Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet to education public on skeeters

Emmet's City Council is going to rely on educating the public on mosquito eradication.

This is being done because the amount of money Nevada County received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), wasn't enough for an eradication program throughout the county.

Emmet Mayor Dale Booker, told the council, at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Oct. 9, the county received a "small amount" of money for mosquito abatement from FEMA.

Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown met with the mayors of incorporated cities in the county to discuss how to best use the funds.

Booker said it's too late in the year to do much about getting rid of mosquitos, but people can be educated as to how they can reduce the mosquito population around their homes.

Next year, he said, there may be an attempt to buy pellets to kill mosquito larvae. These pellets are thrown on standing water and release their toxins to kill the larvae.

However, Booker said, a 500 pound pallet of the pellets costs $8,000, and the county only received enough to buy a pallet and a half.

Dick Snell, a member of the Emmet council, said people need to be aware they can do things to get rid of mosquitos and reduce the West Nile Virus threat.

Brochures on how people can battle mosquitoes around their homes are being mailed out and sent home with students from county schools, Booker said.

The council was also informed of a problem with a water main.

The main in question was located near Del Mesa Farms on Highway 67. Once it was tracked down and dug out, Booker said, it was found the "stainless steel" bolts had "rusted through".

The bolts, Booker told the council, were supposed to be stainless, but this metal doesn't rust through in three years. New stainless steel bolts were ordered and installed in the eight-inch main.

And, he added, this problem occurred after the system's warranty had expired. Booker said the council should expect more of the same type headaches if other supposedly stainless steel bolts turn out to be some other metal.

The city, he said, has received several requests to work on South Main Street to get the ditches and culverts cleaned.

Street department crews have complied, and cleaned ditches on the east side of the street, while clearing out or replacing some culverts. Some of the culverts, he said, were plugged up and resulted in flooding when it rained.

Under the former city administration, Booker said, Emmet purchased its new fire truck. The department, in turn, pledged its Act 833 money to pay the city back.

The truck originally cost $29,000, Booker said, and about $24,000 is still owed on it. The city has received $2,500 in Act 833 money so far this year and should get another $900.

However, he said, the problem is getting the money sent from the state.

Booker and Frank Faulkner have both called to get the money, and each gets different stories. One will be told the check's in the mail, while the other is told it's about to be sent out.

Another headache homeowners will be facing in the not too distant future because of flood planes.

Booker said in the 1980s, FEMA offered a national flood insurance plan, and Emmet signed up for it.

Things, though, have changed, and not for the better, he said. Now, anyone building must watch where the construction is being done in the flood plane areas.

Eventually, he said, the county will have to adopt a building code and anyone wanting to build in a flood plane will have to get a permit and determination on the elevation of the property in question.

The elevation must be above the 100 year flood level. This, Booker said, is for the owner's benefit, because insurance companies are covering less and less and this will be another item to be removed from coverage.

This means those who build in flood planes won't be able to get insurance.

Booker said there are houses in the county, located within the flood plane, that can't be refinanced and will be hard to sell because banks don't want to make the loans.

Proposed Amendment 3 was also discussed. Amendment 3 is the food tax issue, sponsored by the Arkansas Libertarian Party.

Booker said work is underway to get it removed from the ballot, as the idea is to eliminate tax on food and medicine.

This will cut 30 percent out of the city's turnback funds, he said, and do away with a lot of services from government agencies.

"It would be disastrous," he said.