recent inspection; the work will be included in next year—s park-improvement planning.
Parks staff told the Sunbury Parks and Recreation Committee on Nov. 5 that Old Orchard Park is overgrown with invasive species and requires a focused removal and restoration strategy.
Miss Preston summarized a 2024 evaluation prepared by Aaron Noblett that cataloged the invasive plants and native trees in the parcel and recommended removal of the invasive species. "Essentially, the most effective approach would be to mow it down," Miss Preston said, explaining that mowing would allow crews to remove invasives and then replant native species while saving viable trees.
Committee members asked whether the intent was to convert the site to a lawn with planted trees; Preston said the park would retain a natural appearance "but with native species," and staff will "save what we can" while removing invasive growth.
On drainage, staff reported that Public Service inspected the park and performed edge stabilization and debris mitigation but warned that further work — including adding piping or extending drainage to the stream — might be necessary and could be scoped as a capital project if monitoring shows additional intervention is required.
Staff said the Old Orchard work is part of next year's budget planning and that the committee has identified this as a park-improvement priority; staff did not provide a final cost estimate during the meeting.
What happens next: staff will monitor drainage results after the recent stabilization work, plan invasive-plant removal and native-planting actions, and include additional capital needs in the next budget cycle for committee and council consideration.
Source material: committee discussion Nov. 5, 2025; Old Orchard Park evaluation (2024) referenced by staff.
