Residents had it with mosquitoes, want spray

Mosquito Flats is living up to its name and city residents want something done about it. The mosquitoes are so bad in the neighborhood along River’s Edge Park that people can’t go outside, Columbia Falls city councilmembers complained Monday night.

With a wet spring and cool summer, standing water in the park has meant swarms of mosquitoes. Gardeners at the community garden inside the park are having a tough time, said councilwoman Jenny Lovering.

“It’s next to impossible to do any work,” she said. “They just get swarmed.”

The county sprays for mosquitoes, homeowners pay for it in a line item on their tax bills, but the county recently told the city it wouldn’t spray the area because a half-dozen homeowners objected. In addition, there were concerns about the health of cats, some domestic, some feral, which hang out in the park.

That didn’t sit well with mayor Don Barnhart, who argued that people were being taxed for a service they weren’t getting. He noted the city had similar problems when the county took over weed control in the city and then never sprayed until the city complained. Barnhart read a letter to council from his daughter, who lives in the Mosquito Flats neighborhood.

In the letter, she talked about bites to her children and the fact that they couldn’t go outside.

Barnhart strongly suggested the county reconsider its decision not to spray. He argued the county could spray in the evening when the winds are light. That would keep the spray off properties of neighbors who didn’t want the spray. He also argued it wouldn’t kill honeybees, as they’re not as active at dusk.

The community garden would cover its crops with plastic while spraying occurred.

Barnhart urged residents to contact the county health department directly, at (406) 751-8101.