April 1, 2013 Minutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
April 1, 2013
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Work Session on
Monday, April 1, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. in the Council Work Session Room at City Hall.
PRESENT: Council Member Engelbrecht, Council Member Watts, Council Member Gregory,
Mayor Pro Tem Kamp, Mayor Burroughs, Council Member Roden
ABSENT: Council Member King
1. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction concerning the City of Denton
Mosquito Surveillance and Response Plan.
Ken Banks, Director of Environmental Services and Sustainability, stated that the purpose and
background of his presentation would be to incorporate new information and lessons learned
from the 2012 season into the Mosquito Surveillance and Response Plan (MSRP). Staff had held
several meetings with the Committee on the Environment to discuss trigger levels for spraying
and proposed changes/modifications to the MSRP. The MSRP was divided into two sections.
One section dealt with mosquito surveillance and general information and the other dealt with
mosquito response. The Plan had five risk levels which were based on specific trigger conditions.
Once enacted, the risk level outlined a series of responses. The Plan had flexibility to address the
complexities of the mosquito-bird-human weather complex.
Mosquito Response Section – The recommended changes to this section were reviewed.
Mayor Burroughs stated that in the past, there was reluctance to having a broader distribution of
BTI. He noted that the product was available commercially and asked if that issue have been
overcome.
Banks indicated that he did not recall a concern with the City’s partners. The product was
distributed to anyone who wanted it long as the individual was a Denton resident. The concern
might have been in providing large quantities to a single individual or having the product go out
into the County as the County had its own program. The issue of providing a large quantity to
one person was that person might turn around and sell the product.
Mayor Burroughs asked harmonizing the evaluation of the edges of the city limits so that County
areas that were close to the city limits were not missed.
Banks stated that there were potential concerns of getting BTI from the County in those areas.
There was an extra step to approach the County for the BTI.
Mayor Burroughs suggested if traps were set in the areas around the edge of the city limits, that
an inventory be done to determine if they were migrating from the County part near a dense
population. The City could then warn the County and request assistance in those types of areas.
Council Member Gregory asked if the Spinosad was more potent and not targeted just to
mosquitoes.
Banks stated if the normal formulation was used, it was similar to BTI. Ultra-low Volume
(ULV) spraying application trigger evaluation involved evaluating the current "Risk Level 5"
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April 1, 2013
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trigger of multiple human cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) and associated response of ground
based ULV spraying. Setting spray triggers was challenging and decisions involved complex
biological, ecological and public health factors. The decision would always be made with
incomplete information and there would be strong feelings from the public in response to the
decision. Trigger conditions should always attempt to balance public health protection, non-
target impacts, efficient resource use and realistic response level expectations.
Information on what other cities did in terms of spraying was presented. Denton’s spraying in
2012 was the first spraying in more than a decade. Under the current trigger, spraying started on
June 30, 2012 and continued until the middle of September for a total of 30 spray events. It was
possible to reconstruct how the spraying would have looked under various trigger scenarios.
However, the scenarios were based on data collected using the monitoring network under the
spraying application strategy currently used and were theoretical. Pros and cons were presented
for scenarios involving (1) spraying for every WNV positive trap, (2) spraying for two or more
positive traps, non consecutive, (3) spraying for three or more positive traps, non-consecutive,
(4) spraying for three or more positive traps, consecutive, and (5) and spraying for 2 or more
positive human cases which was the current trigger. A table on spraying scenarios was reviewed
which was based on conditions from last year.
Options presented to Committee on the Environment involved (1) no further action, (2) direct
staff to adopt the changes recommended for the MSRP, as finalized via discussion with the
Committee on the Environment, or (3) table the discussion for future consideration. Staff
recommended Option 2 and the Committee on the Environment supported this recommendation.
Council Member Roden stated that there appeared to be ebb and flow of the season and
suggested a hybrid system using one circumstance as a trigger and then as season goes on, using
another.
Banks felt that could be a good idea to have an aggressive treatment in the beginning and then
change throughout the season.
Council Member Gregory asked if other cities got together to discuss the processes done in their
cities.
Banks stated that staff had informal contacts for years but the County had an active role in
pulling areas cities together for discussions.
