County approves mosquito abatement hike

Glenn County property owners will pay slightly more in mosquito abatement fees this fall after the Glenn County Board of Supervisors approved an assessment increase.

The fee pays for a countywide mosquito abatement district that provides service to Orland and unincorporated areas of Glenn County. Its primary mission is to fight West Nile virus following its formation in 2007.

Fees will go from $21 for a single-family home to $21.63 for an approximate 2.8 percent increase, county officials said, and agricultural parcels will be assessed 23 cents per acre – up five cents from 2007.

Health Services Agency Director Scott Gruendl made the request during the board’s annual approval process for the district. It was approved July 15.

The fee increase will be added to the fall 2008 property tax bills. Gruendl reportedly expects the revenue to be $186,000, but indicated the mosquito abatement district’s budget is about $230,000, and it is subsidized with county health department funding.

However, Gruendl said the fogging and larvae-control activities done by the Glenn County Valley-wide Mosquito Abatement District has made a huge difference in controlling the mosquito population.

In 2007 at this time, there was one human West Nile infection and a lot of dead birds, he said, but there are no human cases right now.

He said the “larvae-ciding” program is a good example that shows the abatement district is working.

Currently, abatement district staff are in Orland four days a week inspecting storm drains for mosquito larvae and then treating them with pesticide when necessary, Gruendl said.

The larvae-cide treatments prevent larvae from growing into adults with pellets or granules that dissolve in water and kill the mosquito larvae after they ingest them, he said. If the pellets or granules do not work, technicians do a liquid treatment that makes a film over the storm drain and suffocates the larvae.

Fogging is done to kill adult mosquitoes, and Gruendl has budgeted for 16 fogging applications countywide per year. In four nights, he said the district can cover up to 900,000 acres of the valley floor in Glenn County compared to just 120,000 acres a few years ago – thanks to the assessment.

Opting out

At this point, Hamilton City is included with the Butte County Mosquito Abatement District for mosquito eradication, but there is an effort to cancel that agreement underway.

An application to detach Hamilton City from the Butte County agency is completed, Gruendl said, and Butte County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) may set a public hearing and workshop on the issue in August or September.

Hamilton City residents pay $4 a household for mosquito abatement services with Butte County, Gruendl said, but that only allows for one or two pesticide applications a year.

Glenn County’s Valley-wide district will provide many more applications if needed, and Gruendl said Hamilton City residents may contact his department for help since it already has collected one assessment for the new district.

Should Butte County officials decide not to dissolve the Hamilton City abatement program with it, the matter could go to a special election vote this fall, he said.

In the meantime, Gruendl’s department is taking requests from the public to fog where rice fields are located or in areas where special events like weddings are planned provided enough time is given to do it, he said.

Got mosquitoes?

For more information on mosquito abatement, call the Glenn County Health Services Department at 934-6588 or the Glenn County Mosquito District contractor at 934-4025.