5.3. SR 07-14-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item ~ 5.3. TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM Mayor and City Council Stephen Rohlf ~ July 14, 2003 Mosquito Control In this memo staff will attempt to summarize the potential options for mosquito control. Attached is a staff memo from June 4, 2001 that goes into more detail. The following are the two strategies for conducting mosquito control: Killing Mosquitoes in the Larval Stage Apparently, the most effective form of control is to kill them in their larval stage. The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District concentrates about ninety percent of their efforts toward this strategy. A bacterium called Bacillus thurmgiensis subspecies israelensis (BTI) is the biological control of choice. BTI is attached to ground up corncobs and applied to wedands. The mosquito larvae ingest the material, which then creates a protein that crystallizes making it indigestible, thus killing them. Although not without environmental concern, BTI is apparendy the safest product on the market, being very specific to mosquitoes, gnats and black flies and not other wildlife. The downside to applying this product to the wedands in Elk River is cost. In 2001, the city received an estimate from a private firm of $200,000 per application to spray a conservatively estimated 4,000 acres of wedands within the city limits. To be effective, two applications are needed per year for a total of $400,000 (2001 prices). The only practical way of reaching many of the wetlands is by helicopter, which accounts for much of the cost. Contracting with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District versus using a private firm would reduce this cost, but Sherburne County would have to petition to join the District and it would take spec/al legislation. At the Councils direction, staff approached Sherburne County regarding this issue on June 5, 2001. The county declined to pursue this issue due to cost.