City commission to vote on mosquito contract
The Mount Pleasant city commission will decide if the city will terminate its contract with APM Mosquito Control at its Feb. 8 meeting. The reconsideration comes after receiving negative input from residents concerned by the inorganic spray.
The proposal was created in September regarding the one-year contract and $85,000 cost of the mosquito spray during a joint meeting between the Charter Township Union and the city commission.
While the township decided to not pursue the contract, the city commission held a public hearing in the fall to solicit input from residents before accepting the proposal in November with the intention of implementing the program in 2016.
“The city commission saw some people were interested and had seen the success of the program in other communities and wondered if it was something we could do in Mount Pleasant,” said city manager Nancy Ridley. “Some individuals were paying to have their own area sprayed, so they were wondering if it’d be better to have it done in the whole city.”
The possibility of cancellation was raised at the Jan. 11 meeting by commissioner Lori Gillis because of concerns she received from residents about the environment and public health because of inorganic mosquito control spray.
The city also asked biologists to weigh in before the contract was approved. Both also expressed environmental concerns.
The city commission then asked if it was possible to terminate the contract if they decided to not continue the project.
“We did research and it appears that we do have ability to tell the APM company that we aren’t interested in having the mosquito control program after all,” Ridley said.
A majority vote of the seven city commissioners in attendance of Monday’s meeting is needed to cancel the contract.
While the city commission will not hold a specific public hearing, a public comment period in the beginning of the meeting is available for residents to voice their opinions before the vote takes place.
“They could also send a written communication through our website, which we’d make sure all city commissioners received before taking their vote,” Ridley said. “The city commission would be interested in hearing from the public, whether it’s that they want to cancel the program or keep it.”
Go to mt-pleasant.org to submit electronic communication.
