Rollingood resident Laura Hierschfeld spoke against city-wide mosquito spraying at the June 15 City Council meeting.[/caption]
After hearing from several people opposed to the idea of a city-wide fogging plan to combat mosquitos, Rollingwood City Council voted June 15 against using such a program to ward off the insects.
Rollingwood does not currently spray residents’ homes, but city staff does spray around culverts and areas with standing water, Mayor Thom Farrell said.
“I thought it prudent to have a discussion on how we approach doing this given the vast number and ever increasing viruses the mosquitoes are bringing into our community,” he said.
Farrell told council members he received several calls from residents related to the issue, most of whom opposed the spraying plan.
“What I didn’t want is us to have an outbreak of our virus and we had not thought of or looked at the alternatives,” he said, referring to viruses like West Nile and Zika.
Rollingwood resident Laura Hirschfeld said she was opposed to the city spraying residents’ homes.
“I don’t think it’s the city’s place to spray everyone’s yard whether we want it or not,” she said.
Council approved Member Sara Hutson's proposal to include a flyer in a future water bill that lists alternatives to spraying, such as removing standing water—which attracts the bugs—and planting natural mosquito-repelling plants.
“There’s other things that we can do that would discourage the mosquitoes and prevent them from breeding that doesn’t involve chemicals,” she said.
Drainage projects underway
City Council also voted to begin engineering work on two of Farrell’s prioritized drainage projects.
The first involves widening the culvert on Hatley Road, which he said needs to be replaced with a larger diameter pipe to eliminate flooding issues.
The second addresses flooding near four homes on Rollingwood Drive. Farrell said possible improvements include a channel or method to divert water flow within the easement behind homes to convey water to Inwood Road.
Engineering services for the two projects—which will be performed by engineering consulting firm LNV—cost $18,800.
Farrell said he estimates the Hatley Road project will cost $48,000 and the Rollingwood Drive project will cost $15,000.
Rollingood resident Laura Hierschfeld spoke against city-wide mosquito spraying at the June 15 City Council meeting.[/caption]
After hearing from several people opposed to the idea of a city-wide fogging plan to combat mosquitos, Rollingwood City Council voted June 15 against using such a program to ward off the insects.
Rollingwood does not currently spray residents’ homes, but city staff does spray around culverts and areas with standing water, Mayor Thom Farrell said.
“I thought it prudent to have a discussion on how we approach doing this given the vast number and ever increasing viruses the mosquitoes are bringing into our community,” he said.
Farrell told council members he received several calls from residents related to the issue, most of whom opposed the spraying plan.
“What I didn’t want is us to have an outbreak of our virus and we had not thought of or looked at the alternatives,” he said, referring to viruses like West Nile and Zika.
Rollingwood resident Laura Hirschfeld said she was opposed to the city spraying residents’ homes.
“I don’t think it’s the city’s place to spray everyone’s yard whether we want it or not,” she said.
Council approved Member Sara Hutson's proposal to include a flyer in a future water bill that lists alternatives to spraying, such as removing standing water—which attracts the bugs—and planting natural mosquito-repelling plants.
“There’s other things that we can do that would discourage the mosquitoes and prevent them from breeding that doesn’t involve chemicals,” she said.
