Community Profile

Pledge Status

Did Not Report

Pledge Date

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Program Year

2021

Links and Uploads

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Action Item Report

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City of Avon Lake

Avon Lake, OH

Gregory Zilka

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Avon Lake, Ohio is a city on the shores of Lake Erie 18 miles west of Cleveland. This city of approximately 25.000 people enjoys the over 5 miles of lakefront with several parks offering the public access to the lake and wonderful views of sunsets and recreational activities on the water. The city is aggressively seeking additional lakefront property for public use. Several butterfly gardens have already been established within the city thanks to a cooperative effort by the local garden club and the city administration. Mayor Zilka of Avon Lake, Ohio has committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with their signing of the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge and looks forward to engaging residents in building more pollinator habitat throughout the city.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2021

Communications and Convening ▸

Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters , other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.

Program and Demonstration Gardens ▸

Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.

Systems Change ▸

Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).
Launch, expand, or continue an effort to change municipal planting ordinances and practices to include more native milkweed and native nectar producing plants at city properties.

Past Pledge Archive

Mayor Name	Program Year	Pledge Date	Achievement
Mayor Gregory Zilka	2021	4/6/2021		View Pledge