PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council's Public Health and Safety Subcommittee on Thursday voted against continuing the city's involvement in the mosquito spraying program.
The matter will be discussed in Monday's Board of Health meeting and then voted on by the City Council on Tuesday.
"I filed this petition because a lot of individuals from the community had great concern about the toxins that were found in the spraying program," Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio said.
"Just the point of when they come around your neighborhood, and they tell you to cover your garden, cover your air-conditioner vents, and close your windows. That's a red flag to me, that means that they are doing something that is harmful to individuals themselves."
Councilor at Large Yuki Cohen and Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi were not in attendance for this meeting. The motion passed 2-1 with petitioner Maffuccio and Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon voting in favor and Ward 4 Councilor Chris Connell voting in opposition.
Mosquito spraying has been a topic of debate for about 10 years. Members of the public have expressed ongoing concern regarding the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project and specifically its use of adulticides to combat the disease prevalence of Triple E (Eastern equine encephalitis) and WNV (West Nile Virus).
The city began spraying in 2010 when the council voted to contract with the project, which serves 10 communities in the Berkshires. According to a working group of city residents, "Residents Against Mosquito Spray," the process was done without formal presentation or consultation with the Pittsfield Department of Public Health or Board of Health.
The following year in 2011, the decision was reversed, and then reversed again. In the summer of 2014, a local petition opposing mosquito spraying with more than 300 signatures was submitted to former Mayor Daniel Bianchi.
Pittsfield is one of eight communities that participates in the spray mosquito control; recently Becket and Stockbridge opted out. In 2020, Berkshire County and most of Hampshire and Franklin County were identified as either a low or remote risk level for Eastern Equine Encephalitis, according to the state's Department of Public Health.
In 2018, three mosquitos tested positive for West Nile virus and prompted spraying.
"The past nine or 10 years I've been a councilor and my word is really split right down the middle as far as 'yes' spraying and 'no' spraying," Connell said. "Maybe we come up with an alternative solution, targeted spray spraying seemed to have worked but people still apparently still aren't happy with it."
Moon echoed Maffuccio's concerns with the advisement of closing windows for mosquito spraying.
"I remember having this debate two years ago and that they were adamantly saying that there is no risk and yet we give this warning that you should close your windows and what a lot of the data shows is that there's an increased risk for people who have respiratory issues," she said.
"Right now, as we are in the middle of a pandemic, that is largely respiratory is a virus that is affecting our respiratory drives and is impacting our breathing capacity, it seems like we are not sure where the risk and benefit are in terms of such a low risk that we have with Triple E and increasing the risk factors that contribute to COVID."
Director of Public Health Gina Armstrong reported that the city made modifications to the pragmatic spray criteria in 2019 that aims to appease residents' concerns.
"There was only one spray response during the summer of 2019, a total of two gallons of product was used because it was so targeted and restricted to those areas where there was an elevated risk because of the type of mosquito species and the number near the high volume of mosquitoes that would put the city at higher risk," she said.
"But it was very isolated to a particular area and then last year, in 2020, it was such a dry season there was no spray response necessary, we didn't have any positive samples of West Nile virus, or Triple E last year so I just want to emphasize that we adhere to strict criteria for a survey response and it's used as sparingly as possible, as demonstrated in the last year."
Two Becket residents called into this meeting to voice their opposition to the spraying, Selectmen Vice Chair Michael Lavery and resident Dean Lagrotteria.
Lagrotteria said Becket has been trying to get rid of the program for "quite some time" and has had issues with the management and communication from the Berkshire Mosquito Control Board and whether or not it is properly following regulations in terms of notifying residents.
"Let's face it," Maffuccio said. "The science has proven once again that this is something that community should not be doing."
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Letter: Is the Select Board Listening to Dalton Voters?
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
A reasonable expectation by the people of a community is that their Select Board rises above personal preference and represents the collective interests of the community. On Tuesday night [Nov. 12], what occurred is reason for concern that might not be true in Dalton.
This all began when a Select Board member submitted his resignation effective Oct. 1 to the Town Clerk. Wishing to fill the vacated Select Board seat, in good faith I followed the state law, prepared a petition, and collected the required 200-plus signatures of which the Town Clerk certified 223. The Town Manager, who already had a copy of the Select Board member's resignation, was notified of the certified petitions the following day. All required steps had been completed.
Or had they? At the Oct. 9 Select Board meeting when Board members discussed the submitted petition, there was no mention about how they were informed of the petition or that they had not seen the resignation letter. Then a month later at the Nov. 12 Select Board meeting we learn that providing the resignation letter and certified petitions to the Town Manager was insufficient. However, by informing the Town Manager back in October the Select Board had been informed. Thus, the contentions raised at the Nov. 12 meeting by John Boyle seem like a thinly veiled attempt to delay a decision until the end of January deadline to have a special election has passed.
If this is happening with the Special Election, can we realistically hope that the present Board will listen to the call by residents to halt the rapid increases in spending and our taxes that have been occurring the last few years and pass a level-funded budget for next year, or to not harness the taxpayers in town with the majority of the cost for a new police station? I am sure these issues are of concern to many in town. However, to make a change many people need to speak up.
Please reach out to a Select Board member and let them know you are concerned and want the Special Election issue addressed and finalized at their Nov. 25 meeting.
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