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RESOLUTION NO. __________
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UNIVERSITY
PARK, TEXAS DECLARING A LOCAL STATE OF DISASTER BECAUSE OF
AN IMMINENT THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY DUE TO A
SEVERE OUTBREAK OF WEST NILE VIRUS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE
CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS; PROVIDING THE CONSENT OF THE
CITY COUNCIL TO THE CONTINUATION OR RENEWAL OF THE
DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY BEYOND A PERIOD OF SEVEN (7) DAYS
FOLLOWING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS RESOLUTION; PROVIDING
AUTHORITY FOR THE CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS TO
PARTICIPATE IN AERIAL SPRAYING FOR THE PURPOSE OF MOSQUITO
ERADICATION; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne disease that is capable of causing
severe illness or death in humans;
WHEREAS, of all the cases of human West Nile virus infection in the United States,
half of those cases have occurred in Texas, and half of those within Dallas County alone;
and
WHEREAS, within Dallas County, Texas there have been more than 190 cases of
human West Nile virus infection, at least three confirmed cases of human West Nile virus
infection within the City of University Park, Texas, and more than ten deaths in Dallas
County relating to human West Nile virus infection; and
WHEREAS, the City has engaged in continuous efforts since the outbreak to control the
spread of the disease by employing a number of measures including public education and
awareness, ground-based spraying, larvicide application, stagnant water abatement, and
monitoring of captured mosquitoes for evidence of West Nile virus in those insects; and
WHEREAS, coordinated, area-wide aerial spraying may provide for more effective
control and mitigation of the spread of West Nile virus;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS, THAT:
SECTION 1. That, with respect to the spread of West Nile virus within the City, an
emergency meeting of the City Council of the City of University Park was called and
posted as prescribed by Texas Government Code Sec. 551.045(a), and a local state of
disaster is hereby declared within the City of University Park, Texas.
SECTION 2. That, pursuant to Sec. 418.108(b) of the Texas Government Code, the City
Council hereby consents to the continuation or renewal of the foregoing declaration of a
local state of disaster from day-to-day beyond the expiration of seven (7) days from the
effective date of this Resolution until such time as it shall be determined that the threat to
public health and safety as described in this Resolution is no longer imminent.
SECTION 3. That the Mayor and City Manager are hereby authorized to cause the City
to participate in aerial spraying programs related to the eradication or mitigation of the
spread of West Nile virus.
SECTION 4. That this Resolution shall take effect from and after its passage, and it is
accordingly so resolved.
DULY PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of University Park,
Texas on this 14th day of August, 2012.
APPROVED:
______________________________
W. RICHARD DAVIS, MAYOR
ATTEST:
__________________________
CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
__________________________
CITY ATTORNEY
1
Liz Spector
From:Newell, Marvin [marvin.newell@everestgrp.com]
Sent:Friday, August 10, 2012 6:04 PM
To:City Council
Cc:Bob Livingston
Subject:Aerial Spraying - URGENT!
Importance:High
To Whom !t May Concern:
Please authorize the commencement of aerial spraying for mosquito control across University Park as soon as
possible.
Thank you in advance for your prompt action!
Regards,
Sallie & Marvin Newell
2916 Purdue Avenue
University Park, TX 75225
Marvin Newell
Partner
marvin.newell@everestgrp.com
Office: +1-214-451-3036 | Mobile: +1-214-205-1089 | Fax: +1-214-451-3001
Everest Group
From insight to action.
www.everestgrp.com | research.everestgrp.com | www.sherpasinblueshirts.com
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1
Liz Spector
From:Meghillert@aol.com
Sent:Saturday, August 11, 2012 10:24 AM
To:City Council
Subject:No Areial Spraying
I am very concerned about the aerial spraying. My husband had a 50 year old patient who contracted West Nile and fully
recovered. A few 90 year old people have died, so we chance our kids, grandkids, and pets? I am 65, and if I die of West
Nile, hey, you have to die sometime when you are my age. I am outside all the time and been bitten numerous times and I
still alive and kicking! I have a six month old grandbaby and pets and I do not want them to be experiments for the CDC!
We have no idea the affects in the future. I don't care what the CDC says. Too many times we listen to people who have
no pony in the race who just sell us a bill of good. Then we see all the cancer clusters.
THIS IS A BIG MISTAKE!!!!!
