Anxious to show initiative in preparing against West Nile Virus, the Orion Township Board of Trustees voted on April 7 to spend $60,000 for trapping mosquitoes, treating areas with Larvicide, educating the public and mapping township catch basins where mosquitoes may breed.
Orion Township Parks and Recreation Director Rock Blanchard, part of the township’s West Nile Virus Committee, had asked for a 2003 budget of $100,000. About $70,000 of that was to go towards having township engineers use GIS (Graphic Information System) maps and surveys to locate and map catch basins in the township.
Trustees did agree to hire a seasonal employee to help implement the program
Blanchard said Oakland County had advised that the township would receive $14,431 from the county, leaving $85,569 to be funded by the township, possibly from the General Capital Improvement Fund.
“I have no problem with trapping, treatment or education,” said trustee Eric Wilson. “But I kind of have a problem with spending $70,000 for counting catch basins.”
Wilson said the county was only spending $500,000 to combat West Nile Virus, and he did not think that was enough.
“We’ll spend almost 20 percent of what (the county) wants to spend…if it’s as serious as what I’ve read about it, ($500,000) seems like a drop in the bucket,” he said.
According to Orion Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk, the township was planning on implementing more than just a one-year program.
“We’ve developed a two-year plan, with this year having education as a primary part of that,” Blanchard said. “The county is going out for bids on the Larvicide.”
Blanchard said the township doesn’t handle storm sewers so it was unknown exactly how many catch basins the township had and where they were. He said mosquitoes like to breed in stagnant water.
“In Year Two we look at treating the catch basins,” he said. “We can’t even clean the catch basins out until we know where they are at.”
Blanchard said spraying should be considered a last resort.
“You’ll get as many complaints about spraying as you will the positives about it,” he added.
Trustee Richard Tomczak felt whoever was responsible for cleaning out the catch basins should pay the cost for determining where they are at.
“We should look for a grant to split costs,” he said. “Everything else I think is good for the township.”
“Are we going to wait for the county or the state?” asked Dywasuk. “I don’t want this on my conscience.
“Time’s running out, and the Larvicide has to be put in those catch basins in the May time frame. We have to show to the best of our ability that we’re going to put our money where our mouth is,” he said. “We need a road map, and that’s the GIS system.”
Wilson felt the township should look for other bids from the mapping portion of the project.
“OHM (village engineers) knows the most about the township’s developments and plats,” said Dywasuk. “I can’t see anyone doing it for less.”
The $35,000 the township did okay for the GIS would cover approximately 1,000 to 1,200 of the structures (catch basins) in the township.
“We have 4,000 acres of state and county parks in this township no one’s doing anything about,” said treasurer James Marleau.