Impassioned conversation about mosquitoes, which dominated the Moorhead City Council’s Aug. 11 meeting, was held to a minimum this week at its subsequent session. Instead, Mayor Shelly Carlson concerned the citizens on hand to only take the podium if they had something “absolutely, mind-blowingly brand-new” to share.
Three took up her challenge. Limited to two minutes each (instead of the regular three), two generally opposed aerial spraying for the biting pests, while a third, who favored the aerial spraying, queried the council, “Who do you favor – people or pollinators?” She asserted that current conditions are the worst ever she has ever experienced in her 70 years in the city.
Carlson, noting that this summer marks her seventh year on the council, said, “Never before have we had as much engagement from our citizens.” In addition to the hour of input expressing conflicting points of view at the council’s prior meeting, she said she and other members have received a blizzard of emails on the subject.
The controversy was stirred earlier this month when the city scheduled aerial application of permethrin, an insecticide, on Aug. 7. She made that decision along with city manager Dan Mahli and public works director Paul Fiechtner based on a policy established after 2020’s so-called “monarch massacre” of butterflies and other insects due to its timing.
After that, the council adopted a policy based on public health factors like West Nile virus rather than how much of a nuisance the mosquito population represented. Concentrations of aerial insecticide, too, were set at a lower level than used by Fargo and West Fargo. Those cities proceeded with the aerial operation, while Moorhead avoided it. Instead, problem areas were ground-sprayed by truck
Council member Chuck Erickson led off the night’s discussion with a motion – seconded by Emily Moore – to return to the current policy. Heather Nesemeier and Nicole Mattson concurred, though both urged further study on timing and permethrin levels, along with continued investigation of less broadly lethal methods adopted by other cities. Ryan Nelson added, “I’d like to see us go back beyond public health to some kind of nuisance control.
Ultimately, the motion to resume the present approach was unanimously approved.