1
Liz Spector
From:Dane Blevins [blevins.dane@gmail.com]
Sent:Saturday, August 11, 2012 1:21 PM
To:City Council
Cc:rdavis@uptexas.org; rbegert@uptexas.org; Robert Clark; dmoore@uptexas.org; Tommy
Stewart
Subject:Why are you spraying?
Importance:High
Hi,
I would like to know why UP is planning to spray poison from the sky negatively affecting 20,000+ residents because
.0004% of the population was affected by West nile? DEET is not recommended to be used near infants according to the
American Academy of Pediatrics. Consequently, my newborn will be adversely affected by this negligence.
There are alternative options that have not been explored, and should be explored before risking the health of all the
children in UP:
1)The town should advise people (especially the elderly) too wear long sleeves, or not go outside. If you spray you are
essentially asking the same of UP residents—since nobody should be outside during the spraying.
2) Advise UP and HP residents to withhold from watering their lawns (at any time of the day) for two weeks… Why has
this not been done already? When I jog through the neighborhood much, if not all of the pooled water is from residents
watering their lawns.
3) At a minimum wait and see how the targeted spraying works. West Nile is not much worse than the flu for healthy
individuals. Accordingly, we would not force flu shots unwillingly on healthy individuals.
At a minimum, these steps should explored before both poisoning our water supply, and our air quality. I am
disappointed at the lack of analysis and strategy that is taking place. Will all of you be staying in town for the spraying?
Best Regards,
Dane Blevins
1
Liz Spector
From:Meghillert@aol.com
Sent:Saturday, August 11, 2012 1:52 PM
To:viewpoints@dallasnews.com
Subject:Stop Aerial Spraying!
I believe that aerial spraying is a real mistake in Dallas and the Park Cities. We have no idea the repercussions of
saturating our neighborhoods with insecticides. There have been very few deaths from West Nile, mainly older people
with underlining health conditions.
We are allowing the CDC and our elected officials to call the shots on the health and well being of our families, children,
pets.
Where is the outcry?
Meg Hillert
Dallas, Texas
2146914205
3313 Rankin
Dallas, Texas 75205 meghillert@aol.com
1
Liz Spector
From:Meghillert@aol.com
Sent:Sunday, August 12, 2012 4:51 PM
To:viewpoints@dallasnews.com
Subject:Talk About Your Big Brother!
I thought the Republicans were against big government? Why are our mayors in University Park and Highland
Park ramrodding aerial spraying of insecticides over our neighborhoods? I bet the majority who sit on our city councils and
represent our two cities are Republicans! Talk about Big Brother! While many people are either out of town or do not
know the repercussions of aerial spraying for children and pets, we are allowed no discussion or vote on the future health
of our families.
It is sad that a few older people, with underlining conditions, have died. How will the insecticides affect many more older
people? Many more people have recovered from the West Nile Virus than died.
Whole communities were sprayed in the 1950's, and it was finally stopped just to take place again. I would like to see
the statistics of cancer clusters from aerial spraying before I agree to this mad scheme! Is it worth taking the chance?
Meg Hillert
Dallas, Texas
2146914205
3313 Rankin
Dallas, Texas 75205 meghillert@aol.com
1
Liz Spector
From:Patsy Ann Bell [belldsgn@airmail.net]
Sent:Monday, August 13, 2012 11:44 AM
To:Steve Mace; City Council; city-manager; city-secretary
Subject:Please! NO Aerial Spraying
Dear Mayor Davis, University Park Council members, and the University Park Staff,
I am writing to voice my concern regarding the consideration of aerial spraying as a final option in the city and
county’s mosquito abatement policies as well as my concern regarding possibility of escalating to stronger,
more toxic chemicals. While I am pleased that the University Park officials have demonstrated restraint and
caution in response to being pressured to aerial spray, I am deeply concerned to learn that some local officials
continue to call for aerial spraying. There are inherent risks to blanketing a densely-populated urban
environment with aerial sprayed pesticides, which have set a precedent in other communities of creating a
greater public health threat than West Niles.
