Area cities – including Baltic –will not be impacted by the state’s decision to rework its grant formula for mosquito control.
Money for the state’s mosquito control program now will be divided among 223 communities instead of among counties.
The distribution of funds will follow a risk-based allocation formula where a larger share will go to areas that historically have experienced West Nile Virus cases.
A portion of the funding also is allocated based on population and includes $500 as a base amount that goes directly to cities.
Minnehaha County Commissioners were told at a recent meeting that they would not receive funding through the state’s mosquito control program and the county either must find a way to fund the program for county areas or cut the program.
“It’s the rural areas that are going to take the bite on this one. The city’s funding will continue. We’ve all gotten money. This really is not an issue for Baltic” said Baltic Finance Office Elaine Hendrickson.
“I have to apply for the funds and send them a budget that shows how much we’re going to spend on mosquito expenses,” she said.
Baltic’s allocation this year is $824. That number is similar to previous years.
Dell Rapids Finance Officer Vicky Haskell said she did not have the funding numbers that Dell Rapids uses for mosquito control but said the city’s mosquito control money will not be affected by the state’s new formula.
The grant Dell Rapids received this year is similar to other years.
Dell Rapids began spraying for mosquitoes on May 8, said Clarence Fjellanger from the city’s Department of Public Works.
Spraying might end in September, but Fjellanger said the timing depends on the weather.
When spraying for mosquitoes, Baltic Maintenance Supervisor Kenny Johnson said he concentrates on areas of standing water where mosquitoes hatch.
Baltic will begin spraying at the beginning of June, Johnson said. “With the cooler weather, they don’t come out as soon.”
Fjellanger said Dell Rapids officials encourage people not to have items such as buckets or tires with standing water in their yards where mosquitoes hatch.
Fjellanger also said that the city of Sioux Falls in cooperation with Minnehaha County has a mosquito trap in the area and regularly tests those mosquitoes for West Nile Virus.
Hendrickson said that the county and Sioux Falls spray outlying rural areas where mosquitoes may vector into Sioux Falls with the wind.
“We have no contract or contact with the county on spraying, but I do know they’ve sprayed those areas in the past,” she said.
Baltic jointly purchased its spraying equipment a few years ago with Crooks, Colton and Valley Springs. The spraying equipment is shared equally among the four towns.
Sharing the equipment becomes difficult to schedule spraying times for each town that needs to use the equipment, Johnson said
“There aren’t many still nights,” he said. Winds of about 5 miles per hour is the ideal wind speed for spraying, Fjellanger said
Hendrickson said Baltic officials want to split from two of the communities they share equipment with in order to deal with scheduling conflicts.
Under that scenario, Baltic only would share with Colton.
The idea will be presented to the Baltic City Council.
Dell Rapids has its own spraying equipment.