With the abundance of water flowing through the valley this year from Lahontan to Carson Lake to the Stillwater Refuge, the official bird of Churchill County, the mosquito, is a top priority for the staff at Churchill Mosquito, Vector, and Noxious Weed Abatement District. District Manager Nancy Upham reported to the commission last week about the activities of her staff in the current season.
Despite the amount of water throughout the valley, her team is providing routine service, however, she said people should reach out to the office if they have a mosquito problem on their property. “We rely on service requests, please tell people to call and make sure they leave their phone number and their address, you would be surprised how many people do not do that,” said Upham. The number for Mosquito Abatement is 775-423-2828.
Upham said the valley has been split into zones that are assigned to the technicians who surveil their areas, fill the service requests and treat standing water sources. There are five new technicians this year who have joined the few staff members who returned after the winter layoffs and are responsible for applying larvicide and adulticide. “A little bit different this year,” said Upham, “is we are treating more of our source areas with a longer-term residual product that is less labor intensive, allowing us to go 35 water days instead of having to go back every four days. It will pay off in the long run.”
Additionally, Upham said they have begun trapping and collecting adult mosquitos around the valley, sending the samples to the Department of Agriculture for viral testing.
Citing several changes and challenges this year to operations, Upham explained several new staff members replaced long-time employees who retired over the past year or resigned for other opportunities. The weather has also been a challenge, with cool, windy afternoons preventing effective fogging during the optimal treatment windows, that prevent large outbreaks of mosquitos. Additionally, “the overabundance of water creates havoc in accessibility to some of the larger areas,” she said, but new equipment and vehicles are helping with those access issues.
The district has contracted with Morris Ag-Air in Orovada to cover, from the air, a larger source area with larvicide. There is another company in Utah that Upham will work with to fly the larger areas and apply adulticide.
Another challenge because of the wet spring is noxious weeks and Upham said her team is behind on controlling the massive growth across the valley. “There has been too much water, and we are prioritizing mosquitos and public health. We will take on the weeds as soon as this thing calms down.”
In other business, commissioners approved a resolution requesting the assistance of the Attorney General in a criminal case that has been presented to the District Attorney for prosecution. The DA has determined the case creates a potential conflict of interest with his office directly and is requesting to have the AG review and prosecute the case. The case will remain confidential until the investigatory portion is complete, and a charging decision is made to protect victims from retaliation/spoliation of evidence.
Additionally, commissioners ratified a purchase agreement for the Casey Road Mobile Home Park located just west of Walmart for the price of $425,000. County Manager Jim Barbee explained that the property is in violation of several aspects of the Churchill County Code, and the State of Nevada has condemned 11 of the mobile homes in the park. With the purchase, the county will bring the property into conformance with the code by removing mobile homes, debris, old septic tanks, and then ready the property for resale for economic development purposes the recoup the costs related to the cleanup and the purchase. It may also be used for county purposes.
Barbee added that Social Services Directory Shannon Ernst will assist with finding housing alternatives for the people still living in the park.
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