BROOKINGS Ground Control to Major Tom, we have a mosquito problem. Fortunately, theres a solution that doesnt involve a wayward spaceship and its hapless astronaut.
In Brookings, the solution is a program that starts in April and continues into late September. It involves monitoring and sampling for mosquito larvae in wet areas, killing said larvae, and then going after surviving adult mosquitoes with ground fogging and barrier treatments.
The mosquito abatement program, or mosquito management program, is one of the quality-of-life programs for the citizens of the city, Brookings Public Works Director John Thompson said at Tuesday nights City Council meeting. Our focus is, really, sustaining the communitys quality of life in regard to twilight outdoor recreation while monitoring and protecting our community from the West Nile virus.
Its been a challenge to say the least, thanks largely in part to rainy conditions that have more or less dominated in the Brookings area since spring.
Thompson said roughly $50,000 is budgeted each year for mosquito control, and that each fogging costs between $5,000 and $7,000.
This year, were probably going to blow the budget a little bit because of the environment that were in, he said.
A lot of people will likely think thats money well-spent, especially after losing an ounce or two of their blood or a bit more, if theyre particularly unfortunate to the voracious insects.
Still, theres only so much that the citys control efforts can do.
Theres a lot of pastures around the community, theyre private property, so we can’t really treat those pastures, Thompson said. Even though we treat everything within the city, theres a lot of mosquitoes that kind of move right back in after that.
That said, the city does put up a pretty good fight against the buggers but its a fight that only triggers once certain thresholds are met. With that in mind, Thompson noted that ground fogging is implemented weekly once mosquito traps contain more than 100 insects, or West Nile has been detected in the local mosquito population. It takes place throughout the city most recently, this past Monday and Tuesday evenings and can also include a barrier treatment component for places such as Edgebrook Golf Course. The latter helps to keep mosquitoes from moseying right back in, at least for a while.
As for the foggers themselves, neither you or beneficial pollinators should have any worries.
As long as youre not walking right behind the truck and inhaling anything like that, its generally safe for everybody and pets, Thompson pointed out. It can attack some beneficial pollinators like bees if its a heavy concentration. We do this at night because most of the beneficial creatures that are out there, like bees, theyre inside at night. The mosquitoes are out, everything else is inside, so they dont really get zapped by the chemical.
There were some questions after Thompson finished his presentation, including one from Councilor Nick Wendell.
After you do fogging how long may we see the positive effects of it before we may have to decide to go back out when you see your basket counts up again?
When we fog, its an immediate thing, Thompson said. What this chemical does is it catches them they have to be flying, if theyre covered up and hidden it wont attack them but if theyre flying around, thats when it kills them. The next day, well go out (and) set our traps again and see how much its dropped down.
The mayor also had it in for the mosquitoes, especially after time spent at Pioneer Park over the past weekend.
I appreciate it that we got this going on. It was pretty brutal out at (Pioneer Park) on Sunday evening, even though they did spray before they had the dedication on the Bandshell, Mayor Oepke Ope Niemeyer observed.
We hope this weekend with the arts festival and all the baseball tournaments coming to town I think theres like 70 teams coming into town we hope to have it knocked down pretty good so its a good quality of life for everybody thats coming to see us, Thompson said.
In other business Tuesday night, councilors:
Approved, on a 6-0 vote with Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne absent, a resolution to award a bid for a parallel taxiway construction project at Brookings Regional Airport. The low bid of $884,234.25 came from Bowes Construction, and was roughly 47% below the cost estimate of $1,683,539.25. The project is contingent upon receipt of FAA grant funds.
Gave the go-ahead on a 6-0 vote to the rezoning of 2311 Yorkshire Drive from a Residence R-3 Apartment District to a Business B-2A Office District. Brookings Health System owns the building, which has historically been used for health-related purposes, such as dental and eye care services.
The current building might be demolished in order to make way for a new structure that would also be used for personal health care purposes. The rezoning was necessary to make this an option.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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