Aerial spraying for mosquitoes in New York in 2000 led to more injuries from pesticide exposures than cases of
West Nile infection, a disturbing outcome for any measure intended to curb public health threats. In 2008, the
state of California faced lawsuits to halt aerial spraying for the brown moth after more than 400 reports of
pesticide injury and thousands of complaints by citizens experiencing negative health effects from the spraying,
which a commissioned health report by California agencies eventually confirmed. Dallas citizens also have
been affected by West Nile spraying in Texas, including several electric line workers who were disabled after
city trucks accidentally sprayed them, confirming the inherent dangers of truck or aerial spraying pesticides in
urban settings. Area cities like Fort Worth and Arlington, as well as our nation’s capital, do not truck or aerial
spray because of the health risks and the known inefficiency and decreased effectiveness of spraying city streets
at night while mosquitoes are inactive.
Sadly, the negative effects from spraying are for the most part rendered in vain. A 2006 Centers for Disease
Control and Harvard Public School of Health study found that spraying does not appear to prevent the spread of
West Nile. Furthermore, entomology experts note that aerial spraying is inefficient and largely ineffective in the
long run, with as little as 1% of mosquitoes being hit by the spraying according to Cornell University
entomologist David Pimentel. Integrated pest management experts note that government agencies often test for
mosquitoes immediately following the spraying and note temporary reduction in mosquito population as
evidence of efficacy of spraying. However, more thorough case study assessments have shown that mosquito
populations quickly bounce back following spraying because of unintended die off of mosquito predator
species, which can allow mosquitoes to rebound unchecked. When officials aerial sprayed parts of Florida
following Hurricane Floyd, the mosquito populations rebounded to pre-pray levels within three days. Aerial
spraying also is much more likely to hit other unintended targets when compared to truck-based spraying and
dramatically increases the city’s risk of injuring residents exposed to pesticide drift and residue. IT’s virtually
impossible to aerial spray in a targeted manner and suggestions of limiting aerial spray to parks and open fields
still carries with it the significant risk for pesticide drift covering unintended targets with neurotoxic residue.
Furthermore, children are frequent users of parks and risk exposure via residue left on playground equipment
and the ground, where children often play. Children are also at greater risk of pesticide injury, which is why a
recent public health report listed pesticide exposure as one of the top 5 health threats to children.
In spite of spraying pesticides with known human health risks, the city continues to state spraying is “safe,”
which is expressly prohibited by federal law since pesticides are designed to kill or harm living things. By
misleading the public, the city is creating a false complacency among residents who are assuming the spraying
is in fact “safe,” which may prevent residents from taking appropriate precautions and put them at risk of injury
2
from pesticide drift or residue. In fact, the pyrethroid pesticide the city is using, like all pesticides, is anything
but safe and is considered a central nervous system poison. Immediate toxic exposure from permethrin can lead
to skin and eye irritation, skin rashes, inflammation, numbing, tingling, itching, burning sensation, salivation,
headache, dizziness, fatigue, vomiting, nerve damage, seizures, twitching, incoordination, as well as irritability
to sound and touch at extremely high doses. While it is often noted that many of the effects of pyrethroid
exposure may manifest as short term symptoms, studies of pesticide injured individuals have shown that
pyrethroid exposure can progress to chronic long-term symptoms including cerebro-organic disorders,
sensomotor-polyneuropathy, vegetative nervous disorders and autoimmune-like disease. Recent studies have
also found links between pyrethroids and endocrine disruption as well as cancer. Though the human health
threats have yet to be fully quantified, studies with lab animals have linked pyrethroid exposure to damage of
the thyroid, liver and nervous system, as well as impairment of behavioral development, immune system
disruption, and endocrine system disruption, which are findings relevant to human health since pyrethroids act
on aspects of the nervous system common to all animals. Escalation to pesticides like organophosphates would
carry even greater risk for toxicity. Any decision to use stronger chemicals and more ubiquitous application,
brings with it increased risk of injury as well as escalating problems with predator die-off, mosquito resurgence
and mosquito resistance to increasingly stronger pesticides.
In 2002, former EPA scientist and nationally recognized integrated pest management specialist William E.
Currie proposed a more effective, preventative strategy to the city in which spraying would be a last resort
option that is used very strategically, conservatively and in a targeted manner. He recommended that the city
only target spray culverts and other known breeding sites during the day when mosquitoes are active rather than
truck or aerial spraying entire communities with a wide, indiscriminate blanket of pesticides that hit unintended
targets and wipe out predator species as well. Currie has worked with city and state municipalities across the
country developing safe, effective integrated pest management programs for schools and communities. His
proposal recognizes that education, larvaciding and code enforcement are the foundation of any successful
mosquito abatement program and that when implemented comprehensively, usually render the need for
spraying unnecessary.
