To see if the town will modernize its approach to mosquito management by adopting a science-based approach of integrated pest management (IPM) that prioritizes the least intrusive and most appropriate prevention measures to protect public health, or act on anything relative thereto. These methods are to utilize proactive planning and action to reduce the risk of human disease from arboviruses rather than respond to nuisance control. The approach is to be a phased response plan tied to disease threshold indicators for Jamestown Canyon Virus (JCV), West Nile Virus (WNV), and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) using the State of New Hampshire Arboviral Illness, Surveillance, Prevention and Response Plan from the Department of Health & Human Services Division of Public Health Services as a model.
The prevention measures are to include a mosquito control ordinance, public education on elimination of breeding sites, public education on personal protective actions, the provision of child safe mosquito spray in town offices, larval and adult mosquito catchment testing, surveillance and monitoring of mosquito population and habitat conditions, consideration of local ecological systems, habitat manipulation methods, licensed use of Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) biological larvicides to control breeding interest sites, full disclosure of larvicide use, advance notice of larvicide use, the provision of an opt out opportunity that eliminates larvicide contact with opposed party’s land and if the town elects to include adulticide control it is to be utilized only with strict red level disease threshold criteria with opt out opportunities in place that eliminate adulticide contact with opposed party’s land.
Therefore, the purpose of this IPM mosquito management program is to implement planning and practices which minimize the use of synthetic pesticides and prioritize the use of least toxic options.
What it means: A petitioned Warrant Article is requesting that the Town minimize the use of synthetic pesticides, and adopt Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which seeks to reduce the toxicity of mosquito control measures, while still preventing mosquito-borne diseases.
Those in favor say: There are measures that could better protect the health of our children, reduce toxins for lobsters and natural predators to mosquitoes (such as dragon flies and bats) and still provide adequate control of mosquito-borne diseases. Changing our way of controlling mosquitoes would also result in a lower cost for taxpayers.
Those against say: Much of what is being suggested is already incorporated into our existing mosquito-control program. Although there may be beneficial changes that could be made, those changes could be considered by the Mosquito Control Commission, our mosquito control vendor and the Board of Selectmen. As a Town, we need more time to carefully consider the proposal that has been made, rather than having it determined by a petitioned Warrant Article.
Fiscal impact: There is no taxpayer cost associated with this Article.