Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District

Report of District Activities

Manager’s Report

Board of Trustees Meeting

October 9, 2007

1. There was one death of a woman in the western part of our District that was associated with West Nile virus. WNV was not listed as the cause of death but as a contributing factor. The District was notified of this case several days prior to the story’s release by the media. We have an arrangement with the Riverside County Public Health Department whereby they advise us of suspect cases. This allows our staff the opportunity to inspect and treat suspected areas in a timely manner. In this particular case, no mosquito breeding source was found within a mile of the site. It is unknown if the person had a history of travel in the Valley or elsewhere. West Nile virus stays active in mosquitoes in the eastern part of the Valley. Updated information will be presented at the meeting.

2. Companies visited the District for walk-throughs for the pond and solar panel construction bids. Bids have been opened and companies awarded the bids will be announced soon.

3. A Health Fair was held at the District where staff was presented their options for health care. Representatives were present from providers to answer questions from staff.

4. The General Manager attended a workshop hosted by California Special Districts Association (CSDA) for general managers. The interactive session helped with the impact and value of teams, leadership, and examples of real life experiences. This was part of the CSDA annual conference also attended by the General Manager. The conference covered many aspects of special district operations, such as CEQA, technology, succession planning, LAFCO Service Reviews, and more. This is a worthwhile conference for trustees to attend in the future.

5. We will be hosting three visiting students from Serbia and Croatia who will conduct studies at our District while they learn about its operations. They will be introduced during the Information Section of this meeting.

6. The District is preparing for the strategic planning meeting by gathering data and information that may be needed at the meeting.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Recruitment continues for the positions of Field Supervisor, Vector Ecologist, Senior Biologist, Maintenance Worker, and Seasonal Vector Control Operators.

District staff attended the Annual Valley-Wide Employment Expo at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The District received a great deal of interest for our open positions. A large number of applications were distributed and many completed applications were submitted on site.

Three Premises Inspector Trainees were hired for the Red Imported Fire Ant Program. In addition Graciela Morales was promoted from Office Assistant to Administrative Clerk. Interviews for the open Office Assistant position will occur in early October.

FINANCE

The financial reports included in the packet show the balance sheet, receipts and the revenue and expenditure report for the month ending August 31, 2007. The Balance Sheet shows a liability Deferred Revenue of $1,204,397.07. This number consists of pass through revenue not received by the District 60 days after the end of fiscal year 2006/2007 from the various Redevelopment Agencies of the Coachella Valley.

The auditors Teaman, Ramirez and Smith are scheduled for this Board Meeting, to report on the District’s financial statements for FY 2006-2007.

The Finance Committee met on September 10, 2007, the draft minutes of that meeting are included in this month’s Board packet. The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, October 9, 2007.

Presently, the District is transitioning from PFF Bank to Desert Commercial Bank. The customer service provided from Desert Commercial has been outstanding making the transition process relatively easy. At this Board Meeting we are cutting checks for the first time from the new General Checking Account.

Desert Commercial have provided the District with a desktop device that allows the District to deposit checks to the Desert Commercial Market Rate Account remotely from the District without having staff drive over to the branch.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH REPORT

School presentation requests have increased with the beginning of the new school year, and we continue to contact local community organizations for presentation opportunities. On October 10th, we have scheduled staff training for those interested in doing presentation while the Community Educator is on maternity leave.

We are working on the 2008 Vector Calendar (Celebrating 80 years) as well as materials for the 2008 Annual MVCAC Conference to be held in Palm Springs.

The District had West Nile virus special reports aired on Channel 3 on September 13 and 14. There was a special report on September 24 by Michelle Mitchell of The Desert Sun in the “Desert WatchDog” section. Michelle interviewed Operations Manger Saulnier regarding standing water, mosquito breeding sources, and West Nile virus.