While I am as concerned as the UP officials and Dallas county regarding the public health threat of West Nile, I
am also deeply concerned about any decision to utilize strategies that could have greater public health
implications that the virus itself. Thus, I encourage local officials to utilize the safest, most effective abatement
strategies by expanding and intensifying preventative efforts through education, code enforcement and
larvaciding while utilizing spraying as only a last resort and in an extremely targeted rather than diffuse manner
as recommended by leading experts like Currie. The city and county have an opportunity to learn from and
avoid the mistakes of cities that have injured their residents with aerial spraying initiatives, while at the same
time considering the approaches of cities like Arlington and Fort Worth that have emphasized the safer, more
preventative-based strategies without having to implement truck or aerial spraying.
Sincerely,
Patsy Ann Bell
1
Liz Spector
From:donicajimenez@yahoo.com
Sent:Monday, August 13, 2012 12:35 PM
To:City Council
Subject:Oppose aerial spraying
To the city council:
As a life long citizen of University Park, I would like to voice my strong opposition to the
proposed aerial spraying for West Nile. I do not want chemicals in my yard, on my garden, on
my outdoor pets, and entering my home through the a/c.
The experts on the news today said that the spraying only kills mosquitoes in flight and not
those in the sewers or in other stagnant water. The aerial spraying is too extreme for a
problem that,statistically speaking, is still quite small and does not warrant such an
extreme response.
I have no problem with spraying down the alleys, but I am very concerned and opposed to the
aerial spraying.
Thank you,
Donica Folse Jimenez
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
1
Liz Spector
From:Meghillert@aol.com
Sent:Monday, August 13, 2012 12:39 PM
To:City Council
Subject:I Request a Hearing!
I request a hearing before we go any further on the decision for aerial spraying. Most people I talk to are either unaware
or do not think it is a good idea. I think we need to bring it to the table before we take more chances on pesticides and the
repercussions for our kids, pets, and families on aerial spraying which was done so much in the 1950's, causing cancer
clusters around the country. For that reason it was stopped. Even though it was DDT, we do not know what a pesticide
that is strong enough to kill all mosquitos will do to the health of human beings.
I am outside all the time. At the beginning of the summer there were lots of mosquitos, now I can't find any. If the
pesticides worked, then why continue to spray? We don't need to spray until we wipe out all life as we know it!
I don't think we need to continue to use fear to talk Dallas County and the Park Cities into aerial spraying over very few
deaths, mainly 80 and 90 year old with underlying health conditions. I am old, and I think it is wrong. Most of the people
who contracted West Nile Virus have not died so we take a chance on hundreds of thousands of people in the
community?
This should be an open forum because it affects the life of this community!
Meg Hillert
3313 Rankin
University Park 2146914205
1
Liz Spector
From:Meghillert@aol.com
Sent:Monday, August 13, 2012 8:54 PM
To:viewpoints@dallasnews.com
Subject:Give em the Boot!
Is this living? Can't let our pets out past 10 o'clock because we are being saturated with pesticides and aerial spraying
that starts Thursday night. My dog has to go out to the bathroom, and I have a 6 month old grand baby that I worry about.
All this because a couple of older people with underlying conditions have died, and the rest have recovered from West
Nile Virus!
We have no idea the repercussions. Since when do we believe the CDC and the Dallas County Health Department over
the use of pesticides?
I think we need to fire our city leaders in the Park Cities and Dallas! Talk about Big Brother.
Meg Hillert
University Park
2146914205
3313 Rankin
Dallas, Texas meghillert@aol.com
1
Liz Spector
From:Matthew Beasley [mbeasley1595@yahoo.com]
Sent:Monday, August 13, 2012 10:52 PM
To:City Council
Subject:Aerial spraying
To whom it may concern,
I would like to let you know that I do not support the aerial spraying for Mosquitos. This
is a risky way to get rid of Mosquitos because not only does it just kill Mosquitos in flight
but also many other valuable insects and may harm other wildlife.
Cordially,
Matthew C. Beasley
1
Liz Spector
From:info@cafemadrid-dallas.com
Sent:Tuesday, August 14, 2012 2:48 PM
To:City Council
Subject:Aerial Spraying
I oppose the aerial spraying over the park cities, for west nile virus. I only approve the
spraying of the alleys of neighborhoods.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry