8/28/08 Operations Mtg. Notes

Don Pierce from Dept. of Corrections in Delta joined us to talk about work release program.  $9.72 per hour.  Have to furnish the tools for them.  10 crews spread over a large area on the Western Slope.  Does Public Service work (in which case it's free).  New program - farm labor.  Would need letter describing needed work, Tax ID number.  Suggestions for work:  Digging ditches for irrigation runoff.  Can't destroy natural wetlands or riparian areas.  Need permission from landowners, but crew would work for the District.  Crew is up to 10 members, including a supervisor.  No history of problems with crews in past - they maintain Volunteer Park, the Fairgrounds, built the Field of Dreams in Orchard City.  Delta is a minimum security facility.  Inmates get .60 per day; rest of money goes to defray costs.  Delta County and Delta City also have crews.  Also have option of gate pass, in which only a couple of guys could be released at a time.  Agency agreement - will start charging "fleet maintenance" charges - .53 per mile for van.  4 10-hour days (but can be hired out for a few hours at a time).)
May use work crews to help dig drainage for landowners.  Most will probably be cooperative.  Lulu will get map of wetlands in our district so we can determine areas we can and can't attempt to drain.

Crew report -  Maps need to be cleaned up.  Need new blank site cards.  Ron authorized to order 200 from High Country Printing and Graphics.  Tara suggested an indoor work day before the crew leaves for the season to straighten out the maps and site cards in preparation for next year.  Tyson's daughter broke her arm - Tyson off work for last two days.

VectoBac - down to 3 bags.  More is ordered.

Trapping - Viva reports she was told of first case of WNV found in mosquitoes in Delta County (from Orchard City) on the 21st of August.  They sprayed aerially shortly after the report.

Next article - discussing costs of treatment vs. assessment.  County assessor has info. 

Cleaning up breeding sites - may be able to coordinate with NFRIA and town to use refuse in Minnesota Creek to use as landfill for old sewer and thus eliminate some breeding sites.  Town Clean-up.

Response to people wanting to be fogged:  Numbers in traps coming down.  Some hot spots - Todd Woods Estate has a hot spot.  Discussion regarding whether to spot spray areas with high trap counts and what the threshold should be.  Grand River uses a count of 70 to determine when they spray the river.  This week place on Todd Estate higher, but just one house - house on one side very few and on other side don't want spray.  Zach's has 67 mosquitoes.  We agreed not to buy more Biomist this year but to reserve what is left for serious outbreaks.

Mike will help people get started measuring precipitation.  Data publicly available.  Can correlate with trapping and larvicide data.