TOWN OF RYE
MOSQUITO CONTROL COMMISSION MEETING
July 20, 2010, Rye Town Hall, 6 PM
PRESENT: Chairman Tom Aspinwall, members Ted Merritt and Charles Moore, and Sarah MacGregor of Dragon Mosquito Control, Inc.
OLD BUSINESS:
MINUTES: Correction to minutes of June 23, 2010: spelling of Altosid under CatchBasins. Motion by Aspinwall, seconded by Merritt to accept minutes as corrected. All approved. Merritt will include MacGregor on copy list for PDF copy of minutes submitted to Town Hall each month.
GREENHEAD TRAPS: No return call from Tom Pray regarding newly designed traps, possibly due to patent protection concern. Deer fly problem is wide-spread in NH this year; no remedy except “swat and swipe”.
MARSH MANAGEMENT: Walter Montgomery, in charge of mosquito control for Essex County, MA, is too busy during this peak mosquito season; walk through of marshes to be scheduled this Fall.
NEW BUSINESS:
INVOICE: Dragon invoice dated July 1, 2010 totalling $13406.25 received. In addition to larviciding and surveillance, charges included start of road spraying, greenhead trap work, and spraying Parsons Field for July 4th. Motion by Merritt, seconded by Moore, to accept for payment. All approved.
CONTRACT SUMMARY: Street spraying began June 25, 2010 and continues weekly.
CONTRACT OVER BUDGET?: Aspinwall budgeted mosquito control program expense for 2010 of $94734 differs by $3016 from Dragon’s estimated cost of $97750, approved by Board of Selectmen.
CHEMICAL USAGE: Less than 3600 lbs Bti (larvicide) used to date, about same as 2009, while Altosid (larvicide) use is up to about 4200 gms to date.
COMPARISON 2010 vs 2009: Mosquito populations considerably less in NH this year, but rains could cause significant increase. State of NH tests only Culiseta and Culexspecies for EEE and WNV--none tested positive to date. Dragon has forwarded 80-90%of all mosquito samples to State for testing. Catch basin mosquitos most likely source of WNV.
PROGRESS SUMMARY: Aspinwall will email Dragon’s spreadsheet updates to Commission members before each meeting.
NEXT MEETING: August 17, 2010, Rye Town Hall, 6 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Ted Merritt
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