MOORHEAD, MN – City leaders in Moorhead are giving the green light to aerial spraying for mosquitoes.
The council voted 7-0 to reinstate the policy. Council member Deb White was absent.
Mayor Shelly Carlson and other council members said they’ve received a lot of feedback on the issue of aerial spraying. Carlson specifically said it’s garnered the most conversation since she began on the city council.
Council member Lisa Borgen said she has to listen to those she represents.
“More of them want us to aerial spray,” she said. “I think there is an unrealistic expectation that aerial spraying is going to kill all of the mosquitoes. It’s just not going to happen.”
She said that while she supports the issue as a member of the city council, she does not support the plan as a person.
“It was a wet year,” she said. “We had more mosquitoes because it was a wet year.”
Moorhead City Manager Dan Mahli told city council members that the pilot who sprays is not able to spray a lesser concentration than what is used in Fargo and West Fargo on the same night in Moorhead but can be done on a date nearby those sprays that occur on the North Dakota side. The amount of insecticide has been a point of conversation in previous city council meetings.
Council member Nicole Mattson requested the city look into testing the mosquito population for pesticide resistance.
