By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
An idea to build a silk empire has been an ongoing century-old headache for many municipalities in the United States.
Gypsy moths were introduced in the 1800s as an alternative to the finicky silkworm, which has a limited diet of mulberry leaves. Gypsy moths, on the other had, have an appetite for oak trees as well as several other species of trees and shrubs. A single gypsy moth caterpillar can consume 11 square feet of vegetation during its life time with millions of caterpillars able to defoliate 13 million acres of trees in the United State in just one season.
It has left cities, such as the City of Wyoming, with the need to spray every spring to control the gypsy moth population.
At its regular Monday night meeting set for April 5, the city council will host a public hearing for the annual sprayings which will take place in several areas throughout the city. Properties that directly benefit from this year’s spraying will be assessed fees for the project which is $26 per residential lot that is less than one-half acre. The cost is $75 per treated acre for parcels that are larger than a half an acre. The amount would be added on the 2021 summer property tax bill.
The insecticide used in the process is a naturally occurring bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is not harmful to humans or animals.
For more information about the City of Wyoming’s gypsy moth suppression program, click here. The City Council meeting is at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 1155 28th St. SW.
In other city news
Low bids for the 2020 Wyoming Resurfacing Program has resulted in the city being able to add a 10-foot wide concrete bike path along the east side of Burlingame Avenue from Gezon Parkway to 60th Street. The bike path segment is included n the Wyoming’s Bikeways Plan and will completed a connection between the existing bike path along Gezon Parkway and an existing Kent County Parks Department bike path south of 60th Street.
The 2020 Resurfacing contract came in about $488,000 less than expect. Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc, which was awarded the resurfacing contract, has agreed to extend the contact to include the bike project and resurfacing of Crossroads Commerce Drive, Nagel Avenue, and Alba Avenue.
