SOUTHWEST MOSQUITO ABATEMENT & CONTROL DISTRICT MEETING MINUTES The Southwest Mosquito Abatement & Control District Board Meeting was called to order by Board Member Denny Drake at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday,, in the Commission Chambers of the Washington County Administration Building. Those in attendance were Board Members, Bruce Anderson, Gary McKell, Merrill Fisher, Luke Stevens, Doug Garner, Darrell Nelson, Dale Kingsley, William Johnson, and Pat Cluff; Director Mario Boisvert, Deputy County Attorney Rachelle Ehlert; County Treasurer Jerry Rasmussen; Denny Drake, Ex-Officio Dr. Andrew Barnum; and Deputy County Clerk Paula McEntire. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 11, 2008 MOTION: Motion by Pat Cluff to approve Minutes of December 11, 2008. Motion seconded by Bruce Anderson and carried by unanimous vote with all members present voting aye, except for Luke Stevens, who abstained. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Denny Drake said that Chairman Mike Foot has moved out of the Ivins area and is no longer on the Board. Mike Heaton, formerly the Vice Chairman, will now become the Chairman, and nominations will be accepted for the Vice Chairman position. MOTION: Motion by Denny Drake to nominate Bruce Anderson for Vice Chairman. Motion carried by unanimous vote, with all members present voting aye. Bruce Anderson introduced Mario Boisvert, the new Director of the Southwest Mosquito Abatement & Control District ( District ). Mario gave a summary of his impressive and extensive background and presented his view of what the mosquito abatement program should be, including improvements and suggestions for greater efficiency. Mario used a PowerPoint slide presentation during his address, a copy of which is attached to these minutes. BUDGET The budget of 2008 was well balanced. The only line item that went substantially over budget was for fuel costs (vehicle operations) due to high gas prices throughout the summer. Additionally the purchase of a new pick up truck caused an increase in the equipment purchase ledger. The main source of revenue for the District is property taxes. Copies of all budget documents distributed at the meeting are attached to these minutes.
Page 2 of 2 Mario said that the Department of Agriculture paid fifty percent (50%) of all expenses relating to equipment associated with the West Nile Virus. No Board approval was needed for the 2008 budget, as it was approved previously. The 2009 budget (as of 2-28-09) shows revenues from property taxes and from the Department of Agriculture totaling one hundred and twenty-four thousand seven hundred and ninety one dollars ($124,791) so far, which represents thirty-three percent (33%) of the total annual budget. As for expenditures, through the end of February, all salaries and benefits are in accordance with the budget. It is not a requirement to place public notice in The Spectrum when the District conducts fogging, so there will be no advertising costs for that. The cost to advertise the Manager s position was two hundred thirty dollars and sixty four cents ($230.64). There were originally six (6) telephones in the Mosquito Abatement office; three (3) have been de-activated, and the calling plan type has been changed, resulting in a savings of one thousand three hundred dollars ($1,300.00) per year for land line and cellular phones. MOTION: Motion by Merrill Fisher to accept the 2008 Budget and Year-to-Date 2009 Budget, as presented. Budget was accepted providing we merge 3 GL line items (Equipment Purchases, equipment under one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and contingent expense). It was reiterated that any expense over one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) must be approved either by the Executive Committee or by the Board (see Purchases), whereas anything under one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) can be undertaken by Mr. Boisvert on his own initiative. Motion seconded by William Johnson and carried by majority vote, with all members present voting aye with the exception of Luke Stevens, who voted nay. PURCHASES Trapping of mosquitoes this year will increase to thirty (30) traps per week everywhere in the County for thirty-one (31) weeks. CO2 or dry ice will be used to attract the mosquitoes, and volunteers will be placing the traps in the six (6) outlying areas: Enterprise, New Harmony, Springdale, Rockville, Hildale and Apple Valley. The District has committed to purchase thirty thousand seven hundred eighty eight dollars ($30,788.00) of pesticide this year. Some of the current inventory products have a shelflife that may expire before they can be utilized, so they will be used first. Several of the District s vehicles were not in operational condition when Mario arrived. He has arranged to repair such things as faulty transmissions, fuel pumps, broken windshields, gear boxes, leaks, new brackets added (for the foggers), etc. All vehicles are now ready to be used in the field.