Council Member Engelbrecht asked what method the County used.
Banks stated that the County’s plan was very similar to Denton's with larvicides aggressively
used and had a spraying trigger in their draft. Their spraying would be ground based - not aerial.
Mayor Burroughs asked about public notices and possible modifications to those notices.
Banks stated that the plan only outlined in a basic sense the notification process. The Public
Communication Office had a free standing plan to enact at the beginning of the mosquito season.
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Mayor Burroughs suggested establishing contact with homeowner associations and having that
individual pass information on to the members of the association. He asked if there was a way to
identify the areas of the City that had the most hits in the traps so if the infestation was high the
City would be able to go out early and have a higher level of aggression this season to undercut
that number.
Banks stated that staff looked at the trap data and areas that showed a significant amount of
WNV had adjustments made to the traps to account for that. There was a need to be cautions as
there was such a dependency on the weather. A hard rain event might kill the larva and set back
the mosquito population for three weeks. Areas last year with WNV did not mean they were
going to have the same amount in those areas this year.
Surveillance and General Information Section – the recommended changes and rationale for the
changes to this section were reviewed.
Council Member Engelbrecht asked if recovery from WNV for someone over 50 was harder than
on a younger person.
Banks stated that there might be some people younger than 50 who may have lifelong side
effects from the disease. There was no way of predicting how an individual would respond to
the disease
Options presented to the Committee on the Environment included (1) no further action, (2) direct
staff to adopt the changes recommended for the MSRP, as finalized via discussion with the
Committee on the Environment or (3) table the discussion for future consideration. Staff
recommended Option 2 which the Committee on the Environment supported.
Mayor Pro Tem Kamp expressed a concern that the Committee along with Council had a
concern regarding unfunded mandates and whether there was a need to place an item in the
upcoming budget for expenses associated with the program.
Banks stated that it might be possible that a supplemental package would be brought forward but
there was always the issue that it may or may not be needed. It was important to set up funding
so that it could be in place across seasons and if not used one year, would be available for the
next year.
Mayor Pro Tem Kamp asked Banks for his opinion for this season.
Banks stated that it was difficult to predict but professionals felt that because the mosquitoes
went into the dormant season with a higher amount of WNV in the population, there might be an
earlier emergence this season but there were also many variables to deal with. Weather events
could change the situation one way or another.
Mayor Burroughs asked for a suggestion on what do with a homeowners association in terms of
distributing BTI. He questioned if the homeowners association could be used as a sub-
distributor to keep list of who received the product.
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Banks stated that might be a possibility. There was also the need to educate people on how to
apply the material. Some people were unfamiliar with the application of BTI and staff provided
a safety data sheet with the application.
Mayor Burroughs stated that some subdivisions were more formed with a homeowners
association than others. For those willing to set up a program to hand out the materials and to
education members, it would be a ready resource that engaged citizens and could energize the
education process.
Kiersten Dieterle, Public Communication, stated that her staff was already working with the
Planning Department for homeowner association information and preparing brochures, door
hangers and postcards telling people how to host meetings and how to distribute the materials.
Council Member Roden asked when it would be necessary to start being concerned about
standing water, etc.
Banks stated that May 1 was date the State considered the start of the season and was when they
started testing mosquitoes. He felt it was weather dependent so picking a specific date was hard.
Dieterle stated that Public Communication was working on campaign pieces now for the
beginning of May.
Following the completion of the Work Session, the City Council convened in a Closed Meeting
to consider the following:
A. Consultation with Attorneys - Under Texas Government Code Section 551.071.
1. Consult with the City’s attorneys regarding legal issues associated with
the creation of municipal utility districts within the City’s corporate
limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction under existing and proposed State
legislation, and administrative regulations. The duty of the City’s
attorneys to the City of Denton and the Denton City Council under the
Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of
Texas clearly conflicts with the provisions of the Open Meetings Act,
Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code in this matter.
Following the completion of the Closed Meeting, the Council convened in Open Session at 1:50
p.m. and with no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
____________________________________ ____________________________________
MARK A. BURROUGHS JENNIFER WALTERS
MAYOR CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS