Wellesley earlier this month celebrated the maiden voyage of its new Cheetos-colored weed harvester on Morses Pond in an effort to keep the significant natural resource from becoming more choked with unwanted vegetation. Natural Resources Commission Director Brandon Schmitt likens the machine to “an underwater lawnmower.”
The NRC and Department of Public Works have propped up a harvester in its teens for years, but it has become unreliable. The NRC also sought money for a new harvester for years, and over the last few was able to convince Town Meeting to appropriate about $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds.
The new harvester, which is made almost entirely from stainless steel, supplements a smaller machine with a limited payload.
Schmitt described the complicated delivery of the giant harvester during a recent NRC meeting (see Wellesley Media recording about 40 minutes in).
The NRC is plotting how to cut off weed growth in the future in light of warmer winters that give the plants a head start.
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