MONTAGUE — After a year of continued discussion, Montague will be the latest town to join the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District.
The Board of Health voted unanimously on June 18 to recommend to the Selectboard that Montague join the district, which has 24 member municipalities across Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties. The Selectboard approved this recommendation on Monday.
The Board of Health has been holding discussions since 2024 on whether to recommend joining the district, according to Director of Public Health Ryan Paxton. The delay in the recommendation came in part from anticipated legislative changes that did not come to fruition.
In 2021, Annual Town Meeting voters authorized the Selectboard to join the district, and appropriated $10,000 from free cash to be used for related expenses and fees. One year of service through the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District costs $5,250. After the initial year, the Board of Health will account for the annual membership fee in its budget.
The district’s website explains that its team monitors mosquito populations for eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus. It also offers disease mitigation in member municipalities, but pesticide spraying is not a practice the district engages in.
“We are not a spray district,” Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District Commissioner Carolyn Shores Ness said in response to a question from Selectboard Vice Chair Richard Kuklewicz.
“What we, as a district, allow the towns to do is decide, like Deerfield did this year, that [if] it is gonna be a bad mosquito year … we treat with [Bacillus thuringiensis serotype israelensis] … which is like mosquito birth control,” she continued, explaining that this is a proactive measure to reduce population numbers.
When asked about public feedback the board had received regarding joining the district, Board of Health Chair Melanie Ames Zamojski reiterated the concern over pesticide spraying. She added that the town would have more control over what monitoring and mitigation work is done, thus allowing the town to better educate residents on local mosquito trends.
Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District Director John Briggs explained there are weekly reports published related to mosquito monitoring on the district’s website for people to view, along with information about viruses carried by mosquitoes.
Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.
