Community Forum

This is a page that members of the community may use to share ideas and information about mosquito control in our area.  Just click on the "Add a comment" button to add your thoughts. 

Comments

Posted by hotchkiss [75.100.62.20] on Aug 17

Thanks Tom but the problem is worse than you know or if you do know you cannot say, you did know that thay borrowed over 30,000 dollers from the government to pay there bills and they should have been ahead about 3% in there revenue, and including what I said what they are wasting also of people call and leave a message to  biz the manager but nothing gets done and they are lucky if she even calls back.  I my self and others has followed the mosquito crew around watching them they walking maybe 1/10 of property and jump back in there truck and leave very seldom do the dip.  I have seen my self on my own property that is they never walk it this whole year once they walked it.  I have gone behind them and dip and found mosquito's  where they were just at and they did nothing.  See why I am mad and others and the reason people come to me is that they know I care and hopefully something will get done.  The mosquito's are in the fields ditches standing water is all over go up to back river road by the trailer that was burnt down and dip you will find larvy and as I have said if some one gets west nile there will be a law suit you know this and so do I.  The trucks they are trying to sell is illeagle they must first do a vote on them to sell below value and etc.   As you can tell I know alot and I should'nt.  Thank you for your time and hopefuly there will be a new manager and crew for next year that cares.

Posted by Hotchkiss on Aug 17

Last evening (August 16th) I was out in the back yard (on Main Street) eating, tossing a ball for the dogs, and reading until it was too dark to see. There were a few mosquitoes but at very manageable level.  I had a few landings but no bites. I'm out walking around or working in the garden a little most evenings, not "through the fields" but in and around town. 

Maybe your experiences are different. The point is to make sure that if you do have a higher level of mosquitoes in your neighborhood to notify the District office. They will respond. If they don't, raise hell with your elected board members.

The District is doing quite a lot for the money they have, but have definitely moved towards a higher emphasis on killing mosquitoes in the preflight stages instead of the more visible and odor obvious fogging.  I assume that some people equate no-fogging with no effective mosquito control and that doesn't seem to be the case. 

I would love to talk to folks who have a legitimate concern and are willing to indentify themselves and where their specific problems (high levels of bugs in a certain area) might be and I'll certainly report any obvious failure of the district to fulfill their mission. If we have some bad buggy areas where the current treatments are not being don or don't seem to be working let's take care of them. I'm certainly not against fogging if the numbers can be shown to be bad. 

Also the Mayor has not passed on any citizen concerns to me or the other trustees of the town. Concerns could be sent to the Town as well as the District. 

Tom Wills - Merchant Herald - Trustee for Town of Hotchkiss

872-2664 229 W. Bridge (and sometimes 159 W. Main) Hotchkiss

 

 

Posted by Hotchkiss on Aug 15

And I'll repost this here where it belongs. Hey, let's talk. 

In reviewing my own personal experience with mosquitoes over the past twenty years in central Hotchkiss it seems that the past two years haven't been that much different  than in the past. Certainly no worse. But this year we've seen fewer mosquitoes for whatever reason. Cooler weather was a factor. I fully support the larvicide focused - targeted/minimal spraying approach as long as there is an aggressive trapping program to provide the data to make it work. Again, my concern is the sustainability of the trapping which is mostly dependent upon a small core group of volunteers, all of whom are opposed to fogging creating a perceived bias. We need to plan to move this into the funded area with the trapping done by professionals. 

As for anyone being upset I haven't heard that much––at least from in-town folks.  But there will be an election this next spring (May - 2010) with 4 of the 5 board members being up for reelection so those that want change should come forward now and establish some credibility. Rumors from people unwilling to sign their names are not helpful. Come to a meeting. Stand up and say your piece. Be specific in your concerns.

Finally (on topic), over the past few days since just before the rain I have noticed an uptick of the number of mosquitoes in the early evening in Hotchkiss on West Main. Not terrible but more than there have been.  

Good job Board, Elizabeth and the crew this year. Especially kudos to Lulu, Mike and all of those very, very appreciated (unsustainable) volunteers. 

 

Tom Wills - 229 W. Bridge  - Hotchkiss
 
Last modified July 5, 2009