Hotchkiss Town Hall

 

 

I.       Meeting called to order at 7:10 p.m.  All Board Members in attendance.

 

II.      Announcements - There were no announcements.         

III.     Minutes of September 10, 2008, having been previously distributed among the Board members, were approved without being read aloud.

 

IV.    End of the season Reports

        A.   President's Report

              Kris summarized the season.  There was only 1 case of WNV in Delta County to date, and none in the North Fork Valley.  There are very few mosquitoes now; the hard frosts will kill off the floodwater mosquitoes and send the few remaining permanent water mosquitoes (including Culex) into hibernation.   Robin reported we are monitoring 325 breeding sites now, 125 of which were identified during this past summer.  Kris thanked the volunteers and board members for their hard work this season.  He stressed that our limited budget will not allow us to treat all areas with larvicide and/or pesticide and that we need to look at reducing breeding areas by adjusting our irrigating practices and providing better drainage where possible.  Our long term goal is to focus more resources on site mitigation, which will save money and prevent more mosquitoes in the long run.

        B.   Treasurer's Report

              Tara presented a Power Point presentation of slides and information summarizing our work for the year.  Key changes involved in moving toward and Integrated Pest Management approach included mapping of sites and the start of a comprehensive database, enlisting volunteers to develop and implement a full-scale adult mosquito surveillance program, and beginning to plan for long-term site mitigation strategies that will be more cost-effective and safer in the long run.

V.   Old Business

       A.   It was decided we needed to develop a comprehensive annexation policy rather than deal with each request as it comes.  There may also be some efficiency in annexing properties in clusters rather than piecemeal.  A committee will work on the policy to present at a later date.

VI.   New Business 

        A.   Presentation of the preliminary budget for 2009

              Robin presented a draft of the proposed budget, which is still in progress.  He will consult with legal and accounting experts to make sure we will be in compliance with Tabor and Special District laws by the end of the year.  A revised draft of the proposed budget will be made available to the public before it is presented for final approval later in the year.

        B.   Sale of excess equipment

              We still have 3 extra foggers and some Malathion to sell.  There was some discussion of the kind of foggers available; Kris will check the invoices and make sure they are advertised appropriately and sold for what they are worth (more recent models more sophisticated than older ones).  We can afford to sell one of the trucks which was not used this year, but we need to keep the 4WD one and perhaps purchase more in the future as the crews need 4WD to get to many of the places they need to go.  Kris and Kevin will coordinate the sale of equipment as we have had some interest from potential buyers.

VIII.  Adjournment at 8:25 p.m.