06/16/2003 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular Council Minutes 6-16-03 Page 17 Mayor Rinker said I don't know if anyone has visited their website but we definitely encourage tracking that. They keep it pretty well updated. Mr. Riter said I have had a number of people that are concerned in the Hickory Hill/Metro area. Goldberg has built several new large ponds across S.O.M. Center and those residents feel that those are breeding grounds for West Nile virus. I've talked to the Mayor and he assures me they're not. I've talked with Pat, Doug and Bernie and they've assured me they're not. Donna has gotten me a reprint of the materials that were put in the VOV. I've got materials from Doug and Bernie. I am putting together a packet with a cover letter along with a reminder about how to go to the County website because those residents have requested that they get further information. They are very concerned. Some of the older residents-you've heard the comments in the past-talking about putting their houses on the market; people are afraid that nobody is doing anything. So in that part of the Village-I'm going to put out a packet and tell them basically that we've been told there is not an issue with those new ponds. Mayor Rinker said I think that one of the things we advised people in the flyer that we sent out, is typically the type of breeding area. It's a shallow area; like in tires, in places that don't drain well. I think this is a perfect example of how people's perceptions can drive the discussion. We are not going to be able to do a lot to keep people from being concerned and being fearful the first time they see water standing somewhere. I don't want to trivialize it. On the contrary, what we want to do is underscore the fact that just because you see some area that is wet, doesn't mean automatically it is and because somebody hasn't picked up the phone or hasn't had a discussion in the last week with a particular resident; we don't want to minimize it and tell them don't worry, I can assure you that nothing is going to go wrong because we can't assure them that either. I mean this is a problem. We may have monkeypox next for all we know. These are the kinds of very insidious problems that I think the best thing we can do is remind people what to look for, if they see things to report them, either through our Dispatch, through our Service, through our various Village personnel so that we can try to keep on top of it. The other thing is to encourage anyone who has got a computer to go to the website because they will have much more detailed information on there. All that statistical and I think very descriptive information. Mrs. Mills said I know last year I sent Doug to some places here in the Village that I thought would surely be contaminated and they were not. Council President Buckholtz said we had some in Worton Park that tested positive. Mayor Rinker said in a Swale area where you may have an inch or two of water- Mr. Brett said tires and Mrs. Mills said birdbaths too. Mr. Riter said that is why I am putting together the materials that they've been given already and giving the materials to them again as a reminder. Mayor Rinker said there are a lot of different strategies. I don't think there's one that's preferable over the other but the most common one that I think Council representatives can do is tell people these are the facts. I don't want to blow anybody off and say no, don't worry about it