North Fork Mosquito Abatement District

Board Meeting

Monday, August 17, 2009

7:00 p.m.

at the Paonia Library Meeting Room

I.   Meeting called to order at 7:07 p.m.  Three board members, operations manager, and accountant present.  Robin and Kevin absent (out of town).

II.   No public comments offered.

III.  Announcement - NFMAD was thanked at the Paonia Town concert for a mosquito-free, fog-free summer.
                               Ken Nordstrom reported a WNV-positive pool in Delta the first week of August, but they are now discontinuing

IV. Minutes of July 20 Board Meeting approved with corrections.

V. Officers Reports

     President's report -  Small Grizzly sprayer was sold to the town of Grover for $3000.  Kris delivered it last weekend. 

Operations Manager report - Employee update - Lynne and Dwayne down to 4 days per week.  Biz still full time.  Volunteer trapping continues.  A thank you gift for the 10 volunteers will be put together from the Board Members.  In Hotchkiss, all but one of the sites are declining in numbers.  Fairgrounds under 20 due to using Altosid in the surrounding fields.  Paonia counts are increasing slowly, due to lots of small sites breeding Culex.  Many were found with help from community members and are now being treated.  Biz reports there are new sites from the low river levels, which strand strips of water in shallow pools.  There are now over 500 sites that are being monitored and treated.  Some landowners, like Bill Kolb, find their own sites and lead the crew to them, which is a great timesaver.  Trouble spots - Hayden Rd., 38000 block of Hwy 133, river puddles.  Problem solved on Lund Lane - large breeding spot found and treated.  Biz would like more product, but there are no funds.  Three sites are always flooded and need Altosid, which is expensive.   These may be prime sites for mitigation.  Biz will calculate cost of treatment for each of these sites.

Treasurer - Gordon reported continued shortfalls from tax collections.  We were budgeted to receive $110,000 this year, but we have actually received $88,000 through today and are unlikely to receive the balance by the end of the year.  Gordon removed the unused truck and the fogger that was sold from the insurance, saving us some money.  

VI.  Old Business

Kris will call Garmin regarding a donation of a GPS unit.

Grizzly sale to Olathe fell through as they have no funds.

VII. New Business

Rosemary made comparison graphs of trapping site results in August for 2008 and 2009.  In most sites, numbers are lower this year than last year, some significantly lower, including W. Hotchkiss Ave. and Back River Road.  We discussed ways to compile the data so that year-to-year comparisons are easier to make.  Just needs data entry.

Les from the fairgrounds talked to Rosemary.  Monday was the worst for mosquitoes, even after the spraying.  Numbers seemed to slack off and were good for the weekend of the fair.  Campers by the river reported the mosquitoes weren't as bad as they thought they would be.  No funds to help with increased trapping next year, but Les may offer some volunteer labor to help out.  He'd like to work with us next year on this issue.

Rosemary sent a press release to the Sentinel last week regarding the State Health Dept's decision to end testing for WNV due to lack of funds. Ken Nordstrom found some more materials to allow testing Delta Co.'s mosquitoes through the end of August.

VIII. Meeting adjourned 8:30 p.m.