Outer Creek Watershed warns Salisbury’s midseason pullback could halt adult mosquito spraying

Jeff Schumann, a representative of the Outer Creek Watershed District, presented the district’s 2024 review and the trustees’ plan for 2025 staffing and operations. Schumann said the district intends to separate surveillance/testing work from night-time applicator teams and to budget for a full-time operations coordinator on the ground. “We would like to have 120 a week of employees out doing surveillance and testing and larvicide during the day and then have a team of applicators who can go out at night,” Schumann said. The board asked clarifying questions about staffing, equipment and the district’s capital needs for trucks and a basic laboratory.

A second focus of Schumann’s briefing was a dispute with Salisbury, which voted midseason to reject adulticide spraying after having previously signaled it would participate. Schumann told the board that Salisbury’s decision left the district believing it is owed about $17,000 for adulticide services and that the trustees are weighing three responses: accept the change and proceed only with larvicide, withhold adulticide services and suspend Salisbury’s voting privileges, or pursue legal remedies. “If you don't pay, there is a clause in the bylaws that says, if you're delinquent your money, we can withhold the services and we can suspend the voting rights of your representatives at the board,” Schumann said. He added that litigation was considered in 2021 and remains an option trustees prefer to avoid.

Leicester board members discussed the fairness of a town changing its vote after town meeting and how the district and member towns should enforce payment timelines. The board asked OCW representatives to return on February 3 with options, and members said they would consult their select boards in the intervening weeks. The Select Board also requested clearer documentation of payment commitments and the OCW agreement language governing charges and service suspension.