No one but the experts came to Monday’s Austin City Council meeting to talk mosquitoes, but that doesn’t mean the people don’t care.

Tuesday, August 08, 2000

No one but the experts came to Monday’s Austin City Council meeting to talk mosquitoes, but that doesn’t mean the people don’t care.

"I’ve had more calls on this issue – to spray or not to spray – than I have on any other in my year and a half on the council," First Ward council member Mickey Jorgenson said just before the council voted 7-0 in favor of spraying the tiny pests.

The first of three applications may come as soon as Wednesday, weather permitting. Covering the entire city probably will take two nights of spraying, according to Paul More of More’s Ag Center in Blue Earth, the closest licensed contractor. Two people will spray from dusk until dawn both nights.

More said the synthetic chemical used by his firm acts to kill the adult mosquitoes within 20 minutes or so of the spraying and is a very low risk to humans and animals. He also said it was very effective for mosquitoes, gnats and flies. In Blue Earth, which is surrounded by a river, they spray every week in the summer.

Conditions must be right for spraying, however, which means the wind should be less than 10 mph and it can’t be raining or about to rain. Whether the two people spraying will drive the streets or avenues depends on the wind direction. They don’t travel both because the wind is supposed to carry the spray into the surrounding area.

"What if we don’t spray?" Second Ward council member Roger Boughton asked. "Will there be any problem?"

Margene Gunderson, Mower County director of community health, was on hand to answer any health-related questions.

"Our risk for mosquito-borne illness here is very low," Gunderson told the council. "We have no encephalitis-bearing mosquitoes here; ours are pest mosquitoes. However, any people in the community who are chemically sensitive probably should be notified in advance so they know to stay inside and close the windows for a couple hours. Children should be reminded not to ride their bikes behind the truck, too."

City Engineer Jon Erichson said he would alert the news media about spraying schedules so residents will be informed. More said he planned to start on the residential neighborhoods and move toward the commercial and industrial parts of the city. A second application will be made seven to 10 days later, with a third application to come 10 to 15 days after the second. In total, the three applications will cost the city $17,600, money which will come from the city’s contingency fund.

First Ward council member Dick Lang suggested the council budget for spraying every year.