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Spraying is no guarantee against West Nile
To the editor:
Recently, I read the letter to the editor concerning mosquito spraying and (Gosnell) Mayor (Don) Marshall's veto. After I read the letter, I sat and pondered it for a while. It appears some individuals are of the impression if the city has a contract for mosquito spraying they will not get the West Nile Virus. Citizens should not get complacent.
As I sat and pondered, I visualized a map of the city of Gosnell. It is spread out along the old Air Base Highway from the south entrance gate to north of Calumet Road. Developers built along the highway to cut their overall expenses. Other developments were put wherever land could be obtained and city utilities were close by. Gosnell has farmland adjacent to the north, west and south edge, with farmland filling in the spaces between developments and also the Air Base.
The drainage district has three ditches, Ditch 23, Ditch 24 and Ditch 25, either running through these developments or adjacent to them. A small drainage ditch runs along the highway. Gosnell has ditches along each road to drain the rain runoff. These ditches were graded in when roads were built. There are additional drainage ditches along sewer and utility easements for drainage. These ditches must be cleaned out frequently to drain this flat land that has a slight grade to the west. All of these ditches are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
I hope the citizens of Gosnell don't have the false feeling that they are protected from this mosquito-born disease. Parents must be advised to not let their children play outside during the early morning and evening hours when mosquitoes are thickest. After the contract was passed, my cost for Walmart mosquito spray has not decreased.
I personally applaud Mayor Marshall for his veto. When he campaigned for the mayor's office, he let it be known he doubted the effectiveness of spraying. When it came up for a vote, it was passed by a vote of 4 to 2. He, as mayor, realized the city had some pressing expense concerning the roads and notably the garbage fees. It has been considered to raise the garbage fees to cover the city's losses. Gas had doubled in price, land fill cost had risen in the past and will certainly rise again in the near future. Road repair bids were in excess of $100,000. The city does not collect enough money to cover the cost of the mosquito spraying contract and must subsidize the difference, which is approximately $1,000 per year. The city is subsidizing the contract Post Office approximately $20,000 a year. It must be noted he would like to move it to city hall where space is available and there would be no cost for rent and utilities. The city is subsidizing the garbage pickup and disposal cost. Mayor Marshall is subsidizing the city by fulfilling the mayor's responsibilities completely as a part-time mayor with half pay of approximately $15,000.
Mayor Marshall, after analyzing the financial situation and the possibility of an increase in garbage fees, he exercised his right to veto. He also realized at that time his veto would be overridden. In addition, he has not brought up moving the Post Office because he also knows he would be overruled by the same vote. Mayor Marshall, again I applaud you for doing what you thought was best for the citizens of Gosnell. I know it would be nice if spraying guaranteed no illness, but it doesn't, especially with all of the drainage ditches and rice fields within and next to our city. Spraying could be like spitting in the wind and calling it rain.