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Despite rain and West Nile virus, Pittsfield is not spraying for mosquitoes
Meg Britton-Mehlisch reports in The Berkshire Eagle that there may be a lot of standing water in the area, and a few cases of West Nile virus have been found in town, but the Pittsfield City Council voted Aug. 15 not to spray insecticide against adult mosquitoes this summer. Instead, the mosquitoes will multiply as the council voted instead of spraying to have the Board of Health and Conservation Commission discuss their current mosquito policy and “guidelines and protocols on spraying.” Ward 4 Councilor Jim Conant was agitated by the vote, saying, “It’s obvious to me that we do have a health issue and we need to revisit this vote and repeal the action.” But another councilor, Earl Persip III, said, “Throwing chemicals up in the air to try and kill a small percent of adult mosquitoes is not doing anybody any favors — except killing pollinators.... And even if you killed a handful of pollinators, we are not in a place in the world where we can let any pollinators die.” Councilors Karen Kalinowksy, Charles Kronick, Dina Lampiasi, Anthony Maffuccio, Earl Persip III, and Pete White voted against resuming mosquito spraying while Council President Peter Marchetti and Councilors Patrick Kavey, Ken Warren, Kevin Sherman, and Jim Conant voted in favor. Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.