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Visiting Iowan couldn't believe the mosquitoes The question was posed last Saturday night by a visitor from Iowa, not someone who has lived in Princeton for years. "Are the mosquitoes always this bad?" she asked. "We don't have anything like this in Iowa." We immediately got on her case about there not being enough standing water in Iowa, stagnant or not, to produce very many mosquitoes. And then the Iowa jokes started. But not before one of us attempted to answer her question. "They aren't always this bad," someone said. "This hatch is about as bad as it has been for a long time. Of course, in other summers the city has sprayed for mosquitoes." Then someone went on to explain about the City Council making some cuts last month in reaction to cuts in aid from the state, and spraying for mosquitoes being one of those cuts. Someone told her the amount cut by the city - approximately $5,200 - for spraying, and that the city had a large reserve ($1.97 million at last count) in its liquor fund but that members of the council won't use that money to rectify that cut, or any of the other cuts they made. The Iowa visitor had been in town since Friday and said she had never seen anything like the mosquitoes here. They had "fogged" at the house where she was staying and did it again two or three times during a deck party that night, as well as a number of cans of mosquito repellent being drained. The council made its move at a council meeting a month ago, in response to the state cutting about $174,000 in state aid, about the same amount expected to be cut back in 2004. Other cuts were made, including for sealcoating, library repair, reconstruction of an intersection, shade tree replacements and cutting back the hours for warming houses at city skating rinks next winter. The council also talked about not giving cost-of-living increases to city employees but decided against it. Many, many people, besides the visitor from Iowa, have approached this writer in the last few weeks, saying they think that, with the liquor fund where it is, or even using the interest of about $100,000 the city earned in 2002, the city could afford to spray for mosquitoes. (There was $45,558 in interest just for the liquor fund last year.) If a survey Monday night of members of the council is any indication, it's not out of the question. Councilman Lee Steinbrecher, who suggested at the June meeting using interest money to pay for mosquito spraying, said Monday he still feels that way. "When there is $100,000 in interest and we only need $5,000, -" he said. He even suggested at that meeting that he would volunteer to do the spraying but was told he would have to be licensed, etc. (It's very technical, you know.) Mayor Brian Humphrey told me Monday his son came from a camp in northern Minnesota and said the mosquitoes were worse in Princeton than there. "And I've had other people tell me that about their cabins," he said. Humphrey said he has gotten letters on the subject, saying that is unusual, and that "it's something I'm reconsidering." Council members Paul Whitcomb and Thom Walker, with Walker mentioning the environmental reason as part of his thinking, said they couldn't see going back on the cut. "Quite frankly," Walker said, "I don't know that it does a lot of good." And Whitcomb said that although the council talked about the West Nile part of the equation, "People sometimes have to take care of themselves." And both said the fact that there is plenty of money in the liquor fund, or in interest, doesn't make a difference to them. At least two people have told me they have gotten the feeling from people at City Hall that the council is in the mode of "showing" residents there were cuts by the state. We know that. And that's not a good reason for not spraying for mosquitoes. One council member said, "We have to build a new liquor store." Who said we have to? I stuck up for the city a bit during a mosquito discussion last weekend and three people immediately pounced on that loyalty, saying that if prices were cheaper at the city liquor store, they wouldn't drive to Elk River or St. Cloud. I argued that you might save some money doing that but would lose it in gas costs. They disagreed. But, I digress. Council members have their job to do and they have some tough decisions to make. However, this one seems to have touched the nerves of a lot of city taxpayers, especially with that $1.97 million sitting there. That's going to be one nice liquor store, huh?  Princeton Union-Eagle P.O. Box 278 Princeton, MN 55371 Telephone: 763-389-1222 Fax: 763-389-1728 E-Mail: pueproduction@ecm-inc.com