Page 3 of 3 In the past, all data had to be recorded manually; with the new equipment, all monitoring can be done by computers in GPS units. Not included in the ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) for the purchase of software, however, were the licenses for operating it. The District has decided to purchase them rather than rent a space on the provider s server, resulting in an increase from ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) to sixteen thousand dollars ($16,000.00). A new printer, a new chainsaw, and a RAMP Test kit (cartridges) have also been purchased. A copy of the Revenue and Expense Report is attached. Expenses must be approved as follows: Under one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) - District Manager Between one thousand and four thousand dollars ($1,000.00 & $4,000.00) Executive Committee Over four thousand dollars ($4,000.00) Board Members Ms. Ehlert broached the subject of alternative methods in which the Board can vote on issues without physically assembling. She suggested voting electronically online, for example. It was decided that the bylaws would need to be changed to accommodate an alternative voting method by the board. Perhaps the quorum could be changed if the format were changed, as well. This should be an agenda item for the next meeting. The bylaws should also eventually allow that Board Members may be notified by phone and email of upcoming meetings (agendas would be attached to emails). Another suggestion was to add a board member from the unincorporated areas of the County. GIS and GPS equipment ($16,000.00) purchase has been authorized by Commissioner Drake after discussion with Mike Heaton. REPORT OF DR. BARNUM Dr. Barnum gave a history of the mosquito control program in Washington County, which began in approximately 1971.
Page 4 of 4 FIELD REPORT Mario said that this year, there will be traps everywhere in the County. In his Field Report, he said that he had recently spent four (4) days in the field with Kesler and Bruce to familiarize himself with the local environment. Employees have already started treatment at various sites, with trapping expected to start in the last week of March. Some traps are back-ordered, so trapping will not occur in some areas until April. There will be thirty (30) traps in all. More equipment is needed to supplement the additional traps. TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT Next summer the District will have to hire two (2) part-time people to set up and pick up traps, do RAMP tests, mosquito identification, etc. From the end of March to early October is a total of approximately thirty-one (31) weeks, during which one person will work for four (4) evenings, four (4) hours per shift, setting traps, while the other temporary employee will work in the morning hours (4 mornings, 6 hours per shift) and pick up the traps and help with mosquito identification. Also two (2) employees for larviciding will be needed. Both will work for seventeen (17) weeks. First week of May to the end of August with the other one working the first of June to the end of September. We will have thirteen (13) weeks over lap during the peak period. MISCELLANEOUS Mr. Heaton came to Mario and said he thought that last year not all the people had been paid reimbursement for attendance to meetings. Mario requested anyone who was not correctly reimbursed to please let him know. Bruce is working on the website and it should be up and running soon. Kesler will take Mario s place when Mario is unavailable, and part of Kesler s duties will include oversight of the pesticide inventory and the safety of the storage unit in Hurricane. Mario has compiled a PowerPoint presentation to give to municipalities when he visits them.
Page 5 of 5 A grant has been received from the State in the amount of five thousand nine hundred fifty one dollars ($5,951.00) for West Nile Virus management. It may be necessary to obtain new resolutions from certain cities for their participation in the mosquito abatement program as some of them cannot be located. Board members are scheduling meetings with some of the mayors in order to obtain their cooperation. SCHEDULE NEXT MEETING DATE / ADJOURN The next meeting was scheduled for June 11, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers in the Washington County Administration Building. Bruce Anderson proposed to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Doug Garner. Bruce Anderson adjourned the meeting at 3:35 p.m. MARIO BOISVERT DISTRICT MANAGER PAULA D. MCENTIRE DEPUTY COUNTY CLERK