Community Outreach for August 20 - September 20, 2007
Group Presentations	Est. Audience
Civic and Community Groups
La Quinta Senior Center	32
Trilogy HOA Meeting	154
Mizell Senior Center	27
Schools
Cathedral City Elementary School 4th& 5th Grade	380
John Glenn Middle School 8th Grade	325
Events
Costco Employee Safety Training	263
Total Individuals Reached	1,181

2007 - 2008 Totals

DISTRICT FIELD OPERATIONS

Urban mosquito control activities continue to be a high priority, accounting for 77 % of the surveys and 76% of the treatments conducted during the period. Ground fogging control activities were conducted along the Lincoln Street area southeast of Mecca. Both aerial and ground equipment were used for fogging.

Psorophora (floodwater mosquitoes) abundance and concerns for control have generated a high level of service requests from Thermal area residents relating to agricultural flood irrigation practices. Efforts are being made to work more closely with farmers in that area to initiate more effective water management methods to reduce breeding sources.

Mosquito source reduction and larval control continue to be Operations primary mechanism to reduce and eliminate the potential threat of West Nile virus in the Valley. Whenever virus is detected, an immediate and intensive surveillance and treatment campaign is initiated in and around the detection source to reduce mosquito populations in the area in order to disrupt magnification and transmission of disease to other mosquitoes and residents.

Service requests and standing water requests continued to increase during this period. All requests were addressed and response action was taken within twenty-four hours. A total of 284 service requests and 43 requests for standing water response were received.

MOSQUITO CONTROL ACTIVITIES:

8	FIELD EVALUATIONS BY SUPERVISORS
2	FIELD SERVICE REQUEST EVALUATIONS
4	OPERATIONAL CREW MEETINGS
4	FIELD SAFETY CHECKS
5	MEETINGS WITH OWNERS/REPRESENTATIVES
13	NEW MOSQUITO BREEDING SOURCES
69	SERVICE REQUESTS FOR MOSQUITO CONTROL
24	STANDING WATER REQUESTS
39	GREEN POOL ADVISORIES/INSPECTIONS
3,028	FIELD INSPECTIONS BY TECHNICIANS
881	MOSQUITO TREATMENTS (Larval)
0	URBAN/SUBURBAN ACREAGE ADULTICIDED
7,092	RURAL ACREAGE FOGGED 996 Ground; 5,760 Aerial.
17	ADULTICIDE NIGHTS 8 Ground 9 Aerial
9	AERIAL TREATMENTS 0 Larvicide 9 Adulticide
4	MAJOR MOSQUITO SOURCE REDUCTION ACTIONS

COMPARATIVE MOSQUITO HABITAT ACREAGE TREATED

TREATED THIS MONTH	ACREAGE TREATED SEPTEMBER 2007	ACREAGE TREATED SEPTEMBER, 2006
LARVACIDING ADULTICIDING	421 Acres 7,092 Acres	220 Acres 0 Acres
FISCAL YEAR TOTALS	LARVACIDING	ADULTICIDING
2007/2008 YTD	932 Acres	15,278 Acres
2006/2007	2,294 Acres	5,075 Acres
2005/2006	2,027 Acres	20,172 Acres

PERCENTAGES OF MOSQUITO HABITAT ACREAGE TREATED

HABITAT	July 2007		August 2007		September 2007
	Acres	%	Acres	%	Acres	%
Salton Sea	46	19	0	0	0	0
Duck Clubs	14	6	3	1	27	6
Residential	63	27	54	20	37	9
Agriculture	115	48	218	79	357	85
Totals	238	100	275	100	421	100

MOSQUITO INSPECTIONS

HABITAT	July 2007		August 2007		September 2007
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Salton Sea	28	1	54	2	27	1
Duck Clubs	48	2	79	3	108	3
Residential	1,588	78	2274	77	2441	81
Agricultural	369	18	530	18	452	15
Totals	2.033	100	2,937	100	3,028	100

MOSQUITO HABITAT TREATMENTS

HABITAT	July 2007		August 2007		September 2007
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Salton Sea	3	1	7	1	4	1
Duck Clubs	9	1	15	2	13	1
Residential	610	81	733	76	667	76
Agricultural	131